The Prime Ministers We Never Had: Steve Richards talks to Nick Cohen

What stopped Heseltine, Ken Clarke, Dennis Healey and Kinnock from taking the top slot? Why didn’t Barbara Castle become Britain’s first female PM? The Observer’s Nick Cohen talks to the political columnist and podcaster Steve Richards about his new book The Prime Ministers We Never Had… the intriguing factors that prevented these politicians from reaching power… the tragedy of the Miliband Brothers… and the alternate futures we could have seen if these flawed talents had won.

• “Those with a formidable past tend not to take the crown BECAUSE of that past.”
• “If Heseltine had won the leadership contest in 1990, he would have redefined the Tories as a pro-EU party.”
• “The Dennis Healeys and RAB Butlers were TOO good. They alienated their own parties.”
• “Ken Clarke used to say ‘My hobby is standing in Tory leadership contests and losing.’”
• “Ed Miliband destroyed David – but David destroyed Ed too. Because Ed then lost all sense of who he was.”

https://www.patreon.com/bunkercast

https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Steve-Richards/The-Prime-Ministers-We-Never-Had--Success-and-Failure-from-Butler-to-Corbyn/26113646

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.