Mandarin mayhem

Mandarin mayhem

After another torrid week for the prime minister, the focus has shifted from No 10 to Whitehall as the UK’s top civil servant is shown the door. Cabinet secretary Sir Chris Wormald had been in the job for less than 14 months, and his departure — following the resignations of Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff and communications director — has intensified questions about the PM’s judgment over key appointments.


While Starmer’s cabinet appears to have rallied behind him in the short term, the impending release of further documents relating to Lord Peter Mandelson’s time as UK ambassador to the US looms large.


Host Lucy Fisher is joined by the FT’s deputy opinion editor Miranda Green, columnist and writer of the Inside Politics newsletter Stephen Bush and public policy editor Chris Smyth.


Follow: Lucy @LOS_Fisher and @lucyfisher.ft.com; Stephen @stephenkb and @stephenkb.bsky.social; Miranda @greenmiranda and @greenmirandahere.bsky.social; & Chris @Smyth_Chris and @chris-smyth.bsky.social


Want more?

Keir Starmer faces backlash over ousting of Britain’s top civil servant

Political crises lead to ‘perma-purdah’ in Whitehall

Westminster fears release of ‘embarrassing’ exchanges in Mandelson data dump

Keir Starmer’s route to recovery

The Labour Party has become devoid of purpose


Sign up here for Stephen’s morning newsletter Inside Politics for straight-talking insight into the stories that matter, plus puns and tongue (mostly) in cheek views. Get 30 days free.


Political Fix is presented by Lucy Fisher and produced by Clare Williamson. The executive producer is Flo Phillips. Audio mix by Sean McGarrity. Original music by Breen Turner. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.


Our email address is politicalfix@ft.com


Clip from Channel 4 News


Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(612)

Reform in hot water … again

Reform in hot water … again

Reform’s conference in Birmingham was soured by a Channel 4 News broadcast showing the party's leader Nigel Farage and some of his closest allies in conversations with a man purporting to arrange illi...

4 Sep 29min

Burnham vs Badenoch: Commons showdown

Burnham vs Badenoch: Commons showdown

There’s big "new term" energy this week in parliament with MPs returning from summer recess for Andy Burnham’s first Prime Minister's Questions. After Burnham answered a mega 125 questions, Conservati...

4 Sep 34min

What Burnham told the FT

What Burnham told the FT

In his first interview with the FT since becoming prime minister, Andy Burnham tells political editor and host George Parker that he is pro-business and understands the pressures that business is unde...

28 Aug 36min

Burnham: To drill or not to drill?

Burnham: To drill or not to drill?

Andy Burnham has been on a regional tour of the UK, delivering a steady stream of policies aimed at tackling social issues. But now comes the hard part: should he push ahead with new drilling in the N...

21 Aug 41min

Farage wins… and donation probe resumes

Farage wins… and donation probe resumes

Nigel Farage has comfortably won back his Clacton seat but with the investigation into his finances now back on, what, if anything, has been gained by this by-election gamble? And with the Reform UK l...

14 Aug 39min

Will Farage’s gamble pay off?

Will Farage’s gamble pay off?

Political Fix hit the Essex seaside this week to hear directly from Clacton voters ahead of the by-election next Thursday, which Nigel Farage has triggered in the wake of scrutiny of his finances. He’...

7 Aug 42min

Burnham’s policy bonanza

Burnham’s policy bonanza

Successive prime ministers have pledged to tackle some of the biggest crises affecting old and young: the UK’s lack of vocational training and the chaos of social care. Now it’s the turn of the latest...

31 Jul 33min

Burnham’s economic vision

Burnham’s economic vision

Andy Burnham’s new cabinet is in place and he’s dropped a raft of policy announcements on the cost of living this week, filling in some of the gaps about the kind of administration he will lead. On th...

24 Jul 38min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
aftenpodden-usa
forklart
stopp-verden
popradet
nokon-ma-ga
fotballpodden-2
det-store-bildet
rss-espen-lee-usensurert
rss-gukild-johaug
hanna-de-heldige
dine-penger-pengeradet
rss-ness
aftenbla-bla
frokostshowet-pa-p5
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk
e24-podden
unitedno
bt-dokumentar-2