Starmer Resigns! Listen up, Labour: Lessons learned from the Trump trap w/ Ben Rhodes
6/25/20261 hr 5 min
As Ben Rhodes says on this week’s episode, “we’re in a revolutionary moment globally”. Joining Nish and Coco from sister show Pod Save the World, Ben shares (and despairs) about the state of UK and US politics, and tells us what we can take from the Democrats’ disaster of 2024. Isn’t it time that progressives got their own populist?
Plus, we hear about Ben’s new book, ‘All We Say’, tracing American history through some of its most famous–and infamous–speeches. We talk to him about the similarities between Britain and America both losing their way when it comes to national identity, and how our leaders need to tell it like it is. We can handle the truth!
Also on the show, New Statesman Editor Tom McTague dissects Starmer’s swan song, his last minute decision not to challenge Burnham for leadership, and sets out why it all went wrong for a man who won a landslide victory less than two years ago.
USEFUL LINKS
Grab a copy of Ben’s new book, All We Say: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/470622/all-we-say-by-rhodes-ben/9781847928887
Ailbhe Rea’s recent piece in the New Statesman: https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/labour/2026/06/what-happens-now
Tom McTague’s interview with Keir Starmer: https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2025/06/what-keir-starmer-cant-say
GUESTS
Ben Rhodes
Tom McTague
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
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Speaker 20:30
We're vultures who love Eating dead things No, keeping Utahns safe, 'cause when you're prepared You don't die Ugh. Learn more at Adventuresafe.org Or don't Frank [upbeat music] Hi.
Nish Kumar· Host0:47
This is Pod Save The UK. I'm Nish Kumar.
Coco Khan· Host0:49
And I'm Coco Khan.
Nish Kumar· Host0:50
The King of the North's come down to London, and could be our next prime minister in a few short weeks. For a man who wasn't even an MP until last week, he's played a blinder, but what does any of this actually mean for us?
Coco Khan· Host1:02
Also, on the show we're joined by Ben Rhodes, our counterpart from our sister podcast, Pod Save The World. We'll be talking all things politics, identity, and lessons from across the pond.
Nish Kumar· Host1:12
[upbeat music] Okay. It's official, we will be getting our seventh prime minister in 10 years. Standing at the infamous Lectern of Sorrow on Monday, Keir Starmer said that he will go, uh, with good grace, uh, responding to mounting pressure from within Labour to set out a