Where Politics Meets History

Iain Dale and Jacqui Smith discuss in detail the ramifications of what is happening in the United States and what Donald Trump will do next, the latest developments in Covid, the new For the Many face coverings (on sale at www.politicos.co.uk), Jacqui’s post Strictly comedown, and while she is recording the podcast Jacqui is papped through her window! And they make an announcement about the future of the podcast. The Wednesday podcast is to return! Smut quota: Low

In a special bonus edition of the podcast Jacqui Smith tells us about the weekend’s events which saw her voted off Strictly Come Dancing. It all gets a little bit “totes emosh” on occasion and Jacqui takes us on her emotional rollercoaster, what the experience has been like, and what it has meant to her. Get your Kleenex ready.

Iain Dale & Jacqui Smith avoid discussing Strictly (mostly) – as there will be a special bonus podcast tomorrow evening. Instead they spend most of this two hour edition talking lockdown and Corbyn, with the odd thought on the US election and the French terror attack thrown in for good measure. And you get to Iain practising his Welsh. What could possibly go wrong? Smut Quota: Low

Iain Dale and Jacqui Smith bask in the glory of their victory on ‘Pointless Celebrities’ and Jacqui updates us all on her debut on Strictly Come Dancing. That takes up the first twenty minutes of the podcast before they move on to discussing lockdown in Wales, Free School meals, Angela Rayner’s ‘scum’ comments, test & trace, Emmanuel Macron’s response to the French terror attack, the Pope’s views on civil unions, the US election and devolution. Smut Quota: A little higher than normal. Sorry.

Iain Dale and Jacqui Smith spend the first twenty minutes of the podcasts discussing Jacqui’s entry into Strictly Come Dancing and then they turn their attention to the three big political issues of the week – the latest developments in the Covid crisis, the diminishing prospects of a free trade agreement with the EU and developments in the US election campaign. They also spend an hour answering listener questions. Smut Quota: Low to middling. Note: For the next few weeks the podcast will be available from Sunday evenings.

Hi For The Many fans LBC have a new podcast we think you’ll enjoy - Hosted by Lionel Barber, the former Editor of the Financial Times, What Next? focuses on life after COVID-19 and sees the multi-award-winning journalist and author discover how the world is adapting to the pandemic, what needs to change and, most importantly, what lessons we have learnt that will shape our lives for the future. Each week, Lionel will be speaking to some of the biggest leading influential figures in the health, politics, business, technology, arts and environment world, such as former Prime Minister Tony Blair; Elizabeth Cousens, President and CEO of the United Nations Foundation; ITV’s Chief Executive Dame Carolyn McCall and many more. Follow Lionel on Twitter: @lionelbarber. Listen and subscribe now on Global Player or wherever you get your podcasts

Iain Dale and Jacqui Smith discuss new Covid new restrictions, Allegra Stratton’s appointment as the PM’s spokeswoman, Nicola Sturgeon’s political troubles, the latest developments in the US election, the government’s careers app, Darren Grimes and MPs’ pay. Smut quota: Middling

Iain Dale and Jacqui Smith discuss Donald Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis, his debate with Joe Biden, the idiocy of people who break Coronavirus rules (yes you Jeremy Corbyn, Stanley Johnson and Margaret Ferrier!), the latest from Strictly, Jenny Murray’s last Woman’s Hour, Priti Patel’s latest brainwave and National Poetry Day. Smut Quota: High at the start, low elsewhere.

Iain Dale and Jacqui Smith discuss Rishi Sunak’s Winter Economic Plan, Student ‘incarceration’, office romances, Trump and the transferral of power, Ben Wallace’s comments on an ‘illegal war’, the disappearance of Priti Patel, Iain needing a passport to get into Kent, Harry & Meghan’s comments on the US election, Diane Abbott’s book and Jacqui gives us an update on her ‘Strictly’ activities. Smut Quota: Low. Ish.

In this welcome return of the Wednesday podcast Jacqui Smith and Iain Dale turn their beady eye on Boris Johnson’s address to the nation and ask whether the measures taken to limit the spread of Coronavirus really go far enough. They also discuss Sir Keir Starmer’s virtual Labour party conference speech, and they lighten the mood at the end with a conversation about ‘bushiness’. Graham should stop listening at approx. 30 mins. Smut Quota: High at the end.

Iain Dale and Jacqui Smith discuss the Internal Markets Bill, ask whether a second spike of coronavirus is about to happen, the death of Ruth Bader-Ginsburg, Jacqui’s wardrobe fitting for Strictly Come Dancing and much more besides. Smut Quota: Non existent. Graham will be pleased.

Iain Dale and Jacqui Smith discuss the latest round of Brexit shenanigans, the Rule of Six, UKIP’s new leader, Rugby, the Proms and the Japan trade deal. Smut Quota: Lowish

Iain Dale and Jacqui Smith start of this week’s podcast by discussing the news that Lady Smut will be contestant in this year’s Strictly Come Dancing show. So that’s the first twenty minutes done and dusted. They then move on to their normal fayre of political analysis, gossip and intrigue. This week they discuss Tony Abbott’s appointment as a UK trade adviser, Tim Davie’s first major speech as BBC DG, the XR protests, the rising number of coronavirus cases, and they preview the new James Bond film. Smut quota: Iain: Low, Jacqui: Can’t help herself.

Iain Dale and Jacqui Smith discuss the week’s political news including possible tax rises, the new BBC Director General, developments in Belarus, the return of Parliament and the appointment of a new cabinet secretary. They also get a little emotional when answering a listener’s question. And they break some sad news… Smut Quota: Middling to high. Sorry Graham.

Iain Dale and Jacqui Smith dole out some well meant advice to the new LibDem leader Sir Ed Davey, scratch their heads about Chris Grayling’s resignation, talk local government reorganisation (don’t worry, not for long) and Jacqui wonders how on earth Iain’s partner John has put up with him for 25 years. Smut quota: Low.

Jacqui Smith returns from her holiday’s full of vim and vigour and tries desperately to convince Iain her services are worth retaining, following the popularity of her three stand-ins. They discuss Face masks, returning to school, Gavin Williamson’s continuing travails, Belarus, the BBC and the Proms and answer a lot of your questions. Smut Quota: Low to middling.

Jacqui Smith is still on her holidays (she’s back next week) so Iain is joined by former Labour MP Caroline Flint to discuss the week’s news events and much else besides. It turns out to be the longest edition of the For the Many podcast ever – two hours and ten minutes of pure, unadulterated joyful political commentary and entertainment! Do listen to the end as you won’t want to miss some very revealing anecdotes from both Caroline and Iain. In the first part of the podcast they discuss Joe Biden, Gavin Williamson’s week, the poisoning of Alexei Navalny, evictions, Floridian genetically modified mosquitos and the possibility of a new news channel to rival Sky. Smut quota: Low

With Jacqui Smith away, Iain Dale invited Labour MP and For the Many podcast Superfan Wes Streeting to sit in the hot seat. They discuss the A Level grading fiasco, Public Health England and the Democrats National Convention, as well as taking on a whole host of listener questions. Smut quota: Disappointingly low for a Wednesday.

Jacqui Smith is on holiday so Denise Headley joins Iain to chew over the week’s events. They discuss the 75th anniversary of VJ Day, the new Quarantine measures, the reaction to the A Level results and what the government should do next. They answer listener questions too. Smut Quota: Non existent (Graham will be pleased).

Iain Dale and Jacqui Smith discuss the Channel migrants, Kamala Harris, bleak economic figures, Dawn Butler and Ben & Jerries. They also talk about Jacqui’s imminent summer holiday and who will be replacing her on the next three episodes. Stand by for some quality corpsing too. Smut quota: Medium

Iain Dale and Jacqui Smith review the news of the last few days and talk about the latest Coronavirus developments, the weird interviews given this week by Trump and Biden, and the likelihood of a Japan-UK trade deal. They answers lots of your questions and reminisce over 1970s television. Smut Quota: Lowish

Iain Dale and Jacqui Smith discuss the explosion in Beirut, the latest developments on Coronavirus, the death of John Hume, Peerages and whether the Tory MP being questioned over sexual assault should have the party whip withdrawn. Smut quota: Middling to low.

Iain Dale and Jacqui Smith discuss the latest emergency lockdown in the North West, Donald Trump’s election rigging tweet, Charlie Elphicke’s conviction and much else besides. Smut Quota: Low (with one transgression).

Iain Dale & Jacqui Smith turn their attention to Wiley’s antisemitic tweets, the LibDem leadership contest, the Spanish quarantine, the government’s new obesity strategy and BAME representation in the boardroom. And they answer your questions in their own inimitable manner. Smut quota: Middling.

Iain Dale and Jacqui Smith discuss the government’s new obesity strategy, face coverings, Aston Villa’s chances of avoiding relegation, Wiley’s Twitter shame and how worried the Tories should be about Scotland. And a lot of other nonsense too including the size of Jacqui’s new bed. Listen to the end… Smut quota: Lowish

The now award winning Iain Dale and Jacqui Smith discuss their Civility in Politics Award before discussing the entrails of the ISC report into Russian activity in the UK. They talk about Labour’s decision to reach a settlement with 7 former employees and Panorama journalist John Ware. Jacqui gets emotional over Aston Villa’s hopes of retaining their Premier League status and they answer a shed load of listener questions. Smut quota: Middling to high.

Iain Dale and Jacqui Smith indulge in some post watershed chat about the week’s political events including the Intelligence & Security Committee shenanigans, Boris’s Back to Work speech, the plight of the Uigher Muslims, Russia and the vaccine, Liam Fox’s bid to be WTO chief, the EU rescue package, the LibDem leadership contest and the death of civil rights campaigner, John Lewis. Smut quota: Middling

Iain Dale and Jacqui Smith discuss Huawei, Face Masks, Paedophile hunters, Sir Keir Starmer’s first 100 days and PMQs. Smut quota: Possibly a little too high

Iain Dale and Jacqui Smith ask whether the wearing of facemasks should be made mandatory. They ask why Donald Trump would intervene on Roger Stone’s behalf and commute his sentence and bemoan the retail job losses on the UK High Street. They discuss the membership of the Intelligence and Security Committee and the non publication of the Priti Patel report. They then talk about the use of personal pronouns and a few other things besides: Smut quota: Very low, apart from at the end.

Iain Dale and Jacqui Smith analyse Rishi Sunak’s Summer Statement and ask the all important question: Can someone who is 5’7” become Prime Minister? They lament that the party conferences have all been cancelled and they discuss the imminent demise of the BBC’s Politics Live programme and ask how the BBC can seriously call itself a public service broadcaster if this happens. And Iain panics when he learns his books have gone out of stock. Smut quota: Middling to high right from the start.

Iain Dale and Jacqui Smith turn their attention to Hong Kong, lifting lockdown, David Starkey and televised press conferences in Number Ten. And Jacqui insists on talking about The Clap…. for the NHS… Smut Quota: Low

Iain Dale and Jacqui Smith discuss the Leicester lockdown, Boris Johnson’s big speech in Dudley, job losses and Richard Madeley’s mea culpa on domestic violence. Smut quota: Middling

Iain Dale and Jacqui Smith examine the entrails of Rebecca Long-Bailey’s political career and ask if Keir Starmer did the right thing by sacking her. They talk about why some people think lockdown is over and the consequences of abandoning social distancing. They ask if Robert Jenrick is safe in his job and Jacqui bemoans the cancelling of Glastonbury (Iain doesn’t). They discuss Parler, a new rival to Twitter and at the end of the podcast they indulge in the best corpsing you’ll ever hear, in reaction to Alison’s question. Enjoy: Smut Quota: Middling.

Iain Dale and Jacqui Smith discuss the lockdown measures which are being lifted, the Reading terror attack, the Windrush and Brexit anniversaries, and ask who should be the three Jokers in a pack of prime ministerial playing cards. Iain and Jacqui wish to apologise for the lack of a question from Noah Keates. Smut Quota: Medium to high

Jacqui Smith and Iain Dale discuss events in the week’s political debate including the relaxing of the 2 metre social distancing rule, the failure of the Tracing App, Black Lives Matter, Why Trump hates Bolton (has he ever been there?!), and the return of Premier League football. Smut Quota: Lowish

Iain and Jacqui discuss free school meals and the abolition of the Department for International Development before moving on to answer lots of listener questions like: Might they one day get married? Have either of them ever had a strong accent? The podcast ends rather abruptly when Jacqui hears a man knocking on her front door. Smut quota: Medium

In this podcast for the Jo Cox Foundation, Jacqui Smith and Iain Dale talk about the Great Get Together weekend, their own friendship and why public discourse is at an all time low.

Iain and Jacqui discuss how Jacqui is deploying her own support bubble, the terrible GDP figures announced this week, the Black Lives Matter protests, whether Little Britain and other shows should be censored, the return of Denise from Enfield and whether Britain and the EU will, in the end, come to a free trade deal. Smut Quota: Ish

Iain and Jacqui discuss the Black Lives Matter protests, PMQs, British Airways and they answer your questions. There were a few technical difficulties in the first half which resulted in Jacqui being played at 33 1/3 RPM (younger listeners should ask their parents). Smut quota: Middling

Iain and Jacqui talk about facemasks, China and Hong Kong, Donald Trump’s reaction to the killing of George Floyd, Black Lives Matter protests, Madeleine McCann and the new BBC Director General. Iain also relates how Denise from Enfield came to co-present his LBC show on Thursday. And there are lots of your questions. Smut quota: Middling

Jacqui Smith and Iain Dale take on their usual Wednesday role of Agony Aunt and Uncle to the nation. However, they commence by talking about Coronavirus, PMQs and events in America. Jacqui reveals all (well, that’s a bit of an exaggeration) about the new man in her life, and they both have a couple of corpsing moments, due to the hilarious emails they are getting from you, the dear listener. Smut Quota: Middling to high.

Iain Dale and Jacqui Smith cast their beady eyes over the latest Coronavirus developments and wonder whether we are lifting lockdown too quickly. They discuss Hong Kong and the terrible events in Minneapolis and how Donald Trump has worsened the crisis. They talk about the latest controversy hitting Newsnight, and answer more questions than ever. And Iain reads out possibly the longest poem ever written by a reader. Smut Quota: Lowish with the odd fall off the tightrobe of double entendres. Sorry Graham.

Iain and Jacqui spend most of the podcast answering your questions on everything from Dominic Cummings to career advice and Gin recommendations. Given Iain doesn’t drink, he wasn’t very interesting on that one, until Jacqui mentioned Gin with glitter in it. It went downhill from there…

Iain Dale and Jacqui Smith host an emergency edition of the For the Many podcast in which they spend half an hour discussing the latest developments in ‘Domgate’ and speculate on whether his press conference did more harm than good.

Iain and Jacqui discuss Dominic Cummings and whether he can stay in his job as Boris Johnson’s chief adviser. They talk about the debate about schools reopening, the climbdown by Boris Johnson over the NHS surcharge and whether Parliament should return without remote access. They start off by talking about Jacqui’s appearance on the DumTeeDum podcast and Mental Health Awareness Week. They wish to apologise for the lack of corpsing moments, and for the fact there are only two moments of smut during the whole podcast. They promise to up their game on Wednesday.

Iain and Jacqui get highly excited about the LibDem leadership contest, they debate the situation in care homes, the NHS surcharge for immigrants, the row between Sadiq Khan and the government and the TFL bailout and just how good is Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister of Scotland.

Iain and Jacqui discuss whether schools should reopen or not and all the latest coronavirus developments, as well as answer even more questions than usual, even if they do get diverted down some rhetorical alleyways on the way. It’s one of their more thoughtful podcasts…. Until someone asks which cartoon characters they fancy. Yabbadabbadoo!

Iain and Jacqui discuss the government’s announcements on lockdown and whether mixed messaging is a ‘thing’. They answer a lot of your questions and at the end of the podcast Jacqui receives a surprise package from her Hermes delivery driver. It’s probably their chattiest podcast yet. Lots of laughs and the odd meaningful moment.

Iain Dale and Jacqui Smith discuss mugs, VE day celebrations, lifting the Coronavirus lockdown, quarantining new arrivals into the country, Adam Boulton, whether the Electoral Commission is fit for purpose and Iain’s new tractor. Smut quota: Very low

Iain and Jacqui discuss three resignations, Keir Starmer’s first PMQs and all the latest developments in the Coronavirus crisis. They answer your agony aunt questions and speculate who their most likely murderers would be. Smut quota: Medium.