All Podcasts / The Rest Is Politics / 577. Is Badenoch Finally Stopping Farage and Why Are French Schools on Fire?
The Rest Is Politics
The Rest Is Politics

577. Is Badenoch Finally Stopping Farage and Why Are French Schools on Fire?

October 06, 2026 • 1h 0m

Summary

⏱️ 7 min read

Overview

This episode features Michael Gove standing in for Rory Stewart to discuss the recent Labour and Conservative party conferences. The conversation covers Labour's renewed confidence under Andy Burnham's leadership, Kemi Badenoch's intellectual approach to Conservative politics through her essay 'The Right Way,' and various international developments including violent student protests in France, Spain's snap election, Brazil's political landscape, and Bosnia's complex electoral outcome.

Labour's Transformation Under Andy Burnham

The discussion opens with reflections on Labour's Liverpool conference, which marked a dramatic shift in mood from the previous year. Michael Gove, attending as a former Conservative minister, notes the striking contrast between last year's despair and this year's optimism following Andy Burnham's ascension to leadership. The conference demonstrated Labour's return to its soft-left comfort zone while maintaining broad party unity, with even Blairite continuity figures happy to have an articulate leader who can forge emotional connections.

  • Labour conference had an eerie similarity to Conservative conferences when they were in power, with corporate lobbyists and NGOs in force
  • Last year's conference was marked by uncertainty and anxiety despite the 2024 election victory
  • This year brought renewed optimism infused by Andy Burnham across the party
  • Burnham has positioned Labour firmly in its soft left, Kinnockite comfort zone
" Andy Burnham had given Labour a second chance to make a first impression. "
" He's injected a sense of confidence and maybe that's a good link to Kemi Badenoch and the Tory conference where you are now because the one thing I have to say about Kemi Badenoch she sort of does exude an extraordinary self-confidence. "

Kemi Badenoch's Intellectual Leadership and Conservative Identity

Michael Gove provides insight into Kemi Badenoch's intellectual approach to Conservative leadership, particularly through her 30,000-word essay 'The Right Way,' modeled on Margaret Thatcher's 'The Right Approach.' The discussion reveals Badenach's authentic self-confidence rooted in her life experience and her engineer's mindset that focuses on how inputs change systems. However, there's tension between her intellectual framework calling for thought-through policies and the conference's flurry of announcements including prison expansion and defense spending.

  • Badenoch's confidence stems from defending conservative views as a student at Sussex University and experiencing assumptions about her politics based on her Nigerian background
  • She had intellectual self-confidence even as a junior minister that made her seem like the secretary of state
  • The Right Way essay cites Thomas Sowell as her biggest intellectual influence, judging policies by incentives rather than intent
  • Conference announcements included 50,000 new prison places funded by cutting overseas aid and DCMS budgets
" She's paying them a compliment. She's saying, OK, you take your politics seriously. So do I. There's no need for any politesse. Let's get down to it. I will defend my ideas. You defend yours. "
" Britain's problems did not begin with the 2024 Labour government. Some began under earlier Labour governments, and became worse under Conservative ones. Others arose because assumptions shared across the political spectrum went unchallenged for too long. "

📚 5 more sections below

Sign up to unlock the complete summary with all insights, key points, and quotes

Listen on Apple Podcasts More Episodes from The Rest Is Politics