How liberals lost the fight

How liberals lost the fight

From The News Agents by Global

April 24, 2026 · 59 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the challenges faced by liberalism in the current political climate and explores what a renewed liberalism might look like.

In a world of increasing extremes, Liberalism itself has come to be an insult. From 'metropolitan liberal elites' to 'bleeding heart liberals' the liberal establishment seems bewildered and fresh out of devoid of new ideas in the face of populist extremes. Labour, Tories, Liberal Democrats – all now struggling to hold their own against Reform UK and The Green Party, both of which have taken populism from opposite ends of the spectrum to the heart of British politics. This week, Lewis is joined by Adrian Wooldridge to discuss the complexities of the liberal argument in a fractured world, and what a renewed liberalism might look like. The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

People in this episode

Host: Lewis

Guest: Adrian Wooldridge

Topics covered

  • liberalism
  • populism
  • British politics
  • political extremes
  • political parties
  • renewed liberalism

Keywords

  • liberalism
  • populism
  • British politics
  • political parties
  • Labour
  • Tories
  • Liberal Democrats
  • Reform UK
  • The Green Party

Sponsors

HSBC UK Beyond Business Ownership

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Labour, Tories, Liberal Democrats, Reform UK, The Green Party

More episodes of The News Agents

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The News Agents podcast page.