This episode focuses on a former Labour MP who tried to return to Parliament in a by-election. If successful, he was expected to launch a challenge to the sitting leader - who was reluctant to see him return. On that occasion, the provocateur wasn’t Andy Burnham, but Tony Benn. In this episode, Richard and Lee discuss the 1984 Chesterfield by-election that Benn contested - how it came about, what it meant for Labour, and how the party hierarchy handled it - before asking what lessons it has to offer for Keir Starmer, Andy Burnham and the voters of Makerfield.

In this episode, the following books are discussed:

'A Prime Minister on Prime Ministers' by Harold Wilson

'Resisting Reagan: Liberal Strategies in a Conservative Age' by Joe Ryan-Hume. Available at: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/16406/9780700638789

BOOK NOW: Tickets are available for our live event in Manchester. Find out more here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/since-attlee-churchill-live-in-manchester-tickets-1989814631126

PRE-ORDER: Lee’s book, ‘Coronations & Defenestrations: Choosing (and losing) Tory Leaders’, is now available for pre-order (released 30 June 2026). Save 30% by using the code AGENDA30 on IndiePubs: https://indiepubs.co.uk/products/coronations-and-defenestrations-1760081414340

Enjoy ad-free listening, bonus episodes and show your support for the podcast by joining the Since Attlee & Churchill Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/SinceAttleeAndChurchill

Buying books via the Since Attlee & Churchill Bookshop is a great way to support the podcast. Click here to visit the shop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/saac

Enjoy listening to the Since Attlee & Churchill podcast? If so, we would be very grateful if you could leave us a 5 star review!

***

Since Attlee & Churchill is a podcast about post-war British politics - since Attlee & Churchill - and is hosted by Lee David Evans, an historian of the Conservative Party, and Richard Johnson, an historian of the Labour Party.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this mid-week episode, Lee begins by asking why, given the enormous change in the voting habits of British voters over the last decade, we’ve not seen more defections among MPs. Next, Richard wonders why the hit Disney+ show ‘Rivals’ gets so many of the details wrong about 1980s politics - carelessness, or purposeful Americanisation?

BOOK NOW: Tickets are available for our live event in Manchester. Find out more here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/since-attlee-churchill-live-in-manchester-tickets-1989814631126

PRE-ORDER: Lee’s book, ‘Coronations & Defenestrations: Choosing (and losing) Tory Leaders’, is now available for pre-order (released 30 June 2026). Save 30% by using the code AGENDA30 on IndiePubs: https://indiepubs.co.uk/products/coronations-and-defenestrations-1760081414340

Enjoy ad-free listening, bonus episodes and show your support for the podcast by joining the Since Attlee & Churchill Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/SinceAttleeAndChurchill

Buying books via the Since Attlee & Churchill Bookshop is a great way to support the podcast. Click here to visit the shop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/saac

Enjoy listening to the Since Attlee & Churchill podcast? If so, we would be very grateful if you could leave us a 5 star review!

***

Since Attlee & Churchill is a podcast about post-war British politics - since Attlee & Churchill - and is hosted by Lee David Evans, an historian of the Conservative Party, and Richard Johnson, an historian of the Labour Party.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the final episode of their strikes miniseries, Richard and Lee look back to one of the defining moments of Margaret Thatcher’s premiership: the year-long battle with the National Union of Mineworkers in the mid 1980s. Many Conservatives feared another showdown with the miners would bring the government down, as it did under Heath. But having spent years preparing for a strike, Thatcher and her ministers were ready - and their victory never looked in any doubt. But, as Richard argues, that doesn’t mean the government was in the right.

In this episode, the following books are mentioned:

'Barchester Towers' by Anthony Trollope. Available at: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/16406/9780199665860

'The Republican House Divided: Civil War Memory, Civil Rights, and the Transformation of the GOP' by Tim Galsworthy. Available at: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/16406/9781643365084

BOOK NOW: Tickets are available for our live event in Manchester. Find out more here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/since-attlee-churchill-live-in-manchester-tickets-1989814631126

PRE-ORDER: Lee’s book, ‘Coronations & Defenestrations: Choosing (and losing) Tory Leaders’, is now available for pre-order (released 30 June 2026). Save 30% by using the code AGENDA30 on IndiePubs: https://indiepubs.co.uk/products/coronations-and-defenestrations-1760081414340

Enjoy ad-free listening, bonus episodes and show your support for the podcast by joining the Since Attlee & Churchill Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/SinceAttleeAndChurchill

Buying books via the Since Attlee & Churchill Bookshop is a great way to support the podcast. Click here to visit the shop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/saac

Enjoy listening to the Since Attlee & Churchill podcast? If so, we would be very grateful if you could leave us a 5 star review!

***

Since Attlee & Churchill is a podcast about post-war British politics - since Attlee & Churchill - and is hosted by Lee David Evans, an historian of the Conservative Party, and Richard Johnson, an historian of the Labour Party.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lee opens up this mid-week episode by looking at the way politicians increasingly flitter between the Westminster Parliament and devolved bodies. Most prominently at the moment, Andy Burnham - who had 16 years experience as an MP under his belt before becoming Mayor of Greater Manchester - is seeking a return to the Commons. But also in Scotland, Stephen Flynn has traded being an MP to become an MSP. What do these transitions tell us about the way British politics works? Next, Richard interrogates the actions of Josh Simons and Wes Streeting and considers whether more is going on than meets the eye with the former Health Secretary’s strategy to win the Labour leadership.

BOOK NOW: Tickets are available for our live event in Manchester. Find out more here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/since-attlee-churchill-live-in-manchester-tickets-1989814631126

PRE-ORDER: Lee’s book, ‘Coronations & Defenestrations: Choosing (and losing) Tory Leaders’, is now available for pre-order (released 30 June 2026). Save 30% by using the code AGENDA30 on IndiePubs: https://indiepubs.co.uk/products/coronations-and-defenestrations-1760081414340

Enjoy ad-free listening, bonus episodes and show your support for the podcast by joining the Since Attlee & Churchill Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/SinceAttleeAndChurchill

Buying books via the Since Attlee & Churchill Bookshop is a great way to support the podcast. Click here to visit the shop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/saac

Enjoy listening to the Since Attlee & Churchill podcast? If so, we would be very grateful if you could leave us a 5 star review!

***

Since Attlee & Churchill is a podcast about post-war British politics - since Attlee & Churchill - and is hosted by Lee David Evans, an historian of the Conservative Party, and Richard Johnson, an historian of the Labour Party.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Richard and Lee fast forward almost half a century from the General Strike to the next time mineworkers walked out across the country. Twice in two years, Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath went to war with the National Union of Mineworkers (or as he saw it, they went to war with him) and Heath came out the worst on both occasions. He appeared to learn the wrong lessons from, and over-correct for, the mistakes of the past - and was thoroughly bested by his opponents. But was Ted Heath just really unlucky?

In this episode, the following books are mentioned:

'The Royalist Revolution: Monarchy and the American Founding' by Eric Nelson. Available at: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/16406/9780674979772

'Edward Heath: A Biography' by John Campbell. Available at: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/16406/9781845952051

Enjoy ad-free listening, bonus episodes and show your support for the podcast by joining the Since Attlee & Churchill Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/SinceAttleeAndChurchill

Buying books via the Since Attlee & Churchill Bookshop is a great way to support the podcast. Click here to visit the shop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/saac

Enjoy listening to the Since Attlee & Churchill podcast? If so, we would be very grateful if you could leave us a 5 star review!

***

Since Attlee & Churchill is a podcast about post-war British politics - since Attlee & Churchill - and is hosted by Lee David Evans, an historian of the Conservative Party, and Richard Johnson, an historian of the Labour Party.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this second instalment looking back at the General Strike of 1926, Lee and Richard pick up the story with millions of workers on strike and parts of the country brought to a standstill. To begin the episode, they debate the role of Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin - with Lee making a much more positive case for his role - before Richard explains how the only General Strike in British history came to its murky conclusion. Was it a betrayal by the unions? Or were the unions duped into surrendering? And what were the long-term consequences of the strike?

In this episode, the following books are mentioned:

'The Edge of Revolution: The General Strike that Shook Britain' by David Torrance. Available at: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/16406/9781399423595

'English History 1914-1945' (Oxford History of England) by A. J. P. Taylor

Enjoy ad-free listening, bonus episodes and show your support for the podcast by joining the Since Attlee & Churchill Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/SinceAttleeAndChurchill

Buying books via the Since Attlee & Churchill Bookshop is a great way to support the podcast. Click here to visit the shop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/saac

Enjoy listening to the Since Attlee & Churchill podcast? If so, we would be very grateful if you could leave us a 5 star review!

***

Since Attlee & Churchill is a podcast about post-war British politics - since Attlee & Churchill - and is hosted by Lee David Evans, an historian of the Conservative Party, and Richard Johnson, an historian of the Labour Party.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With the country gripped by speculation over Keir Starmer’s future, Lee and Richard look back on the way recent prime ministers have fallen and how the next prime minister may be chosen. Lee begins by considering what stands out from the downfall of Theresa May, Boris Johnson, and Liz Truss - focusing particularly on the difference between losing the authority to govern and then subsequently losing the status of prime minister. Next, Richard exposes some of the ambiguities in the Labour rulebook and urges people to think through how, if Starmer is felled, the next Labour leader will be decided.

Enjoy ad-free listening, bonus episodes and show your support for the podcast by joining the Since Attlee & Churchill Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/SinceAttleeAndChurchill

Buying books via the Since Attlee & Churchill Bookshop is a great way to support the podcast. Click here to visit the shop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/saac

Enjoy listening to the Since Attlee & Churchill podcast? If so, we would be very grateful if you could leave us a 5 star review!

***

Since Attlee & Churchill is a podcast about post-war British politics - since Attlee & Churchill - and is hosted by Lee David Evans, an historian of the Conservative Party, and Richard Johnson, an historian of the Labour Party.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Richard and Lee kick off a new miniseries on the strikes that shaped the 20th century by looking back one hundred years to the first, and so far only, General Strike in British history. When a slump in the profitability of coal met with the demands of the mineworkers, few could see a peaceful way out. At first, the government provided the money to bridge the gap between what coal paid and what the miners needed. But in April 1926, the subsidy ran out and the scene was set for a showdown involving Stanley Baldwin’s government, the mine owners, the miners, and the trade unions. This episode takes us up to the outbreak of the strike and the government’s efforts to make sure it wouldn’t cripple the country. Episode two will be released on Tuesday.

Enjoy ad-free listening, bonus episodes and show your support for the podcast by joining the Since Attlee & Churchill Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/SinceAttleeAndChurchill

Buying books via the Since Attlee & Churchill Bookshop is a great way to support the podcast. Click here to visit the shop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/saac

Enjoy listening to the Since Attlee & Churchill podcast? If so, we would be very grateful if you could leave us a 5 star review!

***

Since Attlee & Churchill is a podcast about post-war British politics - since Attlee & Churchill - and is hosted by Lee David Evans, an historian of the Conservative Party, and Richard Johnson, an historian of the Labour Party.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.