In a special festive episode the PolHome team looks back at the biggest political moments of 2024 after a historical and tumultuous year, dominated by Labour’s landslide election victory this summer, and the fallout from the first change in government since 2010. Joining Alain Tolhurst to discuss everything from Liz Truss losing her seat to Sue Gra…

Rough sleeping and homelessness are some of the most intractable problems successive governments have failed to solve; but does it need to be this hard, are the solutions already out there, and if so why has no administration managed to grasp the nettle? Lord John Bird, crossbench peer and co-founder of The Big Issue magazine, Andy Preston, former …

What does the continued fracturing of the UK’s political landscape means for our democracy going forward? After a preliminary vote on proportional representation surprised almost everyone in Westminster by passing last week, will this Parliament might finally see some movement on electoral reform? Lisa Smart, Liberal Democrat MP for Hazel Grove and…

So, when is a reset, not a reset? As Sir Keir Starmer outlines various ‘milestones’ he wants to achieve before the next election, a panel of seasoned analysts look at why is there a squeamishness about resets, why parties still end up doing them so often, and whether they can be done effectively. Catherine Haddon, programme director at the Institut…

A panel of foreign policy experts joins host Alain Tolhurst to look at global affairs, the dangers the UK faces around the world, how the public feels about them, and what Keir Starmer's government can do to tackle the big security issues. Sophia Gaston, who works at the ASPI think tank, Tobias Ellwood, former defence committee chair, and Chris Hop…

With the return of the bill on assisted dying next week we're unapologetically getting into the weeds of Parliamentary procedure for this episode, and looking at whether a Private Members Bill from a backbench MP is really the best way of passing such potentially important legislation. Two doyens of PMBs in UK policy circles; Dr Daniel Gover, Senio…

After a host of MPs were among the millions of people to quit X, formerly known as Twitter, in recent days over the role of its owner, the billionaire Elon Musk, and the amplification of misinformation and abuse, Josh Simons, Labour MP for Makerfield and member of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, joined Ben Guerin, co-founder of cr…

After 14 years in power the Conservatives were unceremoniously booted out of office under a Labour landslide in July's general election, so this week Baroness Kate Fall, who was deputy chief of staff to David Cameron for more than a decade, Fred de Fossard, director of strategy at the Legatum Institute, and a former Conservative special adviser, as…

After the most consequential Budget in more than a decade, Labour MP Chris Curtis, vice-chair of the Labour Growth Group, Mel Stride, former Treasury minister and ex-chair of the Treasury Select Committee, join host Alain Tolhurst and two top think tank economists; Isabel Stockton, Senior Research Economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and …

What happens when MPs stop being MPs? With hundreds of Parliamentarians having left the Commons this summer following Labour’s landslide victory, what happens to all those turfed out of their seats? Three former Conservative MPs; Vicky Ford, ex-MP for Chelmsford, James Sunderland, who represented Bracknell, and Matt Warman, the former member for Bo…

After a new bill attempting to legalise assisted dying in the UK was introduced to the House of Commons, the Green Party MP Sian Berry, former Lord Chancellor and Labour Peer Lord Falconer, and Nathan Stillwell, assisted dying campaigner at Humanists UK, join host Alain Tolhurst to look at how likely Kim Leadbeater’s private member's bill is to eve…

As Labour prepares to mark 100 days in office Lucy Rigby, the party's new MP for Northampton North, Tim Durrant, programme director at the Institute for Government, as well as Emma Dean, managing director at Portland communications, and a former government special adviser, join Alain Tolhurst to look at how these first few months have gone, what La…

In the final of our party conference specials, recorded in front of a live audience in Birmingham, two Conservative politicians - one at the start of their Commons career, and another who had reached the end - discuss with Alain Tolhurst why the atmosphere was so upbeat for a party having suffered such a massive defeat, what direction the new leade…

In the second of our party conference specials, recorded live in front of an audience at Labour’s annual get together in Liverpool, the arts minister Chris Bryant discusses with Alain Tolhurst why there was a less festive atmosphere then might be expected after a monumental landslide victory, what he wants to do to fix the arts in this country, and…

In the first of our party conference specials we go inside the Liberal Democrat victory lap in Brighton. Munira Wilson, the party’s education spokesperson, as well as Danny Chambers, their new MP for Winchester, join Alain Tolhurst to discuss what the party can actually achieve after its best election result ever, and how they might hold on to all …

What makes a good maiden speech, how do you write and deliver one, and what do they say about the MP that makes it? To talk about getting through that tricky first innings in the Commons two more members of the 2024 intake who have already taken their maiden voyage; Jeevun Sandher, the Labour MP for Loughborough, and Julia Buckley, the Labour membe…

Keir Starmer’s chief of staff Sue Gray identified before the election all of the most pressing issues for a new government's bulging in-tray in her infamous ‘s*** list’, so this week two more members of the 2024 intake of MPs; Lewis Cocking, the new Tory member for Broxbourne, and a former leader of the local council, and Tim Roca, Labour MP for Ma…

Continuing our series introducing the political class of 2024 by profiling new MPs, this week we have Caroline Voaden, who last month was elected as the new Liberal Democrat MP for South Devon. A former journalist and MEP, she speaks to Alain Tolhurst about how she got involved in politics, winning her the seat for the Lib Dems as they swept the so…

Continuing our series introducing the political class of 2024 by profiling new MPs to look out for, this week we have Joe Robertson, the Conservative MP for the new Isle of Wight East seat. In a historically bad night for his party Joe was one of 26 new Tories to enter the Commons, so he discusses with Alain Tolhurst what it was like winning his se…

Terry Jermy, the new Labour MP for South West Norfolk, who in a night of massive shocks on election night, delivered probably the biggest by unseating the former Prime Minister Liz Truss. One of the final constituencies to be called, Truss - who had a majority of more than 26,000 - was ousted by 38-year-old Jermy from the seat she had held since 20…

After widespread unrest took over the country after the tragic stabbings in Southport last week, Alain Tolhurst looks at what is behind the current riots, how to stop them from happening again, and what can be done to put communities divided by extremism and racism back together again. Joining him Chris Webb, Labour MP for Blackpool South, one of t…

As the race to replace Rishi Sunak hots up, Alain Tolhurst speaks to guests representing each of the six candidates who have thrown their hat into the ring to be the next Tory leader. First up are the MPs Saqib Bhatti, who is backing the former Home Secretary Priti Patel, and Mark Garnier, one of those supporting Mel Stride’s leadership bid, as wel…

After Keir Starmer hosted the European Political Summit last week guests Jill Rutter, senior research fellow at the think tank UK In A Changing Europe, and Raoul Ruparel, former special adviser to Theresa May on Europe and Spad at the Department for Exiting the European Union, join Alain Tolhurst and Adam Payne from PoliticsHome to discuss Labour’s…

After the first King’s Speech under a Labour government for 15 years, a host of policy experts joins Alain Tolhurst to look at what the first 100 days of a Keir Starmer administration will look like, after the new Prime Minister said his plan for government would "take the brakes off Britain" and put the country on the "path of national renewal". J…

After last week’s extraordinary election result, this week has seen hundreds of new MPs and their staff descend on Westminster, but what’s it like entering Parliament for the first time? Alain Tolhurst is joined by Dan Tomlinson, elected last week as the new MP for Chipping Barnet, along with one of his Labour colleagues Sarah Owen, her senior parl…