{"podcast":{"title":"Political Currency","slug":"political-currency-6989276","podcast_index_feed_id":6989276,"rss_url":"https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/politicalcurrency-1","website_url":"https://shows.acast.com/politicalcurrency","image_url":"https://assets.pippa.io/shows/64fb2b0f977e5a001226cb16/1735495247634-23a6477e-89d6-4ff4-b529-bbb565f05da4.jpeg","author":"Persephonica","episode_count":292,"summary":"Ed Balls and George Osborne take us behind closed doors into the rooms where decisions are made. Having battled it out across the despatch box, the former Chancellor and shadow chancellor now meet in the studio to discuss the decisions that affect the nation’s pockets. Our frenemies have the knowledge and experience to explain how good politics follows the economics - and expose how the powerful become powerless when faced with market forces and political currents they can’t control. Join us every Thursday. Send your messages or voice notes to questions@politicalcurrency.co.uk Find us on social media @polcurrency Political Currency is a Persephonica production. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-26T06:17:12.365480+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/political-currency-6989276"},"episode":{"title":"How bad could the by-election be for Labour?","slug":"how-bad-could-the-by-election-be-for-labour","published_at":"2026-02-19T08:55:14+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/political-currency-6989276/how-bad-could-the-by-election-be-for-labour","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/political-currency-6989276","url":"https://shows.acast.com/politicalcurrency-1/episodes/how-bad-could-the-by-election-be-for-labour","audio_url":"https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/64fb2b0f977e5a001226cb16/e/6996cff2e1d8773119f63dd6/media.mp3","summary":"We’re one week from the Gorton and Denton by-election, which could prove another brutal blow to Keir Starmer’s already unstable premiership. Could Reform gain another MP or will this be the Green Party’s first by-election victory? And is a Labour hold out of the question?  Ed Balls and George Osborne explore the state of play for the parties, including the U-turn on postponing 30 local elections, the Labour Together scandal, and Reform unveiling their ‘shadow cabinet’.  Then, following last weekend’s Munich Security Conference, the pair turn their attention to further calls for Europe to increase defence spending. The question for the UK is: can the Treasury afford the proposed 3% defence spending by the end of the parliament? And would the British public accept spending cuts needed to hit that target?  Finally, George gives the inside scoop on the AI Impact Summit in India. He explains what opportunities and concerns are being addressed by world leaders, as well as why it represents an achievement for Britain. We love hearing from you, so please don’t forget to send all your EMQs to questions@politicalcurrency and make sure to include a voice note of your question. Thanks for listening. To get episodes early and ad- free join Political Currency Gold or our Kitchen Cabinet. If you want even more perks including our exclusive newsletter, join our Kitchen Cabinet today: 👉 patreon.com/politicalcurrency 👉 Apple Podcasts Please note: Kitchen Cabinet is only available via Patreon. Credits: Research: Sam Burton Production: Caillin McDaid & Caitlin Caitlin Hanrahan   Video Editor: Avi Asher Executive Producer: Ellie Clifford Political Currency is a Persephonica Production and is part of the Acast Creator Network. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priv…","meta_description":"We’re one week from the Gorton and Denton by-election, which could prove another brutal blow to Keir Starmer’s already unstable premiership. Could Reform…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3739,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/political-currency-6989276/episodes/how-bad-could-the-by-election-be-for-labour/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/political-currency-6989276/how-bad-could-the-by-election-be-for-labour.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}