The Political Press Box

The Chancellor will be unveiling what’s inside her Red Box on Wednesday the 26th of November. But before that major announcement in the House of Commons, Rachel Reeves has already attempted to give us, and Mr Market, a sense of what is to come. In a preview of her actual Budget speech, the top Labour minister has hinted at tax increases.This would, of course, break her party’s General Election Manifesto.But don’t worry, folks, there’s plenty to blame for this trust smashing exercise.The Chancellor has pointed to the tough macro-economic conditions the British economy has faced, her fiscal inheritance from the Conservative Party and the weather.Well, not quite the latter, but she might as well have. All in all, it’s looking like more doom and gloom from the Treasury. What better time then to talk to Joe Mayes, who is tasked by Bloomberg News to cover Rachel Reeves on a daily basis.Joe has a new book out Can You Run The Economy? An interactive guide on how to fix the UK’s economic plumbing, which draws on deep research and interviews from a string of former Chancellors. Joe talks about his career in journalism, his relationship with the Chancellor and he even gives some Budget predictions – the freezing of income tax thresholds sounds awfully prescient.Edited, produced and presented by Ian Silvera. 

On this episode, we find out what voters are really thinking and why the UK’s politicians are so unpopular. I’m joined by Holly Day of Ipsos MORI, the polling agency best known for its monthly concerns index.We discuss how education has replaced social class as an identifier of voting behaviour, Holly explains how Sir Keir Starmer has gone from plus 34 to minus 34 points in the polls and how the May elections might pan out for the Labour Party. This episode is most suited for the political geeks amongst us. So, if you are one of those - secret or not - I hope you enjoy the episode and do please make sure to leave a review. Presented, hosted and edited by Ian Silvera, Editor of Tech, Power & Media.

On this episode I’m joined by an old friend, Graham Lanktree of Politico, to talk about the new global trade war. Originally from Canada, Graham explains what the journalism scene in Montreal and Ottawa used to be like, his move to London and how he first started to cover the Trump administration back in 2016.Nowadays, Graham is considered to be one of the leading trade correspondents operating in the UK. Here, he outlines what it’s like covering the recent tariff developments from Trump and how even top trade negotiators are asking him what’s going on. Produced, edited and presented by Ian Silvera, Editor of Tech, Power & Media.

On this episode, I speak to Alan Cleaver, a retired journalist turned author who lives next to one of England’s most beautiful spots, The Lake District. Alan’s latest project charts the rise and fall of the rural postman and the shortcuts they made across the British countryside as they delivered the post in all weathers.These so-called Postal Paths were the work of Royal Mail workers from the Victorian Era onwards. The bike and then the car would ultimately change the postie’s relationship with the countryside – and their customers – but Alan has been able to retrace many of these once important routes in his latest book. Sometimes approaching with a bugle call, the rural postie often carried gossip with them as well as a bag full of letters. They were an important part of rural social life in Britain, something Alan explains and explores during our own conversation.The Postal Paths: Rediscovering Britain’s Forgotten Trails And The People Who Walked Them will be out later this month.Produced by Ian Silvera, editor of Tech, Power & Media. 

On this episode of the Political Press Box, I speak to Bron Maher, a senior reporter at The Press Gazette. The outlet has published its annual Substack rich list, unveiling the highest earners in the industry, including the likes of Heather Cox Richardson, Nate Silver and Mehdi Hasan. It sounds like a European list could be coming soon. We also talk about the state of the media industry heading into the rest of 2025. Trump, AI and a volatile advertising market, it’s all going on. And Bron explains which news media companies he’s keeping an eye on.Produced and hosted by Ian Silvera, editor of Tech, Power & Media. 

After a long holiday on the other side of the world, I’m back in action for 2025 and will be keeping up my quest to interview some of the most impactful, insightful and imaginative communicators in and around the world of politics. On that note and on this episode I speak to James Millar, the Godfather of Scottish Political Podcasting. I met James, a former columnist for the The Press & Journal, years ago when we were both Lobby hacks and many SW1-types will be familiar with the name. Others may remember his PoliticalYeti podcast. Now, we’ve both turned to the so-called dark-side and we subsequently discussed the UK government’s communication efforts or, rather, the lack of them. As well as James’ move to Substack and his view on the current political landscape in Britain, especially in light of Trump’s new administration. Produced and hosted by Ian Silvera, editor of Tech, Power & Media. 

On this episode of The Political Press Box I speak to Tim Ross, co-author of Landslide :The Inside Story of the 2024 Election (Biteback Publishing).Alongside his fellow co-author Rachel Wearmouth, Tim has provided the first full journalistic account of why Labour won the last general election in the UK and, perhaps more importantly, why the Conservatives lost the vote. I talked to Tim, who edits for Politico in his day job, about Rishi Sunak’s mentality coming into the campaign, how Labour used AI technology to get out their vote and his views on the early days of Sir Keir Starmer’s government as well as the lessons the news media can learn from the campaign and Trump’s victory in America. Edited, produced and hosted by Ian Silvera, editor of Tech, Power & Media.

On this episode of The Political Press Box I speak to Gawain Towler, a veteran press officer for the Eurosceptic cause, working first in and around the EU Parliament as a journalist and then joining UKIP.Gawain went on to spin for the Brexit Party and then its successor party, Reform, at the last general election. Gawain is now turning his hand to political commentary. We discussed how he dealt with the media at the last election, Gawain’s plans for the future and how Reform plans to take on the established parties.I hope you enjoy the episode. Please do make sure to subscribe and leave a review. Hosted and produced by Ian Silvera, editor of Tech, Power and Media. 

On this episode of the Political Press Box, I speak to Nick Hilton, a former podcast producer for The New Statesman and The Spectator, who launched his own podcast company, Podot, more than six years ago.Nick is also a TV critic for The Independent and he has own Substack, Future Proof. But the reason why I spoke to Nick this time around is regarding the power of podcasting, with both the Trump and Harris campaigns attempting to win over podcast hosts, including the likes of Joe Rogan, The Nelk Boys, Andrew Shulz, Theo Von and Alex Cooper, and their highly-engaged audiences during the US election campaign.We also discuss the current state of YouTube, where many established content creators are going through a soul searching process, with some rethinking their relationship with the platform. I hope you enjoy the episode. Please make sure to subscribe and leave a review. Produced and hosted by Ian Silvera, Editor of Tech, Power & Media. 

On this episode of The Political Press Box I speak to Tony Diver, US Editor of The Telegraph. We discuss the outlet's expansion into America, how he is covering the Trump and Harris campaigns and why immigration is such an important issue. In addition, Tony discusses the differences between Washington and Westminster as well as how the media ecosystems work. You can subscribe to Tony's newsletter here. Hosted and produced by Ian Silvera, Editor of Tech, Power & Media.