Jonathan Thomas (00:00)
Welcome back to the Anglotopia podcast to a special election edition a quick disclaimer The reason she is working sunglasses indoors is she's got an eye exam today and her pupils are dilated Yeah, so if you're watching I have a or if you're listening here in the car. I have a huge pair of very dark sunglasses on

And so if you're watching this, it's absolutely hilarious. And we are really racing to get this podcast out in time. And so we're recording like in the 11th hour. So it was either don't record.

Because I have sunglasses on or record with sunglasses on which I apologize. It looks absolutely ridiculous But it's the only way we're gonna make it through today. So yeah, we're gonna what is it? Keep calm and carry on Yeah, don't don't schedule a podcast recording for an hour after an eye exam But since most people listen to this anyway, you can't even tell that she doesn't has to she has sunglasses on

So this is the closest we get to an emergency podcast. So the reason we're kind of, this is jumping the queue because we already have pre -recorded podcasts and we have a schedule, but this is jumping the queue because last week British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called an election. And now Anglotopia is a happy place. We don't really talk about British politics.

but we talk about them in a historical and a cultural aspect. And so we get a lot of questions from readers on how the British election system works, how the government works. And so we're happy to talk about that in a non -political context. So while - We're not taking sides. We're not sharing like, no, this is - Yeah, as Americans, it's not our place to have any kind of opinion on the British political system and the British parties and -

We're merely looking at as outsiders on how it works and how you can follow along and learn about Britain through its election because it's it's the Americans and the British couldn't have more different electoral systems and the way they run elections. But before we dive in and talk all things British politics, what tea are we drinking today? So today we are drinking because it's the afternoon.

We're having Cornish smugglers tea, which is what I usually drink in the afternoon and we are using our London tube history poster teapot, but our mugs are different. We're using a special London boat race set of mugs. There's actually four mugs over there's only two of us and this is our I'm so ready for this cup. She literally just woke me up from a nap. So I need this tea.

Hey, did you hear that first Anglotopia audience? He was napping. I was - I was - I was waiting.

Again, this is not sugar. This is non calorie sweetener. The link will be in the show notes as it was last week. By the way, for the record audience, he like we do not have a sponsorship deal with this week. Like, which is cool. That's cool. So now not to toot my own horn here, but and they're going to hear clanking because I'm stirring. That's part of the charm here.

I apologize in advance because I know a lot about this topic and so Jackie's job is to keep me concise and on topic and in line with the show notes now I have an advantage there she can't read the show notes right now so I'm driving this trade but let's just keep it on the rails okay let's keep the train on the rails so so here is British politics 101 but without the politics yes

So, John, why is there an election being called? So, the British Parliament operates on usually five -year terms. So, like the US President is four years. Congress is two -year terms, Senate is six years. The Parliament, as the only branch of government, operates on usually five -year terms. Now, not to get into the weeds,

They did change it to where it was a set five years and they had, but then the Fixed Serb Parliament Act, but they changed it five years ago. So the Prime Minister, one of his political powers is that he can call an election whenever he likes within the five year term. He or she, because there has been two women in the last five years, it was the Prime Minister. They can call an election when...

It's basically politically expedient for them to do so and but they have to do it usually by a fixed it by their party would be reelected and so Rishi Sunak the current prime minister he technically had until January to call an election this January 2025 to call an election and but because I don't want to get into politics of it he

government is very weak right now but he seems to think that they're in a position of strength and that they're the result of the election would be better for them if he called the election now versus waiting all the way till january the british people desperately want an election i won't get into why let's get back on the track back on the track so the election is because richie suenack decided that there needs to be an election so to recap that then the prime minister basically from the

moment they become prime minister, essentially the clock starts ticking to a five year mark and somewhere in that time they have to call a general election. Yes, and he can all all he has to do and we'll get to the king later but all he has to do is go to the king and say I want to have an election and the king has to say okay and that's that starts the process which we'll go from there. Okay.

So one of the questions, believe it or not, that we get asked, and I apologize for folks who are familiar with the British political system and understand this podcast might be a little elementary, but at the end of the podcast, I don't know if you mentioned, we're also gonna talk about our favorite British political shows because we do them.

very well. Yeah, we forgot to mention that in the introduction. Yeah, but we mentioned it now. Yeah, so half of this is going to be the details on how it works and the other half will be the fun discussion of our favorite shows. So one of the questions that we get on Ingletopia when there is an election is where does the election cover in Great Britain? And I know that that seems like a really elementary question, but when you take a step back and you think about it, and if you are not familiar with British politics,

as a whole, like take a step back and think about it. It can be a little complicated. So basically, what is the United Kingdom? And the United Kingdom is a country made up of four countries, which is England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Great Britain is the island that is just England, Scotland and Wales. But the whole kingdom includes Northern Ireland and each

Country within the UK except for England has their own devolved government Scotland has its own Parliament Northern Ireland has an assembly that is way too complicated to get into Wales has their own assembly as well and the but the entire United Kingdom is run from London from the Palace of Westminster from the Houses of Parliament and the so the Houses of Parliament is

When you think of American politics, there's three branches of government, the president, the legislature, and the judiciary, and they're separation of powers and they're equal. That evolved from the English political tradition, but we also have our own stamp on it. The British system is parliament is the only branch of government. It's supreme. Parliament is sovereign. Parliament is supreme. Parliament is made up. It is the executive.

It is a judiciary and it is the legislature all in one made up of two houses, the house of commons, which is the elected house. And that's what concerns the election and the house of Lords, which is appointed or hereditary, which we will not get into the house of commons. This is what is up for election. And that's what when parliament is dissolved, that's what happens. It's made up of party. Yes. Which will go into the parties. So the UK is divided into 650 constituencies.

the population of about 60 ,000 people per constituency. I don't know the exact number. Okay. And the election is to choose your MP, is to choose the MP for each constituency. Okay. So question then, do British territories vote? No. So like British Virgin Islands? No, they're not, they're not, they're not, they're not part of the United Kingdom. They're separate. Okay. So.

So why don't we talk about then so we know we know why we know where Why don't we talk a little bit about the difference? the party system in Great Britain, but we are not so we are gonna talk about the different parties, but we're not going to we're going to present it in to do our very best to Present the parties in just a very factual

So we'll talk about the function of the parties and then kind of what they in general stand for. Well and then who's up for election in this election. Right. So when you in the US when you vote in the election you're voting for the president semi -directly through the electoral college. Well one's not even go there either. Or when you vote for your congressman you're voting for your local member of congress. Well in the UK you're not voting for a specific prime minister.

Technically, you're not you're voting for the party you want to be in power and the party that wins the most votes Chooses the prime minister. So whoever can command a majority of MPs in Parliament can be the prime minister right now the prime minister is Rishi Sunak and so He's with the conservative and Union Party also known as the Tories and So when they go to the polls to choose their local MP

They're choosing basically their local congressperson. They pick their MP and MPs have a very close relationship with their constituencies and whichever party wins the most of the MPs will be the prime minister. And so... As a party, they vote who they want to lead their party as the prime minister. Yeah, and going into the election, we already know who that leader is. For the Tories. For the Tories. So you would know...

that if I vote for the conservative party, my vote is basically going for Rishi Sunet to continue as prime minister. If you vote for the main opposition party, the Labour Party, you are hoping that Keir Starmer, their leader, becomes prime minister. And so it's basically a contest between the conservatives and the Labour Party. And I guess that's a good segue into the parties. So...

They operate on a first -past -the -post voting system. Whoever has the most votes in the constituency wins. And because of that, that's the same system we use. Whoever has the most votes in our congressional district wins. And because of that, it gives a lot of power to the two biggest parties. And so like us, they have a two -party dominant, primarily two -party dominated system.

And so, like I said, there's the conservative and union party, which they are what their name is. They are a conservative party, which means they're on the right wing of the political spectrum. They would the same spectrum, like how in the US we consider right versus it's the same spectrum, but shifted in a different direction because we the conservative and union party. We don't want to be political here. Yeah.

It's hard to compare apples to apples. Well, that's why I'm saying Because there are vast differences between what the British think are conservative and what the Americans think are conservative, right? And so Many would argue that British the British Conservative Party is actually a little left of the American Conservative Party And then the the second biggest party is the Labour Party which

The conservative party is much older, dates back to the 1800s. The labor party is much newer, dates back to the early 20th century. And they would be what we would consider, or Americans would consider, a left -wing party. So they're left of center. They used to be more left -wing, but since the last election, they're more left of center. And we would - Left of center, like, on an American scale? Of the American scale. And I said, this is really confusing.

I'm trying to... Left, right, now there will be a quiz after this kids. So labor is, you could compare them to the Democrats in the USA, but again, but they're not the same. You can't compare apples to apples, like I said. Exactly.

And then there and then the third biggest party are the liberal Democrats and they're kind of They're hard to define on the scale but like Center Okay, put them in the middle between and but they never they've never had power. They've never they were in coalition Yeah, they did a coalition government in 2010 That's when there's a hung Parliament and there's not enough for the

party who won the most votes to command a majority in the House of Parliament, they have to partner with another party to command that majority. And so they chose to do that with the Liberal Democrats in 2010. But that was actually, I mean, I don't want to get into it, but that was harmful to the Liberal Democrats and tarnished the party for the last 14 years. Kids, there'll be a quiz after this, so I hope you're taking notes. And so, but the Liberal Democrats, they're, they're kind of middle of the road and...

No one ever seriously thinks that they would win power. careful there, sir. I mean, it's highly unlikely. Okay, anyway. Anyway. So those are the parties. Those are the three main parties. And then there's a bunch of smaller parties. The Scottish National Party is like the fourth biggest party. And, but they're a powerful electoral force because for the last 20 or 30 years, they basically controlled Scotland.

and they usually won most of the Scottish parliament seats. They are not polling well because of their own internal party scandals recently, so they're likely to lose some seats, but they're still a powerful political force and whoever has power needs to basically work with them because they can be a useful ally. And then there's the Northern Irish parties, which I will not get into. Well, why don't we? The Welsh nationalists, but. OK.

Because we could go on and on and on. But all you need to know is it's really a race between the conservatives and the Labor Party. At this point. At this point. Like, unless something, I mean, it's politics, right? That's, things happen. So, Party manifestos. okay. So, yeah, this, like, when I hear the word manifesto...

It's not a good... It's not a good connotation. Like, right? Like, sorry, not connotation. Word association. It's not a good word association. Yeah. So what is a party manifesto in regards to British politics? Yeah, our parties don't really do this in the US. But the the manifesto is a major part of the UK electoral tradition.

So once the election is called and the election begins, the parties will release their manifestos and each manifesto is basically, I wouldn't, it's almost like a contract that they're making with the voters and says, if we win power, these are the things we're going to do. Ooh, they got it in writing. They're basically putting it in writing. And you know, the parties, when they wouldn't get into power, they have varying degrees of success of whether they implement these policies or not. Some of them,

with manifestos, some can be very pie in the sky. But the tradition though, is that if it's not in the party manifesto, it's not something the government will pursue during its term in parliament. So it's kind of telling you that this is what we don't have. When you vote for the party, you're voting for this mandate for them in power. And this manifesto was their mandate. And so it's always interesting to see when the manifestos are released, which they haven't been released in this election yet. They should in the next couple of weeks. And...

And then you can see what each party is promising to do if they gain power and we will not get into policies and what? No, no, no, that is no. OK, so then OK, so now we know who is doing it, like who is running the election, why there's an election, parties at play. What does a British election season look like? And I will just say off the bat, I completely envy this system.

So here in the US our election lasts forever. You hear always campaign. I mean the campaign for the next election begins the day after the last one ended. That's right. And we've you know we've been in the 2024 election since 2020. Okay. And so but the UK system is not like that at all. The election lasts six weeks. So from start to finish. Yeah so it's six weeks this time around sometimes it's five weeks it depends but

It's six weeks. So when it technically starts when parliament is dissolved now, they call the election over a week ago. Parliament was dissolved today, actually. So today the election officially begins. It's like essentially a week. Yeah. When he made the announcement. Cause the parliament has to finish business before it can dissolve. They don't just stop. And so right now there's no parliament. There's no MPs.

What happens if, like, heaven forbid, there was some sort of national emergency? Like, what happens? Nobody's... So the government, Her Majesty's Governor... that was a force of habit. Yeah. His Majesty's Government, which is made up of Rishi Sunak and his cabinet, is still in power despite there being no parliament and no MPs. And so if they're not allowed to launch new policies,

They're not allowed to make - No new business. No new business. They basically are a caretaker government until the new one takes power, whichever party that is. But if there's an emergency, they're in charge. okay. And there's the COBRA committee and like there's - The lights are on. There's a process in place for an emergency. I just wonder. But there's rarely an emergency during an election. Well, like knock on wood. Yeah, hopefully there won't be. There would not be. And so -

The process is going to take five weeks from now is July 4th, which is when which they ironically chose the day. Yeah. All we wanted to do was vote in British elections, but we had to fight for independence to get it. And so anyway, British election. So for the next five weeks, the the the the people running for parliament are campaigning.

Now Rishi Sunak is gonna go all over the UK, Keir Starmer is gonna go all over the UK and do typical campaign things. But the key differences here are there's no advertising on TV, there's no campaign ads, and they have very strict limits on what they can spend on their campaign. Like it's only a few thousand pounds per constituent. Could you like, okay, put a pin in that for a second. Can you imagine?

with the American campaign season would look like if we were five weeks long and let's say you could only spend $30 ,000. That would be bizarre. It'd be great. But I wasn't going to make a judgment, but I don't know. And so, and then through and over the next five weeks, I believe Starmer and Sunak will have two debates on TV.

It's you and it's probably just gonna be between them sometimes the other parties are allowed but it depends on how they're polling and The Labor Party's in such a position of strength going into this election I doubt they're gonna do debates with more more than that and that statement comes from pulling information. Okay? Yeah, I just want to make sure that you're not making a no and so Yeah, so that's so

It's going to be fairly sedate over the next five weeks as compared to the American political system or other. Basically, every day will be driven by the newspaper headlines who gaffed where who made an insane policy proposal here. So let me ask then, what role does the monarch play in all this? All right. You said that the prime minister has to go ask for the monarch's permission.

to dissolve the government and call an election. But does the monarch play any other role in this? So King Charles's role is very set out and stoned and it has been since the Georgian era. The king does not take a political stance on anything. He is apolitical. But he is the source of

of power of the government and he is the fount of sovereignty. He is the British government. And so he very much likes a government that operates in his name to operate and he likes to do it efficiently. And so this would be true of any monarch though. Right. And so his role is is so whoever wins the election on July 4th.

Probably on some at some point on July 5th when the numbers are in which we'll get to that You know the per who ever has a majority of MPs will go to the king and the king will ask him if he has a majority of MPs in Parliament and then he will ask him to form a government and Then he will the whoever didn't form a government will resign assuming You know we'll have to resign and then the new the new parties asked to form a government and then the king

basically observes and advises the Prime Minister, whoever is in power. And you know, it was a great, a great example of the, of like kind of how that relationship worked was the Queen on Netflix, the crown, the crown. Yeah. Sorry. The crown. Yeah. Well in the movie, the queen also as well. Great example.

Yeah, the in the crown they do go pretty in -depth in the relationship between the Queen and the different prime ministers it's fascinating stuff So and so if if so Sunak last week he went to the King Actually, he went to the King before he went to his government to his cabinet and said I want to have an election Dissolve Parliament King said okay have at it You have my you have my consent. So that's all he does. Yes to give his consent. I

And then, like I said, on July 5th, he'll ask whoever wins the election to form a new government. And then it's off to the races. And then parliament has a whole process refined over a thousand years to swear all the MPs in. They swear their loyalty to the king. Later this year, there will be a state open a parliament where the king comes and makes a speech to the parliament with the government's business and all those esoteric ceremonies that the British do when whenever the king has to.

has to actually do his political role. So, but then that's a good segue into how Election Day works, I guess. What does Election Day look like? Not just for those running, but for those voting. So to vote in an election, you have to obviously be British, you have to have British citizenship. And then, but also,

Commonwealth citizens can also vote if they reside in Britain so some Irish citizens usually can vote depending on the residency when I'm getting into the weeds see you got it you got a Sorry, you had to be 18 years old to vote and since 2020 I believe you have to have show ID to vote as well No

What's funny is the party that brought it into power was a Boris Johnson did it a few years ago He went to go vote in the local elections recently that were held in May and he forgot his photo ID and he couldn't vote Yeah, so he didn't he got turned away from the polls and so election day is usually held on a Thursday

Is the next Friday off? Is it like a national holiday? No, it's not a holiday. Do they get that Thursday off? No. No. Okay, so a little bit like here, like you don't get it's not a national holiday. No, it's not a national holiday. And during the day, the media is not allowed to discuss the election other than that it's happening. They can't discuss the issues or anything. And they can't discuss exit polls and

They basically just say, they basically just say there's an election happening. Your candidates went to the, to the, to vote and that's it. Meanwhile, in Asia, this happened, you know, and it's, it's, that's crazy. But then, but then, but then what, what happens next? Then it's election night,

I'm a huge enthusiast for British politics and election night is like my Super Bowl and So the when the polls close at 10 p The BBC begins election night coverage and For years for like ever David Dimbleby was the host of election night. So he was the voice of elections in Britain

Every election I've watched since 2002 or whatever was hosted by him. He's not hosting this year. He's he's officially done I don't know who they've announced But that's when they start reporting results so at 10 p They can start talking about politics again and Then all the polls have closed so then they start going through exit poll data they might have a good idea of who's gonna win but

They don't know who's going to win the election until all the votes are counted. And so the votes are counted at the constituency level. And so there's 650 constituencies. So it takes some time. But I mean, there's only what I think it's at 60 ,000 voters per constituency. So they usually have it wrapped up in a few hours in the constituency. And there's actually a race to see which constituency can count them first. I love this. This is the most British thing ever. And I mean, it as a compliment, like.

Who can be the most efficient at vote counting? I love that. It's very orderly. It's usually a Scottish constituency that's the fastest. But some take a long time, like the Scottish Islands constituencies. It takes them forever to get all the ballots because of all the islands and the boats and the ferries. That's so cool though. Yeah, because everyone has to have their vote counted. Absolutely they do. And the votes will get counted. And then when the votes are counted, they do this thing where they make all the candidates stand on a stage.

And then they announce the count for each candidate. that is savage. But I love it. This usually leads to some very wonderful political clips for later on of candidates being embarrassed that they lost or like people surprised that they won an outburst. Did anybody ever have an outburst on stage? Not an outburst, but the most famous moment, I think, is now like a phrase in the British political lexicon. It's the Portillo moment.

So in the election in 1997, Michael Portillo, the train guy, see, yeah. So Michael Portillo is now known for his colorful pants and doing train tours around Britain on TV. It's like your favorite show. It is my favorite show. And he he was a member of the conservative government. I believe he I don't know what minister he was, but he was a minister. So he was very high up. Yeah. And the election in 1997 by government title, not.

If you're listening in the US, yeah, they got a religious. Yeah. When you run a government department in the UK, you're a minister. So yeah, we should clarify. He may have been minister of transport. I'm not 100 % sure. That would be fitting. He was at one point. That's he even saved some of our lines. That's why he likes anyway. Back on the track. See, see what I'm doing here. So what? Yeah, he was a minister, government minister, and he was standing at his count in 1997 when the Labour Party swept to power like.

they knocked the conservative party as an electoral force away for almost a decade. And so he was standing on stage and they were doing the count and he lost his count. He lost his seat. He was a government minister and he didn't even win reelection. And like, he's just standing there. Like he could see the soul drain from his body as he lost. And so now it's very much like on the Simpsons when,

when Lisa breaks Ralph's heart and then Bart replays it over and over. It's one of those seeds that's now played over and over and over on British political shows. And they now call that a partillo moment. Ouch. And the polling is showing that there will be lots of people with partillo moments in the next election. I'm not taking a little political stance. I'm just, that's what the polls are saying. And so all the results are announced and...

Usually once a bunch of major constituents we as are announced like you have a pretty good idea who's gonna win Almost like not exactly like we get to a point with the American election Usually where you know, which way the tide is gonna yeah, and the BBC will call it. Okay, but there have been elections recently 2010 comes to mind when they could not call it for days because the count wasn't finished and so

So usually by five or six a UK time, they're going to know who the winner is. So that's if you're doing the math, if you're an American, that's like usually by midnight or 1 a We're going to know who the winner is while they're sleeping. I can vouch that John stays up just about every. Yeah, every election night. I'm like, dude, it's like one in the morning. You're like, we're so close. I remember in 2010, we got invited to the the.

Consular Residence in Chicago where they had an election party and like the party kept going and going and going because they couldn't call the election And then we let finally told everyone to leave and the they still hadn't called the election. Well asked Yeah, I Have a great desire to be invited to the Consular Residence in Chicago again

So they announce who all the winners are. And then when the BBC finally calls it, that's when all the wheels go into motion. What wheels? The wheels of whoever is going to command the majority.

gets a call from Buckingham Palace. The king, the king congratulates them and invites them to come to have an audience where he will, where he will, and then them and he will ask them to form a government. And usually they follow the cars by helicopter and like they make it a big, a big deal. And does the, so here in the U S you will sometimes see in a race,

person who did not win will give a speech. Does that happen there? Yeah, there's concession speeches and usually whoever loses there will be a waiver of resignation speeches because and so but the key difference here is that when we have our election in November the the president doesn't take power till January, Congress isn't sworn in till the beginning of January, it's a very slow it's a very slow process. In the UK it happens that day. Wow. So like if you're

If you, let's say you're a member of parliament or something and your party didn't win or you didn't win your seat, like, do you have to like go in and basically pack up your office so the next person can move in? Well, actually, when parliament's dissolved, that's when you pack up your office. Whoa. Yeah. So you're like, I hope I get to come back. Yeah. And you have to fire your staff. Like the all the parliamentary aides get furloughed. I was going to say, is it fired or furloughed? Until they know who's coming back because and then. Wow. Yeah. And so.

So then, you know, whoever potentially, if the other party wins who haven't been in power on July 5th, he will have woken up a citizen and he will end the day as prime minister. And that's quite a shift. And he will immediately have the authority to form a government, point his cabinet, and then it becomes a cavalcade of fancy cars coming to Downing Street as they speculate who the government ministers will be.

And the former prime minister drives off into the sunset and writes a memoir and does speeches on the speaking circuit. And then it's a hard gig. And then a few days later, the new parliament will be formed and the new MPs will be sworn in. And the whole five year clock starts all over again. So does the five year clock start from July 4th or does it start from? I think when parliament goes into session. OK, I'm not 100 % sure.

someone correct me in the comments. Did I stump you? Like I said, the system has changed in the last five years. In an unchangeable system, it's not change. An obscure British trivia question that you don't know. So date folks, it happened. You saw it or heard it live. I defer to your wonderfulness. To my wonderfulness. Nice. And so now,

If you want to follow election coverage here in the US, we posted about this a couple of months ago. You can get the BBC News Channel for free on Pluto TV, Plex, Fubo TV, and a few other of the free streaming services. It's also, I believe, if you have cable still, which a lot of people don't have cable anymore, you can get it on the BBC News Channel there as well. And you can follow the news live on election night.

The BBC will usually have a YouTube feed of all the results. They'll be on, obviously on all those streaming services. And there are other news outlets that come, I mean, that's just our preferred. The American news might actually cover it a bit, but oftentimes what they'll do is they'll just reshare the BBC feed. C -SPAN will have the, yeah, C -SPAN will usually have the BBC feed. C -SPAN too might have like the ITV or Channel 4 feed. You'll just have to check on the night.

but it's pretty easy to follow the results live. You can also, I'm sure you can watch live online. Yeah. So if people want to know more about the British political system or you like, you have a huge stack of books. So if you're watching, there's a huge stack of books on the table. So will you walk us through very quickly kind of the books that you have on the table, what they are, who wrote them.

Why? Yeah, I need to be quick because we want to talk about the shows because that's the funnest part. So I have learned all this over the years from books and the Internet and TV. But these books will give you like a crash course in British politics and how the UK works. So this one for people watching is called Britain Explained by Martin Upham. And it is a good it is a good.

explainer of the British political system, its society, the history, the economy, culture. It's kind of a great overview of the United Kingdom in general. I highly recommend this book for an overview. A lot of British stuff. Check. OK, next. Next is Keep Them on Task. The Shortest History of England by James Haw. And it is a very short book, as it says on the title. And it goes through a thousand year or two thousand years of English history and explains.

why England specifically is the way it is and its political system is a reflection of the people and the culture and all that. Highly recommend that. This is a well -worn copy of a textbook I got in college, but not for a college course, I got it on my own because I'm me, called The British Polity by Philip Norton. And there is probably a more recent edition than this, but this...

is the bedrock of my knowledge on the British political system. It explains how parliament works, the parties, how the government works, everything. Highly recommend. Next is a more recent book called How Britain Really Works by Stig Abell, who is a writer and a radio personality. It goes into more information on the establishment, which is the cabal that supposedly runs Britain, I guess.

Really the word you want to use there? Yeah, that's an accurate word. OK. This idea that there's an establishment that really runs in Britain no matter who's in power and it's you know that it starts at Oxford and Cambridge and starts in public schools and all that wonderful stuff. So that's worth it. And then this will see into the first show we're going to talk about. This is the inside story of Yes Minister, which is my favorite British TV comedy. And it gives you a history of the show and how it came out of 1980s Thatcherite Britain. OK, so.

We will have a list of all the books for you in the show notes. And if you've got a great British political book that maybe you didn't see, now granted we have a huge library behind us. This is not a set. This is actually our library. And this is only a quarter of it. It's full of British books. But if you have a recommendation for a great British political book, nonfiction political book, drop us a line in the comments and let us know. So, but that brings me on to...

British political dramas. And comedies. and comedies. British political television. Yes, because as a politics fan, I love British political TV shows and there are lots of great ones. And you've watched some of them with me, some by choice and some by force. Coercion is probably a better word. And so we'll start with Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister.

which if you watch any of the shows on this list, watch that show. It's my favorite British comedy. It's got some really funny moments. And my favorite British TV show. Yeah. Really funny moments. As a whole, I'm like, man. But I get that it's a special, like it holds a special, like that is, have you ever heard the term comfort show? Like there's a, everybody has a show that they.

we'll watch again and again and again and I would say that is your comfort show like I don't know how many times I lost count of how many times I've watched it I can watch any episode in any order and yeah is that it? yeah we drink a whole pot of tea man I noticed your speech pattern got much faster so yeah yes Prime Minister and yes Minister so the premise of the show it's set in 1980s Britain

So it's a very dated show if you watch it. Yes, it is very. But that's kind of some of the charm to it too. But the principles of the comedy are timeless. And whenever there's something political in the news on Twitter or social media, inevitably clips from this show appear. Yeah. Because the argument is that nothing changes in British politics. And even with this election, I've already seen several clips go around of people saying, see, nothing changes. Where can they watch it?

It is on Britbox. It's easily found on Amazon Prime It's on DVD and so the premise is that and yes minister we follow the character Jim Hacker and he has just been elected to Parliament and he's been he's been chosen to be the Minister of Administrative Affairs which is basically the Minister of red tape and He is ready to get stuck in

and he's ready to take on, he's enthusiastic to take on the organs of state and make everything better for everybody. And he goes into power in his office and he meets his comedic foil for the next five seasons of Sir Humphrey Appleby, who is the head civil servant in his department, whose job it is to never allow the minister to change anything. And...

So every episode is a dance between Jim Hacker and Sir Humphrey and Jim's secretary, principal secretary, Bernard, and of trying to implement a policy and then Humphrey trying to prevent him from implementing the policy. And this sounds really boring, but it's not boring. It's hilarious because the pretty funny. I will give you that. You know, the some of the things they do in that show are just classic.

And so Yes, Minister ran for three series. It was very popular at the time because it was it was basically lampooning the Thatcher government. And even it was Margaret Thatcher's favorite TV show because she thought it was so accurate about how government worked that she thought it was hilarious. That's funny. The famously humorless Margaret Thatcher thought it was hilarious. And then three seasons, they went for three seasons and then Jim Hacker suddenly found himself prime minister.

And so then they did another two seasons of him as prime minister, which is it's which gave them plenty of new material. And I think the yes, prime minister episodes probably more than the yes. Yeah. So episodes. And I have to say there are a couple of episodes where like as a whole, it doesn't really interest me. But there have been episodes where you've watched where literally it has grabbed my attention and like I'm laughing so hard. I have tears. Yeah.

And so and I don't I don't know British politics like you know, I like I have it like a like a good overview of it But I still found it really really funny Yeah, so Find this show I'll link in the show notes. It's hilarious and it will give you a Wonderful window into the British political system and British comedy So then the next show

What I would consider to be the corollary to that show it's called the thick of it Malcolm Tucker Now people know Peter Capaldi as the lovable Doctor Who No, but before Doctor Who he was Malcolm Tucker so as a public relations professional He still hit Malcolm Tucker soft spot right here so Malcolm Tucker I

Is and is the should have called it the malcolm tucker show. Yeah, because who are the ministers are doesn't matter. No He's the prime minister's enforcer and it's his job to get the prime minister's way With the ministers and the people who run the government like smooth talker But he is and he has the foulest mouth you can possibly imagine I would love to I mean catch phrases, but I won't I mean if he it's poetic his use of

When they aired it on BBC America, like half the show was bleeped out because of the profanity. And so I'm warning you, if you watch the show. Yeah, if you're sensitive to that, give this one a pass. That's a hard pass. This show is foul with its language. I mean, it's it's literally Shakespeare in. Yeah. In. But it's not OK. So all of that being said, it is.

Like I felt like every episode was suddenly there was this crisis and then Malcolm Tucker had to like talk and Coerce and like get back to a place of normalcy like for the prime. It was it's just always Love that show. Yeah, love that show and it apparently was very popular in political circles and now What the people share?

Yes, minister clips on social media during election cycles. They sure think of it clips and usually they're spot -on Some of the clips that were shared when the election was announced were just hilarious So think of it is usually on I think it's on Brit box, it's a comedy It's a comedy, but it's a it's a it's one of those ride. I dark dark dark comedy. Yeah, it's not like it's

Yeah, there's not a laugh track. It's got a shaky cam. It's that shaky cam style. That and it's a lot like I'm drawing a blank. The office. No, it's a lot like. The UK office. Yes. No, I was going to say it's a little bit like the West Wing in that you it's very busy. It's very constant moving. You have to listen like that is when you cannot like look at your phone while you're you have to pay attention to it. But it's worth it because it's.

Yeah, so moving on from that. So House of Cards. Many people may not know that House of Cards, they would know House of Cards from the Netflix TV show. Yes. Well, that many people don't know that that was a remake of the British original called House of Cards that came out in the 90s. And it basically follows a very similar plot.

the chief whip in the House of Commons, he's looked over for a promotion. So then he immediately begins to plot and figure out how he can gain power himself. It's very much a product of the 90s. Yeah, we tried to watch it to prep for this and it was just a little too dated for me. I loved it. Well, and but I will say that you have a better knowledge of the British political system and they because.

I watched the American version and loved it, but I also understand how the American political system works. So it like, you kind of have to have some understanding of how the British political system works. So you understand like the backroom deals and scheming and all that. Like, I don't have that knowledge. So that's why it didn't work for me. But, but it's very good if you're going to get into the weeds with that. Absolutely.

Next is a very British coup, which you have not seen. This one is a three -part drama that came out in the 80s and it's about a very, very left -wing politician, some would say a communist, and he looks like he's going to win the next election. And so it's about how the establishment in Britain tries to prevent that from happening. And it ends on a very ambiguous note.

But if you, when you ask British political enthusiasts, which are their favorite two dramas are, they usually say House of Cards and A Very British Coup. So highly recommend A Very British Coup. I don't know where it can be streamed right now. I'll look before this goes out and see if I can put a link in the show notes. The next one is when we have seen together The Politician's Husband with David Tennant. that was exceptionally good. It was...

Yeah, it was interesting. So, right, we talked about Peter Capaldi as Doctor Who, but to see David Tennant as a scheming political husband. As not a great guy in it. Yeah. Like, whoa. And it's been a couple of years since we saw it, but it was literally like edge of your seat. Like, have to know what happens. It was great. And it's actually a pseudo sequel to a show called The Politician's Wife.

But it turns it on its head and makes the focus and this one the policy's husband The wife is the focus is the political figure who's on the up and the husband is the one being left behind? Which she also doesn't like and so it's a really interesting dynamic and it's great and then one Yeah, it's one of those roles where you're like, sure I'm on his side on this one. No, you're definitely not on his side

I mean like stop and think about it for a moment without giving anything away. There's no way you're on his side And then next is one of your recommendations which was the diplomat. yeah, that's a Netflix show with Carrie Russell Rufus Sewell. really good. She's an American who

is appointed as the diplomat to Britain and she doesn't want the job. I think she wanted to go to Iraq. Yeah, she wanted to do something more Afghanistan somewhere. That's what her experiences and they sent her to Britain. And it's a little funny. Not like not funny. Haha. Yeah, it's like funny. Like you said, sympathize with the character a little ironic.

Like, she's a little bit of a fish out of water, but I think that through the first season she finds, like she definitely finds her footing. Like, she's more used to, she wanted a, how would I describe it? Well, she was used to being the wife of a more senior diplomat who was also a character in the show. Which again, right? Rufus Sewell's character. And what's really great about that is he, like, much like the politician's wife.

Which one were you just talking about politicians husband politicians husband, right? The the tables are turned a little bit. She's rising. He's his power is having Great show from start to finish. Yeah, absolutely loved it like the wardrobe budget alone I mean not to be a total girl about it, but my god the wardrobe like I want And it was renewed for a second season. I know should be coming back soon great because it ended on a little bit of a

And I won't give anything away, but it was so good so good Next is a very English scandal Which you you have not seen that one? but it's based on a book and Hugh Grant isn't it and he plays Jeremy Thorpe and Ben Whishaw plays Norman Joseph and it's about Jeremy Thorpe, it's the it's the 1960s and 70s in British politics and he's a

He's a third party leader who is on the up, but he has a secret that he is a homosexual when it's still technically illegal And there's a whole scandal involving Norman Joseph and a murder. I highly recommend the book, but the show is great. Hugh Grant is great as the self -serving, basically evil. Was this based on a true story? Yeah, it really happened. wow. Yeah. Highly recommend the book and the drama.

Next is Stonehouse, which I thought we watched together And it's kind of a it was actually written by the same guy that wrote a very British scandal and it's about an MP in 1970s who fakes his own death And then and then runs off to Australia Matthew McFadden plays the MP so Darcy from Pride and Prejudice. Yeah, it's fantastic

It's lush with its scenery and its locations and and he's Keeley Hawes plays his wife and it's a fascinating story and he's totally unredeemable as a character but True story. Yeah, it's a true story as well. we could watch that in an evening. That's what they say What do they say life is better than fiction or something like that? So Clearly this is british political system is good source for television

And then one came out on Netflix a couple years ago called Anatomy of a Scandal with Sienna Miller and Michelle Dockery. Didn't they? Didn't they do an American version of that? I don't know. It sounds really familiar. But this one's about a British politician gets accused of a sex scandal. Michelle Dockery has to prosecute the case. Sienna Miller is the politician's wife.

lush locations. Yeah, we watched together. Yeah, in an elevator, right? The the incident that I think so happens in an elevator. So that was really good because as a viewer for me personally, the way that the show is, is the way that the story is told. It makes you question the narrator. Like, yeah, what exactly happened? How did it happen? Like,

It was very, very interesting. I do remember that one. And then this one is an early 2000s British comedy deep cut. And I don't cut. I believe you watched it with me, but it was so long ago. You probably don't remember. It's called The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard with Jane Horrocks. And it's about a supermarket manager who who decides in the middle of a some kind of political visit to her grocery store that.

She's gonna run for prime minister and then she takes the country by storm and then wins. I love that. Carrie Mulligan is in it as one of her daughters. I don't think I watched that one. It was only one season, only six episodes. That is a deep cut. Yeah, but - That's like Marianna's trench deep cut. Like, he's down there fishing that out. I remember loving it. well how did you know? What a great story. When it was a who's who of early 2000s British movie and TV stars, so.

I don't even know where streaming or if it is, but if you can find it, it's it's worth watching. It's a comedy. Yeah. Nice. And then the final show we'll talk about is I can't talk about British politics without mentioning Winston Churchill.

So there's a drama called Winston Churchill, The Wilderness Years, and it was made in the 70s or the 80s. And it's an eight episode drama on Churchill's time in the wilderness years in the 1930s when he was out of power and very unpopular. And he was where he harped on about Hitler being a threat and nobody would listen to him. It's a great window into 1930s politics and how things worked.

Winston Churchill is obviously the hero of the story. If you want a much shorter version of this, watch The Gathering Storm, the HBO movie from a few years ago. That does a fine job in two hours telling that story. But it's a great window into the early 20th century politics of Churchill and the Nazis and all those interesting things. So that is it for TV shows.

With that being said, I think we'll wrap up our... I feel like in my sunglasses, I'm prepared for a scandal. Like, right? I'm in costume. Like, a British political with no pictures. I'm about to announce a scandal. Yeah, exactly. No, anyway. Well, why don't we go ahead and wrap up and thank all of our listeners for listening today and for...

We hope that if you learn something new about the British political system and if you didn't, you got some great recommendations for British shows. And I'm sure I was probably wrong about something, so if I was, please let us know in the comments and on Anglotopia or on YouTube. And if you have any books or TV shows you would like to recommend, please leave it in the comments. Make sure you like, subscribe, follow us on Facebook. Subscribe to our email newsletter. Yes.

and we will see you next time. Bye!