Rock & Roll Politics with Steve Richards
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© Steve Richards / Podmasters 2020
Description
Based on his live one-man show Rock & Roll Politics, the broadcaster and author Steve Richards takes a weekly behind-the-scenes tour of UK politics and the media that shapes the way we view the epic political dramas. The future is ridiculously unpredictable and the past is so easy to misread. Subscribe to your weekly guide through seismic times.
383 Episodes
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Predictably Keir Starmer has blocked Andy Burnham from standing in the forthcoming by-election. Has Labour had enough of this unique style of party management where those seen as to the left of Starmer and Morgan McSweeney, or a leadership ’threat’, are crushed, briefed against, expelled, suspended or blocked? Or was this Starmer’s only available route?
Rock & Roll Politics is live at the main hall in Kings Place on February 11th, where we will have the chance to delve even deeper - and have some laughs as well…hopefully. Tickets here.
Subscribe to Patreon for live events, bonus podcasts and to get the regular podcast a day early and ad free.
Written and presented by Steve Richards.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Trump has pulled back from the brink, but not before he publicly attacked European leaders, including Keir Starmer. The British prime minister also expressed publicly his opposition to Trump’s plans to ‘control’ Greenland and threaten tariffs.
Outside the EU and with a US President launching threats and public onslaughts, where is Britain’s place in the world? Plus, brilliant questions on the split between Reform and the Conservatives.
Rock & Roll Politics is live on February 11th with a brand new show. Tickets here.
Join in the never ending debate by e-mailing steveric14@icloud.com
Subscribe to Patreon for live events, bonus podcasts and to get the regular podcast a day early and ad free.
Written and presented by Steve Richards.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
1Robert Jenrick’s defection highlighted the schism on the right, two parties battling it out as Labour and the SDP did in the 1980s.
But there are significant contrasts between the schism on the left then and the divide on the right now. One of them is surreal - both Reform and the Tories are parties of the populist radical right, so what are they fighting over?
Rock & Roll Politics is live at Kings Place on February 11th. Tickets here.
Subscribe to Patreon for live events, bonus podcasts and to get the regular podcast a day early and ad free.
Written and presented by Steve Richards.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
I was not planning another podcast on the theme of U-turn, not least when the schism on the right has been highlighted by the sacking of Robert Jenrick. But I sense there are huge lessons from the sequence that led to the U-turn, and they must be learnt urgently.
Rock & Roll Politics is live at Kings Place on February 11th. Tickets here.
Subscribe to Patreon for live events, bonus podcasts and to get the regular podcast a day early and ad free.
Written and presented by Steve Richards.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Since our last podcast on the risks of an unsubtle focus on the cost of living, the Government has carried out another U-turn to protect pubs from increases in business rates. Number 10 says this is a sign of an increasingly nimble government responding quickly to potential problems – but why do the problems arise in the first place? And will there be more U-turns now that Keir Starmer has pledged to put more money in people’s pockets?
• It’s time for the first live show of 2026 at Kings Place, and there's a lot to make sense of! Tickets here.
Back the podcast on Patreon for live events, bonus podcasts and to get the regular podcast a day early – and ad free.
Written and presented by Steve Richards.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Keir Starmer has proclaimed the government’s entire focus is on the cost of living. But to what degree can he control price rises, and will voters feel better off in the coming months? Should governments intervene to control prices? Plus, brilliant questions on leadership, Britain and the EU and much more.
Rock & Roll Politics is live at Kings Place on February 11th. Tickets here.
Subscribe to Patreon for live events, bonus podcasts and to get the regular podcast a day early and ad free.
Written and presented by Steve Richards.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Trump has carried out a coup in Venezuela - how long will he seek to rule over it, and then what? He is not the first US President who has acted unilaterally without telling the UK, and he is not the first who has removed a leader without a follow up plan. And why did Starmer’s long BBC 1 interview work for him, the interviewer and the viewers?
Subscribe to Patreon for live events, bonus podcasts and to get the regular podcast a day early and ad free.
Written and presented by Steve Richards.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
David Cameron had promised a Brexit referendum, and to renegotiate Britain’s EU membership. In a sign of what was to follow, it was not enough for two Tory MPs…
• The first show of 2026 is in the main concert hall at Kings Place on the 11th of February. Tickets are available here.
• Subscribe to Patreon here for the main podcast a day early and ad free, bonus podcasts and exclusive live events.
• My biography of Tony Blair is out now, available here. https://amzn.eu/d/4sJJpah
Written and presented by Steve Richards.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Shaun Woodward was one of the masterminds behind the Conservatives 1992 election victory and subsequently he became a Tory MP. Soon after Labour’s 1997 landslide he changed sides, and ultimately became a Labour cabinet minister.
• The first show of 2026 is in the main concert hall at Kings Place on the 11th of February. Tickets are available here.
• Subscribe to Patreon here for the main podcast a day early and ad free, bonus podcasts and exclusive live events.
• My biography of Tony Blair is out now, available here.
Written and presented by Steve Richards.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Reg Prentice was a Labour cabinet minister after the 1974 elections, but was threatened with deselection by his local Labour party for being on the right. There were rowdy meetings as Prentice’s cabinet allies spoke in his defence and by the time of the 1979 election Prentice had defected to Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative party.
• The first show of 2026 is in the main concert hall at Kings Place on the 11th of February. Tickets are available here.
• Subscribe to Patreon here for the main podcast a day early and ad free, bonus podcasts and exclusive live events.
• My biography of Tony Blair is out now, available here.
Written and presented by Steve Richards.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
We know more than we think we know … Sometimes what is in front of our eyes is more interesting than speculating about a hazy future. Here is what we know now about Keir Starmer’s fragility and the even more precarious international crisis.
• Tickets for my next live show on the 11th of February are available now! Get them here.
• My biography of Tony Blair is out now, get it here.
• A subscription to Patreon for the main podcast a day early and ad free, bonus podcasts and exclusive live events. https://www.patreon.com/RockNRollPolitics
Written and presented by Steve Richards.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Keir Starmer has endured a rough opening 18 months, but so did Tony Blair in quite similar ways. So why was Blair miles ahead in the polls in his early phase in power? And why is Starmer breaking all records for low ratings?
The first show of 2026 is in the main concert hall at Kings Place on the 11th of February. Tickets are the perfect Christmas present! Get them here.
Subscribe to Patreon here. The next series of bonus podcasts will be: When prime ministers fall.
My biography of Tony Blair is out now! Get it here.
Written and presented by Steve Richards.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Here’s the last live show of the year, recorded in the main concert hall at Kings Place. There’s a dramatic answer to the question, will Keir Starmer be prime minister this time next year? Plus, making sense of Nigel Farage, Zack Polanski, Jeremy Corbyn and much more…
Dream Christmas presents...
• Tickets for my next live show on the 11th of February are available now. Get them here.
• My biography of Tony Blair is out now, available here.
• A subscription to Patreon for the main podcast a day early and ad free, bonus podcasts and exclusive live events.
Written and presented by Steve Richards.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Trump’s National Security Strategy is scathing about Europe, and in interviews he intensified his attack on the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. Where does this leave Britain’s place in the world? Out of the EU and no longer able to claim there’s a reliable ally in the White House, even if that claim was always partly delusional...
Plus, what chance of a Labour/Lib Dem government after the next general election?
Subscribe to Patreon for bonus podcasts, exclusive live events and the main podcasts ad free and a day early.
Written and presented by Steve Richards.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have started to become more critical of the ‘Brexit Deal’. David Lammy highlights the benefits of a customs union. The Brexit minister, Nick Thomas-Symonds, is promoted. But does this mean a cautious government is moving towards the customs union, and when would it make such a move?
Looking for the ideal Christmas present? My new biography of Tony Blair can be read over a few festive drinks, and you can buy it here.
Subscribe to Patreon for live events, bonus podcasts and to get the regular podcast a day early and ad free.
Written and presented by Steve Richards.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Few buy newspapers and not many read them. So why do they shape the political agenda, not least in determining how the current government is perceived?
Rock & Roll Politics -The Xmas Special is live at Kings Place on Dec 8th.. Get your tickets for Kings Place or the live-stream of the event here.
Subscribe to Patreon for live events, bonus podcasts and to get the regular podcast a day early and ad free.
Written and presented by Steve Richards.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The fickle media and Conservative MPs are hailing Kemi Badenoch’s recent performances, making her more secure in her role as leader. The Tories are still dominant in the media, so could they - not Reform - emerge as the main alternative at the next election?
Plus the furore over Rachel Reeves and the OBR, and why is it shocking for a Labour government to deliver a ‘Labour budget”?
To find out more about the Common Ground Justice Project click the link here.
Rock & Roll Politics -The Xmas Special is live at Kings Place on Dec 8th. Get your tickets here.
Subscribe to Patreon for live events, bonus podcasts and to get the regular podcast a day early and ad free.
Written and presented by Steve Richards.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
After a thousand leaks, speeches and u-turns, Rachel Reeves has delivered her budget. As predicted there were a range of tax rises and some significant spending increases, not least on welfare. For all the feverish coverage, how much does the budget really change?
Rock & Roll Politics - The Christmas Special is live at Kings Place on the 8th of December for the last show of the year. Tickets are available now at the Kings Place website here.
Subscribe to Patreon to take part in my exclusive live event on the 20th November, plus ad-free podcasts arriving in your feed a day early and bonus podcasts and live events.
https://www.patreon.com/RockNRollPolitics
Written and presented by Steve Richards.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In spite of the bleak financial inheritance, Rachel Reeves should have some space with a landslide Commons for radical reforms in her budget. Did she partly choose to be trapped, without thinking through the consequences?
Plus brilliant questions on how Britain is governed in relation to Covid Inquiry and Shabana Mahmood’s plans for asylum seekers.
Rock & Roll Politics -The Xmas Special is live at Kings Place on Dec 8th, days after the budget. Get your tickets here.
Subscribe to Patreon for live events, bonus podcasts and to get the regular podcast a day early and ad free.
Written and presented by Steve Richards.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Cabinet Office Minister, Nick Thomas-Symonds, has written several political biographies. The most recent was on Harold Wilson. What are the differences between being in power now compared with previous Labour governments? How did Wilson deal with leadership threats of the type Keir Starmer faces now? He’s also responsible for the Brexit ’reset’, so does he want to move closer to the EU? And what about the single market?
Rock & Roll Politics - The Christmas Special is live at Kings Place on the 8th of December, just days after the budget. Tickets are available now at the Kings Place website here.
Subscribe to Patreon to take part in my exclusive live event on the 20th November, plus ad-free podcasts arriving in your feed a day early and bonus podcasts and live events.
Written and presented by Steve Richards.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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love the teme tune...what's it called and who plays it ? Great Podcast
My favourite podcast! Thank you Steve, great work
Steve still doesn't understand the difference between experts on real science and quack social sciences like economics. good show tho. no denying that.