This year’s Conservative Party conference will be a beauty pageant for would-be leaders, with each one setting out their stall as to why they’re the right person to head up the party.

So this week Westminster Insider host Sascha O’Sullivan dives into what it’s really like to be a contender in a Tory leadership campaign — and how candidates can appeal to both MPs and party members alike. 

Andrea Leadsom, who made it through to the final two leadership candidates in 2016 before dramatically dropping out at the 11th hour, recalls the intense pressure on her at the time — and tells Sascha why she really decided to pull out of the race and concede to Theresa May.  

Sascha also speaks to the Tories' former deputy leader, Peter Lilley, about his own failed run for the leadership back in 1997, and to former party leader Michael Howard about why Tory members were given more of a say at that time over who should be in charge.

Tory peer Daniel Finkelstein, a former adviser to William Hague, explains how this new role for the membership led to the election of unpopular leaders like Iain Duncan Smith and Liz Truss. 

And former campaign chiefs Tim Loughton, who ran Leadsom’s campaign, and James Starkie, who ran Priti Patel’s recent leadership bid, give a behind-the-scenes view of how candidates battle to win Tory MPs over to their side. 

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The red half of Westminster will shortly decamp to Liverpool for the first Labour conference since the party's general election landslide. Host Sascha O'Sullivan looks at a group which played a key role in that victory — the left-wing think-tank Labour Together.

Sascha pieces together the fascinating origin story of Labour Together, speaking to ITV Deputy Political Editor Anushka Asthana, author of a new book, which details the group's influence, and Keir Starmer biographer Tom Baldwin.

Andrew Cooper, political pollster and member of Labour Together advisory board, tells Sascha how Josh Simons, former director of the think tank, built on the work of Morgan McSweeney by using deep voter analysis to help Labour HQ.

Sascha speaks to the group's new chief executive, Jonathan Ashworth, about Labour Together's role in shaping the thinking of the new government. He addresses some of the cronyism accusations surrounding the think tank and is quizzed by Sascha on its purpose now Labour is in power.

Henry Newman, former political adviser and author of the Whitehall project, explains the concerns about how Labour Together acted as a middleman for political donations between wealthy individuals and politicians.

Labour "mega-donor" Dale Vince tells Sascha why he gave money to the think tank.

And think tank stalwarts Harry Quilter-Pinner of the Institute of Public Policy Research, Ryan Wain of the Tony Blair Institute and Charlotte Pickles explain how Labour Together fits into the world of the wonks and how different it is from most policy outfits.

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Days after the drama of the first U.S. presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, host Jack Blanchard asks senior journalists on both sides of the Atlantic — what's it really like to cover an American election?

Podcaster and author Jon Sopel reflects on his years covering the White House as the BBC's U.S. editor, recounting famous televised run-ins with Trump and his predecessor Barack Obama.

The BBC's Henry Zeffman recalls his own year in the U.S. as a young reporter with the Times, touring the country ahead of the 2020 election.

And POLITICO legends Jonathan Martin, Rosa Prince and Eli Stokols consider how political reporting in the U.S. has changed over recent years as the country's politics have transformed dramatically before our eyes.

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More than 300,000 people in Britain — from individuals to whole families — do not have a safe and secure home. Some live on the streets. Others are sleeping in sheds or garages or spending the night in their cars. And many, including more than 145,000 children, live in temporary accommodation, which often means a family sharing a single room. 

But things don’t need to be this way. Lloyds Banking Group and Crisis, the U.K. homelessness charity, are calling for the U.K. to build 1 million more homes at social rent by 2033, an endeavor that will require strong partnership between the government and the private sector. 

POLITICO Studio host David Baker speaks to Francesca Albanese, executive director of policy and social change at Crisis, Rose-Anna Hallam, who is drawing on her experience of growing up in social housing as a student of real estate and planning at Manchester University, and Chris Yau, a director in Lloyds' National Housing Team, about the causes of homelessness, the effect it has on all of us and how we can finally end homelessness in the U.K. for good. 

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As the new Labour government introduces its landmark legislation to nationalize the railways, host Emilio Casalicchio asks: How do we get the trains to run on time?

He travels to Japan, where privatized high speed trains whiz passengers between cities at 300 mph and delays are measured in seconds not minutes.

And he examines the nationalized rail system in Switzerland, home to a joined up transport network with passenger experience at the heart of the business.

Former Transport Secretary George Young tells Emilio about the process of taking British Rail out of public hands and into the private sector — and says he still believes it was the right move for the U.K.'s railways.

Rail boffins Chris Hopkins, Gareth Dennis and Christian Wolmar analyze the Japanese, Swiss and British systems — and weigh up the pros and cons of private verses public.

And the experts also assess Labour Transport Secretary Louise Haigh's prospects for getting the U.K. train network back on track.

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As Westminster heads back to work after the summer recess, host Jack Blanchard talks to six political experts about what’s coming up in the months ahead.

The FT’s Stephen Bush and the Spectator’s Katy Balls discuss the challenges facing new Prime Minister Keir Starmer this autumn, and consider the Tory leadership contest is likely to play out.

Ben Zaranko of the Institute for Fiscal Studies runs the runes over the U.K. economy, with one eye on the all-important budget of October 30.

POLITICO’s own Eli Stokols and Shawn Pogatchnik discuss the looming general elections in the U.S. and Ireland, and how they might impact upon Britain.

And geopolitical analyst Sophia Gaston considers how wider global issues such as the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East could yet blow Starmer off course.

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Host Sascha O'Sullivan meets a few of the new parliamentarians slowly figuring out their way through Westminster.

New Labour MPs — and soon-to-be office buddies — Jake Richards and Chris Curtis give Sascha rundown of their whirlwind first few days in SW1 and a taste of their plans to make a difference in parliament.

Lola McEvoy, newly elected Labour MP for Darlington, re-lives the nerves of giving her maiden speech directly after Reform Leader Nigel Farage. She explains the challenges of very quickly having to get on top of an inbox with thousands of emails from constituents — before she'd even had a chance to hire staff.

As if being a new MP wasn't challenging enough, Sascha talks to Sarah Sackman, the representative for Finchley and Golders Green and newly-minted solicitor general, on how to find your way around parliament with a ministerial red box.

Another fresh face, Andrew Snowden, Conservative MP for Fylde, tells Sascha about being courted by senior Tories as they jostle for the upper hand in the leadership contest.

And new Lib Dem MP Bobby Dean attempts to answer the thorny question of "what's the point of the Liberal Democrats" now they have their highest ever number of seats in parliament.

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Our next season of Westminster Insider is gearing up with new episodes next week. To whet your appetite, we’ve reached into our extensive back catalogue to bring you one of our fan-favorite episodes – whether you’re new to the show or been a listener from the beginning, we hope you enjoy revisiting this historical deep dive into what ex-prime ministers do once the gig is up, hosted by Aggie Chambre.

Former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, fired by Truss 38 days into her 45 day premiership, talks of the “emptiness” and “numbness” that comes with leaving Downing Street, and how he felt “let down” by his old friend. 

Speaking agency founder Jeremy Lee, recently retired, is gloriously indiscreet as he regales Aggie with stories of his conversations with ex-prime ministers seeking riches down the years. 

Political biographer Anthony Seldon takes Aggie through the history of former prime ministers, and how the role has changed since Winston Churchill’s Champagne-fueled heyday.

Unherd journalist Tom McTague explores Tony Blair’s increasingly powerful Institute for Global Change, while POLITICO’s Annabelle Dickson tells tales of tracking down Boris Johnson in downtown Dallas.

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As Keir Starmer enters 10 Downing Street on the back of a landslide election victory, host Sascha O'Sullivan takes us inside the night power shifted in the U.K. In the final episode of the season, she brings us an hour by hour account of the most consequential general election for a generation, speaking to political insiders for their take on events as they unfolded.

At the moment the 10 p.m. exit poll dropped, Sascha spoke to Tom Lubbock, pollster and co-founder of JL Partners, about the implications for the Labour Party and whether or not the Conservatives could save face.

She went on to the New Statesman party to speak to an elated Sadiq Khan, mayor of London, and Rachel Cunliffe, the New Statesman's associate political editor, as major Tory scalps were claimed by Labour candidates.

And she spoke to Lucia Hodgson, former Conservative Party adviser and partner at Charlesbye, about how it feels to leave No. 10 for the last time — and what it will be like for a generation of Conservatives tasting general election defeat for the very first time.

From the POLITICO election night watch party, Sascha spoke to Playbook author Stefan Boscia and checked in with colleague Bethany Dawson, who was at Clacton-on-Sea as upstart Reform leader Nigel Farage was elected an MP. We also heard behind the scenes as former Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn won Islington North as an independent after being booted out out by Starmer.

And, in the final push of the evening, as dawn broke Sascha traveled to the secret Labour victory party, where Starmer addressed the party faithful, newly minted MPs and volunteers. 

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As the general election reaches its final week, host Sascha O'Sullivan takes us inside the last push of the campaign. She explores how parties use every trick of the trade, from advertising to frantic leafleting, to try to capture every possible vote and travels to the BBC debate in Nottingham where the main party leaders had one final face off.

Ayesha Hazarika, broadcaster and former adviser to Ed Miliband, explains how many voters begin tune into an election campaign only once they reach the last 10 days, and warns about the impact of gaffes during the final stretch.

Former Conservative Party staffer Cleo Watson tells Sascha a scandalous story from the last week of the Vote Leave campaign which never made it to the press. 

Ben Guerin, one of the advertising masterminds of Boris Johnson's 2019 election victory, relates how parties use attack ads in the last few days. And Craig Oliver, Downing Street Director of Communications for David Cameron, gives us tips for winning the "ground war" by focusing relentlessly on the constituencies which matter the most.

Sascha also speaks to pollster James Johnson who says that in the last week, many candidates can be overcome with a misguided optimism about their prospects — and tells us what happens campaign HQs get their data wrong. 

Also, Jeremy Corbyn's former deputy director of communications and strategy Steve Howell takes us inside Labour’s 2017 campaign, while Sean Kemp, former special adviser to Nick Clegg, gives us a run down on Lib Dem targeting tactics in the final week.

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