Without Rancour: the Public First Podcast

Ed Dorrell is joined by Public First's Natascha Engel, Gabriel Milland and Luke Tryl to discuss their recent ground-breaking public opinion research into the state of the UK's collective mental health after a year of the Coronavirus pandemic. In this wide-ranging conversation they discuss, among other things, the impact on women, young people and those from more deprived communities. 

Ed Dorrell is joined by three Public First colleagues: Daisy Powell Chandler, pollster and corporate reputation guru; Luke Tryl, former special adviser to cabinet minister Nicky Morgan; and Gabriel Milland, former head of coms at the Department for Education. All were remainers in 2016, and all are wondering what pro-Europeans should do once the dust is settled on Brexit. 

What does the public really think about the latest lockdown?  How fragile is support for the latest restrictions? How much do voters worry  about the balance of economic and public health concerns? How important is  mitigating the threat to a "proper Christmas" to the government? Will schools stay open, despite strident opposition from teacher trade unions? These questions, and more, were explored by a crack team of Public First faces at the very moment when Lockdown 2.0 landed. 

What will US foreign affairs look like after November 3? Would a Biden win pivot American attitudes to China, Russia or Europe? What would it mean for the so-called "special relationship" with Britain? What happens if Donald Trump upsets the odds and pulls off another unexpected victory? These questions - and more - are tackled in the latest Public First podcast, in which we discuss the findings from an extraordinary survey of US voters' attitudes to foreign policy we have carried out with John Hulsman Enterprises. Join Ed Dorrell, Luke Tryl and John Hulsman himself as we consider what the world will look like once the dust has settled on this most anticipated of elections. 

Ed Dorrell is joined by two of Public First's education policy experts, Jonathan Simons and Anna McShane, as they work through the thinking behind - and repercussions of - Boris Johnson's speech earlier this week on life-long learning. Essential listening for anyone working in education policy or in a leadership position in further education, higher education or skills, Jonathan and Anna place the speech in the context of the forthcoming response to Augar, the imminent FE white paper and the government's embryonic approach to state-aid. 

Ed Dorrell is joined by two Public First partners, James Frayne and Natascha Engel, as they discuss how the major Westminster parties should understand the English working class and its values. Can Labour remember how to love voters in the constituencies formerly known as the Red Wall? Is there a danger that the Conservative Party will mistakenly tack to a cultural right because that's what it thinks its new supporters want? These and other questions are explored in a fascinating conversation about the changing nature of British electoral politics.