Amber Rudd: I resigned because I couldn’t defend the indefensible

Former Home Secretary who chose principle over position, Amber Rudd has spent much of her life at the centre of power. From banking to frontbench politics, her career has spanned the high-stakes worlds of business, government and Brexit-era turmoil.

In this episode of Full Disclosure, James O’Brien sits down with Amber to reflect on the decisions, mistakes and tensions that shaped her time in office. From her alliance with Theresa May to her public resignation from Boris Johnson’s Cabinet, Amber offers an unusually frank look at what it means to hold power- and when to walk away from it.

She speaks candidly about the human cost of leadership, the moral complexity of the Home Office, and the fallout of political compromise. And she reflects on what it takes to recover- personally and professionally- from being publicly vilified.

Grounded, introspective and refreshingly sincere, Amber revisits the pressure points of her political life, the people who’ve shaped her, and why disagreement doesn’t have to mean disloyalty.

She also shares why she’s returned to public conversation with The Crisis Room-  a new podcast co-hosted with journalist Mark Urban and former CIA officer Marc Polymeropoulos. Each week, the team unpicks the biggest crises shaping the UK and the world. With insider perspectives drawn from the gritty underbelly of investigative reporting, the corridors of Westminster and the shadowy realm of intelligence, they break down what’s really happening behind the headlines, and what’s at stake for our future.

Listen to The Crisis Room here