Coffee House Shots: exclusive interview with Sunak’s chief of staff
Best of the Spectator
The Spectator
4.4 • 785 Ratings
🗓️ 6 December 2024
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In his first interview since leaving government: Liam takes us inside Rishi’s No. 10 and the characters that made it tick; sets the record straight on the infamous Sunak–Johnson arm wrestle to decide who would run for leader after Truss; gives his take on when would have been the optimal time to have a general election; offers a different version of events on Rishi’s ‘doomed’ campaign; and provides advice to a Labour government struggling in government.
Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Patrick Gibbons.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Get a free bottle of Johnny Walker Black Label Whiskey when you subscribe to The Spectator in a Black Friday sale. |
| 0:06.1 | Go to spectator.com.uk forward slash Friday. |
| 0:13.2 | Hello and welcome to a special edition of Coffee House Shots. I'm Katie Balls. I'm joined by Lord Liam Booth Smith. Formerly, Rishisian ex-Chief of staff. |
| 0:24.6 | Liam, just to bring you in, you've never really spoken before since you've taken on that job. |
| 0:29.5 | So why are you giving coffee house shots listeners the privilege, the exclusive? |
| 0:36.1 | Because you very kindly asked. |
| 0:39.1 | It's a good start. |
| 0:40.1 | And because it looks like everyone has actually published their books. |
| 0:43.7 | So now you can have the last word. |
| 0:45.2 | If all the books are from the era, we can correct all the records. |
| 0:48.1 | Yeah, that's exactly right. |
| 0:49.6 | And I'll put you on the spot. |
| 0:51.7 | I'll try and keep doing that. |
| 0:52.5 | I remember once a quote, maybe at the time I didn't attribute it to you, |
| 0:57.6 | but you once described, I think this was a description you told lots of people during the election campaign |
| 1:02.3 | of what it's like to be a number 10 chief of staff. |
| 1:05.2 | Because for our listeners, of course... |
| 1:07.3 | I already remember the quote. |
| 1:08.5 | Yeah, great. |
| 1:09.2 | Well, do that and then we'll dive into what it was like. |
| 1:11.2 | I think I described it at the time as being like a basically trying to traverse a toxic |
| 1:19.9 | wasteland wearing a blindfold, trying not to get grabbed by anybody. |
... |
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