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Cabinet Secretary Antonia Romeo did not hold back this week when she demanded sweeping changes to the civil service - but what action will follow the punchy rhetoric? The Guardian’s Rowena Mason joins the podcast team for expert analysis of the Romeo agenda. The prime minister has confirmed that his 10 year plan will be published this side of Christmas. So what can we expect to see fromthe Burnham blueprint for government?  Plus: Are the government’s health reforms and targets working? The latest chapter of our Performance Tracker of Public Services, published in partnership with the Nuffield Foundation, has the answers. Presented by Alex ThomasWith Hannah Keenan and Stuart Hoddinott. Produced by Podmasters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Following a brutal set of Mid-Term election results for Donald Trump and the Republicans, Ben Judah – who worked as a special adviser to former foreign secretary David Lammy – joins the podcast team to discuss what a night of big wins for the Democrats mean for Trump’s presidency, foreign policy, and the UK. It has already been a big week on the international front for Andy Burnham, with the prime minister attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and also hinting at a new deal with the EU. We’ll take a look at the PM’s diplomatic efforts. Plus: Is Westminster ready for the reality of a hung parliament – and if not, what could it learn from the power-sharing deals in councils across England?   Catherine Haddon presents. With Giles Wilkes and Megan Isaac. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John Healey’s “breathing space” budget was short on big decisions but big on smaller, immediate measures – so did it all add up? Nick Garland, a former speechwriter to ex-chancellor Rachel Reeves, joins the podcast team to explore the significance of Healey’s big day. There are always winners and losers in budgets – so who did well? What choices have Healey and Andy Burnham left for another day? And are there really more civil service efficiency savings to be made? Plus: Ringfencing preventative budgets. One of the IfG’s longstanding recommendations has been taken on by John Healey. We’re going to take a closer look.  Hannah White presents. With Tom Pope, Giles Wilkes and Hannah Keenan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John Healey’s first budget as chancellor on 28 October was a huge moment for Andy Burnham’s government. A difficult fiscal inheritance, made more challenging still by the war in Iran, means Healey and Burnham faced a series of tough choices. So what will the chancellor’s spending decisions reveal about the government’s priorities? Will he send a clear signal about the future tax changes that are – or are not – on the table? Can Healey and Burnham show that they are capable of taking the difficult decisions facing government? And will they avoid mistakes made by Keir Starmer and former chancellor Rachel Reeves? Just a few hours after Healey set out his plans, the IfG shared their instant expert analysis in this must-watch budget day webinar. We were joined by an expert panel including: Dan Haile, Senior Economist at the Institute for Government Stuart Hoddinott, Associate Director at the Institute for Government Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government This webinar was chaired by Dr Gemma Tetlow, Executive Director for Research and Innovation at the Institute for Government. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The budget is nearly here. So what is chancellor John Healey going to say at the Despatch Box on Wednesday? The Observer’s Ben Zaranko joins the podcast team to preview the biggest day yet in Andy Burnham’s premiership. The PM has said he will pull every lever he can to help with the cost of living. The chancellor has said he won’t budge from Labour’s fiscal rules - or its 2024 manifesto pledge not to raise the three main personal taxes. So are Healey’s options and what does he need to do?   Plus: How can he turn around public service performance? A new IfG report says things aren’t likely to much get better by the time of the next election. Can Healey and Burnham do anything about that gloomy prediction? We’ll reveal all. Hannah White presents. With Jill Rutter and Nick Davies. Produced by Milo Hynes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With Andy Burnham trying to navigate the ever-precarious tightrope that is doing diplomacy with Donald Trump’s White House, Anand Menon joins the podcast team to weigh up the prime minister’s prospects.Burnham is also exploring a new relationship with Europe, but could that really mean reversing Brexit?Plus: Can the government fix the criminal justice system. A new IfG report has given its verdict on the performance of prisons, courts, the police and more - some good, some bad, lots of decisions for the PM to make.Presented by Alex Thomas.With Jill Rutter and Cassia Rowland.Producer by Podmasters Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Another by-election, another win for Andy Burnham - with the Greens defeated in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election. Deltapoll's Joe Twyman joins the pod team to explore what the PM’s by-election double really tells us about his electoral prospects. It was another bad day for Green leader Zack Polanski, who was already under pressure after a difficult conference in Brighton.    Kemi Badenoch, on the other, was all smiles in Birmingham - but does the Conservative party really have grounds for optimism?   Plus: How well are schools performing? A new IfG report has the answer. Hosted by Hannah White. With Cath Haddon, Thomas Pope and Amber Dellar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

No lectern. No tie. And quite a few tears. Andy Burnham promised a different kind of speech. But did the prime minister deliver? After watching Burnham's first Labour conference speech as party leader and prime minister, Hannah White is joined in the IfG's pop-up studio in Liverpool by the IfG's Alex Thomas, IfG senior fellow (and former executive director of policy to Keir Starmer) Claire Ainsley, and More in Common's Sophie Stowers to share their instant reactions on the big speech, dissect the policy announcements, and explore what the Burnham agenda means for government.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From meeting Donald Trump in New York to heading to his first Labour conference as prime minister, it's quite some week for Andy Burnham - so what does he need to do to make a success of Labour's Liverpool gathering? LabourList editor Emma Burnell joins the podcast team to review Burnham's Trump test and preview his conference challenge.  Plus: We take a closer look at an issue that saw Keir Starmer stumble badly, and that’s benefits reform. How could Burnham approach this thorniest of issues? A new IfG report has the answers. Alex Thomas presents. With Cath Haddon and Ben Paxton Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With Westminster been rocked by the news of a record-breaking – and maybe game-changing – £72 million donation to Reform UK, new Lib Dem peer Tim Leunig joins the podcast team to assess how the government might respond, and what comes next for party political donations. Next up on the conference circuit are the Liberal Democrats. So how much pressure is leader Sir Ed Davey under as his party gather in Brighton this weekend? Plus: These are uncertain times... but just how uncertain are they? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Foreign secretary Ed Miliband has announced UK sanctions on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. So what does this change of position say about UK foreign policy under Andy Burnham - and what are the possible consequences for UK domestic policy? The i's Kitty Donaldson joins the podcast team to assess the PM's big move. On the domestic front it was chancellor John Healey’s turn to make headlines, with a big pre-Budget speech on growth and the economy. So does this mark the dawn of a new economic policy? Plus: Angela Rayner has hit the pause button on the Local Government Reorganisation plans. What has happened and has it all gone wrong? Presented by Alex Thomas. With Giles Wilkes and Akash Paun Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The summer recess is over. Parliament is up and running. And the new prime minister gave a mammoth statement in the Commons. There were no new policy announcements, but there was a promise to do things differently. Henry Hill joins the podcast team to make sense of Andy Burnham's first day back in Parliament.Kemi Badenoch has been busy too, with the Conservative leader reshuffling her top team and bringing in, amongst others, a new chancellor and foreign secretary. So what is she trying to do and what difference could it make?Plus: Farewell to Keir Starmer. As the former prime minister is quitting parliament, we give the Inside Briefing verdict.  Hannah White presents With Cath Haddon  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Andy Burnham has clocked up a month mark in Number 10. As the long recess draws to a close and Parliament prepares to return, the Guardian's Kiran Stacey joining the podcast to look back on a summer of speeches, policy announcements, guitar-playing and a lot of social media game.  How has Burnham handled the familiar problem of prison capacity and the headache of early release schemes? Do his devolution plans really add up and will Number 10 North make any difference to government? Is this PM's plan for social care finally going to deliver reform? And after a relatively quiet summer recess, what are the challenges heading his way once Parliament returns? Plus: Is the new prime minister really going to play in the big Labour v the Lobby football match at Labour Party conference? Hannah White presents. With Jill Rutter, Cassia Rowland, Matthew Fright and Stuart Hoddinott Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Every new prime minister arrives in No.10 with a view about what brought down their predecessor as well as a ringside seat to the downfall. So after convincing their colleagues why a change of PM is necessary, what happens when the new PM's belief in his or her skills and talents meet the reality of the biggest job in British politics? How easy it is to learn on the job? What is the right balance between continuity and reinventing the government? And how good is the UK at preparing for mid-term changes of PM? In this final episode of this special IfG podcast series we’re going to look at how incoming mid-term prime ministers adjust to the role, the dilemma of whether to call an early general election, and what lessons former mid-term transitions hold for Andy Burnham’s premiership – or for future mid-term PMs.   Presented by Catherine Haddon Featuring Gus O’Donnell, Mark Sedwill, Helen MacNamara, Simon Case, Stewart Wood, Salma Shah, Lee Cain, Asa Bennett and Rupert Yorke. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Becoming prime minister is a job like no other. The arrival of Andy Burnham is the latest in the UK’s recent history of prime ministers coming to the job mid-way through a parliament. Mid-term prime ministers often take over after crisis, political upheaval or the sheer weight of the job have put paid to their predecessor. And mid-term prime ministers come to the job through very different means – a leadership contest rather than a general election, or sometimes even without that. They have less time to make a difference, a party looking for change, and a policy platform that is already well underway. In this three-part series, the Institute for Government takes you behind the scenes of the mid-term changes of prime minister from John Major to Rishi Sunak. Speaking to the senior officials and advisers who were there to explore how prime ministers, their teams and the civil service prepare, what the transition is like, how they build their teams, how they change policy, and the lessons from these premierships on what it takes to succeed as a mid-term prime minister. Mid-term prime ministers – Episode 2: The Transition Many politicians have ambitions to become prime minister but however long a would-be prime minister, their advisers and civil servants spend preparing for a transition of power, that first day walking through the famous No.10 door is the moment that reality hits and the job instantly begins. In episode two we take a closer look at what happened in the first weeks and months of the mid-term premierships from Major to Sunak. How did they go about reshuffling the ministers they inherited? How did they build their No.10 team? And how did they manage the fundamental question that affects mid-term prime ministers far more than those coming in from a general election: how much do they change their predecessor’s agenda?    Presented by Catherine Haddon Featuring Gus O’Donnell, Mark Sedwill, Helen MacNamara, Simon Case, Stewart Wood, Salma Shah, Lee Cain, Asa Bennett and Rupert Yorke. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices