Whitehall Sources
By Calum Macdonald
Top advisers to our significant political leaders analyse the successes and failures of today's politics, sharing their experiences of working in Whitehall. Kirsty Buchanan worked with Theresa May as PM, and Liz Truss when she was Secretary of State. Frankie Leach advised Jeremy Corbyn when he was Labour Leader. Journalist and broadcaster Calum Macdonald manages their in-tray of talking points, U-turns and crises. From parties in Westminster to the tactics of SpAds, this is your exclusive insight into how politics is done and how politicians work.
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Latest episode
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Secret Foreign Trips
Calum and Kirsty are joined by Stewart Wood, a former adviser to Gordon Brown both at the Treasury and in Number 10; and one of those who helped run Ed Miliband's Labour leadership campaign. We talk about foreign trips - Stewart tells us about arrang… -
Pestminster, WhatsApp and a PM Abroad (and Kirsty's Mugs)
Calum and Kirsty are back together to discuss the issues of the moment. Kirsty remembers being the SpAd on duty when the first Pestminster scandal broke. She discusses her response to it, and why Westminster hasn't solved the problem. We also talk ab… -
Messiah or a Naughty Boy?
Calum and Kirsty discuss Boris Johnson, Suella Braverman and Rishi Sunak. Why doesn't Boris Johnson just go away? Suella Braverman has avoided being fired again. And Rishi Sunak is trying to deliver on his people's pledges. Is he actually make some p… -
Manifesto Destiny
Calum and Kirsty discuss political pledges, promises and changes-of-heart. How high is your trust in politics? Nigel Farage says Brexit has failed, despite being the main cheerleader for it; Oliver Dowden says Keir Starmer has backtracked on 30 promi… -
The Art of Coalition
As buzz about a coalition government continues, Kirsty analyses the local election results and whether we're getting ahead of ourselves in conversations about what the next govermment may look like. Plus, as Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer refuses to … -
Local Elections: Kirsty and Frankie on Frothy Politics
Kirsty and Frankie are back to join Calum. Kirsty gives us an update, Frankie shares some news and Andrea Bocelli is cancelled. We also discuss the local elections - what do we know so far, and what do the results tell us? We discuss Rishi Sunak and … -
Suella, Dominic and the Coalition
Calum is joined by Special Guests (SpGus) - Chris White, who was a Special Adviser in opposition, then in the coalition government; and Amy Richards who was an adviser to Yvette Cooper last time she was Shadow Home Secretary. This week, we analyse th… -
Inside the Good Friday Agreement
Calum is joined by Tom Kelly, who spent nearly a decade in government, first as director of communications at the Northern Ireland Office, and then from 2001 to 2007, as the Prime Minister’s official spokesperson. Tom was there in the build up to the… -
Liz Truss's Speechwriter & Ed Miliband's 2015 Election
Calum is joined by Asa Bennett who worked with Liz Truss in various departments including at No 10 Downing Street. He reflects on the 40 or so days that they spent in office, and looks back on his time as a writer for her in other government departme… -
How to fix everything that's broken
Sarah Southern, who worked with David Cameron, and Tom Hamilton who worked for 10 years for the Labour party, with Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn, join Calum Macdonald to discuss why everything's broken and how to strategise around fixing it. P…
