Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has returned from the US after what has been seen by Number 10 as a highly successful meeting with Donald Trump.  This week, Beth Rigby, Harriet Harman and Ruth Davidson look at the preparation that went into this visit. Beth reveals how she caught the US president's attention. Plus, what is it like in the Oval Office?  And how did Mr Trump react when he got that invitation from the King. 
 
They also discuss the resignation of development minister Annelise Dodds after the aid budget was cut to boost defence spending and ask  whether this will dent Mr Starmer's post-Trump confidence.  
  
Email us at [email protected], post on X to @BethRigby, or send a WhatsApp voice note on 07934 200 444.      
 
And remember, you can also watch us on YouTube! 

 What could a pact between Nigel Farage’s Reform party and Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives look like? Are we about to see the Tory party lurch closer to the right?   
  
Beth, Ruth and Harriet answer this and more, as they go through your questions – which means we also get the backstory to the iconic Beth Rigby red lipstick.   
  
And how difficult is being married to an MP? We hear from Ruth’s partner Jen about their lives in the spotlight when Ruth was leader of the Scottish Conservatives.  
  
Email us at [email protected], post on X to @BethRigby, or send a WhatsApp voice note on 07934 200 444.      
  
And remember, you can also watch us on YouTube! 

Do MPs say one thing in public, and another in private? This week, Beth Rigby, Harriet Harman and Ruth Davidson ask what’s been going on with the two MPs suspended from the Labour party over WhatsApps messages containing offensive comments.  

Andrew Gwynne and Oliver Ryan both lost the whip after Sunday newspaper revelations. 
It’s been a difficult week for Harriet – she's worked with Andrew Gwynne for a number of years and says it’s made her question her judgement.  

Also – are we about to see by elections as a result? 

And in the week the assisted dying debate is back in the news, we discuss the repercussions of the plan to scrap the need for High Court approval after Beth speaks to the MP who has campaigned for the changes, Labour’s Kim Leadbeater. 

Email us at [email protected], post on X to @BethRigby, or send a WhatsApp voice note on 07934 200 444.     

Watch us on Youtube too - new videos every week here.
 

This week, Ruth's changed her opinion about Kemi Badenoch – but it isn't any more favourable for the new Tory leader. Ruth had thought she'd get two years in the job – now she's thinking it might be less than 18 months.  
  
Beth's in a hotel room in Preston after an interview with Keir Starmer. She reflects on how the prime minister can push his domestic message when most people want to talk about Donald Trump.  
  
And Harriet goes all headmistressy with a warning to new Labour MPs in the "red wall" who've reportedly set up a group to lobby their leader for a tougher stance on migration.   
She says: "We don't want factionalism and all these different tribes. Don't set up these flipping groups." 

You can now watch us on YouTube! Just search for "Electoral Dysfunction".

Email us at [email protected], post on X to @BethRigby, or send a WhatsApp voice note on 07934 200 444.

You can now watch Beth, Ruth and Harriet on YouTube! Just search for "Electoral Dysfunction".

The chancellor was trying to channel Love Island when she announced her plans for growth this week.

But are her new ideas actually the "bombshell" her advisers hope they'll be? Can they get everyone's attention?

And will the strategy be enough for Rachel Reeves to keep all of the cabinet and the Labour Party on side when so many of them have been opposed to the third runway at Heathrow?

Meanwhile, on the five-year anniversary of Brexit – is Sir Keir Starmer getting closer to Europe?

Email us at [email protected], post on X to @BethRigby, or send a WhatsApp voice note on 07934 200 444.      

As Axel Rudakubana is sentenced for the murder of three young girls and the attempted murder of 10 more people last year, Electoral Dysfunction reflects on how the prime minister has handled claims that authorities covered up how much they knew about the killer in the days and weeks after.

Beth discusses how Sir Keir Starmer answered her questions about those claims. Harriet calls for the public inquiry into the failings to be completed quickly and Ruth agrees with the PM about changing the legal definition of terrorism.

Later in the podcast – how will Donald Trump impact UK politics?

Email us at [email protected], post on X to @BethRigby, or send a WhatsApp voice note on 07934 200 444.        

After "going dark" for most of the week, Beth pops up in Poland to talk world politics with Ruth and Harriet. Top security, a slow train and Russian drones are all part of the inside story of the prime minister's visit to Ukraine.

Beth explores why UK solidarity with Ukraine could mean British boots on the ground.
And overshadowing everything is president-elect Trump. He is already leaving his mark on the world. Trump claimed his impending inauguration piled on the pressure to get the Gaza ceasefire deal through.

Ruth, Harriet and Beth work out how the UK needs to manage its role in "Trump World". And in Ukraine, Beth finds out if the Trump era could leave the country feeling betrayed.

Email us at [email protected], post on X to @BethRigby, or send a WhatsApp voice note on 07934 200 444.

We just want to let you know about a new Sky News podcast which is launching next week!

Trump 100 will follow the daily twists and turns of Donald Trump's first 100 days in The White House with the latest updates and analysis...in under 15 minutes.

Our top US team of James Matthews, Martha Kelner and Mark Stone will be joined by special guests to delve a little deeper into what's happening and why.

It will be available every weekday morning from 6am as well as extended weekend editions. Follow Trump 100 wherever you heard this. Electoral Dysfunction will be back on Friday...as usual!

Beth, Harriet, and Ruth dive into the storm surrounding Elon Musk's incendiary comments about UK grooming gangs, Sir Keir Starmer, and safeguarding minister Jess Phillips.   
  
They unpack the political fallout, whether Labour's response has been enough, and if the Conservatives have been opportunistic in their approach.   
  
Plus, how Musk's influence mirrors larger challenges, from misinformation to political donations.   
  
You can catch Beth's full interview with Jess Phillips in the Electoral Dysfunction podcast feed.  
  
Email us at [email protected], post on X to @BethRigby, or send a WhatsApp voice note on 07934 200 444   

In this extra episode of Electoral Dysfunction, Jess Phillips sits down with Beth and reveals what she has lived through in the past few weeks.  
  
Elon Musk accused the Labour MP of being a "rape genocide apologist", putting her in the middle of a political storm.  
  
As the safeguarding minister, Jess Phillips also explains what the government is doing to tackle violence against women and girls.  
  
Email us at [email protected], post on X to @BethRigby, or send a WhatsApp voice note on 07934 200 444.   
 

Former Conservative cabinet ministers Penny Mordaunt and Gillian Keegan join Beth, Ruth and Harriet in the studio to take us behind the scenes of the final days of the last government. 
 
For their final podcasts of 2024, Beth and Ruth ask how the Conservatives fell from power and they get the inside track on Labour’s election campaign from Harriet. 
 
In Part 2, we go inside the Cabinet Room in No 10 Downing Street and we find out what the King was up to on the day the election was called. 
 
Also – how do you deal with an election campaign full of gaffes? And what happens when you lose your parliamentary seat? 
 
Email us at [email protected], post on X to @BethRigby, or send a WhatsApp voice note on 07934 200 444.