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Of all the trends to have gripped the audio industry, the political podcast ranks as one of the most unexpected. Such is the soaring popularity of The Rest is Politics, the chart-busting pod hosted by political outlaws-turned-cosy centrist dads Rory Stewart and Alastair Campbell, Channel 4 is screening televised episodes of it in the run-up to the UK election.
No wonder networks are scrambling to replicate its success. Political Currency, featuring old parliamentary sparring partners George Osborne and Ed Balls launched last year to a more muted reception, while this spring has brought the all-new Electoral Dysfunction, hosted by Labour MP Jess Phillips, former Scottish Conservative party leader (and now Conservative peer) Ruth Davidson and political journalist Beth Rigby.
Electoral Dysfunction, from Sky News, is different from its UK rivals in that it features women — a novelty in an otherwise dispiritingly blokey domain. It also has, in Phillips and Davidson, two working politicians. This poses an obvious problem. While Stewart and Campbell can let rip all they like about today’s political shenanigans, Phillips and Davidson must be more judicious. Put simply, they can’t speak freely.
In any case, with the election just over a month away, the latest Electoral Dysfunction episode is the last to feature Phillips for six weeks — she has door-knocking to be getting on with — even though the series will be upping its output to two episodes a week. (In her absence, a series of guest presenters will be filling in.)
Her final episode features discussion about the Conservatives’ campaign pledge to bring back National Service and Labour unrest over MP Diane Abbott, who was suspended from the party last year after a row over antisemitism and who may or may not have been barred from standing in the election (reports have been conflicting). On Abbott, Phillips says, “Personally and politically, I think they should just let Diane run . . . It should be for her to decide.” A clear enough stance, but one that noticeably doesn’t criticise her boss, Keir Starmer, for his handling of the row.
The most illuminating parts are when they move off party squabbles and policy announcements and discuss their personal experiences. Davidson talks of the camaraderie of electioneering, followed by “[the] absence, this crashing low that you get after the high of a campaign”. Of the three of them, Rigby’s is the dominant voice, forever highlighting her journalistic contacts as she references private texts and WhatsApp chats between her and unnamed “sources”.
And even though Davidson and Phillips are ostensibly political opposites, the conversation is all very affable, perhaps too much so. While the trio have mercifully cut back on the unfunny small talk that peppered their early episodes, there is a notable absence of fireworks or snark. We can only hope that changes once election fever really sets in.
