The News Agents

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Is British politics just ungovernable? Jan 30, 2026

Show notes

Keir Starmer is historically unpopular. When he entered Downing Street, his approval rating stood around +10%. Now? The Prime Minister languishes around -50%. It's the steepest drop in support for any governing party still in its infancy. 8 out of 10 people say that Britain is getting worse as a place to live under Labour's watch. One poll conducted towards the end of last year suggested that even Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor had more public confidence than Keir Starmer's government.

What on earth is going on? What explains such an instant - and decisive - turn in public mood away from a party and a Prime Minister elected in a landslide? As the Andy Burnham saga has illustrated this week, questions around Keir Starmer's authority seem a permanent feature of the news agenda. Was it always this way? Or is there something new, something unique, to Britain and British politics in 2026?

David Runciman is a professor, an author, and host of the Past Present Future podcast. He is one of Britain's leading thinkers on democracy, power and the state. His book, 'How Democracy Ends', observed the new threats to our political model and honed in on the very modern rot inside the representative democracy of the twenty first century.

Lewis paid him a visit - at his home in Cambridge - for a conversation about whether politics here is now ungovernable, whether political authority is now impossible to maintain, and whether democracy itself is indeed coming to an end.

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

Content is king but at what cost to player privacy? - The Sports Agents Jan 30, 2026

Show notes

You’ve likely seen the viral video of Coco Gauff smashing her racket in a corridor at the Australian Open. She tried to go somewhere without cameras and failed. Now she's complaining the only private place is the locker room, Novak Djokovic says it's like "big brother", Iga Swiatek thinks they're "animals in a zoo".

Content is king but at what cost to player privacy? Isn’t this the kind of access we all wanted to drive sports broadcasting forward and grow the sport? The bigger the sport - the more financial reward for players, so why complain? Or are we in danger of forgetting they’re only human?

Jamie Murray, former world number one doubles player, and Molly McElwee, tennis journalist and author of "Building Champions", join Gabby and Mark.

Plus, we look back at the best bits of The Sports Agents from Manchester United to a very English embarrassment at Champions League success to two-time World Cup winner Tobin Heath.

📩 Got a question? Send it here: https://forms.gle/9SBbW1SYWqXLKnRT7

💭 Tell us your thoughts in our listener survey: https://forms.gle/YMUvajQktqBuimgh6

🖥️ Watch our full episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SportsAgentsPod

📱Follow us on socials:

TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@thesportsagents

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📥 Email: thesportsagents@global.com

Executive Producer: Adonis Pratsides

Producer: Sophie Penney

Video Producer: Sam Trudgill

Social Media Editor: Calum Scotland

Tom Hughes is Editor for The News Agents podcast network

Vicky Etchells is the Commissioning Editor for Global

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The Sports Agents".

👕 The Sports Agents have merch! You can buy yours now: https://store.global.com/collections/the-sports-agents

Is Trump about to rig the midterm elections? Jan 29, 2026

Show notes

The election offices of Fulton County were raided by FBI agents yesterday morning. Fulton, in the state of Georgia, was at the heart of Donald Trump's claims six years ago that he’d won the 2020 election (he didn’t). Why are ballot boxes of archived votes now being removed from the premises? Is this still about a six years ago old grudge? Or does it presage Trump's plan for the November midterm elections? We speak to the Commissioner on the premises who watched the action unfold before her eyes.

Later - offensive language warning - the Reform councillor on the Redcar ballot - who got through Nigel Farage's self-admittedly “piss poor“ vetting system.

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

Why does Kemi Badenoch want an even smaller Tory party? Jan 28, 2026

Show notes

Kemi Badenoch has told her party not to get in her way as she steers it further to the Right. Is this the correct assessment of what the Conservatives needs to attract voters back? Or is she way off?

Later, Trump has threatened Iran with his big beautiful armada. Does he have any concern for the protestors getting killed in their tens of thousands thousands? Or is this all about US interests?

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

Has Trump lost the battle for Minneapolis? Jan 27, 2026

Show notes

Donald Trump's tone on Minneapolis has changed in the last 24 hours. He’s now having conciliatory meetings and phone calls with State Governor Tim Walz and the city's Mayor Jacob Frey.

And it looks like he’s removed his Border Commander Gregory Bovino and put him out to pasture in California. What's behind the change of heart? Was it the polls? The murder of American citizens? Or the fact that his administration’s account of the killings has been flatly caught out by camera evidence. Is his ICE policy in meltdown? Or just on hold?

Later - how extremism is climbing in the UK pushed by social media algorithms - Andy Hughes from The Crime Agents joins us.

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

Is Reform UK becoming a Tory party retirement home? Jan 26, 2026

Show notes

Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman has renounced the party that gave her power, and defected to Reform. She's telling us today that Britain is broken and “she” (Britain, not Suella) was “suffering”.

Are Reform better off with her? Are the Tories better off without her? And has it been enough of a distraction from the Andy Burnham saga to give Keir Starmer a lucky break?

Later, is Trump panicking about his ICE strategy after the latest murder of a US citizen on the streets of Minneapolis?

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

Special Report: Surveillance and snatch squads in Trump's new America Jan 23, 2026

Show notes

In Minneapolis right now, there are more ICE and border patrol agents than there are police officers. The national guard - the army - is on standby to deploy to the city.

Everybody in the city has a story about being targeted by ICE. Many now carry passports on them when they leave the house. If they are fortunate enough not to have been stopped themselves, they will know a neighbour, a friend, a colleague or a relative. Some Minnesotans literally do not know where their family have been taken.

State senators have told The News Agents there is "a war against the State" being waged by the federal government.

And in this new kind of authoritarianism, there has been a remarkable reaction. Citizens taking to the streets on patrols, huge community mobilisation, delivering food and goods to those too afraid to leave their homes. Plane spotters, monitoring ICE deportation flights that the administration no longer publicly records.

If that all sounds like a democratic breakdown - there is a good case to be made that this is exactly what is happening, what Donald Trump is intent on unleashing on a Democratic stronghold that is home to America's largest Somali community.

Lewis has this special report from Minneapolis and St Paul in Minnesota.

Brand Beckham & Osaka's Jellyfish - has sport ever been so fashionable? - The Sports Agents Jan 23, 2026

Show notes

Everyone’s been talking about the Beckhams and Naomi Osaka this week. Hard to believe a family feud and a jellyfish outfit at the Australian Open have anything in common - but where Sir Alex Ferguson used to fight to keep David Beckham's focus on the pitch, sport is now embracing fashion like never before...

Lewis Hamilton and Serena Williams pictured at the Met Gala, Stella McCartney designing Arsenal kits, and the famous NBA Tunnel Walks.

Have we all grown up enough to appreciate that athletes having other interests doesn’t mean they aren’t distracted from getting the win? How much money does Naomi Osaka going viral as a jellyfish make for brands and athletes? And should more sports be using fashion to grow the game?

Gabby is joined by The Athletic's Tennis Correspondent, Charlie Eccleshare, and Mayowa Quadri, Football Culture Writer and Head of Brand at Versus.

Plus, we look back at the best bits of The Sports Agents this week: should managers like Oliver Glasner and clubs like Crystal Palace should accept their place in the football food chain? And is a female coach in the Premier League really the holy grail or not?

📩 Got a question? Send it here: https://forms.gle/9SBbW1SYWqXLKnRT7

💭 Tell us your thoughts in our listener survey: https://forms.gle/YMUvajQktqBuimgh6

🖥️ Watch our full episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SportsAgentsPod

📱Follow us on socials:

TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@thesportsagents

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thesportsagents/

X - https://x.com/sportsagentspod

📥 Email: thesportsagents@global.com

Executive Producer: Adonis Pratsides

Producer: Sophie Penney

Video Producer: Sam Trudgill

Social Media Editor: Calum Scotland

Tom Hughes is Editor for The News Agents podcast network

Vicky Etchells is the Commissioning Editor for Global

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The Sports Agents".

👕 The Sports Agents have merch! You can buy yours now: https://store.global.com/collections/the-sports-agents

Dictators, Invaders and Trump's motley crew on the Board of Peace Jan 22, 2026

Show notes

Originally intended to be a small group overseeing a ceasefire in Gaza, Trump's Board of Peace has evolved into something much bigger. Apparently "a lot of great people" want to join, but who’s going to pay the billion dollars to sit on it? And what are Trump's real aspirations for the Board of Peace? On today’s show we try and break down what he’s hoping to achieve, whether the UN should feel threatened and why there’s no mention of Gaza in the draft text.

Later, we are joined by Peter Frankopan - did Trump “get" Greenland or has NATO just found a way to make him think so?

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

Trump's Greenland shakedown: 'Say no and we will remember' Jan 21, 2026

Show notes

Donald Trump took to the stage at Davos to take the military invasion of Greenland off the table, cue sighs of relief from European leaders and NATO.

But his ambitions for the US to own the territory have gone nowhere. He still wants to acquire it, and demanded immediate negotiations to begin that process. Increasingly. it seems that America's one-time allies have grown impatient with Trump's belligerent approach. What happens if he doesn’t get what wants? And is Europe actually growing a bit of a spine?

It was a rambling speech from Donald Trump, in which he appeared to forget names, and frequently referred to Greenland as Iceland. Is it any surprise that his critics are starting to hone in on his mental acuity?

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

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