Matthew Stadlen

‘Family voting’ obviously a bad thing wherever and whenever it occurs. Meanwhile, there seems an awful lot of bigoted bitterness and bad losing from Reform today. A shame to see. But not surprising.

While it’s difficult to form firm conclusions about national politics from the Gorton and Denton by-election, it’s definitely great news that Matt Goodwin hasn’t become a MP.

20 Questions With Zoe Williams

What Zoe Williams says in my podcast about leftwing voters not feeling obliged to vote Labour to keep out Farage is interesting - and dangerous for the government. It’s a view that appears to be strengthened by the Greens winning in Gorton and Denton.

open.spotify.com/episode/6Rwp...

NHS maternity units often cover up harmful errors in childbirth, report finds Damning inquiry into services in England reveals falsification of medical records after ‘negligent’ care

Vital that Wes Streeting begins to turn these findings into action. What a legacy it would be to leave - the significant improvement of maternity services.

‘Damning inquiry into services in England reveals falsification of medical records after ‘negligent’ care’
www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

20 Questions With Justine Picardie

*NEW*

Justine Picardie on the role of fashion in the British monarchy, plus her take on Coco Chanel.

open.spotify.com/episode/3PrG...

Turns out “Rachel from accounts” might know what she’s doing

Trump now u-turning on his u-turn on his u-turn on the Chagos Islands.

20 Questions With Sir John Curtice

If you’re interested in politics then this is a fascinating listen. Sir John Curtice offers his expert insights on the political landscape.

open.spotify.com/episode/232d...

20 Questions With Sir John Curtice

**NEW**

Sir John Curtice on Starmer, Badenoch, Farage, Davey, Polanski, Lowe and the fragmentation of British politics.

A chance to hear from the country’s favourite polling expert.

open.spotify.com/episode/232d...

20 Questions With Sir John Curtice

If you’re interested in politics then this is a fascinating listen. Sir John Curtice offers his expert insights on the political landscape.

open.spotify.com/episode/232d...

20 Questions With Sir John Curtice

**NEW**

Sir John Curtice on Starmer, Badenoch, Farage, Davey, Polanski, Lowe and the fragmentation of British politics.

A chance to hear from the country’s favourite polling expert.

open.spotify.com/episode/232d...

As if the split on the right between the Tories and Reform weren’t enough of a spectacle, we now have a split on the further right between Reform and Restore. Farage v Lowe. A race to the bottom.

Britain is a diverse country. That’s not going to change. The people who constantly complain about it are embittering themselves.

Imagine if the focus of our media was policy rather than anonymous political briefings and sensationalism.

If you supported the “colonisation” comments by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, shame on you. It hasn’t suddenly become ok to be racist. And it never will be.

20 Questions With Zoe Williams

Appreciated this searching conversation with Matt Stadlen open.spotify.com/episode/6Rwp...

UK GDP grew 1.3% over 2025, according to preliminary estimates (with GDP per head up by 1%).

France grew by 0.9%
Italy by 0.7%
Germany by only 0.4%

Unspectacular but encouraging, despite a disappointing final quarter?

The woke right offended by the outcry over the egregious misuse of the word “colonise” by Sir Jim Ratcliffe. They should educate themselves about British colonialism and what it involved. And then educate themselves about immigration and what it involves. And then be better.

So not content with trying to run a football club, Sir Jim Ratcliffe claims that the population of the UK was 58 million in 2020 and that we have since been “colonised”. In fact, the Office for National Statistics tells us: “The population of the UK at mid-year 2020 was estimated to be 67.1 million”

There seems to be almost an addiction to political chaos in the media. A lust for drama and headlines. Britain needs stability. There's no doubt that Starmer's government has made mistakes, but the answer is for them to improve, not throw the country into turmoil.

Nigel Farage has been trying desperately to kill off the Tory Party (while importing dozens of former Tory MPs!). So it must be a matter of serious concern for him that the Conservatives refuse to die in the polls. The right of British politics is split and that’s a big problem for Reform.

As the polls keep telling us, Britain doesn’t need or want Reform.

It’s not implausible that Starmer emerges stronger from this crisis and feels emboldened to get on with delivering progressive and effective government.

It’s possible to think that Starmer made a mistake in appointing Mandelson as Ambassador to the US and to think he shouldn’t quit as Prime Minister.

20 Questions With Zoe Williams

NEW**

Guardian columnist Zoe Williams on a split on the left of British politics, whether Starmer should resign, national identity, the humanity of asylum seekers, and pushing back against the politics of Reform.

A must listen!

open.spotify.com/episode/6Rwp...

The fact that senior government figures are being compelled to hand over electronic communications with Mandelson is another sign that British democracy is in a considerably stronger place than American democracy is under Trump.

**NEW**

A podcast for the weekend.

Julia Bradbury on her cancer journey, searching for answers in the worlds of health and wellbeing, filming in Antarctica, and launching TV channels.

open.spotify.com/episode/2kw7...

London is an incredible city if you’re not a racist.

Starmer’s decision to appoint Mandelson was a bad one. He’s paying a price for that now. But where was the outrage at the time?

It couldn’t be a much worse time for a fumbling Labour government. The risk of a Reform government is real and they would do immense damage to our country.