Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government

The Conservative leadership contest is gathering speed, but what are the candidates offering their fellow MPs, what does the party membership think, and have the front runners caught the attention of the public? BBC Newsnight’s Lewis Goodall joins the IfG podcast team to weigh up the men and women battling to become the next prime minister. Most of them are offering tax cuts. Smart long-term policy or crude short-term politics? And what exactly could, or should, the caretaker government do if the cost-of-living crisis gets even worse in the coming weeks and months? Presented by Bronwen Maddox. With Giles Wilkes, Jill Rutter and Olly Bartrum. Produced by Candice McKenzie Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After an extraordinary day in Westminster, and a record-breaking number of resignations, the Prime Minister finally quit Downing Street. But Boris Johnson will stay on in No.10 until his successor his chosen. The IfG podcast team assemble to ask what this period of caretaker government will look like, how the next Prime Minister will be chosen, and what Boris Johnson’s record in office looks like.And at the very moment Johnson announced his resignation, his predecessor Theresa May was giving a speech at the IfG on how to restore trust in politics. And as the resignations began to pile up on Wednesday, the IfG was hosting a one day conference on how to reform government. Big themes, big questions, and, it turned out, taking place at a very big moment in politics.Presented by Bronwen Maddox. With Alex Thomas, Cath Haddon and Tim Durrant.Produced by Candice McKenzie Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Three big international summits have kept Boris Johnson thousands of miles away from by-election defeats, a Cabinet resignation and growing disquiet at home, but what did the prime minister actually achieve on his foreign adventures? The Telegraph’s Camilla Turner, who travelled with the PM to Rwanda, joins the podcast team to reflect on Johnson’s travels. While the prime minister was away the cabinet secretary endured a gruelling questioning by a parliamentary select committee, but the IfG team were unimpressed with Simon Case’s performance. And from transactional to transformational, how do ministers approach the art of leadership in different ways? That’s the subject of new IfG report. We take a closer look on the podcast. Bronwen Maddox presents. With Alex Thomas and Jill Rutter Produced by Candice McKenzie Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After two bruising by-election defeats and a Cabinet resignation, is Boris Johnson fighting to hold on to his job? Pollster James Johnson joins the podcast team to crunch the numbers and work out how the tectonic plates of British politics might shift in the weeks and months ahead.And should more powers be given to England’s mayors? That’s what a new IfG report argues, and its author – fresh from a visit to Manchester to interview Andy Burnham – drops in to explain why.Bronwen Maddox presents. With Hannah White, Giles Wilkes, Akash Paun. Produced by Candice McKenzie. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Inside Briefing team assemble minutes after Lord Geidt’s explosive resignation letter was published. So just how careless is it of the Prime Minister to lose his second independent adviser on ministerial interests?In a week where government policy has collided with legal opinions and rulings, Jonathan Jones, the former head of the Government Legal Department, joins the podcast to discuss the problems with the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill and Priti Patel’s plan to fly migrants to Rwanda.And what exactly can the Government do to intervene in next week’s planned rail strikes?Bronwen Maddox presents, with Alex Thomas, Jess Sargeant, Matthew Gill and guest Jonathan Jones. Produced by Candice McKenzie Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Technically, Boris Johnson is safe for another year. But is he really? Deputy Political Editor of the Spectator Katy Balls joins the IFG to discuss the policy challenges ahead for the Prime Minister, as he attempts to unite his party following a devastating confidence vote. Plus, IFG senior researcher Jess Sargeant has the rundown on the government's proposed changes to the Northern Ireland Protocol. “Boris Johnson has been very clear that he’d have to be dragged kicking and screaming from Downing Street.” - Katy Balls “In Wakefield, Labour are 20 points ahead of the Tories. Hammering that result home will be the most important moment of Keir Starmer’s leadership so far.” - Emma Norris “We’ve seen already the EU warning quite strongly about changing the Northern Ireland protocol. The UK’s been hoping that they may get some sympathy from countries like Poland - but that doesn’t look to be happening.” - Jess Sargeant “Hunt has had a fairly good pandemic. He’s kept his profile high while getting hard work done. But it’s hard to see someone like him coming out the other side of this as leader.” - Tim Durrant “What does ‘Benefits to Bricks’ really mean? It sounds like another grand, ill-defined vision that doesn’t end up amounting to much.” - Emma Norris “The Tories won’t change the rules of the 1922 Committee just because they don’t like the by-election results. If they really want rid of them, they’ll find a way to oust him.” - Katy Balls Presented by Bronwen Maddox with Jess Sargeant, Emma Norris and Tim Durrant. Audio production by Alex Rees. Inside Briefing is a Podmasters Production for the IfG. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With 148 votes against him, was Boris Johnson’s vote of confidence victory a Pyrrhic one? The IfG team convene to look at the unfolding civil war in the Conservative Party and Big Dog’s prospects for survival. Does Johnson’s fate really rest in the hands of just 30 waverers? Can his more controversial policies such as privatising Channel 4 survive in a new, “listening” No.10? And what can we expect from the by-elections in Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton?  “What pulled Margaret Thatcher was her Cabinet telling her the game was up. For now it looks like Johnson’s Cabinet is sticking by him.” – Cath Haddon “They know there are 148 rebels. They just don’t know who they are yet.” – Alice Lilly “Whenever Johnson has come out as humble and contrite, things have tended to go wrong for him.” – Alex Thomas Presented by Bronwen Maddox with Alice Lilly, Alex Thomas and Cath Haddon.  Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Inside Briefing is a Podmasters Production for the IfG. www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

New Zealand is often seen as a poster child for government reform. In this special edition of Inside Briefing Professor Rodney Scott, the chief policy advisor to the New Zealand Public Service Commission, joins Alex Thomas, Emma Norris and Rhys Clyne to discuss the history of government reform in New Zealand, explore similarities and differences with the UK and explain what difference reform has made in New Zealand. From the new public management of the 1980s to the 2020 public service reforms, this conversation covers a range of topics including: cross-government co-ordination, long-term policy making and ‘stewardship’, and accountability in government. Produced by Candice McKenzie Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The long wait is over, and the Sue Gray report is out. So, what does it tell us about Boris Johnson’s No10? What have we learnt about the culture in Downing Street during the pandemic? And what questions need to be asked about how the prime minister attempted to handle allegations of rule-breaking under his watch?ITN’s UK news editor Paul Brand, whose run of scoops have led the way in the reporting of partygate, joins the IfG podcast team to talk through another extraordinary week in Westminster.Hannah White presents, with Alex Thomas and Jill Rutter.Produced by Candice McKenzie Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Breaking news special! The podcast team assembled in the studio as the Met confirmed it had finished its partygate inquiry - and would not issue any more Fines to Boris Johnson. So what does this mean and what happens next?Why is everyone so angry about the Northern Ireland Protocol? The UK government and the EU are arguing over its future, and Northern Ireland's political parties are unable to come up with a power-sharing deal. The BBC's John Campbell dials in from Belfast to discuss the latest - and just how bad things might get.Back in Westminster, the government is under increasing pressure to respond to the cost of living crisis. Is a windfall tax on the cards? The team weigh up the government's options.With Bronwen Maddox, Jill Rutter and Jess Sargeant.Produced by Candice McKenzie Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices