Former cabinet minister, former deputy prime minister, big beast of the Tory jungle - Lord Heseltine joins us for our series looking at how the most significant elections of our lifetimes were won, and how they were lost.

He takes us back to the 1983 general election. Margaret Thatcher was fresh from victory in the Falklands, Labour offered voters the 'longest suicide vote in history', and the polls suggested the SDP-Liberal Alliance could break the old two-party system.

If you enjoyed this episode, listen to more in the series:

Nick Clegg and 2010

William Hague and 2005

Neil Kinnock and 1992

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The Makerfield by-election is going to be huge - if Andy Burnham wins, Labour will believe it has a route to beating Reform UK at a general election. If Reform wins, then it will clear Nigel Farage's path to power and plunge the government into (further) chaos.

Sally, Polly, Danny (and Hugo) weigh up who is the underdog, whether Wes Streeting will run against Burnham, and whether a victorious Burnham could even think about going to the country.

Also, Danny explains why the best parallel for this contest is probably William Gladstone in 1876.

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The struggle for the future of the Labour Party, and the country, has begun, even as Keir Starmer tries to hang on.

The political masterminds look at the potential pitfalls for Wes Streeting, Angela Rayner and Andy Burnham - and discuss whether Labour should give up on its working class roots and try instead to unite liberal Britain.

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Sally Morgan, Polly Mackenzie, Danny Finkelstein (and Hugo) explain what's behind a chaotic day at Westminster - where Keir Starmer vows to carry on, despite a growing number of MPs and ministers calling for him to go.

Why didn't the cabinet speak out, is government continuing to function, and does Wes Streeting need to move within 24 hours or miss out on the leadership?

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Labour has taken a hammering at elections in England, Scotland and Wales, with Nigel Farage calling it an ‘historic shift in British politics’ - does this add up to the end of the two-party system, and does it add up to the end of Keir Starmer?

Sally, Polly, Danny and Hugo explain why things went so badly for the party, how Starmer will respond, and whether the Reform UK leader is going to be the next prime minister.

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Ahead of the local elections in England and parliamentary elections in Scotland and Wales, the political masterminds ask: just how bad can it get for the Labour Party?

If predictions of huge losses come to pass, how will the cabinet, MPs and councillors react, and can Downing Street come up with a plan to circle the wagons around Keir Starmer?

We also discuss what impact the terror attacks in Golders Green, north London, will have on political campaigning.

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As regular listeners know, Danny likes to say there is a market failure in political coups - but does Keir Starmer's handling of the Peter Mandelson vetting crisis mean we're entering a period of maximum danger for the PM?

How will Labour MPs react if their party does as badly in May as the polls predict, and what do they think about Starmer's potential replacements?

Sally, Danny and Hugo are joined by pollster Luke Tryl to discuss focus groups - how much the parties rely on them, and how Phillip Gould used them to help Tony Blair change the Labour Party.

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In the wake of Viktor Orbán's election defeat in Hungary, can we draw conclusions about the limits of populism - and the chances of a recovery by the centre here in the UK?

Sally, Polly, Danny and Hugo also discuss how government prepares for disaster - from foot-and-mouth disease to fuel protests to looming shortages caused by the war in Iran.

And, Polly has a plan to rescue sad, empty historic buildings on our high streets.

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The prime minister is trying to appeal to voters ahead of May's elections by talking about conflict overseas - can branding him as a global statesman rescue his premiership, in the same way Gordon Brown tried to survive after the financial crash?

With Danny away, we turn to the next generation - Simon Finkelstein, former adviser to Jeremy Hunt and Dominic Raab (and Danny's nephew) joins Sally, Polly and Hugo.

We also discuss whether MPs know enough about the real world - would we be better off with a House Of Commons full of Ed Milibands or Angela Rayners?

And, we answer a listener who worries we're too flippant about the remarkable rise of Zack Polanski's Green Party.

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There's an arms race under way as the parties make competing offers to help with the rising cost of living. Is anyone cutting through to the voters?

And as Keir Starmer's rivals consider whether to move against him after May's elections, Danny argues that the looming economic crisis makes it a bad time for them to act.

We also find out why Sally introduced 'garish posters and loud music' to Downing Street, and Polly holds forth about barbecues.

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Sally, Polly, Danny and Hugo discuss the conspiracies swirling around the theft of Morgan McSweeney's mobile phone. How did government work in the pre-smartphone era, when Tony Blair refused to use one?

They also explore how political language is evolving (and whether it’s becoming dangerously loose), and imagine what’s more likely - a Lab-Lib coalition or a Tory-Reform alliance.

Plus, the team settle a debate you didn't even know existed - chilled vs super-chilled.

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