Working to make government more effective

Prime minister Rishi Sunak and newly elected Conservative MP Steve Tuckwell, right, speak to party activists at the Rumbling Tum cafe in Uxbridge.
Podcast

Uxbridge Over Troubled Water?

Will Jennings, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at the University of Southampton, joins us after a busy night of polling.

By-elections are rarely like buses, but this time three have arrived at once. The Conservatives lost Somerset and Frome and Selby, but held on to Boris Johnson’s old seat in Uxbridge… by a hair’s breadth.

As parliament prepares to shut up for summer, the podcast team discuss a night that produced plenty of food for thought in government and the opposition – and not forgetting the by-election experts, the Lib Dems.

Will Jennings, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at the University of Southampton also joins us after a busy night of polling.

People featured in this episode

Related content

22 MAY 2025 Podcast

The art of the Brexit deal

The Guardian’s Kiran Stacey joins the podcast team to dig into the detail of the new UK-EU deal.

27 JUN 2025 Podcast

Starmer vs the Labour rebels

Luke Sullivan, former political director to Keir Starmer, joins us explore how serious a problem the welfare budget is for Keir Starmer.

30 MAY 2025 Podcast

How will Starmer rate his ministers?

Adam Payne, Editor of PoliticsHome, joins us to discuss whether a reshuffle is a good way to inject energy into a not-so-new government.