It's Bloody Complicated - A Compass Podcast

First Past the Post might block smaller parties from gaining representation at Westminster, but on this episode of It’s Bloody Complicated, we discussed how in spite of this they can still wield substantial influence and contribute meaningfully to our national political discourse.

We were joined by:

• Gina Miller, True and Fair Party
• Catherine Mayer, Women’s Equality Party

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Progressives face a dilemma; we want a change of government but know the country needs a big change of direction. In an essay published for the journal Renewal, Neal has set out the case for what he calls a Radical Pragmatic Left, i.e., a Left that recognises both the need to reconnect with voters and defeat the Tories but critically has a plan to transform the country within the context of the Poly crisis world we face. The need for such a Left is made more urgent by the looming threat of the populist Right if any new incoming government fails too much, too soon.

To discuss the essay and its implications Frances was joined by Neal and Alan Finlayson, Professor of Political and Social Theory at The University of East Anglia and Chair of the Board of Renewal. As part of his work Alan has developed particular expertise in the theoretical and practical study of political rhetoric.

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In 2017, South West Surrey Compass organised and slashed Jeremy Hunt’s majority taking it from the 7th safest Tory-held seat to the 121st. In 2019, they took control of a local council. In 2023, they sued the government.

In the beginning of a an election year, we brought old Compass friends Paul Follows and Steve Williams onto It’s Bloody Complicated to talk about their journey, lessons, and plans for cooperation in South West Surrey.

For the past 8 years, they have been a leading light for progressive cooperation. They have illustrated time and time again that coalitions and cooperative politics isn’t lowest common denominator politics – it’s our future.

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The mainstream press in Britain has been in a state of managed decline for much of the 21st century. Once massive news outlets have suffered massive staff reductions as they have struggled to adapt to a digital age. But over the last few years, green shoots of growth have emerged. From the national level with publications like Byline Times and Novara Media to the regional level with the Manchester Mill, Sheffield Tribune, Bristol Cable and more, new media outlets are daring to do things differently and challenging the industry orthodoxy. But all the while, outlets on the Right such as GB News are also going from strength to strength. What opportunities – and challenges – might arise from this new media landscape? And will it help or hinder our fight for a new democracy?

To discuss all of this and more, we were joined by:

• Hardeep Matharu, Editor of Byline Times
• Priyanka Raval, Reporter at the Bristol Cable

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As another year comes to a close, we were excited to welcome Ayesha Hazarika and Andrew Grice to It’s Bloody Complicated to round up another year in politics.

• Ayesha Hazarika is a broadcaster, journalist and political commentator, and former political adviser to senior Labour Party politicians.
• Andrew Grice is a political columnist for The Independent, having been its political editor from 1998 to 2015. He has worked in Westminster since 1982.

2023 was a year of strikes and protests, record-breaking global temperatures, a coronation, 2 cabinet and 1 shadow cabinet reshuffles, and horrific conflict.

What’s on the report cards for our progressive parties?

What can we expect from 2024 with a general election (probably) on the horizon – and what are the prospects for genuine system change, including proportional representation?

We digested the year that was, alongside some mince pies. Members joined us live at 6pm on Tuesday 12th December with Ayesha and Andy.

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According to the Right to Roam campaign, 92% of the UK’s countryside and 97% of its rivers are not available to the vast majority of the public. For Episode 96 of It’s Bloody Complicated, we’ll be discussing land ownership and the Commons, and why democratising and sharing control of our land, rivers and seas could slash inequality and help calm political instability in this country.

We were joined by :

• Guy Standing, a leading thinker and writer on this issue. In his book Plunder of the Commons, Guy deep dives into a history of our country’s democracy that created the commons and why we need to fight to keep it.
• Pam Warhurst, the founder and chair of Incredible Edible the community urban gardening project. In its 15th year of “propaganda gardening”, Incredible Edible has 170+ groups in the UK, and around 1000 groups worldwide, growing food, building communities, and transforming our relationship with the public land around us.

On the podcast, we discussed why our relationship to land is such a pressing issue, what a new progressive settlement for the Commons might look like and how we can get there.

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Climate chaos is looming. The question of how to protect and preserve our planet for future generations is a conversation that’s not just timely, but absolutely essential.

That’s why, for Episode 95 of It’s Bloody Complicated, we were joined by Areeba Hamid, co-Director of Greenpeace. When she took up the role last October, Areeba became the first woman of colour and first migrant to lead Greenpeace and, along with Will McCallum, the first to share the top job.

From grassroots activism to global campaigns, Areeba shared insights into the transformative power of environmental advocacy and explored the challenges Greenpeace has faced in the fight against climate change. We explored the complexities of environmental conservation, the role of Greenpeace alongside newer organisations like XR and JSO, and why we must renew our democracy to achieve climate justice.

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After Labour came to power in 1997, Clare Short served as the UK’s first cabinet-level Secretary of State for International Development, a post she would go on to hold for six years. In this role, she secured large increases in the British government’s overseas aid budget and persuaded then-chancellor Gordon Brown to write off the debts to Britain of Africa’s poorest countries. A famously independent-minded politician, she stood down from her role over the Iraq war in 2003 and later resigned the Labour whip in 2006. She then served the remainder of her term as an independent before standing down as an MP in 2010.

She joined us on It’s Bloody Complicated to discuss the legacy of New Labour, the future of the UK’s role in international development and how the current political moment compares to 1997.

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Labour faces a huge challenge at the next election: first to win power, then to use it to change our country for the better. The polls suggest it will clear the first hurdle, but what of the second?

The challenges our county faces have never been greater. We need a bold and reforming progressive government to rebuild our crumbling public services, restore trust in our democracy and tackle the climate crisis head-on. We brought you a live episode of It’s Bloody Complicated from Labour Conference 2023 to ask: is Labour up to the challenge?

We were joined by journalist and broadcaster Steve Richards, the New Statesman’s Zoe Grunewald, and The Guardian's Zoe Williams to talk about the key headline announcements, reflected on the mood on the conference floor and discussed whether Labour is ready for power.

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In 1993, New Zealanders voted to replace First Past the Post with a proportional voting system. 30 years on, we discussed how this all-important electoral overhaul came about with two special guests:

• Max Rashbrooke, a New Zealand based writer on democracy and economic inequality
• And Danna Glendining, a New Zealand Green Party activist and MMP advocate

We discussed the challenges and difficulties of changing the voting system, how a transition to PR has transformed politics in New Zealand and what democracy campaigners in the UK can learn about the road to electoral reform.

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On this episode, we brought together an expert panel to discuss the threat of the far-right to democracy and how progressives are fighting for change.

• Nick Lowles, Hope Not Hate chief executive
• Hannah Rose, Hate and Extremism Analyst at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue
• And Luke Cooper, author of Authoritarian Contagion: The Global Threat to Democracy.

With the far right marching steadily into the mainstream in Europe and elsewhere, the endurance of progressive forces and their capacity to win will depend on their ability to build deep and enduring alliances with their political neighbours.

We delved into why now is such a vital moment for this political discussion, what’s at stake and why progressives need to go big to combat the tide of far right extremism sweeping Europe and the globe.

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The average human lifespan is absurdly, insultingly brief. If you live to be 80, you’ll have had about 4,000 weeks. But, to Oliver Burkeman, that’s no reason for despair. 

Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals was a smash hit from author and journalist Oliver Burkeman. On 25th July, he’ll join us on It’s Bloody Complicated to talk time, reality, the delusions we hold about productivity, and how to focus on the ‘gloriously possible’ in a time of spiralling global crises.

Oliver is the author of The Antidote: Happiness for People who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking and Help! How to Become Slightly Happier and Get a Bit More Done. He wrote a long-running column for the Guardian, This Column Will Change Your Life, and has a devoted following for his writing on productivity, mortality and the power of limits.

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What would a Fair Society actually look like? What are the feasible policy building blocks that could help us get there?

In Daniel Chandler’s book Free and Equal he makes the case for a new progressive liberalism grounded in the ideas of the philosopher John Rawls – complete with democratic reform of the voting system for the House of Commons, a universal basic income, and the abolition of private schools.

Listen back to this episode of It’s Bloody Complicated as we ask Daniel about these ideas and more.

This episode was recorded with an audience of our members on July 11th.

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Ahead of the 75th anniversary of the NHS this year, Julia Grace Patterson is publishing a new book, Critical: Why the NHS is being betrayed and how we can fight for it. After years of austerity, a global pandemic, and the looming threats of privatisation, the NHS is bad shape.

She writes, “The NHS is an institution. But it’s also a political football, kicked back and forth between politicians for the past 75 years. It’s a burden to some and a potent vote-winner for others. It’s a construct, framed in the media. It’s a set of ideas and a logo. It’s a workplace for many and the birthplace of almost all of us. It’s become a valued part of our society, it is extraordinarily special – and it’s being destroyed”.

On this episode of It’s Bloody Complicated we dug into her journey as a campaigner and what she’s planning heading into the next election.

Julia is a relentless and extremely effective campaigner and advocate for NHS staff and patients. She is the Founder and Chief Executive of EveryDoctor, a doctor-led campaign organisation fighting for a better NHS. A doctor who qualified from UCL Medical School in 2010, she took a break from her speciality training to set up EveryDoctor, and has now given up her GMC licence to practice, in order to devote herself fully to advocating for NHS staff and patients. She remains a doctor on the GMC register.

This episode was recorded live on 27th June, 6pm.

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Vince Cable has been a Labour party councillor, a SDP coalition candidate, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, our Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, an academic, a civil servant in the Foreign Office, and a key minister and negotiator in the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition government of 2010-15.

We sat down with him and others with international experience of cooperation in politics on June 13th to talk about the why, where, and how of coalitions.

If our electoral landscape wasn’t enough to prove that we need to build a new cooperative politics, the scale and intensity of the crises we face is.

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On this episode, Frances Foley, deputy director of Compass hosted two great movers and shakers of the community power movement:

• Andy Jackson, community leader at We’re Right Here, the campaign for community power
• Mohammed Afridi, Director of Organising at the Civic Power Fund

We got into the complicated nitty and gritty of what terms like ‘community power’ actually mean, the links to physical infrastructure, and democratic innovation at the local level, from co-operatives to friendly societies, settlements to trade unions.

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With the Conservatives publicly announcing that they are expecting of loss of more than 1,000 councillors in the upcoming local elections, it looks to be a good year for progressive councillors. But we know that, especially when there are 8,000+ seats up for election with 25,000+ candidates, It's Bloody Complicated.

Join us on May 9th as we dig into the results from the Local Elections in 2023, and what's going on beneath the surface.

We're  joined by journalist and former president of the YouGov, Peter Kellner, as well as council leaders and campaigners from Compass's networks around the country.

We’re joined by Caroline Jackson, the Leader of Lancaster City Council for the last two years, leading a Shared Administration containing 5 political groups and 44 councillors, Elizabeth Dennis-Harburg who leads the Labour-Lib Dem partnership council in North Hertfordshire.

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On the 4th April 2020, Keir Starmer assumed office as the Leader of the Labour Party. He won that leadership election with almost a 30% winning margin.

3 years on, Neal talks with journalists Rachel Shabi and Rafael Behr to look back, and forward to where Starmer's leadership is taking us.

Sir Keir is a controversial leader. In the three months since the beginning of this year, he's come under fire for candidate selection processes that routinely block progressive and left leaning candidates, a purge of the left leaning members, failing to engage with the recommendations of Brown's Commission, resolutely refusing to stand with striking workers, ignoring the wish of 80%+ of his party's members to scrap our rotten voting system, and the list goes on.

He's built a huge poll lead, previously unthinkable for Labour. He is widely expected to be capable of winning the next election and become Prime Minister.

But in December last year, 63% of voters thought the current poll lead Labour is enjoying is down to negative views of the government, not positive views of Labour or him. Compass is committed to ensuring a progressive government at the next election. That will be a Labour-led one, with either a majority or minority of seats. On this episode of It's Bloody Complicated we dive into the what Keir Starmer's leadership means for that future.

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On 21st April 2023, Extinction Rebellion are bringing 100,000 to protest peacefully outside the Houses of Parliament to demand an end to the fossil fuel era and for a citizen-led transformation towards a fair society that includes reparations.

This is the Big One. After a "winter of discontent" that saw thousands gathered at picket lines and demonstrations, and hundreds of pages spent evaluating and criticising the tactics of protests in our streets or our museums, protest - and its power - is in the air.

What are the demands of the Big One? What is changing in how the British state interacts with protestors and organisers? Are we under threat?

On this episode of It's Bloody Complicated we hear from Miranda Irwin a relationship builder from XR, David Mead, a legal academic specialising in the regulation of protest and dissent, and Nick Dearden, the director of Global Justice Now to talk about the power of protest.

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Zack Polanski has had an incredible year.

Last September, he was elected the Deputy Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales. As a member of the London Assembly, he is the Chair of the Environment committee, and has worked with others across all parties and persuasions on an incredible array of progressive policies. From the fight to end new transmissions of HIV, campaigning for universal basic income, and bringing communities and civil society into making and informing climate policy to standing by strikers and appearing on LBC, BBC, and at our Green Party Conference Event, he's been busy.

On this episode, we caught up with longtime Compass friend Zack Polanski on the lessons and challenges of the past years and what's to come for him and his party in the years to come. 

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