
Is Starmer’s Labour drama as fleeting as Streeting’s bid for PM?
About this episode
You can watch this episode on YoutTube: https://youtu.be/5Zb71ekLVBE
This week on Planet Normal, your co-pilots of sanity, Liam Halligan and Allison Pearson, sift through the debris of a historic set of local elections that have left Sir Keir Starmer clinging to power.
The duo analyse the turquoise tsunami that saw Reform UK gain over 1,400 council seats, whilst the Prime Minister faces a precarious future after Labour’s vote share collapsed in traditional hubs like Birmingham and Cambridge.
Who is your co-pilots preferred replacement? Wes Streeting? Angela Rayner? ‘Mad’ Ed Miliband? Or does Andy Burnham stand the best chance with the softy Labour Left?
Return stowaway William Coulston joins your co-pilots to dissect the local election results, and where the Social Democrat Party stands on Welfare and why Labour's approach is bankrupting the country.
Highlights:
- Planet Normal: Is Starmer’s Labour drama as fleeting as Streeting?
- Reform UK gains over 1,400 seats as the traditional two-party system fragments following the May 7th elections.
- Streeting eyes the prize but is Andy Burnham waiting in the wings?
Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor |
Liam Halligan and Serge Kogan - London to Paris in 24 hours - ON A TANDEM: https://www.justgiving.com/page/liam-halligan-serge-kogan |
Read Allison ‘Starmer quitting isn’t enough. Furious voters want an end to politics as we know it’:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/12/allison-pearson-starmer-quitting-isnt-enough/ |
Read Allison ‘Sick of being dismissed as a racist, Essex Man has turned to Reform’:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/08/essex-voters-embracing-reform-liked-nigel/ |
Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ |
Read Liam ‘Oil prices are detached from reality’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/05/10/headline-oil-prices-are-detached-from-reality/ |
Read more from Liam: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/liam-halligan/ |
Read Liam’s Substack: https://liamhalligan.substack.com/ |
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https://www.telegraph.co.uk/radio/podcasts/podcast-can-find-best-ones-listen/ |
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