Has the race to succeed Starmer kicked off?
3/19/202656 min
The war in the middle east has entered its third week. Tensions rose overnight when Israel hit a natural gas field in Iran, and Iran retaliated by bombing gas facilities in Qatar. The result was oil prices skyrocketing. Ed Balls and George Osborne discuss what appears to be a communication breakdown between Israel and the US, and question whether they are aligned in their respective endgames.
Earlier this week the Chancellor Rachel Reeves gave the Mais lecture at the Bayes Business School. She said fiscal devolution, closer relations with Europe, AI and innovation would bring growth in the UK. But was the speech too partisan and lacking economic theory?
And, Angela Rayner is back - delivering a speech criticising the government’s proposed immigration reforms. Is she planning to stick the knife in Keir Starmer, à la Michael Heseltine and Margaret Thatcher, and if so - does she have the right qualifications to lead the country? Ed and George look at past transitions mid-government for Labour and more widely, and examine how Rayner’s strengths and weaknesses may impact her chances at No. 10.
We love hearing from you, so please don’t forget to send all your EMQs to questions@politicalcurrency and make sure to include a voice note of your question.
This podcast is sponsored by Chip. Join 400,000 customers building long term wealth. Also Chip have agreed that just for our listeners, for your first £10,000 deposited into Chip before midnight 20 March 2026, they’ll give you a Fortnum & Mason hamper after holding it for 90 days - just head to getchip.uk/politicalcurrency.
T&Cs apply, you must be a new Chip customer, over 18, a UK tax resident, and it’s app only. Chip is a trading name of Chip Financial Limited. Savings products are provided by Clearbank and are protected up to the FSCS limit. When investing, your capital is at risk.
Thanks for listening. To get episodes early and ad- free join Political Currency Gold or our Kitchen Cabinet. If you want even more perks including our exclusive newsletter, join our Kitchen Cabinet today:
👉 patreon.com/politicalcurrency
Please note: Kitchen Cabinet is only available via Patreon.
Credits:
Research: Sam Burton
Production: Caillin McDaid & Henrietta Harrison
Video Editor: Avi Asher
Executive Producer: Ellie Clifford
Political Currency is a Persephonica Production and is part of the Acast Creator Network.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsDarina0:00
Hi, I'm Darina, co-founder of Quo. If you run a business, you know the team that responds first wins the customer. You've probably opened your phone to a bunch of missed calls and no voicemails. Those are missed opportunities and exactly why we built Quo. Quo is the business phone system that helps your team handle every call and text right away. Join over 90,000 businesses that win more customers with Quo. Try Quo for free at quo.com/tech. That's Q-U-O.com/tech.
Farnoosh Torabi0:30
This is Farnoosh from So Money with Farnoosh Torabi. When teams travel together, great things happen, but getting them where they're going can feel like the hardest job of all. Thankfully, Engine is here to make work travel simpler, more flexible, and more rewarding than ever before, with exclusive rates on cars, flights, and hotels in one intuitive interface. So whether you're traveling to a job site, a conference, or just doing some team bonding, book, manage, and save big on work travel with Engine.
Speaker 20:59
There's one place for the newest drops in wellness and performance and the biggest sale of the year. It's The Drop by GNC, curating the best of what's new, handpicked by the pros who know what works. And right now, get it all. Buy one, get one 50% off during the semi-annual Live Well sale. From crushing workouts to leveling up your nutrition and everything in between, get the best deals on the latest innovations. All the newness is all on sale right now during the Live Well sale on The Drop by GNC.