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Andy Burnham has won a thumping victory in Makerfield, proving he can, in certain circumstances, beat Nigel Farage's Reform UK - but what about beating his own party leader Sir Keir Starmer? The prime minister says he will stand and fight any leadership challenge. So, where does it leave the country? Will Starmer be forced to stand down, despite his defiant tone now? And what will happen if there is a leadership election? On this episode of The Fourcast Krishnan Guru-Murthy is joined by Keir Starmer's biographer Tom Baldwin, Labour MP and Wes Streeting ally Rosie Wrighting, Labour MP and Andy Burnham supporter Dr SImon Opher and More In Common executive director Luke Tryl.
Hosted by David Cowen | Careers and the Business of Law Everyone's talking about Harvey, Legora, Spellbook, and Ivo. Nobody's talking about what they ride on top of. Tom Baldwin - founder and CEO of Entegrata, former CIO at Foley, Sheppard Mullin, Reed Smith, and Cadwalader - argues the real story is data infrastructure. Without a single source of truth, every AI tool in your firm is working from a partial picture. WHY THIS MATTERS? If your firm is buying AI tools without auditing the data underneath them, this is your warning shot. Tom's framing: toaster ovens need an electrical grid. KEY TAKEAWAYS AI tools work on narrow tasks, not whole-firm intelligence. 50 asset purchase agreements? Great. 200 million documents? No. Pulling documents out of your DMS strips away the metadata that makes them valuable - judge, opposing counsel, area of law, industry. That context is what AI actually needs. Business-of-law use cases (lateral prediction, cross-sell, client attrition, FP&A) are wide open. Practice of law got all the attention. A data lakehouse unifies data across 20-40 systems. Snowflake popularized it; Azure/Databricks/Fabric are the modern stacks. Cost is roughly the same at 200 lawyers or 2,000 - six figures, ongoing. Compute and storage are cheap; talent is the investment. Firms move from "nice to have" to "must have" after a near-miss. Tom's example: a firm almost fired an associate because their FTE calc didn't account for maternity leave. The chief data officer is becoming a real C-suite role. Sidley's among the early movers. Watch the forward-deployed legal engineer trend. Harvey is hiring practitioners for these roles. PEOPLE MENTIONED David Cowen - Host Tom Baldwin - Entegrata founder & CEO Andrew Sieja- Founder of kCura/Relativity; Entegrata's first angel investor Renee Morris, Katrina Dittmer, Glenn LaForce - Data leaders Tom mentioned COMPANIES AND TOOLS MENTIONED Entegrata - Turnkey data lakehouse in Azure Snowflake, Azure, Databricks, Microsoft Fabric - Data platform stacks Harvey, Legora, Spellbook, Ivo - Practice-of-law AI tools Sidley Austin - Early adopter of the chief data officer role
Keir Starmer survives the day - but the pressure on his leadership is growing. Today, he attempted to shore up his position with a speech focused on his vision for Labour, saying his government must go beyond “incremental change” and be the party of a “stronger and fairer” Britain. But despite this, at least 55 Labour MPs have called on Starmer to set out a timetable for a leadership election to take place.And inside Labour, the conversation has already moved on to who would replace him and two names dominate - Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting. Burnham says he should never have been blocked from returning to Westminster, and Streeting is openly being discussed as a potential frontrunner. So with the party leadership in flux and the future of the Labour party once again up for debate - what happens now? In this episode of The Fourcast, Krishnan Guru-Murthy speaks to Starmer biographer Tom Baldwin and Guardian columnist Zoe Williams about what today's turmoil really means. Is Labour heading for a delayed but inevitable leadership contest, a Burnham ‘coronation', or a messy fight over the party's future?
A special episode of the podcast today with real depth of thinking on where Keir Starmer has gone wrong… and why right now is NOT the right time to replace him. Tom Baldwin is the journalist who knows Starmer best. He's studied him at close range for years. He's still very much got the inside track on how he's thinking. In a totally candid conversation, Tom talks to Matt Kelly about the core of Starmer's problems as PM, what has gone wrong in Downing Street and what the next two years of government look like. It's frank, honest and insightful. And, we hope, it's scrupulously fair to this embattled PM. Enjoy!Produced by Matt WithersOFFER: Get The New World for just £1 for the first month. Head to https://www.thenewworld.co.uk/2matts/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sometimes you outgrow your home … and that can be the case with a legal tech conference. This year's LegalWeek conference, hosted by ALM Media and Law.com, was held in New York City at its brand new location - the Jacob Javits Convention Center. More than 6,000 of the biggest names in the industry gathered for the four-day conference from March 9th through March 12th. And yes ... Legal Speak was there conducting live interviews with the best and brightest. In this episode, hosts Patrick Smith and Cedra Mayfield sat down with Tom Baldwin, the Founder and CEO of Entegrata. This episode of Legal Speak is brought to you by Harvey. Harvey … AI tailored for Law. Hosts: Cedra Mayfield & Patrick Smith Guest: Tom Baldwin Producer: Charles Garnar
The government is in full-on leadership crisis - with pressure building on Keir Starmer to resign. The Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar was the first major figure to go over the top - saying there have been too many mistakes and Starmer should go. A lot of the cabinet are out declaring their support for the PM but it is clear things are moving fast. Starmer's Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney quit on Sunday over his advice to appoint Peter Mandelson as US ambassador. Today the No 10 director of communications, Tim Allan, also quit. So what next - and if Starmer is going what and who should follow? On this episode of the Fourcast, Krishnan Guru-Murthy is joined by Polly Toynbee, a columnist at the Guardian, Tom Baldwin, former Labour communications chief who has also written a biography of Sir Keir Starmer, and Luke Tryl, executive director of the More in Common UK thinktank.
The Peter Mandelson Epstein files emails is the biggest scandal of Keir Starmer's time as Prime Minister, but is it the one to finish him off?The PM admits Peter Mandelson's ongoing relationship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein came up as part of the vetting process to appoint the disgraced peer as the UK's man in Washington, but he says Mandelson 'lied and lied again', adding, ‘he betrayed our country and our party'.The government's invective shows their determination to distance themselves from the scandal but the stench of sleaze and corruption hangs heavy over the Labour government because of Mandelson - the man Keir Starmer was praising less than a year ago.Could it be the final straw for the Prime Minister's restless backbenchers?On this episode of The Fourcast, Krishnan Guru-Murthy was joined by Starmer biographer Tom Baldwin, the political commentator Zoe Williams and pollster and strategist Scarlett Maguire.
This weekend's Coffee House Shots digs into the growing debate over whether Keir Starmer should tack left on the economy as voters peel away to the Greens and Lib Dems – and why some in Labour think its migration stance is now more popular with their own voters than ever. Are Labour tacking left? But beyond policy, a deeper question looms: is Westminster's obsession with ‘super-advisers' drowning out the government's message? Tom Baldwin argues that leaks, briefing wars and the hunt for the next ‘power-behind-the-throne' are undermining Labour's ability to tell a coherent story, while Tim Shipman asks why Starmer still struggles to communicate the values that drive him.James Heale speaks to Tim Shipman and Tom Baldwin, Keir Starmer's biographer.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts.Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This weekend's Coffee House Shots digs into the growing debate over whether Keir Starmer should tack left on the economy as voters peel away to the Greens and Lib Dems – and why some in Labour think its migration stance is now more popular with their own voters than ever. Are Labour tacking left?But beyond policy, a deeper question looms: is Westminster's obsession with ‘super-advisers' drowning out the government's message? Tom Baldwin argues that leaks, briefing wars and the hunt for the next ‘power-behind-the-throne' are undermining Labour's ability to tell a coherent story, while Tim Shipman asks why Starmer still struggles to communicate the values that drive him.James Heale speaks to Tim Shipman and Tom Baldwin, Keir Starmer's biographer.Produced by Oscar Edmondson. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Matts are joined by Labour insider and New World contributing editor Tom Baldwin - fresh from his in depth interview with the woman of the hour, Chancellor Rachel Reeves. Tom explains what's going on in Reeves' head (lots) and how she faces an unprecedented challenge - calming a febrile electorate while delivering enough visible progress to keep Reform out of government. Is she up to the job? Listen to find out. Then the conversation turns to her boss - Keir Starmer. Can he really beat Farage and if so, how? Tom makes the best case the Matts have yet to hear for why Starmer is precisely the man for the job - but it comes with a massive caveat. Something fundamental has to change about how Number 10 goes about it. It's a deeply insightful conversation from a man who understands the trials and tribulations of this Labour government as well as anyone. Enjoy.Head to nakedwines.co.uk/matts to get a £30 voucher and 6 top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39.99, delivery included.OFFER: Get The New World for just £1 for the first month. Head to https://www.thenewworld.co.uk/2matts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Today we look at the latest in claims of briefings coming out of Number 10.The prime minister's chief of staff Morgan McSweeney was not involved "directly or indirectly" in briefings against cabinet ministers and will not be leaving his job, sources have told the BBC.Some in government have blamed McSweeney for being the source of the briefings.McSweeney has not responded to calls for comment but people who have spoken to him have told the BBC: "He's done absolutely nothing wrong. He's not going anywhere."To discuss it, Adam is joined by chief political correspondent, Henry Zeffman and Tom Baldwin, former senior Labour adviser and author of ‘Keir Starmer: The Biography'.This episode of Newscast was recorded as part of our 25-hour Podcast-a-thon for Children in Need.Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. The presenter was Adam Fleming. It was made by Jack Maclaren with Anna Harris and Shiler Shiler Mahmoudi. The social producer was Grace Braddock. The technical producer was Hannah Montgomery. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.
SummaryLet's face it - Labour inherited a total shit show after 14 years of Tory misrule - an economy crippled by Brexit, immigration chaos, turds in our rivers and seas, and rapidly deteriorating public services. But - inevitably - it's Sir Keir Starmer who's getting the blame for the country's woes, thanks mainly to the the fickleness of the electorate as well as the country's evident decline. But Labour seems to have bent over backwards to help its opponents with self-inflicted wounds such as inept communications, avoidable scandal and bouts of epic political bungling.As the Labour Party Conference gets under way next weekend, Nick Cohen talks to Keir Starmer's biographer Tom Baldwin about the prime minister's leadership position within the Labour Party, examining the PM's challenges and potential future in politics.Labour needs to expose the malice and plastic patriotism of the Far RightNick and Tom discuss the current state of Labour's position, focusing on whether Sir Keir Starmer's leadership is in jeopardy. They highlighted Labour's low vote share in the 2024 election and recent poor opinion poll ratings, including a recent approval rating of minus 54 for Keir Starmer. The discussion touches on the potential leadership challengers within the Labour Party, including, possibly the current metro-mayor for Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, with Nick noting the historic difficulty of replacing a sitting Prime Minister, particularly in the Labour Party. In contrast, as we know, the Tories have never had any problem knifing their leaders in the back - or front.Both Tom and Nick explore the broader topic of combating the far right in politics. Tom says Starmer should articulate Labour values more forcefully and espouse his own more gentle and inclusive version of patriotism in stark contrast to the nationalist bombast of Nigel Farage and and the more sinister extremism of Tommy Robinson/Yaxley-Lennon.Starmer needs to articulate & lead national renewalTom says Starmer needs to be able to convincingly argue for a gentle and inclusive patriotism, to lead a sense of national renewal and take on the plastic patriots of Farage and the far right, He says, "It's not some sepia-tinted restoration of the past. It's not some like we're going to like back ruling the waves like Boris Johnson pretended, or you where the country invented liberties. So we don't need to be members of the ECHR or this nonsense."Read all about it!The paperback version of Tom's must-read bestseller, Keir Starmer, the biography, is out now with updated chapters.Nick Cohen's @NichCohen4 latest Substack column Writing from London on politics and culture from the UK and beyond. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
After a week of chaos and crisis for the Government following the dramatic sacking of Peter Mandelson as US Ambassador, George Parker speaks to Labour peer, Margaret Hodge, and Labour backbencher, Clive Lewis, about the operation in Downing Street, the party's deputy leadership contest and the mood among MPs.As the Assisted Dying Bill returns to Parliament this week, George is joined by Labour peer, Lord Falconer, who is sponsoring the Bill through the Lords, and Conservative peer, Mark Harper, an opponent of assisted dying.Peers have recently been venting their anger about the new door to the House of Lords which hasn't been working properly. One of them is the Conservative, Robert Hayward, who tells George about his fears for the wider costs of the restoration and renewal of the Palace of Westminster.And the Prime Minister's biographer, Tom Baldwin, and Guardian columnist, Polly Toynbee, discuss why Peter Mandelson keeps getting - and losing - top jobs, and what it means for Sir Keir Starmer's government.
Angela Rayner has resigned as Deputy Prime Minister following revelations that she failed to pay the correct tax on a new home. But what does her departure mean for Keir Starmer, the Labour Party, and the future of the government?In today's episode of The Fourcast, Krishnan Guru-Murthy is joined by Tom Baldwin, former Labour communications chief, Guardian columnist Zoe Williams and Sir Craig Oliver, ex-Director of Communications for David Cameron, to unpack the political fallout and what it means for Labour's leadership.
The writer and journalist Tom Baldwin talks to Paul Adamson about his updated biography of Keir Starmer and his first year as UK Prime Minister.
The Matts are joined by New World contributing editor Tom Baldwin - author of Keir Starmer The Biography - for an honesty session. Where has Labour gone wrong in its poor first year and is Keir Starmer the right man to turn things around and keep Farage out of Downing Street. It's a tough conversation but full of insight and ideas (something Labour could do with some might say). Enjoy!Pre-order the new edition of Keir Starmer The Biography hereOFFER: Get The New World for just £1 for the first month. Head to https://www.thenewworld.co.uk/2matts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Tomorrow, Labour MPs will be asked to vote on the rejigged welfare reform bill. Senior Labour politicians Sadiq Khan and Andy Burnham still don't think it's worth the paper it's written on. But the whole debacle has thrown up a bigger question about Starmer's leadership and authority. Does anyone really understand what's in the PM's mind or what he is trying to achieve? We speak to the Starmer whisperer, Tom Baldwin. Later, Glastonbury, Bob Vylan and the BBC. And how has Wimbledon now become a symbol of Britain's decline?The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/
Are Sir Keir Starmer's u-turns the sign of a wea and indecisive leader or evidence of someone willing to change their mind and listen to reasoned arguments? The Prime Minister has backtracked, to a greater or lesser degree, on cuts to winter fuel payments, whether or not to hold a national inquiry into grooming gangs, and now disability benefits. He's also told His biographer Tom Baldwin in The Observer that he regrets previously suggesting that Britain was at risk of becoming "an island of strangers" because of migration… a speech carrying echoes of Enoch Powell and which provides the theme for this month's print edition of Byline Times. In a conversation on the Byline Supplement to mark its launch, Byline times executive editor Peter Jukes was joined by editor in chief Hardeep Matharu and political edtor Adam Bienkov. Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
George Parker of the Financial Times assesses the latest developments at Westminster.To discuss the Chancellor's trip to Washington to try to secure a trade deal with the US, George is joined by Labour MP and Chair of the Business and Trade Committee, Liam Byrne, and former Conservative government Trade Minister, Greg Hands.Also this week, London hosted the global energy security conference. To discuss the green energy transition, George is joined by Green Party MP Ellie Chowns and Gary Smith, the General Secretary of the GMB union.Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine and Conservative MP Dr Caroline Johnson join George to discuss the recent Supreme Court ruling that a woman is defined by biological sex.And, in the week of St George's Day, the Prime Minister hosted the first ever Downing Street reception to mark the occasion. To discuss the meaning of 'patriotism', George speaks to Tom Baldwin, a former Labour adviser and the author of a biography of Keir Starmer and Samuel Kasumu, who worked as an adviser to former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
As a man with the instincts of an insurgent, Morgan McSweeney, Keir Starmer's chief of staff, has found Labour's first six months in office a frustrating time, writes The Spectator's editor Michael Gove. ‘Many of his insights – those that made Labour electable – appeared to have been overlooked by the very ministers he propelled into power.' McSweeney is trying to wrench the government away from complacent incumbency: there is a new emphasis on growth, a tougher line on borders, an impatience with establishment excuses for inertia. Will McSweeney win his battle? And what does this mean for figures in Starmer's government, like Richard Hermer and Ed Miliband? Michael joined the podcast alongside Starmer's biographer Tom Baldwin. (1:04) Next: can the AfD be stopped? Lisa Haseldine writes about an earthquake that hit German politics last week; the much feted ‘firewall' – the agreement by mainstream political parties not to work with the far-right – appeared to fall. Freidrich Merz, tipped to be Chancellor after the upcoming German elections, relied upon the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) for two votes on immigration. Cue protests and denouncements; Merz's most high-profile predecessor as CDU leader, Angela Merkel, even made a rare, political intervention to denounce the decision. Has the vote helped or hindered Merz? And has the German firewall fallen permanently? Lisa joined the podcast alongside Elisabeth Dampier. Elisabeth has interviewed the controversial AfD MEP Maximilian Krah for the magazine and writes about the man who calls himself ‘the German Donald Trump'. (21:02) And finally: the curious life of an obituary writer Mark Mason provides his notes on obituaries for the magazine this week, stating that ‘there's nothing as inspiring or instructive or entertaining about reading a few hundred words about someone's time on his planet'. What's the process behind putting an obituary together? The Times' longest serving obituary writer Damian Arnold once said, ‘The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is check to see who's dead.' Mark and Damian joined the podcast to discuss who makes for the best obituary, if there is joy to be found in celebrating death, and whether they've ever published an obituary of someone who isn't actually dead… (33:48) Presented by Lara Prendergast and William Moore. Produced by Patrick Gibbons.
Donald Trump has spent the week turning the world upside down again - launching a trade war with China and claiming America will take over the Gaza Strip - and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is scrambling to work out how best to respond to the American president. Sir Keir met with EU leaders earlier in the week for post-Brexit reset, but the prospect of closer ties comes just as Donald Trump has the EU in his crosshairs - saying he'll slap tariffs on the bloc, while suggesting he might spare the UK. So, the prime minister is walking a tightrope that stretches across both the Channel and the Atlantic, will he keep the balancing act going or topple over? In this week's episode of the Fourcast, Gary Gibbon is joined by Michael Gove, cabinet minister under four Conservative Prime Ministers and now editor of the Spectator, journalist and biographer of Keir Starmer, Tom Baldwin. And head of the Europe programme at the Chatham House think tank, Armida van Rij . Produced by Silvia Maresca, Calum Fraser, Ka Yee Mak, Rob Thomson.
This week: Morgan McSweeney, the insurgent behind Keir Starmer's premiership As a man with the instincts of an insurgent, Morgan McSweeney, Keir Starmer's chief of staff, has found Labour's first six months in office a frustrating time, writes The Spectator's editor Michael Gove. ‘Many of his insights – those that made Labour electable – appeared to have been overlooked by the very ministers he propelled into power.' McSweeney is trying to wrench the government away from complacent incumbency: there is a new emphasis on growth, a tougher line on borders, an impatience with establishment excuses for inertia. Will McSweeney win his battle? And what does this mean for figures in Starmer's government, like Richard Hermer and Ed Miliband? Michael joined the podcast alongside Starmer's biographer Tom Baldwin. (1:04) Next: can the AfD be stopped? Lisa Haseldine writes about an earthquake that hit German politics last week; the much feted ‘firewall' – the agreement by mainstream political parties not to work with the far-right – appeared to fall. Freidrich Merz, tipped to be Chancellor after the upcoming German elections, relied upon the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) for two votes on immigration. Cue protests and denouncements; Merz's most high-profile predecessor as CDU leader, Angela Merkel, even made a rare, political intervention to denounce the decision. Has the vote helped or hindered Merz? And has the German firewall fallen permanently? Lisa joined the podcast alongside Elisabeth Dampier. Elisabeth has interviewed the controversial AfD MEP Maximilian Krah for the magazine and writes about the man who calls himself ‘the German Donald Trump'. (21:02) And finally: the curious life of an obituary writer Mark Mason provides his notes on obituaries for the magazine this week, stating that ‘there's nothing as inspiring or instructive or entertaining about reading a few hundred words about someone's time on his planet'. What's the process behind putting an obituary together? The Times' longest serving obituary writer Damian Arnold once said, ‘The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is check to see who's dead.' Mark and Damian joined the podcast to discuss who makes for the best obituary, if there is joy to be found in celebrating death, and whether they've ever published an obituary of someone who isn't actually dead… (33:48) Presented by Lara Prendergast and William Moore. Produced by Patrick Gibbons.
The best of our guests from 2024! Part 2 features Arthur Smith, Maisie Adam, Rosie Holt, Toby Tarrant, Stephen Fry, David Mitchell, Major General Chip Chapman, Daliso Chapona, Madeline Smith, Nick Newman, Maria McErlane, Simon Brodkin, Tom Baldwin, George Monbiot, Stevie Martin, Jon Holmes, Sophie Duker, Suzi Perry and Jason Manford.Follow My Time Capsule on Instagram: @mytimecapsulepodcast & Twitter & Facebook: @MyTCpod .Follow Michael Fenton Stevens on Twitter: @fentonstevens & Instagram @mikefentonstevens .Produced and edited by John Fenton-Stevens for Cast Off Productions .Music by Pass The Peas Music .Artwork by matthewboxall.com .This podcast is proud to be associated with the charity Viva! Providing theatrical opportunities for hundreds of young people . Get bonus episodes and ad-free listening by becoming a team member with Acast+! Your support will help us to keep making My Time Capsule. Join our team now! https://plus.acast.com/s/mytimecapsule. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Nick Cohen chats with Tom Baldwin, journalist, author, biographer of Keir Starmer and former Labour spin doctor about how the new government handles future challenges from Donald Trump to clearing up the omni-shambles left by 14 years of Tory incompetence.HANDLING THE ORANGE MENACETom @TomBaldwin66 says Starmer will probably adopt a strategy of subtlety with Trump, saying, "The way to deal with Trump is not to match him for making noise or be your own kind of populist.The answer is not to be like Trump; it's to be the opposite of Trump. It's not to turn the other cheek, but just to learn to ignore some things. Separate the froth of social media from the actual substance of his decisions ... He's going to try and get the best out of Trump. deals he can. He's going to try and find places of ambiguity and endurance, and do his best to exploit those, rather than reinforce dividing lines with him. And you know, that's what good prime ministers and good diplomats do."TRUMP & THE FOLLY OF BREXITNick points out that the #Trump victory has only further exposed the folly and recklessness of #brexit, particularly as it seems certain that Trump will launch a series of trade wars that will leave the UK dangerously exposed to a ruinous US tariff regime.Trump is so economically illiterate that he appears not to understand that tariffs are paid by importers, not the exporting nation, and will mean higher prices for U.S. citizens if they want anything from oversees, from a new i-phone to a Japanese car. Tom says the UK maybe shafted trade-wise but still punches above its weight in terms of military power and security, both of which could prove crucial in the dangerous days ahead. Tom says, "we have real presence at the Table and we have Europe has a real interest in working with Britain in a way that it doesn't have to work for Britain in terms of giving us a better deal for our exports security is not about self interest. It's about mutual interest."STARMER & THE POPULIST THREATTom said a key Starmer objective is to see off the populist threat in the UK through good governance and improving public serves. If any criticism can be laid at the door of the new government, it's that it has not done enough to fully expose the disgraceful shit-show Labour inherited from the Tories. "I think the best argument you can make, particularly in government rather than opposition, is to actually show that governments can work," says Tom, "and that government can actually deliver real progress for working peoples, as government would put it."The paperback version of Tom's bestseller, Keir Starmer, the biography, is out now with a new updated chapter on the election campaign and Labour's first few weeks of power..Nick Cohen's @NichCohen4 latest Substack column Writing from London on politics and culture from the UK and beyond. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Pippa Crerar, political editor of the Guardian, is joined by a range of guests.To look ahead to the Budget on 30 October, she speaks to Labour MP and parliamentary aide to the Cabinet Office Torsten Bell and the shadow housing minister Baroness JoJo Penn.With the foreign secretary David Lammy heading to China this week, Labour peer, Helena Kennedy, who co-chairs the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China and the former Conservative MP Richard Graham, who, until recently, chaired the all-party parliamentary group on China assess UK-China relations. Former cabinet minister and Conservative MP, Sir Gavin Williamson MP explains why he wants to remove all 26 bishops from the House of Lords. And to discuss how the Taylor Swift row has been handled, Pippa spoke to Tom Baldwin, a former Labour party communications director and biographer of Keir Starmer and Katie Perrior, the founder of the public relations firm iNHouse.
Labour's first 100 days in power have been marked by reports of conflict, dysfunction and delay at the centre of government. Sue Gray's short tenure as Keir Starmer's chief of staff has come to an end, with the prime minister choosing to reset his No.10 team just months after Labour won the general election. What reforms are needed to radically improve the centre of UK government? What does Morgan McSweeney – Starmer's new chief of staff – need to do to make No.10 work for the prime minister and deliver for the country? What lessons should Starmer take from the way former PMs ran their centres of government – and from those who tried to reset their No.10? To answer these questions and more were: Tom Baldwin, author of Keir Starmer: The Biography and Labour's Director of Communications (2010–15) Theo Bertram, Director of the Social Market Foundation and a former Special Adviser in No.10 Henry Newman, former Special Adviser at the Cabinet Office and in No.10 Hannah White, Director of the Institute for Government and Chair of the Commission on the Centre of Government The panel was chaired by Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government.
The red half of Westminster will shortly decamp to Liverpool for the first Labour conference since the party's general election landslide. Host Sascha O'Sullivan looks at a group which played a key role in that victory — the left-wing think-tank Labour Together. Sascha pieces together the fascinating origin story of Labour Together, speaking to ITV Deputy Political Editor Anushka Asthana, author of a new book, which details the group's influence, and Keir Starmer biographer Tom Baldwin. Andrew Cooper, political pollster and member of Labour Together advisory board, tells Sascha how Josh Simons, former director of the think tank, built on the work of Morgan McSweeney by using deep voter analysis to help Labour HQ. Sascha speaks to the group's new chief executive, Jonathan Ashworth, about Labour Together's role in shaping the thinking of the new government. He addresses some of the cronyism accusations surrounding the think tank and is quizzed by Sascha on its purpose now Labour is in power. Henry Newman, former political adviser and author of the Whitehall project, explains the concerns about how Labour Together acted as a middleman for political donations between wealthy individuals and politicians. Labour "mega-donor" Dale Vince tells Sascha why he gave money to the think tank. And think tank stalwarts Harry Quilter-Pinner of the Institute of Public Policy Research, Ryan Wain of the Tony Blair Institute and Charlotte Pickles explain how Labour Together fits into the world of the wonks and how different it is from most policy outfits. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Keir Starmer's biographer Tom Baldwin has revealed that the PM has removed a portrait of Margaret Thatcher from No 10. The portrait was originally commissioned by Gordon Brown. Why has he bothered to get rid of it? Elsewhere, the government has more plans for health, and select committees have some surprising new candidates. Megan McElroy speaks to Isabel Hardman and Katy Balls.
Keir Starmer has been meeting the new First Minister Eluned Morgan as part of a two day trip to Wales. While the trip included a visit to a wind farm, Starmer quickly faced questions about the fate of steel workers in Port Talbot. What does this challenge tell us about Starmer's Industrial Strategy and his relationship with the devolved nations? Could Welsh Labour soon face the same anti-incumbency threat that the Conservatives and the SNP faced? James Heale is joined by Tom Baldwin, Starmer's biographer, and Ruth Mosalski, political editor at WalesOnline. Produced by Patrick Gibbons.
A replay of our profile of the leader of the Labour Party, Sir Keir Starmer - now Prime Minister. Adam is joined by Ailbhe Rea, associate editor at Bloomberg UK, and Tom Baldwin, author of Keir Starmer: The Biography, to chronicle Keir Starmer's early life and political career. They discuss his family life, his legal career and how he rose to become leader of the Labour Party including behind-the-scenes details from those who know and work with him.This episode is part of a series where Newscast profiles each of the leaders of major political parties.
It's the final few days of the election campaign and the Matts are joined by Keir Starmer biographer for deep insight into what's going to happen in the immediate aftermath of a Labour government. How to combat the rising tide of far right politics, who will the new stars of Labour be, and should Starmer go to the Euro finals of England get through? Enjoy! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This bonus episode of Newscast is a profile of the leader of the Labour Party, Keir Starmer. Adam is joined by Ailbhe Rea, associate editor at Bloomberg UK, and Tom Baldwin, author of Keir Starmer: The Biography, to chronicle Keir Starmer's early life and political career. They discuss his family life, his legal career and how he rose to become leader of the Labour Party including behind-the-scenes details from those who know and work with him. This episode is part of a series where Newscast profiles each of the leaders of major political parties. You can join our Newscast online community here: https://tinyurl.com/newscastcommunityhereNewscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. It was presented by Adam Fleming. It was made by Miranda Slade with Sam McLaren. The technical producers were Hannah Montgomery and Michael Regaard. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The editor is Sam Bonham.
Keir Starmer launched Labour's manifesto today, but how much did we actually learn about their plans for government? And with no rabbits pulled out of the proverbial hat, how do they plan to achieve growth? Kate Andrews and Starmer's biographer Tom Baldwin joined Katy Balls to discuss. Tom also provided some insight into Angela Rayner's election bus, including a surprising admission about a lettuce... Produced by Patrick Gibbons. Join the Coffee House Shots team for a post-election live recording and debrief on Thursday 11 July. Get tickets at spectator.co.uk/live
Tom Baldwin is the former director of communications and strategy at the Labour Party and Keir Starmer's official biographer. As a political journalist he was political editor of The Sunday Telegraph, assistant editor of The Times and The Times' Washington bureau chief. In 2010, he was appointed as head of communications for the Labour Party and also worked as Senior Adviser to Ed Miliband. He ended this role after Labour's defeat in the 2015 general election. He later worked as director of communications at the People's Vote campaign which called for a new referendum on Brexit. His official biography of Keir Starmer was a Sunday Times Best Seller and his latest book, England: Seven Myths That Changed a Country – and How to Set Them Straight, is available now .Tom Baldwin is guest number 391 on My Time Capsule and chats to Michael Fenton Stevens about the five things he'd like to put in a time capsule; four he'd like to preserve and one he'd like to bury and never have to think about again .For Tom Baldwin's books, visit - https://www.waterstones.com/author/tom-baldwin/319085 .Follow Tom Baldwin on Twitter: @tombaldwin66 .Follow My Time Capsule on Twitter, Instagram & Facebook: @MyTCpod .Follow Michael Fenton Stevens on Twitter: @fentonstevens & Instagram @mikefentonstevens .Produced and edited by John Fenton-Stevens for Cast Off Productions .Music by Pass The Peas Music .Artwork by matthewboxall.com .This podcast is proud to be associated with the charity Viva! Providing theatrical opportunities for hundreds of young people. Get bonus episodes and ad-free listening by becoming a team member with Acast+! Your support will help us to keep making My Time Capsule. Join our team now! https://plus.acast.com/s/mytimecapsule. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
What is England? Well, that depends on the myths and stories you listen to. Are these tales more fiction than fact? In their new book England: Seven Myths That Changed A Country – and How to Set Them Straight authors Tom Baldwin and Marc Stears seek the reality of England's national story. They join Ros Taylor in The Bunker. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. Buy England: Seven Myths That Changed A Country – and How to Set Them Straight through our affiliate bookshop and you'll help fund The Bunker by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org's fees help support independent bookshops too. Support us on Patreon. Written and presented by Ros Taylor. Assistant Producer: Adam Wright. Audio editor: Robin Leeburn. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. www.podmasters.co.uk Instagram | Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
What is England? Well, that depends on the myths and stories you listen to. Are these tales more fiction than fact? In their new book England: Seven Myths That Changed A Country – and How to Set Them Straight authors Tom Baldwin and Marc Stears seek the reality of England's national story. They join Ros Taylor in The Bunker. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. Buy England: Seven Myths That Changed A Country – and How to Set Them Straight through our affiliate bookshop and you'll help fund The Bunker by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org's fees help support independent bookshops too. Support us on Patreon. Written and presented by Ros Taylor. Assistant Producer: Adam Wright. Audio editor: Robin Leeburn. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. www.podmasters.co.uk Instagram | Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
It was St George's Day this week, and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he has 'no time' for those who 'flinch' at the St George's flag. But how authentic is his patriotism? Katy Balls speaks to Tom Baldwin, former Labour Party adviser and author of new book England: Seven Myths That Changed a Country – and How to Set Them Straight. Produced by Megan McElroy.
What is England? What is Englishness? The Matts are joined by Tom Baldwin and Marc Stears, authors of a fascinating new deep dive into the question of nationalism, called England - Seven Myths That Changed A Country And How To Set Them Straight. It's a wide-ranging conversation on their journey from Runnymede to Hull via Plymouth, Wolverhampton, Oxford, Blackpool and Greenwich to discover the real England. Enjoy!Subscribe to The Two Matts: https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/2matts/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Just in time for St George's Day, former Mili-gang members Marc Stears & Tom Baldwin join the Chatteroo to talk about their excellent new book 'England: Seven Myths That Changed a Country - And How To Set Them Straight'Treat yourself to a copy - you deserve it! https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/england-9781526646231/Email us: chat@cheerfulpodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Tom Baldwin: Agile Team Champion, The Product Owner Who Gave the Stage Away Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. The Great Product Owner: Agile Team Champion, The PO Who Gave the Stage Away This segment spotlights an exemplary Product Owner who, through openness and experimentation, fosters a strong bond between stakeholders, developers, and the Scrum team. Tom emphasizes the importance of backlog management, team involvement in decision-making, and the PO's non-technical, yet impactful, leadership style, illustrating how an effective PO can be a linchpin for team success and stakeholder satisfaction. The Bad Product Owner: The Proxy PO As A Strategy To Overcome PO Anti-Patterns Tom shares some critical anti-patterns often seen in the role of the Product Owner, like distance, dictatorship, and the toxicity surrounding the PO role. By proposing solutions such as empowering subject matter experts and adopting the Proxy PO pattern, Tom provides a blueprint for transforming the PO role into a catalyst for effective Scrum practices, ensuring a balanced and productive team dynamic. [IMAGE HERE] Are you having trouble helping the team work well with their Product Owner? We've put together a course to help you work on the collaboration team-product owner. You can find it at bit.ly/coachyourpo. 18 modules, 8+ hours of modules with tools and techniques that you can use to help teams and PO's collaborate. About Tom Baldwin Tom is a Lean-Agile Coach & Scrum Master, who is trying to solve the problem that it has been more than 20 years since the Agile Manifesto, but Business Agility is still not the norm. Tom is currently writing “Production line for the mind: The Practicing Principle”, with the idea of making agility simple to understand & to implement – and not just for software. You can link with Tom Baldwin on LinkedIn.
Tom Baldwin: Beyond The Process Ceremonies, The Necessary Evolution Of Scrum Master Success Over Time Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Tom talks about how we need to, over time, evolve our signs and metrics of success for Scrum Masters, from mastering ceremonies to measuring lead times and value delivery. Emphasizing the importance of team engagement with users and customers, Tom offers insights into fostering a culture of responsiveness and continuous improvement, ensuring that the team's journey towards autonomy and efficiency is both measurable and meaningful. Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: 5 Why's Tom explores the essence of effective Agile retrospectives, focusing on the 5 Why's technique to address root causes of team challenges. He advocates for personalized approaches, ensuring the right stakeholders are present, and fostering an environment where the team can own the process and outcomes. Through strategic documentation and visualization, Tom illustrates how to guide teams towards self-improvement and a focus on collaboration. [IMAGE HERE] Retrospectives, planning sessions, vision workshops, we are continuously helping teams learn about how to collaborate in practice! In this Actionable Agile Tools book, Jeff Campbell shares some of the tools he's learned over a decade of coaching Agile Teams. The pragmatic coaching book you need, right now! Buy Actionable Agile Tools on Amazon, or directly from the author, and supercharge your facilitation toolbox! About Tom Baldwin Tom is a Lean-Agile Coach & Scrum Master, who is trying to solve the problem that it has been more than 20 years since the Agile Manifesto, but Business Agility is still not the norm. Tom is currently writing “Production line for the mind: The Practicing Principle”, with the idea of making agility simple to understand & to implement – and not just for software. You can link with Tom Baldwin on LinkedIn.
Tom Baldwin: Agile Under Pressure, Strategies for Effective Organizational Change Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Tom shares a story about leading organizational change under a tight deadline, leveraging Agile principles to dismantle complexity and align teams with corporate goals. Through collaboration with an organizational design consultant, Tom emphasizes practical steps like optimizing team structures, engaging support functions, and applying throughput accounting to facilitate a transformation focused on simplicity, efficiency, and problem-solving, inspired by insights from Taiichi Ohno on eliminating waste. [IMAGE HERE] As Scrum Master we work with change continuously! Do you have your own change framework that provides the guidance, and queues you need when working with change? The Lean Change Management framework is a fully defined, lean-startup inspired change framework that can be used as the backbone of any change process! You can buy Lean Change Management the book at Amazon. Also available in French, Spanish, German and Portuguese. About Tom Baldwin Tom is a Lean-Agile Coach & Scrum Master, who is trying to solve the problem that it has been more than 20 years since the Agile Manifesto, but Business Agility is still not the norm. Tom is currently writing “Production line for the mind: The Practicing Principle”, with the idea of making agility simple to understand & to implement – and not just for software. You can link with Tom Baldwin on LinkedIn.
Tom Baldwin: From Centralized to Collaborative, Cultivating Independent Agile Teams Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. As Tom steps into a team entangled with centralized communication and decision-making issues, he shares his strategic approach to fostering team independence and effective communication, especially during a managerial hiatus. Key strategies include direct dialogue among team members, engaging leadership in problem-solving discussions, and advocating for managerial coaching, drawing upon a real-life transformation where team autonomy and progress shine despite initial resistance. Featured Book of the Week: The Scrum Field Guide by Mitch Lacey Tom sheds light on the pivotal role The Scrum Field Guide by Mitch Lacey played in his Scrum Master journey, emphasizing its approachability and practical insights into role expectations, task decomposition, and work management. With anecdotes and tips like fitting work to time and embracing various work breakdown strategies. In this episode, we also refer to the episode with Anton Skornikov on slicing User Stories. [IMAGE HERE] Do you wish you had decades of experience? Learn from the Best Scrum Masters In The World, Today! The Tips from the Trenches - Scrum Master edition audiobook includes hours of audio interviews with SM's that have decades of experience: from Mike Cohn to Linda Rising, Christopher Avery, and many more. Super-experienced Scrum Masters share their hard-earned lessons with you. Learn those today, make your teams awesome! About Tom Baldwin Tom is a Lean-Agile Coach & Scrum Master, who is trying to solve the problem that it has been more than 20 years since the Agile Manifesto, but Business Agility is still not the norm. Tom is currently writing “Production line for the mind: The Practicing Principle”, with the idea of making agility simple to understand & to implement – and not just for software. You can link with Tom Baldwin on LinkedIn.
Tom Baldwin: When the Stand-Up Turns Into Chaos, Conflict, Care, and Change for Agile Teams Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. In a gripping episode with Tom, we talk about the chaos of a stand-up gone wrong, spotlighting how personal tensions can reflect deeper process issues. Tom recounts a fiery disagreement between developers, stemming from a pressured environment, and how it led to a transformative shift in team dynamics and location. We talk about how Scrum Masters can navigate through conflicts, focusing on psychological insights and team unity. Key takeaways include the importance of 1-on-1 chats, understanding triggers, and collective decision-making, all while referencing seminal works like Deming's 14 principles for management and Lencioni's "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team." [IMAGE HERE] Recovering from failure, or difficult moments is a critical skill for Scrum Masters. Not only because of us, but also because the teams, and stakeholders we work with will also face these moments! We need inspiring stories to help them, and ourselves! The Bungsu Story, is an inspiring story by Marcus Hammarberg which shows how a Coach can help organizations recover even from the most disastrous situations! Learn how Marcus helped The Bungsu, a hospital in Indonesia, recover from near-bankruptcy, twice! Using Lean and Agile methods to rebuild an organization and a team! An inspiring story you need to know about! Buy the book on Amazon: The Bungsu Story - How Lean and Kanban Saved a Small Hospital in Indonesia. Twice. and Can Help You Reshape Work in Your Company. About Tom Baldwin Tom is a Lean-Agile Coach & Scrum Master, who is trying to solve the problem that it has been more than 20 years since the Agile Manifesto, but Business Agility is still not the norm. Tom is currently writing “Production line for the mind: The Practicing Principle”, with the idea of making agility simple to understand & to implement – and not just for software. You can link with Tom Baldwin on LinkedIn.
Tom has been at the centre of many projects, most notably The People's Vote campaign and Ed Miliband's leadership.But it's his solo work which is creating the most headlines. He's just written a biography of Keir Starmer, but what more is there to know about a politician in the public eye?Well, it turns out... quite a lotBuy Keir Starmer: The Biography here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Keir-Starmer-Biography-Tom-Baldwin/dp/0008661022/ref=asc_df_0008661022/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=658764431013&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=18067357120828298640&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045958&hvtargid=pla-2209868618155&psc=1&mcid=09e82f73667435999271b0709ba15123&th=1&psc=1 Follow @mattforde on Twitter for the latest news Email the show: politicalpartypodcast@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
With a huge lead in the polls, all the signs point to Keir Starmer moving into Downing Street by the end of the year, so how well do we know the man who would be PM? Guest co-presenter Liz Bates attempts to get behind the rather dull public image, by interrogating Tom Baldwin, who spent hours talking to Starmer for his new authoritative biography of the Labour leader. The conversation takes an emotional turn when Liz and Tom discuss Starmer's difficult relationship with his dad; how he couldn't hug him on his deathbed, and then later found a hidden scrapbook that showed how proud of his son he really was. They also talk about what makes Starmer tick politically - is there such a thing as Starmerism? - as well as his love of football and music…and Tom reveals what Starmer thinks of the book!Nish joins Liz from Crooked HQ in LA to discuss the fallout from Lee Anderson's expulsion from the party, and whether the Tories have an islamophobia problem. They also discuss the rogues gallery of candidates competing to win the Rochdale by-election, and Liz reveals what it's like to get up close and personal on the campaign trail, with the bookies favourite George Galloway.Plus find out why Nish gave one very lucky New York cab driver a massive tip, and why he loves smelly books!Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media. Contact us via email: PSUK@reducedlistening.co.ukWhatsApp: 07514 644 572 (UK) or + 44 7514 644 572Insta: https://instagram.com/podsavetheukTwitter: https://twitter.com/podsavetheukTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@podsavetheukFacebook: https://facebook.com/podsavetheukYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/podsavetheworldGuest:Tom Baldwin, author of Keir Starmer: The Biography Audio credit:GB NewsUseful link:https://crooked.com/podcast-series/lovett-or-leave-it/
In this special Saturday edition of Coffee House Shots, Katy Balls is joined by Tom Baldwin, author of a new authorised biography of Labour leader Keir Starmer. Tom tells Katy why Starmer is such a complex character, his struggle to get the leader of the opposition to open up – particularly about his relationship with his father – and why he is not a politician, in the usual sense. Produced by Natasha Feroze and Oscar Edmondson.
Today, we look at Shamima Begum losing her latest bid to regain UK citizenship, and the upcoming release of Keir Starmer's political biography.Begum has lost an appeal against a decision to revoke her UK citizenship. The 24 year old travelled to Syria aged 15 to join Islamic State Group, with the government revoking her citizenship in 2019. Is this the end of her legal options? Adam is joined by Joshua Baker, creator of ‘I'm Not A Monster, The Shamima Begum Story'.To hear the full story, listen on BBC Sounds here - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p08yblkfAnd, who is the real Keir Starmer? Adam speaks to his biographer Tom Baldwin about Starmer's upbringing, his career before Westminster and claims he is “boring”. You can join our Newscast online community here: https://tinyurl.com/newscastcommunityhere Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. It was presented by Adam Fleming. It was made by Jack Maclaren with Joe Wilkinson and Sam McLaren. The technical producer was Matt Hewitt. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Jonathan Aspinwall.
Carolyn Quinn sits in whilst Jacqui wanders around India. Iain and Carolyn discuss the bedeviled Mr Speaker, Prince William speaking out on Gaza, the formidable Yulia Navalnaya, photo shoots, Cuba, Tom Baldwin's book on Starmer and loads else. Smut quota: Mucha diversión.
In the Times today is the latest instalment of Tom Baldwin's authorised biography of Keir Starmer. It includes reports that Labour chief of staff Sue Gray has been drawing up plans for so-called citizens' assemblies. Are citizens' juries the future of democracy? Or is this simply a way for Starmer to avoid making policy decisions? Elsewhere there is some interesting polling out from the think tank Labour Together, warning that Labour should not get complacent despite their huge poll lead and recent by-election success. This is due to the large 'don't know' vote share and the possibility that the Reform vote could be squeezed at a general election. What would happen if the Reform vote collapses? James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Fraser Nelson. Produced by Oscar Edmondson.