The Thick of It, Series 1: Political Fictions podcast

The Thick of It, Series 1: Political Fictions podcast

Author: Mark Pack April 2, 2026 Duration: 52:06
A special treat for listening of this podcast: a new episode of my other podcast, Political Fictions: "Mark and Cory talk about political TV for the first time, and there’s nowhere better to start than The Thick of It. After rewatching the first series, they talk about which fictional policy proposals ended up becoming reality, why it’s important that focus groups thought Keir Starmer was an eagle, and given that Malcolm Tucker keeps screwing everything up perhaps the secret genius behind the British Government is actually Terri Coverley?" Show notes Subscribe to Political Fictions in all the usual places, or listen to it via www.politicalfictionspodcast.com. You can view the IMDB page for The Thick of It here. UK listeners can watch the show on BBC iPlayer. If you enjoyed our segment on focus groups, you may my post about them here (note the date). Cory’s email newsletter Paperback Rioter. Mark’s family of email newsletters. Our theme tune is “Monkeys Spinning Monkeys” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) and licensed under the Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Join Mark Pack for Never Mind The Bar Charts, a podcast that digs into the mechanics, personalities, and unexpected stories shaping British politics, with a particular eye on the Liberal Democrats. This isn't a dry recitation of policy papers or a simple replay of the week's headlines. Instead, Mark and his guests pull apart the political narratives, examining the strategies, the polling data behind the bar charts, and the human moments that often get lost in the Westminster fray. You'll hear conversations that go beyond the soundbites, offering analysis that is both insightful and accessible, whether you're a political insider or just a curious observer. The tone is conversational and often wry, with those promised stray digressions into history, culture, and the occasional oddity that makes politics so perpetually fascinating. It's a show for anyone who finds the 'how' and 'why' of political life more compelling than the 'what'. New episodes of this podcast regularly feature a range of voices from across the political spectrum, all brought together by Mark's long-standing expertise and genuine curiosity about the subject.
Author: Language: en-gb Episodes: 50

Never Mind The Bar Charts
Podcast Episodes
Local elections 2025: the Lib Dem verdict [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:07:03
The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts saw me team up with John Potter and the Lib Dem Pod team to discuss the local elections. How did they go for the Liberal Democrats and what lessons are there for the party?…
Podcast: First impressions of the House of Lords [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:31
John Potter of the Lib Dem Pod quizzed me about my first experiences of the House of Lords for our latest joint podcast. Show notes Lib Dem Pod. The Government Chief Whip's Ring Binder. Photograph © House of Lords 2024 /…
How to explain, and beat, populism [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:13
Peter Kellner join sme to discuss a new report on what is going wrong with our politics, and the solutions. No surprise then that our conversation focused on populism, its causes and how liberals can defeat it. Show note…
The surprising similarity between Tony Blair and Nigel Farage [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:02
The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts saw Paula Surridge return to the show, talking about the impact of political values and of perceived competence on recent general elections. We got into some surprising sim…
Lessons from a century of Labour-Liberal (Democrat) relations [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:30
The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts takes a look at a book that has made me rethink several things I thought I knew about the history of the Liberal Democrats and Liberals before them. It also contains some w…
Does proportional representation produce weak governments? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:57
The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts takes a look at recent research into the impact of electoral reform on the stability of governments. Does PR mean less stable government? Listen to my discussion with the r…
Do those "Winning Here" posters and bar charts actually work? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:29
Election campaigns often put significant effort into persuading voters that their candidate(s) could win. But does such campaigning really change people's expectations of who might win? And even if it people's views do c…
Failed State: why our government is broken and how to fix it [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:49
The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts sees a return to the show for Sam Freedman. This time he’s got a new book out, about how our government is broken – and what to do to fix it. Feedback very welcome, and do…
The importance of geography to British electoral politics [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:53
The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts discusses a great new book about the geography of British elections with its two authors, Jamie Furlong and Will Jennings. Why do the Conservatives underperform on Merseysi…