The Westminster Hour 
The Westminster Hour
| First Broadcast | Repeated | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 20030817 | 20030823 | Terry Dignan takes a look at the week's political stories. Includes at 10.45pm : MPs' Road Show: Political Science. Ever wondered what your MP gets up to when he or she's not on the green benches at Westminster? Dinah Lammiman shadows a new pairing scheme between scientists and MPs. Liberal Democrat Norman Lamb learns more about bio fuels and the prehistoric elephant skeleton on his doorstep. |
| 20030907 | A look at the week's political stories. Including at 10.45pm : Not While I'm Alive He Ain't: A series about political rivalries with Brian Walden. | |
| 20030928 | Andrew Rawnsley reports from the Labour Party conference in Bournemouth. Including at 10.45pm Triumphs and Disasters: In the second of a series on famous by-elections, Steve Richards looks back at the first electoral test for the newly-formed SDP in 1981. Roy Jenkins took on the challenge at Warrington and came within a whisker of winning. | |
| 20031109 | Andrew Rawnsley previews next week's political events. At 10.45pm Hoggart's Week. | |
| 20031116 | Andrew Rawnsley previews next week's political events. At 10.45pm Hoggart's Week. | |
| 20031123 | Andrew Rawnsley reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45 Hoggart's Week, which is repeated on Wednesday. | |
| 20031130 | Andrew Rawnsley reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45 Hoggart's Week, which is repeated on Wednesday. | |
| 20031207 | Andrew Rawnsley previews next week's political events. At 10.45pm Keeping It In The Family. Growing Up In A Political Household: Veteran political writer Julia Langdon meets MPs who are themselves the offspring of politicians, and discovers how their childhood experiences prepared them for their own careers. | |
| 20040314 | The political headlines of the next seven days, with Andrew Rawnsley. Includes at 10.45pm , The Week According to Letts - Quentin Letts gives his humorous take on the political week. | |
| 20050123 | Andrew Rawnsley reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm (Rptd Wed 8.45pm): The Brandreth Rules for Ministers: 1/2. You've had the call from Number 10, you've got the car, you've got the box. At last, you're a minister. But what now? Gyles Brandreth has been a minister. In the first of these two programmes, he explains the dos and don'ts of ministerial life: how to arrive, how to survive and how to thrive. | |
| 20050403 | Andrew Rawnsley goes behind the scenes at Westminster. Includes at 10.45pm : Party Tunes: As the political parties prepare for the election, they need a stirring tune to inspire them. | |
| 20060618 | Andrew Rawnsley previews the week in politics. Includes at 10.45pm : How to beat Jeremy Paxman | |
| 20060625 | Andrew Rawnsley previews the week in politics.Includes at 10.45pm :How to beat the AudienceAppearing on Radio 4's Any Questions or BBC1's Question Time is one of the hardest challenges for any politician. Trying to debate the panel members and deal with the chairman would be daunting enough on their own but its the live audience that can really make it really difficult. Well informed and educated they won't put up with political platitudes. Steve Hewlett explains the rules for beating the audience. | |
| 20060625 | Andrew Rawnsley previews the week in politics. Includes at 10.45pm : How to beat the Audience Appearing on Radio 4's Any Questions or BBC1's Question Time is one of the hardest challenges for any politician. Trying to debate the panel members and deal with the chairman would be daunting enough on their own but its the live audience that can really make it really difficult. Well informed and educated they won't put up with political platitudes. Steve Hewlett explains the rules for beating the audience. | |
| 20060702 | Andrew Rawnsley previews the week in politics. Includes at 10.45pm : How to Succeed at Summits 1/2. Sir Christopher Meyer, the former British Ambassador to the United States, takes us behind the closed doors when world leaders get together and explores the keys to success with fellow summiteers, including Madeleine Albright, the former US Secretary of State. | |
| 20060702 | Andrew Rawnsley previews the week in politics. Includes at 10.45pm : How to Succeed at Summits 1/2. Sir Christopher Meyer, the former British Ambassador to the United States, takes us behind the closed doors when world leaders get together and explores the keys to success with fellow summiteers, including Madeleine Albright, the former US Secretary of State. | |
| 20060709 | Andrew Rawnsley previews the week in politics. Includes at 10.45pm : How to Succeed at Summits 2/2. Sir Christopher Meyer, the former British Ambassador to the United States, takes us behind the closed doors when world leaders get together and explores the keys to success with fellow summiteers, including former British ministers Sir Malcolm Rifkind and Clare Short, and Madeleine Albright, the former US Secretary of State. | |
| 20060716 | Andrew Rawnsley previews the week in politics. Includes at 10.45pm : Join the Union - to Get Ahead: Andrew Neil reveals the political secrets of Glasgow University Union. | |
| 20060723 | Andrew Rawnsley previews the week in politics. Includes at 10.45pm : A Burst of Freedom An extreme brand of free market ideology called libertarianism took over the Conservative party's student wing in the mid 1980s, and looked set to conquer the party at large. Legalising hard drugs, liberalising immigration controls and creating a free market in sexual services were among the radical policies advocated. But where are those ideas now? Times columnist Tim Hames tracks down the former student radicals and examines how pragmatism eventually triumphed over ideology. | |
| 20060730 | Andrew Rawnsley previews the week in politics. Includes at 10.45pm : 2/2. A Burst of Freedom An extreme brand of free market ideology called libertarianism took over the Conservative party's student wing in the mid 1980s, and looked set to conquer the party at large. Legalising hard drugs, liberalising immigration controls and creating a free market in sexual services were among the radical policies advocated. But where are those ideas now? Times columnist Tim Hames continues to track down the former student radicals and examines how an insatiable desire to shock and irritate senior figures in their own party led to the radicals' downfall. | |
| 20060806 | Andrew Rawnsley previews the week in politics. Includes at 10.45pm : 1/3. More than Just a Song The first of a new series of programmes about songs which have had a political impact. Nkosi Sikelei Afrika, God Bless Africa, was composed in 1897 as a hymn by a Methodist teacher in the Eastern Cape, Enoch Sontonga. Later, it was adopted by the African National Congress and became an inspirational anthem in the struggle against apartheid, forever associated with Nelson Mandela and the other prisoners on Robben Island. It was sung by the crowd when Mandela was inaugurated as South Africa's president in 1994 and is now part of the country's national anthem. Enoch Sontonga died in 1905, aged 32. His grave was eventually identified ten years ago and is now a national monument. Presented by Robin Denselow | |
| 20060813 | Andrew Rawnsley previews the week in politics. Includes at 10.45pm : 2/3. More than Just a Song The series about songs which have had a political impact. Robin Denselow tells the story of This Land is Your Land, a stirring patriotic ballad sung in every school in the US. Yet it's really an angry left-wing protest song composed by the radical folk singer Woody Guthrie - written in the Depression as a riposte to Irving Berlin's God Bless America. But those verses with a political message are now usually omitted and Guthrie's most popular song has become an anthem of the right as well as the left. It's been recorded by everyone from Bing Crosby to Pete Seeger, and from Billy Bragg to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir; and was even performed at President Bush's victory party in 2004. | |
| 20060820 | Andrew Rawnsley previews the week in politics. Includes at 10.45pm : 3/3. More than Just a Song Series about songs which have had a political impact. Okie from Muskogee by country singer Merle Haggard was a number one hit in the US in 1969. It hit a chord in conservative middle America which regarded the song as a long overdue backlash against the long-haired, anti-Vietnam, hippie culture of the time. President Nixon was delighted, but was Merle Haggard really a redneck, and was he being entirely serious? His recent songs have protested against George W Bush and the Iraq war. | |
| 20060827 | Andrew Rawnsley previews the week in politics. Includes at 10.45pm : The Giibbon Test 1/3. In every age since Gibbon wrote The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, people have looked to his work for signs of decay in their own. Matthew Parris explores what lessons Gibbon may have for Britain's politicians and parliamentary institutions in the 21st Century. | |
| 20060910 | Andrew Rawnsley previews the week in politics. Includes at 10.45pm : The Giibbon Test 3/3. In every age since Gibbon wrote The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, people have looked to his work for signs of decay in their own. Matthew Parris explores what lessons Gibbon may have for a multi-cultural Britain in the 21st Century. | |
| 20060917 | A mixture of in-depth political reporting, probing interviews, and considered analysis. Includes at 10.45pm : An Anthropologist in the House of Lords Social anthropologist Dr Emma Crewe spent three years studying the cultural practices of a unique group of individuals. The subject of her research was not some remote and far flung tribe - but Peers in the House of Lords. 1/2. Dr Crewe introduces us to the natives and reveals how ritual is central to the political process of the second chamber. | |
| 20060924 | A mixture of in-depth political reporting, probing interviews, and considered analysis. Includes at 10.45pm : An Anthropologist in the House of Lords Social anthropologist Dr Emma Crewe spent three years studying the cultural practices of a unique group of individuals. The subject of her research was not some remote and far flung tribe - but Peers in the House of Lords. 2/2. Dr Crewe unravels the crucial and sometimes hidden role of the 'usual channels' in the political process. | |
| 20061001 | A mixture of in-depth political reporting, probing interviews, and considered analysis. Includes at 10.45pm : 1/2. Live Free or Die 'Live Free or Die' is the official motto of the American state of New Hampshire. It's probably the best known of all the state mottos because, perhaps, it encapsulates that spirit of aggressive freedom inherent in the American dream. But how free are Americans in the 21st Century? It's a question which has been exercising the mind of BBC's Washington correspondent, Justin Webb | |
| 20061008 | A mixture of in-depth political reporting, probing interviews, and considered analysis. Includes at 10.45pm : 2/2. Live Free or Die President Bush says that freedom is the birthright of everyone in the world: a gift from God, but also a very important plank of US foreign policy. Justin Webb wonders whether the US has what it takes to do the exporting; whether Americans are friendly imperialists at heart. | |
| 20061015 | A mixture of in-depth political reporting, probing interviews, and considered analysis. Includes at 10.45pm : 1/2. Come and Join Us Geoff Mulgan reflects on our sense of political belonging. The former Number 10 adviser, now director of the Young Institute, draws on new research into what drives political allegiance, particularly to extremism, together with a new study on the future of political parties, whose membership is declining. What brings us together to support a political cause? | |
| 20061022 | A mixture of in-depth political reporting, probing interviews, and considered analysis. Includes at 10.45pm : 2/2. Come and Join Us Geoff Mulgan reflects on our sense of political belonging. The former Number 10 adviser, now director of the Young Institute, draws on new research into what drives political allegiance, particularly to extremism, together with a new study on the future of political parties, whose membership is declining. What brings us together to support a political cause? | |
| 20061029 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : 1/2. Class Conscious Former BBC Political Editor John Cole gives a personal viewpoint on the declining interest in class issues in British politics. Guests include Peter Mandelson and Michael Heseltine. | |
| 20061105 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Class Conscious 2/2. Former BBC Political Editor John Cole gives a personal viewpoint on the declining interest in class issues in British politics. He focuses on the lack of ideology in politics today and the impact on voter turnout. Guests include Peter Mandelson and Michael Heseltine. | |
| 20061112 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Lost Causes Stories of people who never gave up fighting for a seemingly lost cause. 1/3. This year's Remembrance Sunday was a particularly proud and poignant day for one group of relatives of servicemen killed in wartime. They are the families of more than 300 men who were shot at dawn for cowardice or desertion during the First World War. The families have long argued that the men were the victims of an injustice, that they were not cowards but were deeply traumatised or shellshocked. Their appeals to have the men pardoned were repeatedly turned down, but this year the government unexpectedly relented and 306 men have been pardoned. Carolyn Quinn tells the story of the long campaign to resolve a dark episode in British history. | |
| 20061119 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Lost Causes Stories of people who never gave up fighting for a seemingly lost cause. 3/3. The struggle to win compensation for the victims of Thalidomide was one of the great campaigns of the 1960s and 70s. There was a settlement in 1973 but as the years went by, its value was eroded by inflation, and the victims still had to pay tax. Thalidomide disappeared from the headlines, but another campaign was going on to achieve a more generous deal. | |
| 20061126 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Lost Causes Stories of people who never gave up fighting for a seemingly lost cause. 3/3. The struggle to win compensation for the victims of Thalidomide was one of the great campaigns of the 1960s and 70s. There was a settlement in 1973 but as the years went by, its value was eroded by inflation, and the victims still had to pay tax. Thalidomide disappeared from the headlines, but another campaign was going on to achieve a more generous deal. | |
| 20061203 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : 1/3. Political Rhetoric. | |
| 20061210 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Political Rhetoric Former parliamentary sketch writer Edward Pearce goes in search of the heart of good political speaking, from the high style of the 18th century to the barnstorming public address and the modern media age. 2/3. He investigates the stirring 19th century style and the beginnings of great public oratory. | |
| 20061217 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Political Rhetoric Former parliamentary sketch writer Edward Pearce goes in search of the heart of good political speaking, from the high style of the 18th century to the barnstorming public address and the modern media age. 3/3. A look at the decline and fall of oratory in the era of political celebrity, and the sound bite. | |
| 20070107 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : 1/3. Dennis Sewell investigates the influence of the think tanks in the current political debate. | |
| 20070114 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : 2/3. Dennis Sewell investigates the influence of the think tanks in the current political debate. | |
| 20070128 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : The Brandreth Rules for the Great Offices Gyles Brandreth, former MP and government whip, has worked closely with those who've reached the top and has observed them in action. 1/3. He lays down his rules on how to be Prime Minister. Featuring interviews with people who've made it to the top, people who've helped them get there and commentators who've seen them succeed and fail. They'll be witty in tone and anecdotal, but with a serious purpose. | |
| 20070211 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : The Brandreth Rules for the Great Offices Gyles Brandreth, former MP and government whip, has worked closely with those who've reached the top and has observed them in action. 3/3. He lays down his rules on how to be Leader of the Opposition. Featuring interviews with people who've made it to the top, people who've helped them get there and commentators who've seen them succeed and fail. They'll be witty in tone and anecdotal, but with a serious purpose. | |
| 20070218 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : The Condensed History of Tony BlairTony Blair's ten years squeezed into 15 frenetic minutes of songs and sketches, by Adam Long, co-founder of the Reduced Shakespeare Company. Adam and friends remember the highlights of a pretty straight kinda guy, who was the future once. And, as a final flourish, they sum up the whole decade in just 45 seconds. | |
| 20070225 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm: The Letters Pages 1/3. When the biography of former Prime Minister Herbert Asquith was published in 1955, it caused a political storm. The book claimed that Asquith was playing bridge with three women at his country house when the politician Mr Bonar Law visited to discuss who should succeed Lord Kitchener after his death at sea. Allegedly, Asquith kept this important minister waiting until he had finished his rubber, thus giving the impression that the Prime Minister was indifferent. Letters to the Times were numerous and passionate. Presented by Anthony Howard | |
| 20070304 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm: The Letters Pages 2/3. The Value of a Pledge When Oswald Mosley resigned form the Conservative party in May 1930, Harold Macmillan sent a letter to The Times supporting Mosley. Rab Butler and three other MP sent a crushing letter suggesting that Macmillan should 'seek a pastime more suited to his talent'. Macmillan never forgave Butler and the two remained at odds ever since. | |
| 20070311 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm: The Letters Pages 3/3. It Is a Moral Issue When John Profumo's involvement with a prostitute became public knowledge in 1963, a flood of letters from all corners were published, resulting in the Commons debate a week later. But how important were these letters in forcing the debate, ending Profumo's career and eventually bringing down the Conservative government? | |
| 20070318 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm: Arrested Developments British historian Felipe Fernandez-Armesto was arrested in Atlanta in January for crossing the street in the wrong place. He spent eight hours in a detention centre, where many of his fellow prisoners thought he was a lawyer. He reflects on the experience and what it has taught him about America, the legal system and class. | |
| 20070325 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. | |
| 20070401 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. | |
| 20070408 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. | |
| 20070415 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. | |
| 20070422 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm Foreign Studies, which is repeated on Wednesday. | |
| 20070506 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm 2/2. Getting What We Deserve Anne McElvoy, Executive Editor of the Evening Standard, discusses the idea of meritocracy and its relevance in today's politics. | |
| 20070527 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Lying Abroad: How to Be an Ambassador. | |
| 20070603 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Lying Abroad: How to Be an Ambassador 2/4. Christopher Meyer, former British Ambassador in Washington, offers an insider's guide to the skills required in representing one's country overseas. | |
| 20070610 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Lying Abroad: How to Be an Ambassador. | |
| 20070617 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.30pm : Lying Abroad: How to Be an Ambassador. | |
| 20070624 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Great Political Myths. | |
| 20070701 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Great Political Myths Simon Hoggart continues to explode some of the most famous examples of political mythology. 2/3. This week's selection fits under the heading 'I never said that!' They include Gordon Brown and the Arctic Monkeys, David Cameron and hoodie-hugging, as well as Peter Mandelson and a dish of mushy peas. | |
| 20070708 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Great Political Myths 3/3. What can you do when your carefully-crafted public persona is ruined by a myth perpetrated by a satirist with a rubber puppet or a cartoonist with an evil pen? Simon Hoggart speaks to the victims and their assailants. And he investigates one of the biggest unresolved mysteries of our time - did John Major really did tuck his shirt into his underpants? | |
| 20070715 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Talking to Terrorists 1/2. Alastair Crooke reflects on his unique experience of conducting negotiations with terrorist organisations. | |
| 20070722 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Talking to Terrorists Brian Hanrahan explores the debate over talking to groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. He talks to experts on political Islam, and to those who believe there should be no talks with groups they regard as terrorists. | |
| 20070729 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : The Voter on the Couch 1/2. What do we really want from politicians? Good schools and a well-run NHS? Or something altogether more complex and personal? David Aaronovitch puts the voting public on the analyst's couch. | |
| 20070805 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : The Voter on the Couch. | |
| 20070819 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Is that a Deal? Coinciding with the long-delayed honouring of Tony Blair's 'Granita Agreement' to hand over the reigns of power to Gordon Brown, Michael Cockerell looks back at two other intriguing political deals gone wrong. 1. Lord Carrington's deal with Robert Mugabe to finance land reparation in the newly founded Zimbabwe. The programme explores allegations that the British government reneged on this deal, and that this failure to honour an agreement led directly to the land-seizures of the Mugabe regime. | |
| 20070826 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Is That a Deal? | |
| 20070902 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Minding the Shop Everyone is entitled to a holiday, but Tony Howard discusses what happens when a Prime Minister goes away. Who has been left in charge of the government, and what about the now discarded role of Deputy Prime Minister? | |
| 20070909 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Not My Words, Mr Speaker 1/2. Matthew Parris explores the vocabulary of politics, asking why politicians cling to cliche and meaningless bits of jargon. | |
| 20070916 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Not My Words, Mr Speaker. | |
| 20070923 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : The Callaghan Factor. | |
| 20070930 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.42pm : The Buzz of Politics. | |
| 20071007 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Preparing for Power Elinor Goodman looks at how Opposition parties prepare for power in advance of General Elections. | |
| 20071014 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : The Art of Parliament Michael Portillo unravels our Parliamentary history through its art collection. 1/3. Grayson Perry tells how his fantasy that his monumental etching Print for a Politician would hang in a minister's office was realised when the Works of Art Committee recently purchased the work. | |
| 20071021 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : The Art of Parliament 2/3. Statues and the Statute Michael Portillo finds a code to be cracked in the statues and bronzes scattered around the many lobbies and alcoves in the Palace of Westminster. Sculptor Antony Dufort hopes his life-size statue of Baroness Thatcher, recently unveiled in the Member's Lobby, won't suffer the same fate as her last official effigy, which was decapitated. | |
| 20071028 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : The Art of Parliament. | |
| 20071104 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Any Complaints about Europe? 1/2. Mark Mardell looks at the work of the Petitions Committee, whose members examine the issues exercising the citizens of the EU, from the size of rabbit hutches in the UK to admission prices for pensioners in Hungarian public baths. | |
| 20071111 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Any Complaints about Europe? 2/2. Mark Mardell looks at the work of the Petitions Committee, whose members examine the issues exercising the citizens of the EU, from the size of rabbit hutches in the UK to admission prices for pensioners in Hungarian public baths. | |
| 20071118 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : The Jobseeker's Guide to Parliaments. | |
| 20071125 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Power and the Web (1/2). | |
| 20071202 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Power and the Web (2/2). | |
| 20071209 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Stop the World. | |
| 20071216 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Stop the World. | |
| 20071223 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Stop the World (3/3). | |
| 20080106 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Do Nothing. | |
| 20080113 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Do Nothing. | |
| 20080120 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Politically Charged (1/3). | |
| 20080127 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Politically Charged. | |
| 20080203 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Politically Charged. | |
| 20080210 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm Politically Charged. | |
| 20080217 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm: 1/2. The Jam Generation: Anne McElvoy looks at the growing influence of children of the 1980s in the political forefront. | |
| 20080224 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm: 2/2. The Jam Generation: Anne McElvoy looks at the growing influence of children of the 80s in the political forefront. | |
| 20080302 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm: Bugging the Nats: The SNP and MI5 AIain MacWhirter explores claims that members of the Scottish National Party have been bugged by British security forces for more than half a century. | |
| 20080309 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm: Boom or Bust Michael White assesses some of the most significant budgets from the past. 1/3. He looks at Denis Healey's budget of 1976 when he was under pressure from his cabinet colleagues, the unions and the IMF. | |
| 20080330 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Who Owns Adam Smith? | |
| 20080420 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : When the Politician Meets the Architect. | |
| 20080504 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : The Sermon on the Mound. | |
| 20080511 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : For Whom the Division Bell Tolled. | |
| 20080518 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : For Whom the Division Bell Tolled. | |
| 20080525 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : For whom the Division Bell Tolled. | |
| 20080601 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm On Closer Inspection. Marcus Brigstocke meet some of his targets for satire and reassesses his own prejudices. | |
| 20080608 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : On Closer Inspection Marcus Brigstocke meet some of his targets for satire and reassesses his own prejudices about the character of politicians. | |
| 20080622 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm Fifty Years before the Masthead. Political journalist Anthony Howard takes an autobiographical journey. | |
| 20080629 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Fifty Years before the Masthead Political journalist Anthony Howard takes an autobiographical journey through half a century in the newspaper industry. | |
| 20080706 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster with Norman Smith. Including at 10.45pm : Fifty Years before the Masthead 4/4. Political journalist Anthony Howard takes an autobiographical journey through half a century in the newspaper industry. | |
| 20080706 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster with Norman Smith. Including at 10.45pm : Fifty Years before the Masthead 4/4. Political journalist Anthony Howard takes an autobiographical journey through half a century in the newspaper industry. | |
| 20080713 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : The Jewish Connection (1/2). | |
| 20080727 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Bowing out Gracefully: The Brandreth Rules for Standing Down (1/3). | |
| 20080803 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Bowing out Gracefully: The Brandreth Rules for Standing Down Series on how MPs rebuild their lives and their careers after leaving the Commons. 2/3. Down and Out and Up Again How to court the media, how to sell your book and how to find a job. | |
| 20080831 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : The Condensed History of Political Parties 2/3. The Liberal Party gets the condensed treatment from Adam Long. Along with two friends, two guitars and a violin, he takes an abridged tour of Liberal landmarks from Earl Grey to Nick Clegg. | |
| 20080907 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : The Condensed History of Political Parties 3/3. Adam Long, his two friends and their guitars turn their history-abridging hand to Labour. | |
| 20080914 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : In the Think Tanks 1/3. Dennis Sewell considers the influence of the think tanks in the current political debate. | |
| 20080928 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : In the Think Tanks 3/3. Dennis Sewell discovers the latest ideas coming out of political think tanks. | |
| 20081005 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : The Other Heartlands How history and landscape have shaped the political allegiances in some of Britain's most remote constituencies. 1/2. Susan Hulme visits Moray in north east Scotland to a land that's no stranger to political conflict. | |
| 20081012 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : The Other Heartlands 2/2. How Plaid Cymru has become the part of establishment in Caernarfon. | |
| 20081019 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Classrooms to Power The schooldays of leading Prime Ministers. 1/2. Winston Churchill | |
| 20081026 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : The Crash: Scotland's Battle for the Bank | |
| 20081102 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Classrooms to Power | |
| 20081109 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Historians in the Tent of the General | |
| 20081116 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Historians in the Tent of the General | |
| 20081123 | Reports from behind the scenes at Westminster. Including at 10.45pm : Received Wisdom 1/2. MPs and peers from across the political spectrum share their stories and top tips for surviving life in Westminster with Guardian political sketchwriter Simon Hoggart. |
Updated: 1/4/2012