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Veteran Westminster lobby journalist and HuffPost UK political editor Kevin Schofield joins Steve and Harry this week to explain why British politics so often seems to go wrong and why voters feel so let down.
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A write-up of this episode is available at the bottom of this post.
In this Substack-exclusive post-show, the three discuss the breakdown of the special relationship between the UK and US. Subscribe today to watch.
This week on Voices
All the articles put out on Voices for a Free Future over the last week, in case you missed any.
Episode Write-Up
Steve Baker and Harry Richer sit down with veteran lobby journalist and HuffPost UK political editor Kevin Schofield to ask why British politics so often seems to go wrong and leave voters feeling short-changed. Kevin argues that much of the problem lies in “expectation management”: politicians overpromise and underdeliver, setting themselves impossible targets like Rishi Sunak’s “stop the boats” pledge, which all but guaranteed visible failure even as more achievable goals, such as cutting inflation, went unnoticed. The trio explore how this creates a vicious feedback loop in which the public grows more cynical, demands ever bolder promises, and fuels the rise of figures who offer simple answers to complex problems.
From there, the conversation turns to the structural pressures driving long‑term problems that politics seems unable to confront, particularly the fiscal strain of age‑related spending and the pensions triple lock. Steve presses Kevin on why journalists don’t force ministers to address official projections of an unsustainable welfare state and the risk of an eventual “default” on pensions, health and social care for today’s workers. Kevin explains that all major parties privately know the triple lock cannot last but refuse to say so publicly because pensioners vote in large numbers, making any hint of reform politically toxic and contributing to what he describes as a culture of denial.
Kevin also offers an insider’s tour of the Westminster lobby and modern political journalism, from his “green crap” scoop about David Cameron’s private dismissal of environmental levies to the intense but ritualised daily briefings with the prime minister’s spokesperson in Downing Street. He and the hosts discuss how social media has accelerated the news cycle and made the job more demanding while traditional newspapers decline. In closing, Kevin reflects on the pressures facing MPs, the state of Scottish politics and the SNP, what HuffPost is trying to do, and his advice to aspiring journalists and politicians alike.
