Helping you make sense of politics, culture and world affairs – every weekday.
Anoosh Chakelian, Andrew Marr and the New Statesman team bring you sharp reporting, clear analysis and thoughtful conversations to help you understand what’s really going on in Westminster and beyond.
The New Statesman is Britain’s leading source of news and commentary on politics and culture with a progressive perspective. On the podcast, our journalists and expert guests cut through the noise of the headlines to explain the forces shaping our world. From the battles inside the Labour Party to the future of the Conservatives, from the rise of Reform UK to the debates that dominate Parliament, we provide the clarity you need to follow UK politics.
But the story doesn’t stop at Westminster. Each week we take you around the globe, covering world news and international current affairs — from the war in Ukraine and the leadership of Volodymyr Zelensky, to Russia under Vladimir Putin, to the conflict in Israel and Gaza, and the impact of Donald Trump on American and international politics. Our interviews bring leading thinkers and cultural figures into the conversation, while our Saturday episodes explore books, literature, film and wider culture.
Whether you want to stay on top of UK news, understand the shifts in global politics, or dive into the ideas that drive our culture, the New Statesman podcast is your essential daily listen.
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START HERE:
▶︎ Kemi Badenoch isn't working | Cover Story with Tom McTague
▶︎ Do billionaires really benefit the UK?
▶︎ One year of Labour rule: can things still only get better?
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Anoosh Chakelian
Tom McTague, Editor-in-chief
Will Lloyd, Deputy editor
Andrew Marr, Political editor
George Eaton, Senior editor, politics
Hannah Barnes, Associate editor
Rachel Cunliffe, Associate political editor
Will Dunn, Business editor
Megan Gibson, Foreign editor
Katie Stallard, Global affairs editor
Tanjil Rashid, Culture editor
Kate Mossman, Senior writer
Senior podcast producer: Catharine Hughes
Video producer: Rob Le Mare
Executive producer: Chris Stone
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Helping you make sense of politics, culture and world affairs – every weekday.
Anoosh Chakelian, Andrew Marr and the New Statesman team bring you sharp reporting, clear analysis and thoughtful conversations to help you understand what’s really going on in Westminster and beyond.
The New Statesman is Britain’s leading source of news and commentary on politics and culture with a progressive perspective. On the podcast, our journalists and expert guests cut through the noise of the headlines to explain the forces shaping our world. From the battles inside the Labour Party to the future of the Conservatives, from the rise of Reform UK to the debates that dominate Parliament, we provide the clarity you need to follow UK politics.
But the story doesn’t stop at Westminster. Each week we take you around the globe, covering world news and international current affairs — from the war in Ukraine and the leadership of Volodymyr Zelensky, to Russia under Vladimir Putin, to the conflict in Israel and Gaza, and the impact of Donald Trump on American and international politics. Our interviews bring leading thinkers and cultural figures into the conversation, while our Saturday episodes explore books, literature, film and wider culture.
Whether you want to stay on top of UK news, understand the shifts in global politics, or dive into the ideas that drive our culture, the New Statesman podcast is your essential daily listen.
--
START HERE:
▶︎ Kemi Badenoch isn't working | Cover Story with Tom McTague
▶︎ Do billionaires really benefit the UK?
▶︎ One year of Labour rule: can things still only get better?
--
LISTEN AD-FREE:
📱Download and subscribe in the New Statesman app to enjoy all our episodes without the ads.
--
MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN:
❓ Ask a question - we answer them on the podcast every Friday
⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter in your inbox every morning
✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday
--
JOIN US:
⭐️ Get full access to all our reporting and analysis - and get our magazine delivered to your door every week - with a print + digital subscription
--
Anoosh Chakelian
Tom McTague, Editor-in-chief
Will Lloyd, Deputy editor
Andrew Marr, Political editor
George Eaton, Senior editor, politics
Hannah Barnes, Associate editor
Rachel Cunliffe, Associate political editor
Will Dunn, Business editor
Megan Gibson, Foreign editor
Katie Stallard, Global affairs editor
Tanjil Rashid, Culture editor
Kate Mossman, Senior writer
Senior podcast producer: Catharine Hughes
Video producer: Rob Le Mare
Executive producer: Chris Stone
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Is Build Baby Build doomed? Is Katie Lam running for leader? Where is Priti Patel? Can the UK really support 5 large leftist parties?
Luke O’Reilly joins Anoosh Chakelian to answer listener questions.
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The Deputy PM believes that Labour can beat the threat of the populist right, Nigel Farage and Reform. Lammy says that Labour can achieve this by tackling the cost of living crisis, uniting the centre and left of British politics and putting security first.
Oli Dugmore sat down with David Lammy to discuss his plan.
Read: Nigel Farage can be stopped
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Which are the most deprived neighbourhoods in England and how might this map onto voter intent?
Anoosh Chakelian is joined by senior data journalist Ben Walker, to discuss what we can learn from the English Indices of Deprivation.
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Another bad week for Prince Andrew. You could say the man hasn’t had a good week since 2011. Although, actually, he does live in a 30-bedroom mansion in Windsor and enjoyed a million quid a year from his mum.
In this week's cover story Will Lloyd makes the case for abolishing the monarchy, and that the Windsors have always been more involved with British politics than we know. He speaks to Oli Dugmore in this episode.
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With the Autumn budget looming, the government has some tough decisions to make. Rachel Reeves has to find a predicted £30bn in extra revenue to meet her self-imposed fiscal rules.
But as part of its manifesto pledges, Labour promised not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT.
And after a crushing defeat in Wales last week, what can the government actually get away with without angering the public further?
Anoosh Chakelian is joined by polling analyst Steve Akehurst.
Read: Just Raise Tax by Will Dunn
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The Caerphilly by-election proves Reform can be beaten. But is Keir Starmer the man to do it?
Last week voters in Caerphilly confounded pundits by electing their first Plaid Cymru Member of the Senedd (MS). Reform UK had expected to be the party to overturn Labour's 100 year dominance in the Welsh seat - but they were wrong.
The loss was a disaster for Labour, but came with a glimmer of hope: Reform UK can be beaten.
Now the party needs to ask whether their current leader, Keir Starmer, is the man to do it.
Back in Westminster, Lucy Powell has been elected deputy leader of the Labour Party - and she's not the winner Keir Starmer had hoped for.
In this episode, Harry Clarke-Eziddio and George Eaton join Anoosh Chakelian to analyse what the Caerphilly loss and the new deputy leader mean for the future of the Labour Party.
LISTEN NEXT: The death of Welsh Labour
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With only her second novel The Inheritance of Loss, Kiran Desai won the 2006 Booker Prize, the leading literary prize in the global Anglosphere, becoming - at the time - the youngest person ever to do so. She was thirty-five. Then: silence. 19 years of it, before another novel emerged - this year. The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny. It, too, has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Will Desai win it again?
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Is Welsh Labour dead?
Plaid Cyrmu won an historic victory in the by-election, trouncing Labour who had been dominant for over 100 years.
The "middle child" as Plaid's new MS describes them, also beat Reform, who pollsters expected to win the seat.
In this episode, Harry Clarke-Ezzidio reports from Caerphilly to analyse the results of the election. He speaks to Rhun ap Lorworth, Huw Irranca-Davies, Llyr Powell, and Dan Evans.
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After 14 attempts, Lindsay Whittle has won the Caerphilly seat in South Wales for Plaid Cymru. Reform came in second with over a third of the vote, and Labour trailed in third with 11%. A devastating loss for the party.
Harry Clarke-Ezzidio is joined by Ben Walker in Caerphilly Leisure Centre.
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Andrew Marr says he thought Labour would fix everything, but: "I was wrong".
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Andrew Marr is stepping down as political editor of the New Statesman. In this, his last regular podcast appearance (he'll be back, don't worry!) he reflects on the last three years in politics - and where we're heading next.
He admits committing "the journalistic sin" of optimism when Keir Starmer was elected, and addresses criticism he's faced from media colleagues on both the left and right of the political divide. He explains why he believes the Labour party is failing the country.
Speaking to Tom McTague, Marr also looks to the future and explores the likelihood of a Nigel Farage-led Reform government, the rise of Zack Polanski's Green Party and whether a coalition could be on the cards for the next election.
READ:
I thought Labour would fix everything. I was wrong.
https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2025/10/i-thought-labour-would-fix-everything-i-was-wrong
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Donald Trump's planned summit with Vladimir Putin is cancelled. Here's why.
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Less than a week after Donald Trump offered to meet Vladimir Putin in Budapest, the proposed summit has already fallen apart.
Officially, "there's no need" for the two presidents to meet, since their respective foreign ministers are conducting conversations.
But what's really behind the cancellation?
And what on earth is Donald Trump up to in Venezuela? Seven extra-judicial attacks on civilian boats, dozens dead without trial, and now massing troops and weaponry in the Caribbean.
Is this really about "narco-terrorism", or is something more sinister afoot?
Katie Stallard and Freddie Hayward discuss Trump's foreign policy on the New Statesman podcast.
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James Schneider, the former director of strategic communications for Jeremy Corbyn, was involved in the founding of Your Party earlier this year. He has since stepped back from the project.
In this episode he joins Anoosh Chakelian to discuss the growing gap on the left of UK politics and who could fill it.
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Andrew had already stepped down as a working royal, after that disastrous Newsnight interview in 2019, but he’s now gone a step further and agreed to relinquish the “title or the honours which have been conferred upon” him.
Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Will Lloyd and Rachel Cunliffe to discuss what these latest decisions, announced on the eve of the publication of Virginia Roberts Guiffre's posthumous memoir, mean for the Royal Family.
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A century on from the her birth, Tanjil Rashid sits down with the Iron Lady's official biographer, Charles Moore.
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For over 30 years, John Gray has written for the New Statesman on everything from Artificial Intelligence to Friedrich Nietzsche. He joins deputy editor Will Lloyd to discuss the state of the nation.
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Andrew Marr joins Rachel Cunliffe to discuss his column in this week's magazine, Tax the old.
They also discuss the latest developments in the China spy case.
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"All I've done all my life is deals. The greatest deals just sort of happen…” President Trump announced at a celebratory peace-deal signing attended by dozens of nations in Sharm el-Sheikh earlier this week.
But who were the powers behind Trump? Behind this deal?
Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Freddie Hayward who has written this week’s cover story The Emperor: How Trump and his British Courtiers secured the Gaza deal
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Did Keir Starmer's government quash an espionage case to curry favour with China?
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There's fury in Westminster over the case of two alleged China spies which collapsed last month. Kemi Badenoch has accused the Labour government of deliberately quashing the prosecution to appease China, blaming National Security Advisor Jonathan Powell. The government denies this, and Keir Starmer has said Powell has his "full support".
So what really happened? And why does China matter so much to the UK government?
Oli Dugmore is joined by George Eaton and Katie Stallard.
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All 20 remaining, living hostages have returned to Israel after 2 years in captivity, following the October the 7th Hamas attacks. The remains of the 28 deceased hostages are yet to be returned.
Meanwhile, Israel is expected to release 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,700 detainees from Gaza today.
To discuss this historic day in the Middle East and how it came to be, Oli Dugmore is joined by Katie Stallard and Freddie Hayward. Later in the episode Ethan Croft and Rachel Cunliffe look at the question of the UK’s involvement in this peace process.
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Is Labour reading from the Reform handbook? And what is the government doing to address rising child poverty?
Oli Dugmore is joined by Rachel Cunliffe to answer listener questions.
Got a question? Ask us here!
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