New Times,
New Thinking.

Sunak vs Starmer: The battle of the New Year’s speeches

The Prime Minister and Labour leader set out competing visions for Britain.

Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer welcomed in 2023 with speeches setting out their priorities for the year and beyond. 

Anoosh Chakelian, Freddie Hayward and Rachel Cunliffe discuss Sunak’s five pledges and why he appears more Blue Peter presenter than prime minister. They also analyse Starmer’s embrace of a Brexit slogan with his promise to help voters “take back control” of their communities, why he is pitching to a new squeezed middle, and his reluctance to talk about big spending.

Then in You Ask Us a listener asks whether the Conservatives are running the NHS down on purpose so they can sell it off.

If you’ve got a question for You Ask Us, go to newstatesman.com/youaskus 

Podcast listeners can subscribe to the New Statesman for just £1 a week for 12 weeks using our special offer. Just visit newstatesman.com/podcastoffer

Read more:

Freddie Hayward writes Keir Starmer takes the fight to the Tories by stealing their slogans.

Zoë Grünewald writes Rishi Sunak’s New Year speech showed how out of depth he is.

Anoosh Chakelian asks are the Conservatives “defunding” the NHS in order to privatise it?

Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how Progressive Media Investments may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
THANK YOU

How to listen to the New Statesman Podcast

1. In your browser

You can use the player above to listen in your browser right now. The subscriber edition of the New Statesman Podcast is published here every Monday and Thursday. Why not bookmark this page? You can come back for new episodes twice a week.

2. In a podcast app

The public feed of the New Statesman Podcast is available on all major podcast apps including Apple PodcastsSpotifyAcastGoogle Podcasts, and more. It publishes a day later than this subscriber edition. Search “New Statesman Podcast” in your favourite podcast app.

3. On your smart speaker

If you have an Amazon Echo, Google Home or Apple HomePod smart speaker, ask it to “play the latest episode of the New Statesman Podcast“. This will play the latest episode in the public feed. The same command also works with virtual assistants on mobile devices.

Content from our partners
Why Rachel Reeves needs to focus on food in schools
No health, no growth
Tackling cancer waiting times