The Politics Show

On 3 November, Americans will head to the polls for the midterm elections.

We will be publishing one episode a week for the next three weeks, every Wednesday, taking in the lead up and results.

In this first episode, we ask: Where are the key battlegrounds these elections will be fought?

US correspondent Freddie Hayward is joined by the NS’s senior data journalist, Ben Walker, political scientist Lisa Bryant and New York Times White House reporter Shawn McCreesh.

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Reform UK is in crisis, amid a cascade of scandals

The party’s poll rating has fallen from mid-thirties highs to the low twenties, with a recent poll showing them slipping to third place.

This has come amid the “Burnham bounce” - Labour’s improved polling triggered by the change in Prime Minister.

Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Megan Kenyon to discuss.

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Reform falls behind Labour and the Tories for the first time since the general election, how animals shape our voting patterns and 100 years of Winnie-the-Pooh.

Anoosh Chakelian and Will Dunn round up the stories of the week.

READ: https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/bursting-the-bubble/2026/10/our-mania-for-animals-warps-politics-priorities-and-personal-lives

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/the-sketch/2026/10/tiktoks-irreverent-slop-was-made-for-nigel-farage

https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2026/10/in-praise-of-winnie-the-poohs-idleness

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Ten years after the Brexit referendum, a British Prime Minister has said out loud what much of the country has concluded: Brexit did more harm than good.

Andy Burnham has told his party that no credible ten-year plan for Britain can avoid the Europe question, and has since declined to rule out rejoining the EU in Labour’s next manifesto.

Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Tom McTague and Ethan Croft to discuss.

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It’s been a tumultuous time for the Green Party. Their controversial “Zionism is racism vote” and leader Zack Polanski’s defeat in a by-election in North London has led to turmoil within the party.

Meanwhile, is the long-suffering Tory party finally experiencing a “Kemi-bounce”?

And how about the Lib Dems? Is leader Ed Davey facing a coup?

Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Megan Kenyon and Ethan Croft.

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Reform clearing its own officials of breaking party funding law, Kemi Badenoch’s inheritance tax gambit and was Britain really better off in the 1980s?

Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Will Dunn for our weekly round up.

READ: https://www.newstatesman.com/international-politics/2026/10/spains-warning-to-andy-burnham

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/the-sketch/2026/10/vegan-sausages-and-loathing-at-green-party-conference

https://www.newstatesman.com/business/economics/2026/10/was-britain-really-better-off-in-the-1980s

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Labour has held the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, with Sagal Abdi-Wali retaining the seat for the party despite a hard-fought contest from Green Party leader Zack Polanski.

The result preserves Labour’s long-standing grip on the constituency, and disrupts Polanski’s momentum.

Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Megan Kenyon and Ben Walker to discuss.

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At the Green Party conference, party members backed a motion to describe Zionism as racism.

Zack Polanski, currently campaigning in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, missed the controversial vote, which called for Israel to be replaced by a single Palestinian state.

Is this a watershed moment for the Green Party?

Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Megan Kenyon.

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At this week’s Labour conference, Andy Burnham announced bigger and bolder policy ambitions than anyone expected. Was this too big a swing? Or the grand vision the country needs?

Elsewhere, next Thursday, there is a by-election happening in Holborn and St Pancras, the seat vacated by Keir Starmer.

Oli Dugmore is joined by business editor Will Dunn and political correspondent Megan Kenyon to discuss.

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Labour Conference 2026 draws to a close with Andy Burnham's speech.

The PM's announcements included scrapping the triple lock pension, electoral reform, a new help-to-buy scheme, Great British Grid, an end to the public ownership ban on water companies and a range of options for our relationship with Europe which he will be looking into.

Anoosh Chakelian is at the Labour Conference and is joined by Ethan Croft and Ailbhe Rea to discuss.

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The Chancellor gives his conference speech just four weeks before his first budget and Andy Burnham proposes a national care service in England.

Anoosh Chakelian, Ailbhe Rea and Ethan Croft bring you the latest from the Labour Conference.

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The rise of balaclava Britain, Kemi Badenoch’s billionaire baloney and Donald Trump’s AI rebrand.

Anoosh Chakelian and Will Dunn discuss the stories of the week.

📚 READ:

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2026/09/ed-davey-has-a-superpower-immunity-from-embarrassment

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/bursting-the-bubble/2026/09/the-rise-of-balaclava-britain

https://www.newstatesman.com/business/economics/2026/09/kemi-badenochs-billionaire-baloney

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For this week’s New Statesman, our Politics Show stars have been busy interviewing some key players in the past year of Labour turmoil.

Ailbhe Rea, our Political Editor, had a fascinating encounter with the MP and former chief secretary to the Prime Minister, the Starmer loyalist Darren Jones.

And speaking of Andy Burnham, Tom McTague, our Editor-in-Chief, has been busy profiling the Prime Minister himself…

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Are tech companies turning apocalypse into profit?

In 2022, we were all having fun with a new chatbot called ChatGPT. Meanwhile, ministers and civil servants of the British government were imagining how it might go horribly wrong. 

Four years ago, AI experts were concerned about what people might do using their technology. Today, they fear what the technology is doing on its own, without being asked.

Tom McTague is joined by Will Dunn to discuss his cover story.

READ: https://www.newstatesman.com/business/2026/09/will-ai-kill-us-all

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Reform UK received two £36 million donations from crypto billionaire Ben Delo. This has sent shockwaves through Westminster and thrown the question of political finance reform into sharp relief.

Labour is caught in an uncomfortable bind - appalled by the scale of Reform's fundraising, but reluctant to cap donations in a way that could threaten trade union funding and destabilise its own finances.

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The fallout from Reform’s latest scandal, John Healey’s first major speech as Chancellor and Ukraine’s plan to tax porn stars.

Anoosh Chakelian and Will Dunn discuss the stories of the week.

Read: https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2026/09/the-gospel-according-to-nigel-paul-farage

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Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has unveiled the biggest reset in UK relations with Israel for decades, and, in typical fashion, is putting his stamp on his new role.

Meanwhile, the scandal surrounding Reform and their finances continues, with the Met Police announcing they are launching a criminal investigation.

Pippa Bailey is joined by Ailbhe Rea, and guest Ben Judah, to discuss.

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Labour’s missing money metaphor, the millionaires still getting benefits and Dyson’s £420 toothbrush. 

Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Will Dunn to round up the stories of the week.

READ: https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/bursting-the-bubble/2026/09/andy-burnham-cant-explain-the-economy

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2026/09/britain-must-stop-paying-benefits-to-millionaires 

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This week was Andy Burnham’s first in the Commons as Prime Minister, facing his inaugural head to head with Kemi Badenoch at PMQs.

As for the Tories, they have undergone a major reshuffle.

Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Ailbhe Rea and Tom McTague.

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As the UK faces hotter summers, wetter winters and more unpredictable weather, its historic buildings will need to adapt. But how can Britain make them more resilient without compromising the heritage that makes them worth protecting?

Host Sarah Dawood is joined by Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, Chair of the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee, and Tor Burrows, Chief Sustainability Officer at Grosvenor, to ask whether the current system is fit for a changing climate.

Their discussion explores the barriers to adapting and retrofitting older buildings, from complex planning pr...

The investigation into Nigel’s “Farage Fest” election party, Andy Burnham’s Ukrainian jam session and Pope Leo XIV making it onto Vanity Fair’s best dressed list.

Anoosh Chakelian and Will Dunn round up the stories of the week.

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It’s nearly a year since Zack Polanski took the reins of the Green party. 

In many ways the party has never been so successful – with five MPs, leading six local authorities and a leader who cuts through with the public. 

But now the Greens have to contend with a new – and relatively popular – Prime Minister, and internal factions within the party threaten to make life difficult for Polanski as he heads towards the summer conference.

How is the Green leader faring one year on?

Anoosh Chakelian is joined by...

One of the first big decisions of Andy Burnham’s premiership is looming: whether to drill for North Sea oil and gas. 

Labour made a manifesto promise not to grant new licences for oil and gas exploration, but the question of whether to go ahead and drill at the Rosebank and Jackdaw sites - offshore oil and gas fields that have pre-existing licences - remains.

After a summer of wildfires and heatwaves, but with our energy security and cost-of-living precarious, the new Prime Minister faces a political dilemma.

Anoosh Chakelian is...

What constitutes a wealthy society, Richard Tice saying we should “enjoy” climate change and the clamour around Harry and Meghan’s return to the UK. 

Anoosh Chakelian and Oli Dugmore discuss the stories of the week.

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On the one hand, Burnham may never be as popular as he is now. On the other, the PM could lose an election if he calls it soon, bringing his long-held dream of being prime minister to a horribly premature end.

Anoosh Chakelian is joined by political editor Ailbhe Rea.

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The UK still sends millions of tonnes of waste to landfill, creating environmental risks while losing resources that could be put to better use.

Given there will always be some waste that we cannot reuse or recycle, what role should government and industry play in finding a more sustainable alternative?

Host Emma Haslett is joined by Toby Perkins MP, chair of the Environmental Audit Select Committee and Karl Smyth, Director of External Affairs and Strategic Policy at enfinium.

Our panel discusses the UK’s recycling ambitions and the gap between a...

After its victory in Clacton, Reform has announced plans to slash the welfare state.

Over the weekend, Robert Jenrick claimed a Reform government would cut £50 billion from the welfare bill, excluding foreign nationals from most benefits.

Meanwhile, a parliamentary investigation into Nigel Farage’s finances has resumed, after he was found to have accepted a £5 million gift from billionaire Christopher Harborne.

Anoosh Chakelian is joined by political editor Ailbhe Rea.

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Labour overtaking Reform in opinion polls for the first time in over a year, travel chaos for government ministers and the controversial grave of Dobby the house-elf. 

Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Oli Dugmore to discuss the stories of the week.

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Sorry about all the bangs, things got a little crazy at Clacton Leisure Centre.

After a long and fairly ridiculous night, Nigel Farage has been reinstated as MP for Clacton. What happens now? Could it be another by-election?

Anoosh Chakelian is joined by senior data journailst and Labour councillor, Ben Walker.

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Clacton is heading for a by-election on Thursday, triggered by Nigel Farage, amidst the Reform leader's financial scandals.

Anoosh Chakelian spends the day in Clacton, getting the perspective of locals.

READ

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2026/08/hes-made-us-look-like-right-plonkers-clacton-prepares-for-more-farage

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Andy Burnham’s vision – to reground the Labour party in a sense of place, tradition and belonging – began over a decade ago, rising from the rubble of the Blair and Brown years. 

Off the back of the party’s 2010 defeat, figures now key to his government argued that Labour had become too centralised; too detached from working class voters.

Now, Burnham wants to revive “community” as both a value and a means of reforming the UK.

Is this the era of “Woke Blue Labour”?

Anoosh Chakelian is joined by editor...

Is supporting North Sea drilling an extremist position? Does Jeremy Clarkson have the right to ask benefit claimants for a thank you note? And should you grass on naughty neighbours breaking the hosepipe ban?

Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Oli Dugmore to discuss some of the biggest questions of the week.

📚 READ

Supporting North Sea drilling is an extremist position

https://www.newstatesman.com/comment/2026/07/north-sea-drilling-is-an-extremist-position

The road to Nowhereville

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2026/07/the-road-to-nowhereville

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Why did Kemi Badenoch allow a man with a neo-Nazi past to stand as a council candidate? Is Andy Burnham running into his first bump in the road as Prime Minister over his pausing of the early release of prisoners scheme? And could Reform and Restore set aside their differences and form a pact?

Anoosh Chakelian is joined by political correspondent Ethan Croft.

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For some time, Zack Polanski’s tenure as Green Party leader had been largely characterised as a success. 

But he’s been having a turbulent time in recent weeks. He was accused of inciting violence with an Instagram post, failed to steal the Manchester mayoralty from Labour, and the party is becoming increasingly divided on the subject of defence of spending.

Anoosh Chakelian is joined by political correspondent Megan Kenyon to discuss.

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The best day of Andy Burnham's life, Chris Philp goes gonzo in the Channel, and more climate change denial in a burning country.

Anoosh Chakelian and Will Dunn round up some stories you might have missed this week.

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Andy Burnham’s policy and comms blitz powers on - he is setting out his intentions early, and with a very different style than his predecessor.

Meanwhile, on his second week, his government is fully appointed, but the fallout is still rumbling away in the background.

Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Ailbhe Rea and Tom McTague to discuss.

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This New Statesman podcast episode has been fully funded by argenx and features an edited panel discussion recorded at the New Statesman’s Igniting Growth Conference.

The UK has world-leading science, research and regulatory expertise, but too often struggles to turn those strengths into investment, innovation and better patient access.

Can it turn its life sciences strengths into global leadership?

Chaired by New Statesman policy correspondent Samir Jeraj, the panel brings together Dame Chi Onwurah MP, Naomi Weir from the CBI, David Knechtel from argenx UK and Ireland, and Clare Pe...

Anoosh and Will are back for their weekly politics round up, this week includes: the tired spectacle of a new prime minister, Wes Streeting's hot mic moment, Gary Lineker's plea for higher taxes, and the ongoing saga of Stella Creasy's parakeet misidentification.

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It’s day 4 of Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s premiership.

His cabinet is now appointed - With some notable appointments to the top jobs, plenty of reshuffling, and some loyal Starmer-ites out.

The PM has also begun to announce his measures to tackle the cost of living, from bus fares to energy bills, and a big clear target from the off: end rough sleeping.

Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Ailbhe Rea and Tom McTague to discuss.

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Today, Keir Starmer made his way from No 10 to Buckingham Palace to officially resign as Prime Minister.

He was closely followed by his replacement, Andy Burnham, who is currently in his first few hours in the job.

Anoosh Chakelian is in Westminster with Ailbhe Rea to discuss.

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