Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government

Keir Starmer has resigned. Andy Burnham is preparing for power. But what will a mid-parliament change of prime minister mean for the government? How should an incoming prime minister prepare for the biggest job in government? What can an outgoing leader do to ensure a smooth transition? And after seven prime ministers in a decade, could another change at the top finally bring greater stability to British politics—or is volatility now the new normal? The Economist's Hugo Gye joins the podcast to discuss what happens when power changes hands mid-parliament, and what Burnham's arrival could mean for the government, the Labour Party and the country. Presented by Hannah White. With Cath Haddon and Alex Thomas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fire up the forecasts. Read up on the rules. Study the spending plans. And get ready for Rachel Reeves' big day in Parliament. Rupert Harrison, former chief of staff to George Osborne, joins the Inside Briefing team to preview the chancellor's spring forecast. It’s not a budget. It’s not a fiscal event. So it doesn’t get a primetime post-PMQs slot in the Commons timetable. So what exactly is it for and how significant is this forecast for the government? What will we hear from Rachel Reeves? And what are chancellor’s options - and the risks and possible rewards? Plus: The government's big spending announcement was on SEND reform. Do the sums add up and just what is the government trying to do? Hannah White presents. With Giles Wilkes, Dan Haile and Amber Dellar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Former Downing Street chief of staff Gavin Barwell joins the podcast to discuss another explosive week at the heart of government. On Sunday afternoon the prime minister’s chief of staff and closest adviser, Morgan McSweeney, handed in his resignation, followed on Monday by Tim Allan, Downing Street’s director of communication – for just five months. The cabinet secretary, Sir Chris Wormald, too will be leaving his post, also after a brief tenure. But the prime minister remains in office – despite the best attempts of Anas Sarwar, Labour’s leader in Scotland, who arranged a press conference on Monday to call for his resignation. So, what does all this churn at the centre mean for the prime minister, for No.10, and for the cabinet secretary’s brief of ‘rewiring the state’? Can Keir Starmer really reset his government all over again? And what does this all mean for the actual business of government? Presented by Hannah White. With Alex Thomas and Catherine Haddon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Of all its manifesto pledges, missions and milestones, Labour has been most keen to tell the public that it is ‘going for growth’. But does the government have a robust and well thought-through plan to deliver that growth? Or is it, like so many before it, struggling to really take the ‘tough decisions’ required to drag UK GDP growth rates up to meet – and indeed surpass – those of our fellow G7 nations? This government has not been short of plans and strategies, but what it has not produced is a strategy for growth that helps it make hard choices nor the right support in place for the PM to follow through on them. This is a problem, as a new paper out this week from IfG and Imperial College London explores. Meanwhile, regional inequalities are one barrier to growth, and transport is both a symptom and a cause of this. Many regions lag far behind the capital on funding and transport connectivity, preventing people from getting new jobs, travelling to existing ones or otherwise moving about the country – all harming productivity. The authors of another new IfG report supported by Arup join us to discuss their findings – including a case study of the mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham’s work on the Bee Bus Network. Hannah White presents With Giles Wilkes, Akash Paun, Harriet Shaw and special guest Soumaya Keynes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices