Politics Unpacked

Janice Turner on sexual political protest, Rachel Sylvester on Tory divisions on climate change and Francis Elliott on the rise of the Brexit Party.All while Matt Chorley is stuck on a train. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Matt Chorley is joined by Alex Dawson, a former Home Office adviser to Theresa May who became her political director in No 10, who describes how a short leadership campaign left her unprepared for what came next.Plus Esther Webber, Red Box reporter, on the dramatic return of the Lib Dems, and Jane Merrick, Red Box columnist, on whether the royals are better at politics. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Matt Chorley sits down with Chorley MP and deputy speaker, Lindsay Hoyle to discuss how to control a rowdy commons, being in the speakers chair during a terror attack and why a crumbling parliament might need to send in the cats.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All political nerds will be gripped by the local election results this week, but what should we expect, where should we watch, and why should we care? Matt Chorley is joined by Lord Hayward, a former MP and polling guru, Deborah Mattinson, who was Gordon Brown’s pollster in No10 before founding the polling firm Britain Thinks, Sean Kemp worked for the Lib Dems including four years in Downing Street during the coalition, but is much better now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Matt Chorley is joined by Jo Tanner, a former adviser to Boris Johnson, who wonders if her old boss can ever get serious. Times columnist Matthew Parris thinks we could have two new PMs before the end of the year, and Hugo Rifkind says the power of protest cannot be ignored. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rounding off a week of special episodes, Matt Chorley speaks to Ian Hislop, star of Have I Got News For You and editor of Private Eye, about Brexit, breaking politics and the point of satire in an increasingly crazy world.Red Box will return on April 23rd Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Matt Chorley travels to the Brussels summit as EU leaders give Britain an extra six months until Brexit. We hear from Oliver Wright, Bruno Waterfield, Paddy Smith, Christian Spielmann and Jacki Davis across six hours of late-night negotiations as Matt lifts the lid on what actually happens behind Brussels closed doors. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After a report shows young people turning their backs on the Tory party, Matt Chorley asks if a change of leader will be enough to reverse the trend?In this episode James Kanagasooriam counts down the top ten ways the Tories are in trouble then leadership hopefuls Matt Hancock, Penny Mordaunt and Tom Tugendhat set out their stalls for how to fix things. Finally Katy Balls and Henry Zeffman outline the challenges ahead for any new leader. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Matt Chorley presents from parliament to assess how bad things have become on a human level. MP's Chris Bryant, George Freeman, Philippa Whitford and Ruth Smeeth explain about poor mental health, tears behind closed doors and members unable to visit dying relatives due to Brexit uncertainty. Later, staffers Tara O'Reilly and Elliot Stratton recount dealings with death threats as common place before co-chairs of the parliamentary mindfulness group, Tim Loughton and Chris Ruane detail how long baths and appreciating the small things have helped over 200 MPs and Peers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Matt Chorley begins a week of daily Red Box podcasts with a special episode recorded at Podcast Live.   Sam Coates explains why every future PM will tinker with Brexit then Katie Perrior considers the lack of charm in our politicians.   PLUS David Aronovitch hopes for the death of two party politics and Esther Webber on why we've all turned into parliamentary wonks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.