Rock & Roll Politics with Steve Richards
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Rock & Roll Politics with Steve Richards
Based on his live one-man show Rock & Roll Politics, the broadcaster and author Steve Richards takes a weekly behind-the-scenes tour of UK politics and the media that shapes the way we view the epic political dramas. The future is ridiculously unpredictable and the past is so easy to misread. Subscr...
Episodis Recents
376 episodis
The Defectors Part 3: A Festive Series - Carswell and Reckless (Tory to UKIP)
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...
The Defectors Part 2: A Festive Series - Shaun Woodward (Tories to Labour)
Shaun Woodward was one of the masterminds behind the Conservatives 1992 election victory and subsequently he became a Tory MP. Soon after Labour’s 199...
The Defectors Part 1: A Festive Series - Reg Prentice (Labour to Tories)
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 ri...
What have we learnt at the end of 2025?
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...
Why does a 'narrative' matter so much?
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 earl...
Rock & Roll Politics Live - How fragile is Keir Starmer?
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...
What next as Trump turns away from Europe?
Trump’s National Security Strategy is scathing about Europe, and in interviews he intensified his attack on the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. Where doe...
Brexit- is this the beginning of the end?
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...
Why are newspapers still powerful?
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...
Could The Conservatives Recover?
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 st...
Has Rachel Reeves calmed the mood of restive Labour MPs… and disillusioned voters?
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 significan...
Rachel Reeves - and consequences
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...
Nick Thomas-Symonds on Labour prime ministers, leadership threats and Europe
The Cabinet Office Minister, Nick Thomas-Symonds, has written several political biographies. The most recent was on Harold Wilson. What are the differ...
Will Mahmood’s asylum policies stop the boats… and the rise of Reform?
Within weeks of becoming Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood has announced a set of wide-ranging policies aimed at deterring illegal asylum seekers. Will...
Is Starmer the biggest victim of the 'toxic culture'?
There's universal consensus that the briefings from Number 10, warning of a leadership challenge from Wes Streeting and the conduct of "feral" Labour...
Why is the BBC so scared of the right wing media?
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 sele...
What do Labour's 'soft left' want?
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 chan...
Does Nigel Farage have a credible economic policy?
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 dis...
What will happen if Rachel Reeves breaks a manifesto pledge on tax?
Keir Starmer refused to rule out breaking pre-election tax commitments at Prime Minister's Questions, suggesting that he and Rachel Reeves are contemp...
Is the strange silence over Farage and Johnson's Brexit about to be broken?
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 to...
Should transport be a top priority for Starmer? – in conversation with Christian Wolmar
With the nationalisation of the railways, the need for economic growth, climate change and a focus on addressing regional inequalities, transport shou...
What does the Maccabi Tel Aviv football ban tell us about who runs Britain?
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 disap...
What would you do if you were Rachel Reeves?
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. The...
Why is Labour's deputy leadership contest more significant than it seems?
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...
Are the Conservatives doomed?
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...
Can Starmer beat Farage?
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...
Are the Liberal Democrats a centre-left party?
Who are the Liberal Democrats? The coalition years exposed a deep split between social democrats and free market liberals. Are those divisions healed?...
What are the lessons of the Mandelson saga?
Predictably, Peter Mandelson's return to the centre of the political stage has ended in crisis. Mandelson's influence on Keir Starmer grew after Labou...
Will Keir Starmer's changes revive Labour?
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?
Will Starmer's reset make a difference?
With Labour languishing in the polls, Keir Starmer has reshuffled his top team… yet again. His leadership has been punctuated by changes in senior per...
Rock & Roll Politics Live at the Edinburgh Festival
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 politica...
What's been happening at the Edinburgh Festival?
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 all the storms, is Labour heading for a second term?
The Labour government has endured a traumatic first year on many fronts, but its opponents are in different ways extremely vulnerable. If its opponent...
Is Labour Delivering on Transport?
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...
What does Britain get from 'The Special Relationship' with the US?
Keir Starmer drops everything to meet Trump on the President's golfing holiday, but to what end? Post-war Prime Ministers, with two exceptions, assume...
Water Privatisation - why is Margaret Thatcher still deified?
The rushed water privatisation after the 1987 election was one of several calamitous policies launched by Margaret Thatcher –with the consequences sti...
Can the government find a more effective media strategy?
Number 10’s media strategy is fairly old-fashioned: the morning round for the broadcasters, interviews with the TV political editors and placing artic...
How deep a hole is Keir Starmer in?
Normally media frenzies exaggerate the scale of a government crisis - a distorting frenzy that feeds on itself. But this time, has it played down the...
Can Keir Starmer learn the lessons from the welfare shambles?
Labour MPs flex their muscles, the government concedes, welfare reform is still in chaos and taxes will have to rise to pay for concessions. How has a...
Trump strikes Iran – What will be the consequences?
Not for the first time, a US military intervention triggers greater instability and many questions about what follows. It’s time for the co-operative...