Intro

It’s been another turbulent year in politics. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has faced down rebellions from within his own party, overseen scandals and sackings, and delivered a constant barrage of bad news from health and housing to small boats and the Budget. He’s fared a little better on the world stage – with successful state visits, securing a comparatively competitive trade deal with Trump, as well as a tentative rapprochement with Europe. But with every international success, Starmer’s standing domestically seems to diminish: he ends the year, on some measures, as the most unpopular PM ever. 

In this special live episode of Political Fix, host George Parker is joined by Anna Gross, Stephen Bush and Chris Giles to analyse how the Labour party got here – and where it goes next. 

Follow George on @georgewparker.bsky.social; Stephen on @stephenkb.bsky.social; and Chris on @chrisgiles.ft.com 

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Want more? Free links:    

Return to EU customs union would ‘unravel’ UK trade deals, Starmer warns 

Inside Politics: Neither Keir Starmer nor Kemi Badenoch wants to reverse Brexit

Nigel Farage rejects allegations of teenage racist abuse 

Wes Streeting calls for better ‘storytelling’ from Starmer’s ‘technocratic’ government

Chris Giles: Why UK borrowing costs are so high 

George and Anna’s FT scoop on Labour’s tax U-turn

Sign up to Stephen's morning newsletter Inside Politics here, and to Chris’ newsletter on Central Banks here. 

Presented by George Parker, and produced by Lulu Smyth. The executive producer is Flo Phillips. Original music and mix by Breen Turner. Our broadcast engineers this week were Bianca Wakeman, Petros Gioumpasis and Andrew Georgiades. The FT’s acting co-head of audio is Manuela Saragosa. 

What did you think of this episode? Let us know at politicalfix@ft.com  

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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