And the F.F.N. Hello and welcome to Navarro FM. My name is Eleanor Penny. In the five years since the last general election,

we've seen a historic reversal in the fortunes of the ruling party. The

Conservatives had a huge majority and a leader who was reliably popular with their base, energised by the prospect of a hard Brexit, hard borders and the promise of a prosperous new decade to come.

It didn't quite work out like that.

When the snap general election was called just a few weeks ago,

it seemed a lot like the rain-drenched Prime Minister Rishi Sunak

was organizing his own political wake.

Labour was and continues to be riding high in the polls, and the Tories are floundering

as they struggle to govern their party, let alone the country.

Meanwhile, Starmer's Labour Party tries to walk the line between promising stability and continuity in the face of chaos and promising some nebulous kind of change.

The furthest right flanks of the Conservatives are breaking away,

merging with street movements,

and the left have a meager handful of candidates with a chance at power.

So, how did we get here?

What do we make of the demise of the Conservative Party, and what might Starmorism actually deliver in office?

I sat down with James Butler to discuss the trudge to number 10.

James is a writer, a contributing editor at the London Review of Books and a co-founder of

Navarro Media. We talked about Nigel Farage, fiscal conservatism, the climate crisis, and what remains for the British left.

So we have with us in the studio James Butler.

Hello James.

Hello. Welcome back. So so listeners over the past couple of years might

be familiar with our illustrious Navarro co-founder making a return to the airwaves

...