EMQs: Nick Clegg as Chancellor?
January 26, 2026
36 min
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Episode 249 · January 26, 2026
EMQs: Nick Clegg as Chancellor?
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Political Currency Episodes Around January 26, 2026
Episode 247 of 291 — walk the feed in the order it was published.
36:26This episodeEMQs: Nick Clegg as Chancellor?
Summary
<p>Why didn’t Nick Clegg become Chancellor of the Exchequer in the 2010 coalition government? Ed Balls and George Osborne take you inside the negotiations that formed the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition in this week’s EMQs. They also discuss why Gordon Brown didn’t make Ed chancellor, and whether it was the original sin of his premiership.</p><br /><p>They also discuss the role of academics in policy making, and why American scholars end up more favored than their British counterparts. And, how many U-turns can a government sustain? Ed and George look at the impact of U-turn politics on trust and authority, and discuss how the coalition survived the omnishambles budget? </p><br /><p>Finally, the pair consider whether MPs who defect - including recent high profile Tories like Robert Jenrick - should stand down to trigger by-elections. They explain where this has gone wrong historically, and the dangerous precedent it would set for future political rebellions in all major parties. </p><br /><p>We love hearing from you, so please don’t forget to send all your EMQs to questions@politicalcurrency and make sure to include a voice note of your question.</p><br /><p>Thanks for listening. To get episodes early and ad-free join Political Currency Gold or our Kitchen Cabinet. If you want even more perks including our exclusive newsletter, join our Kitchen Cabinet today:</p><br /><p>👉 <a href="http://patreon.com/politicalcurrency" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">patreon.com/politicalcurrency</a></p><p>👉 <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ng/podcast/political-currency/id1706536336" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts</a></p><br /><p>Please note: Kitchen Cabinet is only available via Patreon.</p><br /><p><strong>Credits</strong>:</p><p>Research: Sam Burton</p><p>Production: Caillin McDaid, Caitlin Hanrahan & Sam Psyk. </p><p>Video Editor: Avi Asher</p><p>Executive Producer: Ellie Clifford</p><br /><p>Political Currency is a Persephonica Production and is part of the Acast Creator Network.</p><hr /><p style="color: grey; font-size: 0.75em;"> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: grey;" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
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