HOT TAKE: Is it over for Starmer?
5/11/202637 min
The fallout of the local elections was as many had predicted, but the chaotic aftermath demanded a reaction. Ed Balls and George Osborne went live on YouTube earlier today to give their thoughts on just how bad things are for Keir Starmer.
They reflect on the heavy defeat Labour suffered on Thursday, and the prime minister’s fightback. Why did he bring back Gordon Brown and Harriet Harman? Why did he stake things on today’s speech with a King’s Speech in only two days?
The biggest question mark of all though, is Catherine West. The little known MP created an earthquake over the weekend by announcing she would challenge the PM if no one else would. She has now pivoted to calling for a timetable, but still has damaged Starmer, and placed all eyes on what Andy Burnham, Wes Streeting, and Angela Rayner do next…
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 or send a question to our social media handles:
👉 X
👉 TikTok
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 & Nasreen Arain
Video Editor: Oliver Geraghty and Ryan Finnigan
Executive Producer: Ellie Clifford & Henrietta Harrison
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 secondsGreg James0:00
Hello podcast listener.
Alice Levine0:01
Hello you.
Greg James0:02
It's me, Greg James.
Alice Levine0:03
And me, Alice Levine.
Greg James0:05
Now look, I know that you're very much enjoying this podcast that you're listening to, and we're sorry to interrupt, we really are.
Alice Levine0:12
And it genuinely might not be our place to say, but is it time to try something new?
Greg James0:17
We would like to steal you for our new podcast, it's called Bad Chat.
Alice Levine0:21
And it sounds a bit like this [beep] This, this one goes out to the walkers and the talkers in the late night. Stalkers.
Greg James0:27
[laughs] Stalkers. No, maybe not that one.
Alice Levine0:28
[beep] Alice is my best friend. I am not Alice's best friend. [beep] Do you know that horses legs are their fingers?
Greg James0:34
[beep] That is a bit of bad chat from me, Greg James- And me, famously, Alice Levine ... listen wherever you get your podcasts.
Ed Balls· Host0:42
[upbeat music] [upbeat music] Hello and welcome to this special edition of, uh, Political Currency with, uh, George Osborne and me, Ed Balls. Now, um, we are live on YouTube, um, doing this, uh, um, extra special podcast. And then if you are a regular listener, you'll be getting it on your, um, normal platform very shortly. Now, we normally do our podcast every Thursday evening, but, uh, we felt that the political events of the weekend, Keir Starmer's, um, political speech in Downing Street, uh, this morning, his make or break moment was so significant,