The Rise of a Key Strategist in Labour Politics

Power shifts inside Number 10, a Tory leadership shock twist, and Sturgeon reviews Johnson’s book.

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Keir Starmer has made changes at the top of his Number 10 team. Sue Gray has been ousted as chief of staff and replaced by the Labour campaign supremo Morgan McSweeney. 

George Eaton and Rachel Cunliffe join Hannah Barnes to explore what this means - including what exactly a chief of staff does, and who Morgan McSweeney is.

A shock twist in the Tory leadership race saw James Cleverly defeated leaving Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick as front-runners to replace Rishi Sunak. Was this a disastrous miscalculation by “camp Cleverly”? 

And Nicola Sturgeon, former First Minister of Scotland, reviews Boris Johnson’s memoir, “Unleashed”, calling it “gut-wrenching” and “craven”.

Mentioned in this episode: 

What is “the grid”?

https://pod.fo/e/1e70c5

Nicola Sturgeon video interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58jB3BSeQE4

The two sides of Boris Johnson: Nicola Sturgeon reviews “Unleashed”

https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/book-of-the-day/2024/10/the-two-sides-of-boris-johnson-unleashed-review-nicola-sturgeon

Morgan McSweeney, the permanent insurgent

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/labour/2024/10/morgan-mcsweeney-permanent-insurgent

More links

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