Keir Starmer and the lost art of political oratory
Coffee House Shots10 Helmi 2025

Keir Starmer and the lost art of political oratory

From Churchill to Thatcher to Blair to Farage, Parliament has seen some truly fantastic rhetoricians over the years. But last week came the news that – in a bid to improve his own oratorical skill – Keir Starmer employed a voice coach: former actress Leonie Mellinger. Mellinger has been at the centre of a fresh COVID-19 row, as the Prime Minister considered her to be so important that she qualified as a ‘key worker’ in 2020, visiting Labour headquarters in a mask on Christmas Eve 2020 to advise Starmer.

It is not an unusual practice to employ a voice coach to improve a politician’s public speaking, and on the podcast Michael Gove is joined by his own former coach Graham Davies, to recover the lost art of political rhetoric. They discuss what makes a great political speech, share some of their favourite examples and ask: has Mellinger actually improved Starmer’s delivery?

Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Megan McElroy.

Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.


For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts.


Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk

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

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(3341)

Andy's Care Plan

Andy's Care Plan

It's Wednesday, which means there's another announcement from Downing Street. Yes, another one. Today, Andy Burnham is talking social care, and this time, he wants to build a 'cross-party consensus' t...

29 Heinä 10min

Will Burnham find a NEET solution?

Will Burnham find a NEET solution?

It's a day dedicated to the NEETs (again) with the Prime Minister announcing his plans to prevent swathes of future NEETs coming to the fore. With proposals to widen the participation and provenance o...

28 Heinä 11min

Andy's intervention on defence

Andy's intervention on defence

A week on from the start of Andy Burnham's premiership, and Westminster is bracing for another innings of announcements from the government. Among them, after meeting Volodymyr Zelenskyy today, the PM...

27 Heinä 23min

Nick Clegg: my biggest coalition regrets

Nick Clegg: my biggest coalition regrets

Tim Shipman is joined by Sir Nick Clegg, the former Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Liberal Democrats, as part of The Spectator's new event series, Tim Shipman Meets the Party Leaders. Tim cha...

24 Heinä 29min

How Reform and the Tories plan to fight Andy Burnham

How Reform and the Tories plan to fight Andy Burnham

In the magazine this week, James Heale writes that Kemi Badenoch was in an upbeat mood when she addressed her troops last week. ‘This time last year,’ she told the 1922 Committee, ‘people said Jenrick...

24 Heinä 13min

Andy’s promises – who’s paying?

Andy’s promises – who’s paying?

It is day three of Andy Burnham’s premiership, and we have had a tranche of policy announcements and funding commitments. A VAT cut for energy bills, £2 bus fares, and today a business rate cut for pu...

23 Heinä 14min

Iain Dale: Standing for Parliament was a 'humiliating experience'

Iain Dale: Standing for Parliament was a 'humiliating experience'

In a busy week for British politics, LBC’s Iain Dale joins Tim Shipman and James Heale to discuss his new book, Have I Said Too Much? Iain speaks frankly about standing as a Conservative candidate at ...

22 Heinä 25min

Burnham's northern queens

Burnham's northern queens

Appointment into Andy Burnham's new cabinet went late into the evening: Wes Streeting to defence, plus the comeback queens – Louise Haigh, Lucy Powell and Angela Rayner all into senior posts in govern...

21 Heinä 14min

Suosittua kategoriassa Politiikka ja uutiset

aikalisa
rss-ootsa-kuullut-tasta
ootsa-kuullut-tasta-2
uutiscast
otetaan-yhdet
rss-vaalirankkurit-podcast
rss-seksicast
rss-podme-livebox
tervo-halme
aihe
politiikan-puskaradio
rss-girls-finish-f1rst
et-sa-noin-voi-sanoo-esittaa
linda-maria
rikosmyytit
rss-mina-ukkola
rss-raha-talous-ja-politiikka
rss-asiastudio