Joe Pike looks back at Westminster politics in the first months of 2026.He is joined by FT political editor, George Parker, Guardian columnist, Gaby Hinsliff, and GB News political editor Chris Hope.

Isabel Hardman assesses the Iran conflict, three weeks in, with Labour's Dame Emily Thornberry MP who chairs the Foreign Affairs select committee and the former Conservative deputy Foreign Secretary Sir Andrew Mitchell MP. The chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, Ruth Curtice and the business journalist and crossbench peer Patience Wheatcroft, who sits on the Lords Economic Affiars Committee discuss rising energy costs caused by the conflict and whether the government should intervene. Legislators in Scotland and Westminster have been debating assisted dying this week. Labour MP Beccy Cooper is a doctor, who supports assisted dying and Robert Lisvane was Clerk of the House of Commons and now sits as a crossbench peer. Is it inevitable that the bill will run out of time in Westminster? And the Labour MP Naz Shah told Isabel about her childhood shaped by hardship and injustice within a British Pakistani family in Bradford and her journey to become a parliamentarian.

Pippa Crerar of The Guardian assesses the latest developments at Westminster.To discuss the unfolding conflict in the Middle East, and Britain's response, Pippa is joined by Labour peer, Lord West, a former First Sea Lord and Security Minister, and former Conservative MP, Tobias Ellwood, who also served as a minister in the Foreign Office and MoD.Following the vote on the government's controversial Courts and Tribunals Bill which would restrict jury trials, Pippa speaks to Dame Vera Baird KC, a former Labour minister and Victims' Commissioner who now chairs the Criminal Cases Review Commission, and Cassia Rowland, senior researcher at The Institute for Government who specialises in criminal justice.Sunder Katwala, Director of the think tank British Future, which focuses on immigration and integration, and crossbench peer Kishwer Falkner, the former chair of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, debate the government's new strategy on social cohesion.And, following the release of government documents relating to the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador, Pippa speaks to Keir Starmer's former Director of Strategy, Paul Ovenden, and the political editor of the New Statesman, Ailbhe Rea.

George Parker discusses Prime Minister Starmer’s decision not to support the US-Israel offensive against Iran, and the pressure he has been under for it, with the crossbench peer Kim Darroch, who was the UK’s Ambassador to the United States during President Trump’s first term, and the Labour peer Cathy Ashton, a former EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs who led negotiations with Iran over its nuclear programme.To analyse the Spring Statement that the Chancellor delivered on Tuesday, George is joined by the former Conservative Chancellor, Sir Jeremy Hunt, and the Labour MP Dame Meg Hillier, who chairs the Commons Treasury Committee.MPs debated the Representation of the People Bill in the Commons this week. The Bill would allow 16 and 17-year-olds to vote at the next general election. To discuss the Bill, George spoke to Labour MP for Kettering, Rosie Wrighting, who is the youngest female MP in the House of Commons, and 19-year-old George Finch from Reform UK, who leads Warwickshire County Council; he is the youngest council leader in Britain.And Robert Fox, the veteran war correspondent, and Kathleen Burk, Professor Emerita of Modern and Contemporary History at University College London, debated the special relationship between the US and the UK in light of Prime Minister Starmer’s decision not to support the US–Israel offensive against Iran, which sparked criticism from the White House.

Sonia Sodha discusses the Greens' by-election win in the Greater Manchester seat of Gorton and Denton and where this leaves Sir Keir Starmer with the Bassetlaw MP Jo White, who chairs the Red Wall caucus and Andrew Fisher, who was a senior adviser to Jeremy Corbyn when he was Labour leader and is now a columnist for the i newspaper. To assess reforms for children with special educational needs and disabilities, Sonia is joined by Sir Nick Gibb, a former Conservative MP and a long-serving schools minister and the Labour MP Jess Asato who is on the Education Select Committee and has a child with special educational needs..Sonia discusses the appointment of Antonia Romeo to the top job of Cabinet Secretary with Helen MacNamara, who spent 15 years in senior civil service roles and was deputy Cabinet Secretary during the pandemic. And the Lib Dem Cabinet Office spokeswoman Lisa Smart and Professor Robert Hazell from the Constitution Unit at UCL discuss whether this week's parliamentary debate on the appointment of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor as a trade envoy in 2001 spells the end for the long-standing convention that MPs must not criticise members of the royal family in the Commons chamber.

Caroline Wheeler of The Sunday Times assesses the latest developments at Westminster.After a week in which the Prime Minister had to fight for his political survival, Caroline speaks to Labour grandee, Alan Johnson, a Cabinet minister in both the Blair and Brown governments, and Peter Hyman, a former strategist for Tony Blair when he was in Number Ten.In the wake of the scandal around Peter Mandelson, and amid concerns about the slow progress of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, a new cross-party group is calling for 'wholesale' reform of the House of Lords. One of those involved is Carmen Smith of Plaid Cymru, the youngest member of the House of Lords. Lord Young of Acton, a Conservative peer and founder of the Free Speech Union, is concerned that rule changes on stripping peerages could be used to suppress speech.Ahead of the Government's Schools White Paper, which is likely to include controversial reforms to special educational needs provision, Caroline speaks to Jo Hutchinson of the Education Policy Institute about how the system might be changed.And, to discuss what it's like inside Number Ten at moments of political crisis, Caroline brings together Guto Harri, former Director of Communications to Boris Johnson, and Luke Sullivan, former political director for Sir Keir Starmer.

The Guardian's political editor Pippa Crerar assesses the latest developments at Westminster.The Mandelson scandal dominated the week and Pippa discusses it with Labour MP Natalie Fleet, herself a survivor of grooming and a member of the Women and Equalities Committee and senior Conservative MP, Sir Bernard Jenkin. To debate the government's EU reset, Pippa brought together Lord Peter Lilley, a former Conservative cabinet minister and long-term Eurosceptic. And the MP Anneliese Dodds, who is a former chair of the Labour party and was previously a member of the European parliament. Labour MP Chris Curtis and Kate Ogden, a higher education expert from the Institute for Fiscal Studies talk about student loans. And historian Sir Anthony Seldon and seasoned journalist and political biographer Anne Perkins discuss where the Mandelson scandal ranks in the long history of political scandals.

Sonia Sodha assesses the latest developments at Westminster.This week Sir Keir Starmer became the first Prime Minister in eight years to visit China. To discuss the visit Sonia is joined by Labour MP and Chair of the Business and Trade Select Committee Liam Byrne, and the Conservative MP Sir Andrew Mitchell, who served as Deputy Foreign Secretary in Rishi Sunak’s government. Following the Home Secretary's announcement of reforms to the police services in England and Wales Sonia spoke to two MPs, both former police officers, to discuss the proposals. Labour's Jonathan Hinder served in London for nine years, reaching the rank of inspector. He was also the head of the Police Now training academy and the Liberal Democrat Wendy Chamberlain, worked for the Scottish Police College as well as the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland.To discuss the issue of loneliness in young men, Sonia is joined by MP Mims Davies, who is a former Conservative Minister for Loneliness and now co-chairs the parliamentary group on Men and Boys' Issues and Chris Hemmings, the Founder of Men’s Therapy Hub, who is also a psychotherapist who specialises in working with men and boys. And, this week saw the launch of a new Conservative group for, what it calls, the 'politically homeless' on the centre right. So what role do political movements play in political parties? To discuss this Sonia speaks to Amber Rudd, a former Conservative Cabinet Minister and vice chair of Prosper UK, and Labour peer Stewart Wood, who is a former adviser to Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband. He is also a signatory to Mainstream, which says it is the home for 'Labour's radical realists'.

Following President Trump's pressure on European allies over the future of Greenland, Ben analyses whether there has been a fundamental shift in the Transatlantic alliance with Lord Darroch, former UK Ambassador to the USA, and Sarah Elliott, director of the US-UK Special Relationship Unit at the Prosperity Institute.As the government approves plans for a new Chinese embassy in London ahead of the Prime Minister's visit to China, Ben brings together Lord Beamish, chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, and Conservative MP Alicia Kearns, who previously chaired the Foreign Affairs Select Committee.After the House of Lords voted in favour of a ban on social media for children under 16, Ben speaks to Professor Amy Orben of Cambridge University who co-led a government study to understand the impact of social media on young people.And, is centrism dead? Times columnist Matthew Parris does not think so and argues that Conservative defections to Reform give Kemi Badenoch an opportunity to pivot her party to the centre. He debates that with non-affiliated peer, Claire Fox, a former Brexit Party MEP, a forerunner to Reform UK.

Sunday Times political editor Caroline Wheeler reports on the latest developments at Westminster.Following the defection of Robert Jenrick from the Conservatives to Reform UK, Caroline speaks to Henry Hill, the deputy editor of Conservative Home and James Orr, a Cambridge University academic and senior advisor to Nigel Farage. Karl Turner, the Labour MP for Kingston-upon-Hull East is a prominent critic of the government's plans to restrict jury trials. He discusses this and other Labour u-turns with Claire Ainsley, former policy director to Keir Starmer, now at the Progressive Policy Institute. Crossbench peer, Beeban Kidron and Baroness Nicky Morgan, the former Culture Secretary discuss Elon Musk backing down in the row over sexualised deepfakes produced by its AI tool, Grok and whether the UK has the right regulatory framework for the online sphere. And the chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, Dame Emily Thornberry and the former Conservative Security Minister Tom Tugendhat speak to Caroline about Iran, Greenland and whether a Chinese mega-embassy should be built in London.

Following a week of intense activlty in the international arena - including US action in Venezuela - George discusses the week's events with Labour peer George Robertson, the former Secretary General of NATO, and Sir Simon Fraser, the former permanent secretary at the Foreign Office who now chairs the foreign affairs think tank Chatham House. To discuss the challenges facing graduates seeking jobs after university and the impact of artificial intelligence on future employment, George is joined by Labour MP Lauren Edwards who co-chairs the all-party parliamentary group on Skills, Careers and Employment and Paul Johnson, the former Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies and now Provost of The Queen's College Oxford. Recently, there has been debate online anout London: is it one of the best cities in the world or is it a failing city? To discuss this George is joined by Labour MP Rachel Blake who represents the Cities on London and Westminster constituency, and Alex Wilson a Reform UK member of the London Assembly.Lobby journalists report on political events and can ask questions to the prime minister’s official spokesperson – a civil servant. Until this week, that was twice a day but the briefing has now been reduced to one a day. To discuss the pros and cons of this move George is joined by Kate McCann a lobby jounralist and co-presenter of the Times Radio Breakfast show, and Tom Baldwin, a former lobby journalist who later became communications director for the Labour Party.

To discuss the major political stories and developments over the last twelve months, and what lies ahead for 2026, Ben Wright is joined by George Parker, the political editor of the Financial Times, Pippa Crerar, the political editor of the Guardian and Sebastian Payne, columnist and leader writer for The Times.

Radio 4's assessment of developments at Westminster

The Daily Telegraph's political editor, Ben Riley-Smith, analyses the latest developments at Westminster.Following further fallout from Rachel Reeves' Budget, and accusations that she misled the public about the state of the public finances, Ben speaks to two members of the Treasury select committee who have been investigating the issue: Labour MP, Yuan Yang, and Conservative MP, Dame Harriet Baldwin.After the Prime Minister signalled that the government would make a fresh attempt to reform the welfare system, Ben is joined by the Labour chair of the Work and Pensions select committee, Debbie Abrahams, and the former Conservative Work and Pensions Secretary, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, who introduced Universal Credit.Former Labour Home Secretary, Jack Straw, and former Conservative Justice Secretary, Alex Chalk, debate the government's proposals to reduce the number of jury trials.And the state of Anglo-German relations was in focus this week following a state visit by the German President. To discuss this Ben brings together two German-born British politicians: Former Labour MP, Baroness Gisela Stuart, and Wera Hobhouse, the Liberal Democrat MP for Bath.

Sonia Sodha takes a look at Chancellor Rachel Reeves' long-awaited Budget with former Treasury Minister and now Shadow Leader of the House, Conservative MP Jesse Norman and Labour MP Jeevun Sandher who until recently served on the Treasury Select Committee. To discuss proposed peace plans for Ukraine, Sonia is joined by Ivanna Klympush Tsintsadze, who chairs the Ukrainian parliament’s committee on integration with the EU.Leaked proposals this week suggest the government is considering limiting trial by jury to only the most serious crimes. To discuss this. Sonia is joined by criminal defence barrister Joanna Hardy-Susskind and Danny Shaw, a former BBC correspondent and former adviser to Yvette Cooper. And, this week, the Education Select Committee launched an inquiry looking into the decline in reading for pleasure by children. To discuss how to keep the joy of reading alive, Sonia is joined by Labour MP Jess Asato, who is on the Committee and children’s author AF Steadman, whose Skandar series has been translated into 46 languages.

With just days to go to Rachel Reeves' Budget, George Parker speaks to her Conservative predecessor at the Treasury, Sir Jeremy Hunt MP. They discuss what it's like for Chancellors in the run-up to a fiscal event and the intense speculation around this Budget.Following the publication of the Covid Inquiry's second report George interviews former minister, Lord Frost, who resigned from the then Conservative government over pandemic policy, and Prof Stephen Reicher, who advised both the UK and Scottish governments during the pandemic.To discuss the Home Secretary's overhaul of the asylum system, and the divisions within her party, George speaks to Labour MPs Olivia Blake and Gareth Snell.And, as the London Aquarium responds to concerns raised by a number of MPs over the welfare of its penguins, George speaks to one of those MPs, Danny Chambers, and New Statesman journalist, Rachel Cunliffe.

The Guardian's political editor Pippa Crerar assesses the latest developments at Westminster. Following a turbulent week for the government, with talk of plots to replace the Prime Minister and speculation over the budget, Pippa speaks to two Labour MPs, Chris Curtis and Rachael Maskell, about the mood on the Labour backbenches.To discuss the challenges for BBC following the resignation of its director general, Pippa speaks to Conservative peer Tina Stowell, a former Head of Corporate Affairs at the BBC and Anna Sabine, the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Culture, Media and Sport.To discuss the state of the prison system, Pippa is joined by former Conservative Justice Secretary David Gauke who, earlier this year, carried out a review into sentencing for the government. And, to give their take on a difficult week for the Prime Minister, Pippa is joined by the political editor of the News Statesman magazine Ailbhe Rea and Luke Tryl the Managing Director of the polling company More in Common.

Sunday Times political editor Caroline Wheeler reports on the latest developments at Westminster.Following a political row about mistaken prisoner releases, Caroline speaks to former Conservative Justice Secretary, Sir Robert Buckland, and Labour MP Chris Murray, a member of the Home Affairs Committee.The chair of the Lords economic affairs committee, Stewart Wood, and Reform MP, Danny Kruger, discuss the Chancellor's speech in which she appeared to lay the ground for the government to break its manifesto tax promises. Why do parties have manifestos? And what are the implications of ditching them? Dr Cath Haddon of the Institute for Government explains.And does Zohran Mamdani's victory in the New York mayoral election hold any lessons for left-wing politicians in Britain? Green Party Leader, Zack Polanski, and Observer political editor, Rachel Sylvester, debate the significance of Mamdani's win.

Ben Riley-Smith, the political editor of the Daily Telegraph, assesses the latest developments at Westminster.Ben discusses the troubles at the Home Office with two former Home Secretaries: Alan Johnson, who served under Gordon Brown and Amber Rudd, who served during Theresa May's premiership.Following the row over the China spying allegations, Ben discusses managing relations with China with Lord Sedwill, the former Cabinet Secretary and former National Security Adviser and Labour MP Matt Western who is the chair of the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy.The 'Speaker's Conference' - which has been investigating abuse and intimidation towards politicians - published its final report this week. Ben discussed the findings of the report with Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House of Commons. And, in the week that the Prime Minister discussed his musical tastes on the Radio Three programme 'Private Passions', Ben spoke to two musical politicians about the power of music: Labour's Baroness Thangam Debbonaire, who was a professional cellist and the LIberal Democrat MP Anne Sabine, who plays the bassoon.

Joe Pike and guests discuss Lucy Powell being elected deputy leader of the Labour Party and the fallout from the Caerphilly by-election. The panel of journalists includes columnist and former Labour adviser, Sonia Sodha; the political editor of the Financial Times and the political editor of GB News Christopher Hope.

Financial Times political editor George Parker assesses the latest developments at Westminster.Following the big political row over the China spying allegations, George speaks to Helena Kennedy, a Labour peer and human rights lawyer, and Peter Ricketts, former National Security Adviser and now a crossbench peer.To discuss Rachel Reeves' options in next month's Budget, George is joined by Helen Miller, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and Rupert Harrison, a former adviser to George Osborne and now a senior adviser at the wealth management company Pimco.The Government's latest amendments to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill have attracted criticism from environmental groups. Labour MP Chris Curtis and Green MP Ellie Chowns debate the plans.And, in the week that Margaret Thatcher would have turned 100, George speaks to the man that tried to replace her: Conservative grandee Michael Heseltine.