Steve Richards presents the Rock N Roll Politics podcast

Keir Starmer has said the “mistakes” of Iraq have been learnt and he has published the legal advice that justifies allowing the US to use British military bases in its attacks on Iran. But there were plenty of other “mistakes” in relation to Iraq – are they being repeated now? To join our never-ending debate email your latest thoughts to steveric14@icloud.com • Rock & Roll Politics is live at the Cambridge Literary Festival on Saturday April 25th. You can get tickets here.  • And live at Kings Place on May 11th, days after the May elections: tickets here. Support the podcast on Patreon for live events, bonus podcasts and to get the regular podcast a day early and ad free.  Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the end the Greens won the Gorton and Denton by-election with ease. Labour were third in one of their safest seats. Reform is no longer the only insurgent party of ‘change'. Given the restive mood of voters since the 2008 crash, should any of us be surprised by this - except for the Labour leadership following an outdated, shallow and confused strategy?  Rock & Roll Politics is live at the Cambridge Literary Festival on Saturday April 25th. You can get tickets here.  And live at Kings Place on May 11th, days after the May elections: tickets here. Subscribe to Patreon for live events, bonus podcasts and to get the regular podcast a day early and ad free.  Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week's by-election has become a big test for Labour, Reform and the Greens. The result is likely to have many consequences, but will it be much of a guide to what will happen in a general election? Rock & Roll Politics is live at the Cambridge Literary Festival on Saturday April 25th. You can get tickets here.  And live at Kings Place on May 11th, days after the May elections: tickets here. Subscribe to Patreon for live events, bonus podcasts and to get the regular podcast a day early and ad free.  Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Already there is talk of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's arrest triggering the biggest crisis for the royal family since the abdication. But is there much desire amongst most people to no longer be spellbound by what has always been a deeply flawed institution? The next live show at Kings Place is on May 11th, days after the elections. You can get tickets here. Subscribe to Patreon for live events, bonus podcasts and to get the regular podcast a day early and ad-free.  Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Right wing commentators and newspapers suggest that with the fall of Morgan McSweeney and Keir Starmer fighting for survival, Labour will move to the left. Would that be the disaster they suggest it would be? Rock & Roll Politics is live on the 11th of May at Kings Place, just days after the May elections. It will be an epic night...Tickets are available here. Subscribe to Patreon here for the main podcast a day early and ad free, plus bonus podcasts and exclusive live events. Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the first live show of 2026 we delve deep with the audience in the hall and on the live stream. We go back decades for much needed context and dare to look ahead, and White Van Man Andy makes a guest appearance.  The next live show at Kings Place is on May 11th, days after the elections, and will be even more epic than this show.  You can get tickets here. Subscribe to Patreon for live events, bonus podcasts and to get the regular podcast a day early and ad free.  Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Morgan McSweeney and - we now discover - Peter Mandelson shaped the Starmer leadership in the run up to the election and beyond. Now they are both gone. Inevitably this will lead to change and the first meaningful ‘reset' in a government of resets. But will it be under Starmer or his successor? Rock & Roll Politics is live and streaming this Wednesday, February 11th at the main concert hall in Kings Place. There are a few tickets left in the hall or to stream it online, and more to make sense of than ever. Get tickets here. Subscribe to Patreon for live events, bonus podcasts and to get the regular podcast a day early and ad free.  Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Keir Starmer was not even an MP when Peter Mandelson was part of the New Labour project - a relatively small part. Yet he seems to have had considerable influence over the leadership of Starmer and Morgan McSweeney. Now it is Starmer who is in deep trouble over Mandelson, a figure who was last in government in 2010. How has this happened? Rock & Roll Politics is live at Kings Place next Wednesday. There are a few tickets left, and it will be quite a night in light of fast moving events. Tickets here. Subscribe to Patreon for live events, bonus podcasts and to get the regular podcast a day early and ad free.  Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the Gorton and Denton by-election Reform dares to hope it will win. Which party should opponents of Reform back to prevent such an outcome, and what are the wider lessons of the dilemmas for tactical voters? Rock & Roll Politics is live at Kings Place on Wednesday February 11th. It's the first show of 2026, and a lot has happened since the last one. Tickets here. Subscribe to Patreon for live events, bonus podcasts and to get the regular podcast a day early and ad free.  Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A new group has been launched within the Conservative Party aimed at reviving the much diminished ‘One Nation' wing. Kemi Badenoch has been dismissive. Has she made a fatal strategic miscalculation? The first Rock & Roll Politics  live show of the year is on February 11th at Kings Place…. there's a lot to make sense of that night. Tickets here: https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/words/steve-richards-presents-rock-n-roll-politics-8/ Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Predictably Keir Starmer has blocked Andy Burnham from standing in the forthcoming by-election. Has Labour had enough of this unique style of party management where those seen as to the left of Starmer and Morgan McSweeney, or a leadership 'threat', are crushed, briefed against, expelled, suspended or blocked? Or was this Starmer's only available route?  Rock & Roll Politics is live at the main hall in Kings Place on February 11th, where we will have the chance to delve even deeper - and have some laughs as well…hopefully.  Tickets here. Subscribe to Patreon for live events, bonus podcasts and to get the regular podcast a day early and ad free.  Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Trump has pulled back from the brink, but not before he publicly attacked European leaders, including Keir Starmer. The British prime minister also expressed publicly his opposition to Trump's plans to ‘control' Greenland and threaten tariffs. Outside the EU and with a US President launching threats and public onslaughts, where is Britain's place in the world? Plus, brilliant questions on the split between Reform and the Conservatives. Rock & Roll Politics is live on February 11th with a brand new show. Tickets here. Join in the never ending debate by e-mailing steveric14@icloud.com Subscribe to Patreon for live events, bonus podcasts and to get the regular podcast a day early and ad free.  Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Robert Jenrick's defection highlighted the schism on the right, two parties battling it out as Labour and the SDP did in the 1980s.  But there are significant contrasts between the schism on the left then and the divide on the right now. One of them is surreal - both Reform and the Tories are parties of the populist radical right, so what are they fighting over? Rock & Roll Politics is live at Kings Place on February 11th. Tickets here. Subscribe to Patreon for live events, bonus podcasts and to get the regular podcast a day early and ad free.  Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I was not planning another podcast on the theme of U-turn, not least when the schism on the right has been highlighted by the sacking of Robert Jenrick. But I sense there are huge lessons from the sequence that led to the U-turn, and they must be learnt urgently. Rock & Roll Politics is live at Kings Place on February 11th. Tickets here. Subscribe to Patreon for live events, bonus podcasts and to get the regular podcast a day early and ad free.  Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Since our last podcast on the risks of an unsubtle focus on the cost of living, the Government has carried out another U-turn to protect pubs from increases in business rates. Number 10 says this is a sign of an increasingly nimble government responding quickly to potential problems – but why do the problems arise in the first place? And will there be more U-turns now that Keir Starmer has pledged to put more money in people's pockets? • It's time for the first live show of 2026 at Kings Place, and there's a lot to make sense of! Tickets here. Back the podcast on Patreon for live events, bonus podcasts and to get the regular podcast a day early – and ad free.  Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Keir Starmer has proclaimed the government's entire focus is on the cost of living. But to what degree can he control price rises, and will voters feel better off in the coming months? Should governments intervene to control prices? Plus, brilliant questions on leadership, Britain and the EU and much more. Rock & Roll Politics is live at Kings Place on February 11th. Tickets here. Subscribe to Patreon for live events, bonus podcasts and to get the regular podcast a day early and ad free.  Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Trump has carried out a coup in Venezuela - how long will he seek to rule over it, and then what?  He is not the first US President who has acted unilaterally without telling the UK, and he is not the first who has removed a leader without a follow up plan. And why did Starmer's long BBC 1 interview work for him, the interviewer and the viewers?  Subscribe to Patreon for live events, bonus podcasts and to get the regular podcast a day early and ad free.  Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

David Cameron had promised a Brexit referendum, and to renegotiate Britain's EU membership. In a sign of what was to follow, it was not enough for two Tory MPs… • The first show of 2026 is in the main concert hall at Kings Place on the 11th of February. Tickets are available here. • Subscribe to Patreon here for the main podcast a day early and ad free, bonus podcasts and exclusive live events. • My biography of Tony Blair is out now, available here. https://amzn.eu/d/4sJJpah Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Shaun Woodward was one of the masterminds behind the Conservatives 1992 election victory and subsequently he became a Tory MP. Soon after Labour's 1997 landslide he changed sides, and ultimately became a Labour cabinet minister. • The first show of 2026 is in the main concert hall at Kings Place on the 11th of February. Tickets are available here. • Subscribe to Patreon here for the main podcast a day early and ad free, bonus podcasts and exclusive live events. • My biography of Tony Blair is out now, available here. Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Reg Prentice was a Labour cabinet minister after the 1974 elections, but was threatened with deselection by his local Labour party for being on the right. There were rowdy meetings as Prentice's cabinet allies spoke in his defence and by the time of the 1979 election Prentice had defected to Margaret Thatcher's Conservative party. • The first show of 2026 is in the main concert hall at Kings Place on the 11th of February. Tickets are available here. • Subscribe to Patreon here for the main podcast a day early and ad free, bonus podcasts and exclusive live events. • My biography of Tony Blair is out now, available here. Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We know more than we think we know … Sometimes what is in front of our eyes is more interesting than speculating about a hazy future. Here is what we know now about Keir Starmer's fragility and the even more precarious international crisis.  • Tickets for my next live show on the 11th of February are available now! Get them here.   • My biography of Tony Blair is out now, get it here.   • A subscription to Patreon for the main podcast a day early and ad free, bonus podcasts and exclusive live events. https://www.patreon.com/RockNRollPolitics  Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Keir Starmer has endured a rough opening 18 months, but so did Tony Blair in quite similar ways. So why was Blair miles ahead in the polls in his early phase in power? And why is Starmer breaking all records for low ratings? The first show of 2026 is in the main concert hall at Kings Place on the 11th of February. Tickets are the perfect Christmas present! Get them here. Subscribe to Patreon here. The next series of bonus podcasts will be: When prime ministers fall. My biography of Tony Blair is out now! Get it here. Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Here's the last live show of the year, recorded in the main concert hall at Kings Place. There's a dramatic answer to the question, will Keir Starmer be prime minister this time next year? Plus, making sense of Nigel Farage, Zack Polanski, Jeremy Corbyn and much more… Dream Christmas presents... • Tickets for my next live show on the 11th of February are available now. Get them here. • My biography of Tony Blair is out now, available here. • A subscription to Patreon for the main podcast a day early and ad free, bonus podcasts and exclusive live events. Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Trump's National Security Strategy is scathing about Europe, and in interviews he intensified his attack on the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. Where does this leave Britain's place in the world? Out of the EU and no longer able to claim there's a reliable ally in the White House, even if that claim was always partly delusional... Plus, what chance of a Labour/Lib Dem government after the next general election? Subscribe to Patreon for bonus podcasts, exclusive live events and the main podcasts ad free and a day early. Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have started to become more critical of the ‘Brexit Deal'. David Lammy highlights the benefits of a customs union. The Brexit minister, Nick Thomas-Symonds, is promoted. But does this mean a cautious government is moving towards the customs union, and when would it make such a move? Looking for the ideal Christmas present? My new biography of Tony Blair can be read over a few festive drinks, and you can buy it here. Subscribe to Patreon for live events, bonus podcasts and to get the regular podcast a day early and ad free.  Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Few buy newspapers and not many read them. So why do they shape the political agenda, not least in determining how the current government is perceived? Rock & Roll Politics -The Xmas Special is live at Kings Place on Dec 8th.. Get your tickets for Kings Place or the live-stream of the event here. Subscribe to Patreon for live events, bonus podcasts and to get the regular podcast a day early and ad free.  Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The fickle media and Conservative MPs are hailing Kemi Badenoch's recent performances, making her more secure in her role as leader. The Tories are still dominant in the media, so could they - not Reform - emerge as the main alternative at the next election?  Plus the furore over Rachel Reeves and the OBR, and why is it shocking for a Labour government to deliver a ‘Labour budget”? To find out more about the Common Ground Justice Project click the link here. Rock & Roll Politics -The Xmas Special is live at Kings Place on Dec 8th. Get your tickets here. Subscribe to Patreon for live events, bonus podcasts and to get the regular podcast a day early and ad free.  Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a thousand leaks, speeches and u-turns, Rachel Reeves has delivered her budget. As predicted there were a range of tax rises and some significant spending increases, not least on welfare. For all the feverish coverage, how much does the budget really change? Rock & Roll Politics - The Christmas Special is live at Kings Place on the 8th of December for the last show of the year. Tickets are available now at the Kings Place website here. Subscribe to Patreon to take part in my exclusive live event on the 20th November, plus ad-free podcasts arriving in your feed a day early and bonus podcasts and live events.  https://www.patreon.com/RockNRollPolitics  Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In spite of the bleak financial inheritance, Rachel Reeves should have some space with a landslide Commons for radical reforms in her budget. Did she partly choose to be trapped, without thinking through the consequences? Plus brilliant questions on how Britain is governed in relation to Covid Inquiry and Shabana Mahmood's plans for asylum seekers.  Rock & Roll Politics -The Xmas Special is live at Kings Place on Dec 8th, days after the budget. Get your tickets here. Subscribe to Patreon for live events, bonus podcasts and to get the regular podcast a day early and ad free.  Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Cabinet Office Minister, Nick Thomas-Symonds, has written several political biographies. The most recent was on Harold Wilson. What are the differences between being in power now compared with previous Labour governments? How did Wilson deal with leadership threats of the type Keir Starmer faces now? He's also responsible for the Brexit 'reset', so does he want to move closer to the EU? And what about the single market? Rock & Roll Politics - The Christmas Special is live at Kings Place on the 8th of December, just days after the budget. Tickets are available now at the Kings Place website here. Subscribe to Patreon to take part in my exclusive live event on the 20th November, plus ad-free podcasts arriving in your feed a day early and bonus podcasts and live events.  Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Within weeks of becoming Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood has announced a set of wide-ranging policies aimed at deterring illegal asylum seekers. Will they work practically and politically? Plus, has Rachel Reeves got a coherent vision for the economy? How to define the soft left? And are there too many political journalists? Rock & Roll Politics - The Christmas Special is live at Kings Place on the 8th of December, just days after the budget. Tickets are available now at the Kings Place website here. Subscribe to Patreon to take part in my exclusive live event on the 20th November, plus ad-free podcasts arriving in your feed a day early and bonus podcasts and live events.  https://www.patreon.com/RockNRollPolitics  Written and presented by Steve  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There's universal consensus that the briefings from Number 10, warning of a leadership challenge from Wes Streeting and the conduct of "feral" Labour MPs, have rebounded badly on Starmer and those involved. Yet the briefings against key Labour figures are part of a pattern under Keir Starmer's leadership… even if he is the biggest victim of these operations and is now in greater danger. Plus brilliant questions on the BBC and much more. Rock & Roll Politics - The Christmas Special is live at Kings Place on the 8th of December. Tickets are available now at the Kings Place website here. Subscribe to Patreon to take part in my exclusive live event on the 20th November, plus ad-free podcasts arriving in your feed a day early and bonus podcasts and live events.  Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tim Davie, Deborah Turness and other senior BBC managers have gone out of their way to please the right, from the treatment of Gary Linker to the selection of political panels where there is often an imbalance that favours the right. Ironically and predictably the right wing newspapers have shown yet again their bullying muscularity by triggering the removal of Turness and Davie. Why has the BBC lost its way and is there any route that leads to the BBC's survival?  Rock & Roll Politics -The Xmas Special is live at Kings Place on Dec 8th, days after the budget. Get your tickets here. Subscribe to Patreon for live events, bonus podcasts and to get the regular podcast a day early and ad free.  Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Labour's so-called 'soft left' is becoming more muscular and vocal, but what binds this part of the party and how does it want this government to change? Plus, can Rachel Reeves make voters recognise the connection between higher taxes and better public services? A key rule for governments: "Make the connections".  Rock & Roll Politics - The Christmas Special is live at Kings Place on the 8th of December. Tickets are available now at the Kings Place website here. Subscribe to Patreon to take part in my exclusive live event on the 20th November, plus ad-free podcasts arriving in your feed a day early and bonus podcasts and live events.  Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nigel Farage has torn up Reform's 2024 manifesto, pledging big spending cuts and promising tax cuts. Whether on the right or left, has he framed a distinct and credible argument about the economy? Also, is the Royal Family doomed in modern Britain? Plus brilliant questions and a range of notices for the Rock & Roll Politics co-operative.  Rock & Roll Politics - The Christmas Special is live at Kings Place on the 8th of December. Tickets are available now at the Kings Place website here.  Subscribe to Patreon to take part in my exclusive live event on the 20th November, plus ad-free podcasts arriving in your feed a day early and bonus podcasts and live events.   Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Keir Starmer refused to rule out breaking pre-election tax commitments at Prime Minister's Questions, suggesting that he and Rachel Reeves are contemplating doing so. Can they get away with it? Or will it be the cause of their fall?  Rock & Roll Politics - The Christmas Special is live at Kings Place on the 8th of December. Tickets are available now at the Kings Place website here. Subscribe to Patreon to take part in my exclusive live event on the 20th November, plus ad-free podcasts arriving in your feed a day early and bonus podcasts and live events.  Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Finally, Rachel Reeves cites the Brexit deal as one reason why the economy is failing and why she will have to raise taxes in the budget. But is it too little, too late?  Rock & Roll Politics - The Christmas Special is live at Kings Place on the 8th of December. Tickets are available now at the Kings Place website here. Subscribe to Patreon to take part in my exclusive live event on the 20th November, plus ad-free podcasts arriving in your feed a day early and bonus podcasts and live events. Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With the nationalisation of the railways, the need for economic growth, climate change and a focus on addressing regional inequalities, transport should be at the top of the government's priorities. But is it? I'm joined by transport guru, author and podcaster, Christian Wolmar, to discuss why Transport is often overlooked by prime ministers and chancellors and how hopeful or gloomy he is now. Rock & Roll Politics - The Christmas Special is live at Kings Place on the 8th of December. Tickets are available now at the Kings Place website here. Subscribe to Patreon to take part in an exclusive live event on the 20th November, plus ad-free podcasts arriving in your feed a day early, bonus podcasts and live events. Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Most of the time the right-wing media scream that government should not interfere with the police. But when the police make a decision the media disapproves of, it screams the opposite. In doing so this tells us much about the blurred lines of responsibility and the confusion about the role of the state – that partly explains why 'nothing works' remains a powerful motif in British politics. Rock & Roll Politics - The Christmas Special is live at Kings Place on the 8th of December. Tickets are available now at the Kings Place website here. Subscribe to Patreon for ad free podcasts arriving in your feed a day early...plus bonus podcasts and live events. Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In a recording of a recent Rock & Roll Politics live show, the audience became Rachel Reeves… and I became Emma Barnett interviewing some of them. There were many ideas for the real Chancellor in advance of next month's budget and some mighty dilemmas explored. Here it is! Rock &Roll Politics - The Christmas Special is live at Kings Place on the 8th of December. Tickets are available now at the Kings Place website here. Subscribe to Patreon for bonus podcasts, the main podcast a day early and ad free… plus special exclusive live events. https://www.patreon.com/RockNRollPolitics  Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The post of deputy leader is ill-defined at best. Yet delving deep, and going back to contests in the 1970s, shows they change the course of Labour's history. The current one will also make waves when the result is declared. Plus Donald Trump.. the peacemaker.  Subscribe to Patreon for bonus podcasts, the main podcast a day early and ad free… plus special exclusive live events. Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Conservative Party conference gathers with the party way behind in third place and being hit by defections to Reform, a threat from the right they have never faced before. Can they survive?  Written and presented by Steve Richards. Subscribe to Patreon for bonus podcasts including the latest on Labour's Deputy leadership contest, and to get the regular podcast a day early and ad free. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Labour Party conference is in a febrile mood – there's much talk of leadership, and also of Farage. Can Starmer bring together those horrified by a Reform government? Or is he too unpopular, not least with those on the left?  Please subscribe to Patreon for bonus podcasts, the main podcast a day early and ad free… plus special exclusive live events. https://www.patreon.com/RockNRollPolitics  Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Who are the Liberal Democrats? The coalition years exposed a deep split between social democrats and free market liberals. Are those divisions healed? Is Ed Davey right to party play for laughs? Is he making the correct pitch in the current multi-party mayhem?  Tickets for Thursday's epic live show in the main concert hall at Kings Place are available here. Please subscribe to Patreon for bonus podcasts, the main podcast a day early and ad free… plus special exclusive live events. Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Predictably, Peter Mandelson's return to the centre of the political stage has ended in crisis. Mandelson's influence on Keir Starmer grew after Labour lost the Hartlepool by-election in the early days of Starmer's leadership. The fashionable narrative is that Starmer changed his strategy for the better after Hartlepool, but is that when the seeds were sown that have led to the current crisis around his leadership? • Rock & Roll Politics is live in the main concert hall at Kings Place on Thursday September 25th at the end of the Labour Party Conference week! Tickets available here.   • Subscribe to Patreon for bonus podcasts, the main podcast a day early and ad free… plus special exclusive live events. Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Keir Starmer has kept more or less the same Cabinet but given most of them new jobs. Will it work as Reform UK soars in the polls?  Rock & Roll Politics is live in the main concert hall at Kings Place on Thursday September 25th at the end of the Labour Party Conference week! Tickets available here. https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/words/steve-richards-presents-rock-n-roll-politics-6/     My biography of Tony Blair is published this Thursday and is available here. https://www.waterstones.com/book/tony-blair/steve-richards/9781800754409   Subscribe to Patreon for bonus podcasts, the main podcast a day early and ad free… plus special exclusive live events. A bonus podcast is coming soon! https://www.patreon.com/RockNRollPolitics  Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With Labour languishing in the polls, Keir Starmer has reshuffled his top team… yet again. His leadership has been punctuated by changes in senior personnel, so does that tell us more about him or them?  My book on Tony Blair is published next Thursday. You can pre-order it here. Rock & Roll Politics is live at Kings Place on Thursday September 25th at the end of the Labour Party Conference week! Subscribe to Patreon for bonus podcasts, the main podcast a day early and ad free… plus special exclusive live events. Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Here's a recording of the final show at this year's festival, where there was a different show every day. The final one looked ahead via four political figures, but many other themes and characters were explored over the fourteen shows. It was great seeing so many of the co-operative in Edinburgh! Subscribe to Patreon⁠ for bonus podcasts, the main podcast a day early and ad free… plus special exclusive live events. Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The run of Rock & Roll Politics shows is in full swing, with host Steve Richards delivering a different show each day.  Here's an update for the co-operative on the various themes and the audience predictions, plus questions on the political drama being played out in Wales, and much more.  Rock & Roll Politics is live at the Edinburgh Festival right now, with a different show every day. Tickets here.  Subscribe to Patreon for live events, bonus podcasts and to get the regular podcast a day early and ad free.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Labour government has endured a traumatic first year on many fronts, but its opponents are in different ways extremely vulnerable. If its opponents cannot win next time Labour will secure a second term, yet the mood music suggests a government in near fatal trouble...  Rock & Roll Politics is live at the Edinburgh Festival with a different show each day. Tickets available here. Subscribe to Patreon for bonus podcasts, the main podcast a day early and ad free… plus special exclusive live events. https://www.patreon.com/RockNRollPolitics  Written and presented by Steve Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In a Question Time Special the Rock N Roll Politics co-operative reflects on the 'pause' of some rail electrification schemes, the degree to which the UK's independent nuclear deterrent is not independent, and what's wrong with digital ID cards?  RocknRoll Politics is live at the Edinburgh festival from this Sunday August 10th, with a different show every day. Tickets here.  Subscribe to Patreon for live events, bonus podcasts and to get the regular podcast a day early and ad free. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices