meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Best of the Spectator

Coffee House Shots: why 2025 could redefine politics

Best of the Spectator

The Spectator

News Commentary, News, Daily News, Society & Culture

4.4785 Ratings

🗓️ 30 December 2024

⏱️ 23 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Santa will have had a tricky time this year fulfilling all the Christmas wish lists in Westminster. Keir Starmer is desperately hoping for a change in the political weather, and Kemi Badenoch would like an in with Donald Trump. Ed Davey dreams that Labour’s electoral troubles will get so bad that proportional representation starts to look appealing. Nigel Farage, meanwhile, wants to avoid what usually happens with him and keep his party from falling out – or perhaps Elon Musk will give him a Christmas bonus in the form of a generous donation.

What’s certain is that 2025 will prove to be one of the most defining in recent political memory: with Starmer choosing mission-led government; Reform circling the local elections in May; hushed talk of Jeremy Corbyn forming a new party on the hard left; and Donald Trump in the White House. It’s extraordinary that so much could be up for grabs so early after Starmer’s supermajority. What might 2025 bring?

James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Patrick Maguire, political columnist for the Times.

Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

It's Ed Balls and me, George Osborne, here from our podcast Political Currency.

0:05.6

And we're really excited to tell you about a special series with David Cameron on the first six months as Prime Minister.

0:12.1

Letters to Trident submarine captains, hostage crises, that first budget.

0:17.0

There's so much we pack into those first few months.

0:20.1

This is David Cameron, as you've never heard him before.

0:23.2

It's Barack Obama on the telephone going, well done, David, enjoyed this moment.

0:26.9

It's all downhill from here.

0:28.2

I've had my rouse with sarcozy over the years, but whenever I see him, I always give him this big hug.

0:33.3

Thank him for letting me see my dad before he died.

0:35.7

Listen, enjoy, be provoked.

0:37.7

Inside number 10, David Cameron, the first six months.

0:40.4

Search for political currency wherever you get your podcast.

0:48.1

Hello, and welcome to Coffee House Shots.

0:49.7

I'm James Heel, and I'm joined today by the Spectators, Political Editor to Katie Balls

0:52.9

and the Times columnist Patrick McGuire.

0:55.5

Now we're looking ahead to the next 12 months of 2025. Katie, just off the top of your head,

1:00.1

what do you think the big stories in politics are going to be in 2025 in Britain?

1:03.7

A nice easy question to start. What do I think the big stories are going to be? I mean, I think

1:08.9

the biggest date in the diary is the date in May of the local elections,

1:12.9

even if Angela Rainer's reforms of councils mean that some of them might not go ahead in quite the way we anticipate.

1:21.1

And I think that it's clearly the first big electoral test since the general election.

1:25.9

I also think that there's probably more to play for than you might have anticipated in the days after Labor's large win.

...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in -46 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Spectator, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Spectator and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.