Claim OwnershipTrue London
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© Dave Hill
Description
The UK capital is routinely and sometimes mischievously misrepresented and misunderstood. This is bad for the city and for the country, which depends heavily on London's economy, its international character and its global prestige - even though it often fails to recognise this or admit it.
The True London podcast series is dedicated to covering London's politics, places and people accurately and fairly with a view to challenging false narratives about the city - and hopefully entertains along the way.
It augments and complements the output of the journalism website OnLondon.co.uk and the personal Substack of Dave Hill, who edits and publishes On London and presents True London.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
11 Episodes
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Nick regards the present accountability arrangements for policing in the capital as a mess, leaving London's Mayors having to accept a lot of responsibility for policing and crime while having few powers to go with it. The Home Secretary has just announced plans for reorganising and reforming police services nationally. Will they result in a better settlement for London? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Lewis is one of the most respected elections analysts in the country and On London is delighted to frequently publish his work. This year's borough elections are very likely to produce a very different set of results from those of 2022 or 2018, with Labour losing lots of seats. But the Conservatives might too, especially in some suburban boroughs where Reform UK poses a threat. And to which alternatives might voters who desert Labour turn? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jonathon was in the thick of community defiance of the notorious Dame Shirley's Porter and her Conservative council administration Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Marina Ahmad is the London Assembly member for Lambeth & Southwark and currently chairs that body's police and crime committee at a time when the Metropolitan Police Commissioner is striving to improve the professionalism and culture of the service. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Muniya Barua is deputy chief executive of BusinessLDN, an organisation that represents many of the capital's biggest employers. She knows what she is talking about. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Despite its numerous problems in government, Labour remains the most popular party in London. But is it taking the capital for granted? Is it even joining in with anti-London populism in order to win favour elsewhere in the country? And is it going to regret it? The brilliant Christabel, director of research at Labour Together, has answers to all of those questions.She also writes for OnLondon.co.uk. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Professor Tony Travers of the London School of Economics is the best person you could possibly have to explain the fairness or otherwise of the government's plans for changing how it contributes to the funding of local government. We also dipped into the government Pride in Place funding programme and consider whether that will do much for the Uk capital, which is rich in many ways yet also has very high poverty rates. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Previously a school teacher like her dad, Hina Bokhari has been a Liberal Democrat Merton councillor since 2018, the first Muslim woman to win a seat in that borough. She was elected to the London Assembly in 2021.In our conversation she reflects on her party's recent conference, its attitude to London and hopes for making gains at next year's borough elections and speaks with feeling about the recent increase in racist incidents and flag intimidation. She also speaks up for the Labour Mayor following Donald Trump's latest insulting behaviour and recalls her father being a teacher and mentor to the young Sir Sadiq. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Green Party's new national leader is a confident, charismatic, self-styled "eco populist" who has a seat on the London Assembly. Will his elevation help his party's electoral prospects n the capital or hinder them? An LSE Policy Fellow and expert number cruncher, Jenevieve Treadwell looks at the challenges the party faces with holding its broad electoral coalition together and making it bigger. Green supporters in Lambeth and Hackney might be enthused by Polanski's radicalism. But what about those in Richmond? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
As well as being a Labour AM, Elly Baker is the current chair of the London Assembly's transport committee. In this podcast she talks about the decline of London's bus service, antisocial cycling and the transport committee's recent intervention over fare dodging - an issue that has been exploited by right-wing politicians as part of a larger negative narrative about the capital. And with London Underground strikes imminent, she draws on her experience working for trade unions to offer some thoughts about relations between the Tube unions and management. For more top coverage of the UK capital city, read OnLondon.co.uk. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Lewis Baston is one of the most respected elections analysts in the country and his coverage of London's is unrivalled. He wrote for On London about a by-election in Cranford ward in the borough of Hounslow held on 21 August 2025 and an other held a week later, on 28 August 2025, in the very different West Hampstead ward in the borough of Camden. In this podcast, he elaborates on what the outcomes tell us about the capital's voters and its shifting political landscape. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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