While five groups of right wing Conservative MPs – the so-called “Five Families” – have not been making life easy for the prime minister, Rishi Sunak’s controversial immigration bill made its way through the Commons without one Tory rebelling. But is the real fight still to come? Politico’s Esther Webber joins the podcast team to take stock of a dramatic few days in parliament. Luckily for the prime minister he got to spend Monday away from Westminster. Unluckily for the prime minister he had...

Robert Jenrick has resigned as immigration minister, former home secretary Suella Braverman says the Rwanda Bill will lose the Conservatives the next election, and the prime minister has been forced hold an emergency – and rather tetchy – press conference to defend his plan. So how big a crisis is this row over immigration for the government? Paul Waugh, the i paper’s chief political commentator, joins the podcast team to look back on a very tricky week for Rishi Sunak. After much build-up,...

Nobody predicted a massive diplomatic bust-up with Greece, so is Rishi Sunak losing his marbles? PoliticsHome editor Laura Silver joins the podcast team to catch up on the extraordinary row over the Elgin Marbles. Access talks – the moment that opposition parties begin meeting the civil service ahead of a general election – haven’t started yet, but the pressure is building. So what happens next and how important are they? Cabinet secretary Simon Case is still on medical leave – but what does...

Jeremy Hunt has framed the autumn statement as the biggest tax cut in British history, but do the chancellor's sums add up? The podcast team crunch the numbers and discuss what Hunt's big day in Parliament told us about the state of the economy, what the government is trying to do, and when the next general election might take place.   Giles Winn, a former Treasury special adviser, joins the podcast team to reveal what really goes into planning a big fiscal statement - and trying to secure a...

The Supreme Court's verdict has left the government's Rwanda asylum policy in tatters - but Rishi Sunak says he has a plan to get planes taking off by the spring. So what is the prime minister proposing, and is there any chance it will work?  That won't be a job for Suella Braverman, with the controversial now ex-home secretary the biggest loser in this week's reshuffle. The biggest winner was David Cameron, who surprised everyone with his return as foreign secretary. Francis Elliott, editor...

The reshuffle rumour mill went into overdrive over the weekend, and on Monday morning Rishi Sunak kicked off a day of sackings - and surprise appointments. So the IfG team wolfed down their breakfasts, raced to the office, and assembled in the podcast studio for an emergency recording of Inside Briefing. Who is in and who is out? What does this reshuffle tell us about how Rishi Sunak wants to govern - and how he plans to fight the general election? And is David Cameron’s return to the Cabinet...

The King’s Speech on Tuesday meant a day of dashing uniforms and galloping horses, but was there anything of substance behind the pomp and ceremony? The Sun’s Noa Hoffman is this week’s podcast guest as the Inside Briefing team weigh up the legislative agenda on offer from Rishi Sunak. The home secretary is in the news. When isn’t she? We unpick Suella Braverman’s rows with the country’s most senior policeman and ask how Rishi Sunak handles an increasingly outspoken member of his cabinet. And...

Astonishing revelations and appalling language made for a gripping week at the Covid inquiry, with Dominic Cummings dominating headlines once again with his account of Boris Johnson’s chaotic No10. The BBC’s health reporter Jim Reed joins the podcast team to work out what we’ve learnt from the evidence sessions, Whatsapp messages, witness statements and diary entries.   The autumn statement is looming, and chancellor Jeremy Hunt is under pressure to come up with some additional funding for...

What progress has the government made in devolving power across England? Has it been a success? And what would a Labour government do differently?   In this special episode of Inside Briefing, Akash Paun, the Institute for Government’s devolution watcher-in-chief, travels across England to find out whether a devolution revolution – promised by George Osborne back in 2015 – is really taking place. Join Akash as he takes a journey on Manchester’s new Bee Network buses, heads to the Conservative...

Rishi Sunak has clocked up 365 days as Prime Minister – but is the anniversary a cause for celebration or just a moment of relief? Politico’s Dan Bloom joins the podcast team to weigh up Sunak’s first year in the job, assess his achievements and failures and how he has surprised us, and explore what might come next. From the man in Number 10 to a woman who might fancy a tilt at the top job… Rachel Reeves enjoyed a successful Labour conference, and this week the Shadow Chancellor launched her...

Labour's double by-election win has sent shockwaves through Westminster. So what does it mean for Keir Starmer? What does Rishi Sunak do now? And what might it tell us about the battleground on which the general election might be fought? The FT's Lucy Fisher joins the pod team to react to the results. Talking of the general election… everyone is guessing when it might be held. Could it be next May? Early Autumn. Late Autumn? Maybe as late as January 2025? We plot the paths and game the...

Will it be May? Maybe October? Perhaps November? Surely not January 2025? Yes, everyone is talking about when the next general election is going to be held – and speculating when Rishi Sunak will decide to go to the country.   So is it right for the prime minister to have the power to choose the date of a general election? What are the key considerations to make when looking at the polls – or the weather forecast? And what does history tell us about when is the right time to call an election...

Party conference season is nearly over and the IfG podcast crew have made their way back to London after their trips to Manchester and Liverpool. But which politicians will be returning to parliament battling new headaches? Has Rishi Sunak done enough to shake off the Conservatives’ post-Truss era hangover? And did Keir Starmer give Labour reason to believe that a new dawn might be about to break? The Guardian’s Kiran Stacey joins the team to take stock of the post-conference landscape, pick...

How will Keir Starmer respond to Rishi Sunak’s ambitious pitch to be the “change” candidate at the next general election? The New Statesman’s Anoosh Chakelian and Josh Simons, director of Labour Together, are the guests on this week’s Inside Briefing as the podcast crew preview Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool.  Will the Labour leader add detailed policies to his big five missions? Will there be policy u-turns - or will we see more barnacles being carefully removed from the boat? And...

When you put a load of ministers and MPs in a conference centre for four days, without enough sleep, and very little natural light, something unexpected – at least for the government – always happens. So what – and who – should we be keeping an eye on as the Conservatives decamp to Manchester for their annual conference? Will Suella Braverman – or maybe Liz Truss – create a storm on the fringe? What should Keir Starmer be worried about as he watches on from afar? And is this really a sink or...

Rishi Sunak has ripped up the UK's net zero plan - but did the prime minister's emissions statement make sense and will it win him votes? Daily Telegraph political editor Ben Riley-Smith, the author of a new book on the last 13 years of Conservative government, is this week's podcast guest.  Liz Truss returned to the political fray with a big speech at the IfG on Monday - with the former PM mounting a defence for her doomed mini-budget. Is anyone convinced? PLUS: The tumultuous last 8...

The podcast team dissect Rishi Sunak's appearance at the G20 summit in India - and Daily Mirror political editor John Stevens reveals what it's really like to join the prime minister on the plane for a foreign trip. Westminster has been rocked by a spy scandal - but should MPs really be that surprised? Plus: Is central government set up to deliver the government's 'levelling up' pledge - or Labour's plans for 'real life levelling up'? A new IfG report has the answers - and passes...

Keir Starmer has reshuffled his team of shadow ministers. So who’s up? Who’s down? Is this the march of the Blairites? And what does the reshuffle reveal about Starmer’s plans for the general election campaign – or for government should Labour win? The Guardian’s Aletha Adu joins the IfG podcast team to run the rule over the new shadow cabinet.   The concrete crisis in schools has placed education secretary Gillian Keegan under pressure – with the education secretary’s comments also landing...

There is no job quite like that of a government minister – and no training manual for how to do it. So what happens on the first day in the job? How can ministers manager the demands on their time? Are particular skills needed to get the best out of civil servants? Is there a trick to working with Number 10? What is the best way to handle a multi-billion pound departmental budget? And how can ministers master the art of navigating parliament? In this special six-part series from the Institute...

Summer is nearly over. Parliament is set to return. And the Inside Briefing team is back to take stock of the last few months – and look ahead to what a lively couple of months might bring.   Ben Wallace is out, Grant Shapps is the new defence secretary, and Claire Coutinho has become the youngest member of the cabinet. But what does Rishi Sunak’s mini-reshuffle tell us about his priorities for government – and is there a better way to go about appointing government ministers?   What should...

There is no job quite like that of a government minister – and no training manual for how to do it. So what happens on the first day in the job? How can ministers manager the demands on their time? Are particular skills needed to get the best out of civil servants? Is there a trick to working with Number 10? What is the best way to handle a multi-billion pound departmental budget? And how can ministers master the art of navigating parliament? In this special six-part series from the Institute...

There is no job quite like that of a government minister – and no training manual for how to do it. So what happens on the first day in the job? How can ministers manager the demands on their time? Are particular skills needed to get the best out of civil servants? Is there a trick to working with Number 10? What is the best way to handle a multi-billion pound departmental budget? And how can ministers master the art of navigating parliament? In this special six-part series from the Institute...

There is no job quite like that of a government minister – and no training manual for how to do it. So what happens on the first day in the job? How can ministers manager the demands on their time? Are particular skills needed to get the best out of civil servants? Is there a trick to working with Number 10? What is the best way to handle a multi-billion pound departmental budget? And how can ministers master the art of navigating parliament? In this special six-part series from the Institute...

There is no job quite like that of a government minister – and no training manual for how to do it. So what happens on the first day in the job? How can ministers manager the demands on their time? Are particular skills needed to get the best out of civil servants? Is there a trick to working with Number 10? W hat is the best way to handle a multi-billion pound departmental budget? And how can ministers master the art of navigating parliament? In this special six-part series from the...

There is no job quite like that of a government minister – and no training manual for how to do it. So what happens on the first day in the job? How can ministers manager the demands on their time? Are particular skills needed to get the best out of civil servants? Is there a trick to working with Number 10? What is the best way to handle a multi-billion pound departmental budget? And how can ministers master the art of navigating parliament? In this special six-part series from the Institute...