Coffee House Shots

Robert Jenrick has sensationally defected to Reform. After a day that started with his sacking from the Conservatives – over plotting to reject – continued with the will-he-won’t-he drama of whether Farage would accept him as a new Reform member this afternoon; it ends with a press conference welcoming him to Farage’s gang.So what happens now? Kemi Badenoch was praised for her show of strength in swiftly expelling Jenrick, but she is undoubtedly weakened after this news and her frontbencher looks considerably lighter. Is this an inflection point for the Conservative party? And what role will Bobby J...

Kemi Badenoch has sacked Robert Jenrick from the shadow cabinet, removed the Tory whip and suspended his party membership. In a video on X she claims, ‘I was presented with clear, irrefutable evidence that he was plotting in secret to defect in a way designed to be as damaging as possible’. The Tories compiled a bundle of evidence that included a dinner between Jenrick and Nigel Farage last month, and the fact that he had discussed switching to Reform with at least two allies. It is understood that he left a copy of his defection speech lying around, which incl...

The leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Russell Findlay MSP, sits down with James Heale to look ahead to May's pivotal Holyrood elections. He pushes back against the threat from Reform, arguing that Nigel Farage is trying to be 'all things to all people', and he is scathing about the lack of loyalty shown by those who have defected from the party – not just to Reform, but to the Liberal Democrats too.But with the collapse of the support Labour received in the 2024 general election – which Findlay calls their 'loveless landslide' – why aren't the Tories benefitting more?...

The Liberal Democrats have unveiled a new strategy on the NHS. Sir Ed set out his big, bold plan this morning: scrapping the UK–US pharmaceutical deal to redirect £1.5 billion into social care. It sounds like a substantial sum – until you remember it amounts to less than 1 per cent of the NHS’s annual budget. In today’s podcast, the team discuss why Ed Davey is leaning into being deliberately boring, in an effort to appeal to the perceived sensibilities of Middle England.Meanwhile, with the dust settling after Nadhim Zahawi’s defection, is Reform at risk of los...

How many Tories is too many? That’s the question Westminster is asking after the unveiling of Reform’s latest defector. Nadhim Zahawi, Boris Johnson’s brief-lived Chancellor of the Exchequer, is Nigel Farage’s latest recruit. He told journalists that the UK had reached a ‘dark and dangerous’ moment, and that the country needed ‘a glorious revolution’. But are Reform just turning into the Tories 2.0? And what will Zahawi’s role be – is he the elusive shadow chancellor Farage has been searching for?Oscar Edmondson speaks to Tim Shipman and James Heale.Produced by Oscar Edmondson....

Isabel Hardman presents highlights from Sunday morning's political shows.Trump wants Greenland, Iran wants regime change, and Peter Mandelson gives his first interview since he was sacked as US ambassador.:Produced by Joe Bedell-Brill.Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts.Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Britain’s mums are backing Nigel Farage. One in five Mumsnet users intend to vote for Reform at the next general election, the first time a party other than Labour has topped its poll. Having been more negative towards Farage and the right in the past, why are its politically engaged users changing their minds? Are they swayed by issues like single-sex spaces, or does it reflect a wider collapse of confidence in the establishment?James Heale speaks to Tim Shipman and Sonia Sodha.Produced by Megan McElroy. Become a Spectator subscriber today to...

Another year, another U-turn. We expect that the Labour government will be forced to climb down on forthcoming increases to the business rates bills faced by pubs in England. This comes after ferocious industry backlash, spearheaded by figures such as Tom Kerridge, who has been out in the media this week drawing attention to the more than 100 per cent increase in costs some of his establishments are facing. Some are pointing to the slow unravelling of Rachel Reeves’s Budget but – perhaps more damaging – is the optics of this: surely nothing mobilises deep England more than coming for our pubs...

2025 was the easy part for Reform. If they win the election, however, how do they actually govern? In The Spectator this week, Tim Shipman writes about the party’s plans to tackle Whitehall bloat, bypass the Lords and restore the authority of the Prime Minister over the various institutions of state. The man tasked with working this out is Danny Kruger, who is working up plans to push change through using Orders in Council – a device in the Privy Council – as well as statutory instruments and ministerial guidance to avoid the need for primary legislation. But the party is only i...

It is the first Prime Minister’s Questions of the new year – and Keir Starmer returns to the Commons already under pressure. With major international crises unfolding, Kemi Badenoch used PMQs to question whether the Prime Minister is present, engaged or in control. In response, Starmer just seemed narky.As the exchange descended into rows over Ukraine, Venezuela and the role of government lawyers, the issue of the armed forces – how they are supported and resourced – came up once again. With global events dominating the news agenda, are British forces prepared to be deployed – and does the Labour par...

From 'regime change' in Venezuela to Russia's war in Ukraine, the Labour government is trying to navigate complicated situations across foreign affairs. Having appeared to weather the domestic reaction to the situation in Venezuela, Keir Starmer is in Paris today to discuss Ukraine alongside Chancellor Merz and Presidents Macron and Zelensky. This is undoubtably important – but to what extent will this fuel the criticism that the Prime Minister spends too much time abroad? And how can Starmer reconcile the demands of foreign affairs with his domestic priorities? James Heale and Tim Shipman join Patrick Gibbons to discuss....

It’s our first podcast back in the office of 2026 – and the year has started with a bang, of course, after the successful US operation to remove Nicolas Maduro from Venezuela. He will appear in a Manhattan court later today. This throws up all sorts of problems for Labour and the left more broadly – they seem to be hedging their bets on whether to condemn this as a breach of, if not international law, then certainly international norms, or to celebrate the removal of a corrupt regime. Could this be a dividing line for the Labour party?Elsewh...

Isabel Hardman presents highlights from Sunday morning's political shows.This week, the US sends shockwaves across the globe with its capturing of Venezuelan president Maduro.And Keir Starmer sits down for a big interview with Laura Kuenssberg.Produced by Joe Bedell-Brill. Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts.Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast...

James Heale sits down with Sir John Curtice, the doyen of British polling, to take stock of an extraordinary year in UK politics and to look ahead to what 2026 might hold. Curtice explains why the rise of Reform UK during the spring local elections marked a historic turning point – establishing the longest period in polling history where a party outside the traditional Conservative–Labour duopoly has led nationwide and assesses Labour’s continued slide, the unprecedented collapse in support for both major parties, and the growing influence of the Greens under new leadership.John also explores why Britai...

Regular listeners will remember back in May we recorded a podcast debating whether Kemi Badenoch was the right fit for Tory leader. At that point in time the Conservatives were falling in the polls and she was facing allegations of laziness and a lack of a political vision. Spool forward to the end of the year and she is in her strongest position ever. She looks more assured in PMQs, her conference speech was a hit and her media game is much improved. But is she actually getting better, or is Starmer getting worse? And will this modest bump...

Dominic Cummings joins Michael and Maddie to reflect on his time in government – what he got right and what he regrets – and what he believes must change for the country to thrive.Part one: 30 December 2025 (9am GMT) Part two: 1 January 2026 (9am GMT) Search 'Quite right!' wherever you are listening. Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts.Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk<...

2025 has been a busy year in economics, with tariffs, taxes – and even some tears. It's also been a busy year for the Spectator's economics editor Michael Simmons, who launched his new show Reality Check. The aim of the show is to cut through the spin and explain the numbers behind the noise. In each episode, Michael will make a data-driven case on a story hogging the headlines.In this special episode for Coffee House Shots listeners, Michael reflects on some of the economic highs and lows of 2025. For more episodes – with guests including Arthur Laffer and Rory...

From scandals and cabinet chaos to Trumpian antics and the ‘special’ relationship that some say is anything but, The Spectator presents The Year in Review – a look back at the funniest and most tragic political moments of 2025. Join The Spectator’s editor Michael Gove, deputy editor Freddy Gray, political editor Tim Shipman, deputy political editor James Heale and parliamentary sketch-writer Madeline Grant, along with special guests, who’ll all share their favourite moments from the past 12 months.Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more....

The SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, MP for Aberdeen South, joins Lucy Dunn for a special episode to assess the place of the SNP in British politics as we approach the end of 2025. The SNP were ‘decimated’ to just nine MPs at the 2024 general election – yet, if polls are to be believed, they are on course for another record win in the 2026 Holyrood elections. But can the SNP really frame this election as a ‘fresh start’?Flynn explains what he made of the ‘bleak fallout’ of 2024, why he is standing for election to Holyrood next year and what he make...

As is fast becoming a tradition on Coffee House Shots at this time of year, James Heale and Tim Shipman are joined by sketch writer Quentin Letts to go through the events of the past 12 months. From sackings to resignations, and Farage to Polanski, it is a year in which the centuries-old consensus has been challenged and Westminster is delicately poised ahead of a 2026 which will define politics for the remainder of this parliamentary term. On the podcast, they discuss who is up and who is down, why Farage might be running out of steam and who is the...