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482. A Trumpian Year, the Politics of Hope and Highlights of 2025

What surprised Rory and Alastair most about 2025? Why does Trump's presidency feel even more chaotic than expected? And who gets their vote for campaigner of the year? Join Rory and Alastair... Continue

7. Partygate fines, political partners, and voting at 15?

In today's pod Alastair and Rory discuss the police fines that Johnson and Sunak have received for their roles in Partygate, the current political situation in both France and Pakistan, and t... Continue

13 April 2022

The party is over

They broke their own emergency laws. They lied. Repeatedly. They trashed the ministerial code. If Tory MPs prop up these lying charlatans now, the whole lot deserve to be swept away

Here is the piece I banged out quickly for The New European on the back of the breaking news about the criminals in Number 10 and Number 11 .... Right, let’s have the four by-elections on the sa... Continue

12 April 2022

Collage from Cote d' Ivoire

When you fall in love with a country … Côte d’Ivoire a very special place …

If you follow me on social media, you will know I have spent recent days falling in love with a country I had never visited before, Côte d’Ivoire. Hot without being unbearably so; warm, friendly p... Continue

9 April 2022

6. Globalism, Scottish Nationalism, and Rory’s new job

Could this be the final ever episode of The Rest Is Politics after Rory's revelation last Friday, 1st April? Hopefully not! After more terrible news from Ukraine and some countries refusing t... Continue

6 April 2022

5. Tribal politics, anonymous sources, and Malcolm Tucker

Do the Royal family and the Commonwealth still have a place in the modern world? Alastair and Rory discuss Rwanda and countries recovering from war, whether Joe Biden is an effective communic... Continue

30 March 2022

The Rest is Politics

Trying to work out why the new podcast has gone whoosh

Now look ... I am self-aware enough to admit to having a large ego, and to admit that I have a condition known as maladaptive competitiveness, which means if I do something, I like to do it well, and... Continue

23 March 2022

4. Iraq, brave opposition, and powerful Chancellors

As Rory returns from a tour of Iraq with a landmine charity, what lessons can be learned from the country since the occupation, and how could they be applied to the current situation in Ukrai... Continue

23 March 2022

3. Zelenskyy’s humanity, Lebvedev’s parties, and Eton

Who is winning the communications landscape in Ukraine? Alastair and Rory discuss the importance of soft power, the sacrifices needed to free European dependency on Russian oil, the most inti... Continue

16 March 2022

Alastair Campbell is a writer, communicator and strategist best known for his role as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s spokesman, press secretary and director of communications and strategy. Still active in politics and campaigns in Britain and overseas, he now splits his time between writing, speaking, broadcasting, charities and consultancy.