EMQs: Is Makerfield the UK’s presidential election?

<p>Was George Osborne about to abandon David Cameron in the 2005 Tory leadership race? That’s the first question on this week’s EMQs, where George recounts the mistakes made by the David Davis campaign that allowed Cameron to ascend.&nbsp; Ed Balls shares similar mistakes of David Miliband’s 2010 campaign, and the pair offer their own advice to all backbench MPs assessing the current Labour leadership contest.</p><br /><p>Then they turn to the man who may win said contest: Andy Burnham. They ponder if Makerfield is the closest thing the UK has seen to a presidential election, with the voters knowing they may well elect our next PM.</p><br /><p>From one political giant to another they then debate why the £5M donation to Nigel Farage hasn’t blown up, and how he could end up on the path of Boris Johnson should this go poorly for him.</p><br /><p>Finally, George unveils an underdiscussed power of the chancellor that could see the government expel any of their political rivals. They also get into religion and culture…</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 or send a question to our social media handles:</p><br /><p>👉 <a href="https://x.com/polcurrency" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">X</a></p><p>👉 <a href="https://www.instagram.com/polcurrency/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Instagram</a></p><p>👉 <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@polcurrency" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TikTok</a></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>Credits:</p><p>Research: Sam Burton</p><p>Production: Caillin McDaid &amp; Nasreen Arain</p><p>Video Editor: Avi Asher</p><p>Executive Producer: Ellie Clifford &amp; Henrietta Harrison</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>