Political Thinking with Nick Robinson
316 episodes — Page 4 of 7
The Oliver Dowden One
The Culture Secretary on culture wars, suburban values, football heritage and treading the boards
The Alok Sharma One
The COP26 President on the ‘decisive decade’ to tackle climate change, why Swampy runs Britain’s boardrooms and being Mr Boring
The Gordon Brown One
The former Prime Minister on tips for chairing the G7, footballers taking the knee and ‘not being silent’ on Scotland’s future
The Ed Miliband Reunion One
The Shadow Business Secretary and former Labour leader on thinking ‘big’, standing against his brother and emergency-charging his electric car
The Christina McAnea One
The Unison General Secretary on Red Clydeside, the art of negotiation and words of advice for Labour
The Kate Forbes One
The Scottish Finance Secretary on growing up in India, her faith and how another independence referendum will be fought
The Rachel de Souza One
The Children’s Commissioner on tackling failing schools, online safety and knowing your Aristotle
The Len McCluskey Election Special One
The Unite General Secretary on Labour’s electoral woes, Starmer’s ‘failure’ and the politics of football
The Jonathan Reynolds One
The Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary on Labour’s ‘vast’ challenge, having an autistic child and why he would like to run Sunderland FC
The Justin Welby One
The Archbishop of Canterbury on being involved in politics, how leaders today are more moral than their predecessors, the need for reconciliation, and why he likes The West Wing
The Alistair Carmichael One
The longest-serving LibDem MP on the benefits of island life, why beef farming in Shetland shouldn’t be stopped by fears over global warming, working with Tories, and the perils of nationalism
The Jeane Freeman One
Scotland’s Health Secretary on her journey from communism via Labour to the SNP; why she says Alex Salmond is not fit to hold office; and what went wrong in Scotland’s care homes over covid
The Nadhim Zahawi One
The vaccines minister on fleeing Iraq, losing and making money, the role of entrepreneurs in vaccine development, and Shakespeare.
The Kwasi Kwarteng One
The new Business Secretary on whether he’s changed his mind on Thatcherite economics, his ‘Sunday’ name, views of Empire, and the quality of Nick’s interview research
The Michelle O'Neill One
Northern Ireland’s Deputy First Minister and Sinn Fein leader discusses the likely impact of Joe Biden, her Irish Republican childhood and fighting covid
The Mark Sedwill One
The former Cabinet Secretary on handling crises, the end of the Trump era and speaking frankly to Boris
The Kate Bingham One
The former head of the Vaccine Taskforce on finding a vaccine, getting caught in the political crossfire and whether the UK can be ‘world-beating’
The Jake Berry One
The Conservative MP on a year of heartbreak, his friendship with the PM and his ambitions for the North
The Kate Green One
The Shadow Education Secretary on her despair at Jeremy Corbyn, abolishing Eton and reforming the honours system.
The Steve Rotheram One
The Liverpool Metro Mayor discusses his city’s image, Hillsborough, class politics, and why he did he a deal with Boris Johnson but won’t shake his hand
The Kemi Badenoch One
The Equalities Minister on redefining Black History Month, racial inequality and her love for Mrs Thatcher
The Siân Berry One
The Green Party co-leader on her childhood love of wildlife, taking on 4x4s and whether the Greens can change politics
The Simon Coveney One
The Irish Foreign Minister on his Anglo-Irish roots, the prospects for a Brexit deal and taking his centenarian grandmother to Lords
The George Eustice One
The Environment Secretary on the spirit of Poldark, answering questions for David Cameron and the price of fish fingers.
The Anneliese Dodds One
The Shadow Chancellor on her Presbyterian roots, being a student protestor and whether she’s prepared to say ‘no’
The Douglas Ross One
The new Scottish Conservative leader on football refereeing, his unusual knowledge of cattle and whether he can stop a second independence referendum
The Layla Moran One
The LibDem leadership contender discusses the meaning of liberalism, the threat of fat-shaming, and the common humanity of being stardust but not necessarily pansexual
The Thérèse Coffey One
The Work and Pensions Secretary on her Liverpudlian roots, applying science to politics, dealing with the rise in unemployment and her passion for karaoke
The Nicklaus Thomas-Symonds One
Labour's shadow home secretary on his village with seven MPs, the collective spirit of the Welsh valleys, what Michael Foot told him as a teenager, and his golfing name
The Mark Regev One
Israel's former ambassador to the UK on arguing his country's case, why he doesn't like being called 'silver-tongued', why he changed his name, and his reasons for optimism
The Neil Ferguson One
The leading epidemiologist on how science and politics can best work together, being forced to resign from a government committee, and his media nickname of 'Professor Lockdown'
The Robert Buckland One
The Justice Secretary on loneliness in politics, kneeling, how courts respond to covid, and why there is no such thing as 'normal' - plus he demonstrates his love of music
The Maro Itoje One
The leading England rugby player on racism, Black Lives Matter, statues, finding middle ground, the diversity of Harrow School, and being impressed by Keir Starmer
The Arlene Foster One
Northern Ireland's First Minister on what happened to her family during the Troubles, her discussions with Boris Johnson over Brexit, and what she's missed most during lockdown
The Jonathan Sumption One
The former Supreme Court justice on why lockdown is 'despotic', being a libertarian, not being a politician, what Lord Hutton's inquiry got wrong and what Keith Joseph got right
The Jeremy Hunt covid one
Jeremy Hunt talks about making mistakes, learning from Asia, his dispute with the junior doctors, and the trials of family life
The Mark Drakeford One
Wales's First Minister on tackling the virus, working with Boris & digging the allotment
The Richard Horton One
The editor of the Lancet discusses problems in the relationship between science and politics, why he thinks the lockdown must go on, and whether he is really a headline chaser.
The new Keir Starmer one
Labour's new leader Keir Starmer talks about his background, upbringing, legal career and core values (in an interview recorded in 2018)
The Rosena Allin-Khan One
The Labour deputy leadership candidate and doctor on being prepared for coronavirus, why she chose politics and that Love Actually video
The Rebecca Long-Bailey One
The Labour leadership candidate on her Mancunian roots, why she didn't go into politics straight away and raising her eyebrows
The Ian Murray One
The Labour deputy leadership candidate on uniting Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, saving Hearts FC and why Labour has to recover in Scotland if it is ever to win in Westminster again
The Inside Story of Election 19 One
A bonus episode, with Anne McElvoy's behind-the-scenes documentary about the 2019 election
The What Does Boris Johnson Really Think One
Pragmatist, libertarian or cakeist? Heathite or Trumpesque? Nick explores what drives the political views of Boris Johnson.
The Nigel Farage Brexit Day One
The leading Brexit campaigner on the lessons he learnt as a City trader, what he thought of the 1975 referendum, and how he changed the 2019 election
The Andy Street One
The Mayor of the West Midlands on his passion for HS2, why he nearly became a social worker and encouraging mavericks
The Nicky Morgan One
The Culture Secretary on why she went from Remainer rebel to Boris loyalist, her decision to quit frontline politics and the uncertain future of the BBC
The Lisa Nandy One
The Labour leadership candidate on her Liberal Grandfather, Marxist Dad, reviving towns and a love of Britney
The Ben Wallace One
The Defence Secretary on getting the MoD's house in order, how he discovered a ticking bomb and why Boris Johnson is a 'left-wing Tory'
The Prime Ministerial Debate One
A special edition with audio of Boris Johnson v Jeremy Corbyn, plus Nick's reflections after the debate