• Westminster Insider

  • By: POLITICO
  • Podcast

Westminster Insider cover art

Westminster Insider

By: POLITICO
  • Summary

  • POLITICO’s weekly political series lifts the curtain on how Westminster really works, offering in-depth insight into the political issues which typically only get broad-brush treatment in the wider media.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    POLITICO
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Episodes
  • The last 10 days of an election campaign
    Jun 28 2024

    As the general election reaches its final week, host Sascha O'Sullivan takes us inside the last push of the campaign. She explores how parties use every trick of the trade, from advertising to frantic leafleting, to try to capture every possible vote and travels to the BBC debate in Nottingham where the main party leaders had one final face off.

    Ayesha Hazarika, broadcaster and former adviser to Ed Miliband, explains how many voters begin tune into an election campaign only once they reach the last 10 days, and warns about the impact of gaffes during the final stretch.

    Former Conservative Party staffer Cleo Watson tells Sascha a scandalous story from the last week of the Vote Leave campaign which never made it to the press.

    Ben Guerin, one of the advertising masterminds of Boris Johnson's 2019 election victory, relates how parties use attack ads in the last few days. And Craig Oliver, Downing Street Director of Communications for David Cameron, gives us tips for winning the "ground war" by focusing relentlessly on the constituencies which matter the most.

    Sascha also speaks to pollster James Johnson who says that in the last week, many candidates can be overcome with a misguided optimism about their prospects — and tells us what happens campaign HQs get their data wrong.

    Also, Jeremy Corbyn's former deputy director of communications and strategy Steve Howell takes us inside Labour’s 2017 campaign, while Sean Kemp, former special adviser to Nick Clegg, gives us a run down on Lib Dem targeting tactics in the final week.


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    41 mins
  • Westminster's photographers: a politician's best friend or worst enemy?
    Jun 21 2024

    As we approach the final lap of the 2024 general election, host Sascha O'Sullivan discovers what life is like for the photographers who trail hot on the heels of Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer.

    She speaks to PA photographer Stefan Rousseau, who talks about the blunders of this campaign, the photos we'll remember long after votes have been cast, and how special advisers try their hardest to frame their boss's image.

    Former Labour aide Ayesha Hazarika relives the turmoil of Ed Miliband's bacon sandwich moment, splashed across front pages in the 2015 election campaign, and the photographer who took that iconic picture, Jeremy Selwyn, tells Sascha how it looked from the other side of the lens.

    Freelance photographer Hollie Adams describes what a gift Boris Johnson was to Westminster's snappers, and Sascha finds out if the rumors really are true: did the former PM mess up his hair before facing the cameras?

    Andy Parsons, the official Downing Street photographer under several PMs, justifies No. 10 keeping a personal snapper on its staff, while Rousseau claims the practice has closed down access to the press. And former U.S. President Barack Obama's personal photographer describes capturing the famous picture of the White House Situation Room as Osama bin Laden was taken out.


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    43 mins
  • Inside Nigel Farage's Reform party
    Jun 14 2024

    As Reform teeters close to overtaking the Conservative in the polls, Aggie Chambre goes inside Nigel Farage’s party and asks if he will could actually achieve his takeover of British politics.

    Starting in January, when Aggie first asks Farage if he’s planning to return to frontline politics, she tracks the party’s journey from small start-up to a shock poll putting it ahead of the Conservatives.

    In February, she hears from the Wellingborough candidate Ben Habib about the progress he has made on selling Reform on the street.

    With material spanning months and with help from shunted aside Leader Richard Tice, the party’s only London Assembly member and pollster Alex Wilson and Farage himself, Aggie tells the story of how Farage threw a grenade into the U.K. election, and looks at their electoral chances on July 4.

    And she spends an entertaining day with Lee Anderson, the only man to ever be a Reform MP. The former deputy chairman tells her his views on female firefighters and global warming, and admits he’d rather Keir Starmer was PM than Rishi Sunak.


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    53 mins

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