Stay ConnectedInside Whitehall demystifies many of the aspects we hear and read about in politics coverage every day. What really happens inside a Cabinet meeting? How is legislation made? What are Special Advisors?
Hosted by former Special Advisor James Starkie, and current MP Jonathan Gullis, Inside Whitehall interviews people across the political divide and beyond to provide a unique perspective on modern British Politics.
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Copyright: © Copyright 2023 James Starkie and Jonathan Gullis MP
In the last of the mini election series James is joined by the fabulous James Heale, Political Correspondent of the Spectator to look at what historical parallels there might be with the current election and political actors of the past.
James is an established lobby journalist and author, having written the Out of the Blue: The inside story of the unexpected rise and rapid fall of Liz Truss. He is also a keen follower of political history and the pair look at which political figures are most like our current political leaders and whether elections past point to what might ahead for the main parties.
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Jonathan rejoins James as a guest, having taken a leave of absence for the campaign. They discuss the way political parties are targeting voters during the election and the life of a candidate during the election campaign.
They also take a look at the last two weeks of the election and what that brings as well as the campaign diet and how you keep going while walking 20, 000 steps a day!
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Alain Tolhurst, Chief Reporter at PoliticsHome, joins James this week to discuss manifestos. Each election political parties will publish a manifesto, an outline of what they would deliver should they win power.
Alain and James look at which manifestos have made the biggest difference in recent election campaigns, for good or bad.
Why are they important once a party is in government? What is the the Salisbury Convention and why does it matter? As well as a look at how the current party manifestos have gone down so far and what they might mean in the months ahead in the week that both the Labour Party and the Conservative Party launched their manifestos.
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James is joined this week by the Sunday Times Deputy Political Editor, Harry Yorke. They look at the TV debates between the political leaders. With the first of those debates for the 2024 General Election held last week, Harry and James look back at the history of debates in the UK and how they impact elections.
Take a peak inside the 'spin room' with Harry, who has covered multiple TV debates, and the pair discuss who won last weeks debates and how much they really matter.
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James and Jonathan discuss the moment the 2024 General Election was called and what Jonathan has had to do since. When did Jonathan find out? How do candidates prepare for an election? What's the difference between leafletting and canvassing? Listen to find out.
The episode was recorded whilst Jonathan was still an MP, due to the dissolution of Parliament there are no longer any MPs for the duration of the election and Jonathan is now an official Conservative Party candidate.
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Jonathan and James were joined by George Eustice MP. George has spent the best part of a decade in Government, culminating in his time as Secretary for State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Recorded before the announcement of the timing of the General Election, we talked to George about his time working for David Cameron and the Conservative Party during opposition. From David Cameron's leadership campaign through to preparing the Conservative Party for government we take a look at how you go from being seen as the party of opposition to a potential party of government.
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Jonathan and James were joined by Liz Truss MP to discuss her recent book 'Ten Years to Save the West'. In a wide ranging interview the former Prime Minister discusses her time in office, her career as a minister and how she fist got involved in politics.
Liz describes the time she met Tony Blair in a laundry lift, whether or not she will appear on Dancing on Ice and what the future may hold for her.
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The Ten Minute Rule Bill,. sometimes abbreviated to 'TMRB', is a way in which Members of Parliament can introduce their own bills. The vast majority of ours laws will pass because the government has put forward and passed legislation but the TMRB offers one avenue MPs can attempt to pass their own.
Jonathan takes us through his own experience of passing a TMRB, being one of the first of the 2019 intake of MPs to do so. We also get an insight into the fabled MPs tearoom and discuss the limits of free speech.
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With the local elections dominating the news we go inside local government with the former leader of Stoke on Trent City council, Abi Brown. Abi became the face of Stoke for many leading a number of high profile projects such as the Ceramic Valley Enterprise Zone and, working with local MPs like co-host Jonathan Gullis, secured significant new funding for the area.
Abi is also active within the Local Government Association and shared insights with us on how to run a council and the ways local government interacts with national politicians and central government.
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James and Jonathan look behind the scenes in Parliament. What really goes on in the MP's team room? Why was Jonathan smuggled into No10 via 70 Whitehall and what did Theresa May make of James' trainers?
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This week the team take a look at the upcoming local elections, the impact of those results on the national picture and Jonathan's new role as Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party.
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Jonathan goes inside the budget process with Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury [EST] Gareth Davies MP. Gareth entered Parliament in 2019 after a stellar career in the City and has quickly risen through the ranks, and he's sure to play a big part in the future of the Conservative Party.
As EST he plays a key role in the budget process and takes listeners through that process.
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The Greater London Authority [GLA] is the body that governs London, the capital city of the United Kingdom, and home to 9 million people with a GDP of over £500 billion. The eventual successor to the Greater London Council, it came about to a backdrop of a wider push towards devaluation.
To discuss the GLA and wider London politics we were joined by Gareth Bacon MP. Gareth is the current Minister for Sentencing and Member of Parliament for Orpington. He previously served as the leader of the Conservative party in the London Assembly as well as a Councillor in Bexley. Gareth also Chaired the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority during Boris Johnson’s time as Mayor.
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They are the people who provide advice to ministers, provide consistency as Government’s change and run departments on a day to day basis. It is impossible to understand how Whitehall works without an understanding of the civil service.
We were delighted to be joined by Sir David Bell, former Permanent Secretary of the Department for Education. His time there spanned 6 years, a change of government and 4 Secretaries of State, covering both Ed Balls and Michel Gove's time as Education Secretary.
Sir David is a giant in the world of education, having started as a school teacher and working his way to through various senior roles, including Director of Education and Libraries with Newcastle City Council, to become the Chief Inspector of Schools for almost 4 years. He is now Vice Chancellor of the University of Sunderland.
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The first episode of our podcast was Jonathan's journey to becoming an MP, here he gets to turn the tables on James and grill him about how he ended up inside Whitehall.
From Baghdad to the bright lights of Westminster, hear how James ended up working on the Vote Leave campaign and onto his time as Special Advisor with Michael Gove and Priti Patel.
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Pippa Crerar has reported on all there is to in politics, general elections, referendums as well as breaking some of the biggest stories over the past decade. Pippa also covered London for almost a decade, throughout Boris Johnson’s time as mayor, for the London Evening Standard. Pippa is now the Political Editor of the Guardian newspaper, having moved there after 4 years at the Daily Mirror.
Pippa takes us inside the daily print and online lobby, and the Scottish press mafia! Hear about her journey into journalism and life covering Whitehall. We look at how digital news has changed the traditional print lobby and the nature of the changing media landscape.
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There are few buildings as iconic as the Houses of Parliament. A UNESCO world heritage site, the Gothic style building is around 150 years and for many is the image that comes to mind with even the mention of the word Parliament.
Parliament is home to the UK legislature, both the House of Commons and House of Lords with around 3, 000 people supporting the working of the place daily. Running this iconic institution is a mammoth task and one made harder by the restoration needed to a building that hasn’t seen a major refurbishment for over 80 years.
Joining us to discuss the upkeep of such a special building we have Nigel Evans MP. Nigel is a familiar face to many in Westminster having represented Rible Valley for more than 30 years. Nigel became Deputy Speaker in 2020 and second deputy chairman of the ways and means committee, having also previously held this role for 3 years. Nigel is also chairman of the Restoration and Renewal (R&R) Programme Board which made him the perfect guest to understand more about this crucial process.
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Can you guess your favourite guest? As we take a break over parliamentary recess tune in to this special 'Best of Inside Whitehall' episode, featuring highlights from:
• Michael Gove
• Matt Warman
• Priti Patel
• Eleni Courea
• David Linden
• Sir Robert Buckland
• Cat Smith
• Sam Coates
A big thank you to all the wonderful guests who have come on so far.
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In this episode we look at the point business and politics meet. How can that relationship work best? Do great businessmen make great politicians?
Our guest Saqib Bhatti MP, is the Minister for Tech and the Digital Economy. Saqib was the youngest President of the Birmingham chamber of commerce, and also the first Muslim to hold that office.
Previously the Conservative Vice Chair for Business, as well as PPS for Sajid Javid MP during his time as Health Secretary. Saqib talks to us about his own experience as a businessman, and representing businesses as well as how he now interacts with businesses as a Minister.
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Labour MP Cath Smith takes us inside the petitions committee. This is a part of Parliament that the public get to play a direct role in. The petitions committee is a function of Parliament that perhaps has the most obvious direct public engagement and receives thousands, even hundred of thousands, of signatures from members of the public every week.
So what is the petitions committee and what does it do? Join us to find out.
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In this episode we look into the world of political polling with Anthony Wells. Anthony is one of the leading political pollsters in the country, having work at YouGov, the countries best known polling company, for two decades.
He has covered general elections, referendums as well as a range social and political issues. In this episode we look at the methodological changes that have taken place to keep track with changing political attitudes, the data science behind MRP polling and what to look out for when viewing opinion polls.
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In this episode we look at political parties, and specifically how they’re run. Behind the leader, and elections there is a whole organisation dedicated to its members, supporting the party leader, raising money and ultimately - fighting and winning elections.
There is no one better for that than our guest for this episode - Sir Brandon Lewis MP. Brandon is one of the most respected people in Westminster, having been in government across a range of portfolios and know as one of the most competent ministers of recent times.
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The One Nation Conservative group has played a leading role in many of the major political debates in recent years. From Brexit, to leadership elections and more recently issues around the ECHR and immigration the One Nation group have played a major part in shaping Conservative Party policy.
Inside Whitehall is joined by leading member of the group, Matt Warman MP, to discuss the history of the group, its current make up and aims and what the future may hold as we head into an election year.
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Parliamentary group's are not new but have risen in prominence in recent years. Most notably perhaps with the European Research Group [ERG] during the Brexit battles in Parliament during Theresa May's time as Prime Minister.
The latest such group is the New Conservatives, set up by MPs Danny Kruger and Miriam Cates, comprising Conservative MPs who joined Parliament during the 2017 and 2019 elections, including the pod's own Jonathan Gullis.
In this episode, Danny and Miriam talk to Jonathan and James about this new group and what they hope to achieve.
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James and Jonathan talk to Eleni Courea, Deputy Editor of Politico's Playbook. Playbook is the daily email that act's as the parish newsletter for Westminster, covering the day's events and news and is read keenly by Westminster watcher's and those inside Whitehall itself.
Eleni tells Inside Whitehall how Playbook is put together and the tricks of the trade.
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We all consume political news and the most common way is via TV news channels such as Sky News. With rolling 24hour news, much of it clipped for social media, people like Sam Coates of Sky are, to many, the face of politics in the UK.
In this episode, Sam takes Jonathan and James inside the broadcast lobby describing how it really works behind the scenes. With two decades of experience covering politics he brings us tales of scoops, interviewing PM's and how the news is really made.
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The gang are joined by Sir Robert Buckland KC to talk about the UK's membership of the European Convention on Human Rights [ECHR]. There has been a renewed focus on the UK's membership of the ECHR amid claims it prevents Parliament from dealing with the small boats issue.
Would leaving make it easier? How has the UK Government dealt with issues with the ECHR before? And what should Rishi Sunak now do to ensure the Rwanda policy is delivered? Find out with Sir Robert as Inside Whitehall helps you understand the terminology, history and what options the Government has in the coming weeks.
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Welcome back to Series 2 of Inside Whitehall! Thank you all for your support and comments over the past few weeks. Inside Whitehall talks to the people who matter about how Government and Whitehall really works, hosted by former government Special Advisor James Starkie and former Minister Jonathan Gullis MP. Join our hosts as they lift the lid on the inner workings of Whitehall, with the help of a host of special guests.
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In this finale episode of season 1, James and Jonathan review the discussion with Tim Shipman on political book writing and look back on this season's topics and guests.
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James and Jonathan talk to Tim Shipman, author of ‘All out war’ and ‘Fall out’, two of the top political books of the past decade, about the art of writing a political book. Tim shares his motivation and experience for writing, as well as a sneak preview of his forthcoming book to complete the trilogy.
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James and Jonathan dissect the discussion on Parliamentary Private Secretaries with Mark Fletcher, current PPS to Jeremy Hunt, and Alex Davies-Jones from Monday’s pod.
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This week the gang are joined by Mark Fletcher, current PPS to the Chancellor, and Alex Davies-Jones, who is the current shadow minister for Digital but has previously been PPS for Rachel Reeves.
Mark and Alex help take us inside the world of the Parliament Private Secretary, Ministerial aids who are unpaid but have an influential role in how parliament and indeed government is run.
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Our dynamic duo dissect the discussion with former political advisors Hannah Geurin and Martin McCluskey and discuss James’ time as a special advisor to Michael Gove and Priti Patel.
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James and Jonathan go inside the world of political advisors with guests Hannah Guerin, a former Government Special Advisor, and Martin McCluskey, who previously worked as advisor to former Labour leader Ed Miliband.
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James and Jonathan talk through the interview with former Home Secretary Priti Patel. Both share their own experience of legislation in Parliament.
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James and Jonathan talk to former Home Secretary Priti Patel about what's involved in getting legislation through the Houses of Parliament and into law. From engaging with key stakeholders to dealing with amendments from backbench MPs, Priti Patel shares the hurdles she overcame to tackle some of the biggest challenges of the day.
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James and Jonathan talk through the discussion with Harry Cole and Kate McCann and James shares some of his own experience as a media Special Advisor.
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James and Jonathan speak to two titans of the lobby, the journalists who cover political events for the national and local media. Harry Cole and Kate McCann take are political editors for the Sun and Talk TV respectively and take us inside political reporting.
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James and Jonathan pick through the interview with Michael Gove reflecting on cabinet meetings during the coalition and fractious Brexit period.
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James and Jonathan speak to Michael Gove, a Secretary of State under four Prime Ministers and someone who has been at the top of government for over a decade.
What really happens in a Cabinet meeting? And how do styles differ between Boris Johnson and David Cameron? Find out in the latest episode of Inside Whitehall.
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Join James and Jonathan in Stoke-on-Trent, with Labour Councillor Rhys Goode, to discuss the upcoming local elections and why they matter to political parties and their leaders.
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James and Jonathan look at the context for the upcoming local elections on Thursday 4th May 2023, explain what local councils do, and why they matter.
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James and Jonathan discuss the interview with SNP front bencher David Linden, reflecting on the future of the SNP and what that means for the next General Election. They also discuss how the SNP operate in Parliament and its impact on both Labour and the Conservatives. They also talk about how MPs get on with members of the opposing parties behind the scene, where there is closer working than is seen in the media.
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James and Jonathan talk to David Linden, Member of Parliament for Glasgow East and the SNP Social Justice spokesman in Westminster. David talks movingly about applying for this first job while his father was in prison for attempted murder and his first steps into Scottish politics. The shadow front bencher also talks about the future direction of the SNP with new leaders in both Holyrood and Westminster.
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Jonathan and James continue to talk about his journey to becoming an MP. Post the 2017 general election, we learn about Jonathan getting selected as the Parliamentary candidate for Stoke-on-Trent North, winning the election in December 2019, and what those first weeks in Westminster were like.
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Jonathan talks to James about his journey to becoming an MP. From what got Jonathan into politics, lifting the lid on becoming an approved parliamentary candidate, and running in the 2017 general election. Get an insight on what it's like.
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What really goes on inside Government and Parliament? Find out with former Special Advisor James Starkie and Jonathan Gullis MP as they lift the lid on the inner workings of Whitehall, with the help of a host of special guests.
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