Couverture de Craft Politics

Craft Politics

Craft Politics

De : Joseph Lavoie and Andrew Percy
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Craft Politics is a cross-border political podcast, which sounds grander than it is. Mostly it's two friends — Joseph Lavoie, a Canadian public affairs strategist who used to work in a Prime Minister's Office, and Andrew Percy, a former UK Conservative MP — asking the experts who'd know the answer to one sharp political question. Canadian listeners get the UK context they're missing. British listeners get a Canadian lens on their own politics. Everyone comes away slightly better informed.Joseph Lavoie and Andrew Percy Politique et gouvernement Sciences politiques
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  • Sam Coates: Reform's £72 million pay day

    Sam Coates: Reform's £72 million pay day
    Sep 16 2026
    Two crypto billionaires gave Reform UK £72 million in 36 hours, more than every British party combined raised in all of 2025. All of it legal, for now. This week on Craft Politics: Sam Coates, Deputy Political Editor of Sky News and co-host of Politics at Sam and Anne's, joins Joseph Lavoie and Andrew Percy to answer what £72 million actually buys in British politics, and whether Labour can make Reform hand it back. We discuss: The handback question — why a backdated £100,000 cap is easier to announce than to enforce, and the "reverse revenge legislating" Sam expects if Reform ever wins From eight MPs to 326 — Sam's "moonshot" arithmetic, and the tactical anti-Reform voting he's seen in Makerfield, Caerphilly, and Aberdeen South "Better eyelashes on the same body" — the Burnham bounce, a bloodless coup, and why Sam won't give a verdict until after the 28 October Budget Why Canada capped donations 20 years ago and Britain never has — Sam's one-line answer, and Andrew on what candidates always suspected the money was really for Find Sam on Politics at Sam and Anne's: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/politics-at-sam-and-annes/id1709628885
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    43 min
  • Darren Grimes: On Reform UK and What's Next

    Darren Grimes: On Reform UK and What's Next
    Sep 8 2026
    Reform UK is having the best year of its life. Official opposition in Wales. Seventeen seats in Scotland. Over 1,400 councillors. And yet Middle England still hasn't climbed aboard. This week on Craft Politics: Darren Grimes, Reform UK councillor, deputy leader of Durham County Council, and one of GB News's most recognisable voices, joins Joseph Lavoie and Andrew Percy to answer what Reform actually is, where its next million voters come from, and whether it can govern or just campaign. We discuss: The ceiling problem. Reform won more council seats on a smaller vote share than the year before. Is this a party filling the void left by Labour and Conservative collapse, or something structurally stronger? Where the next million comes from. Darren's two-pronged attack: prove economic credibility to the Sussexes and cultural compatibility to the Red Wall. And why Essex, not just Durham, is now in play. Not Thatcher's party. Why Reform would nationalise British Steel, why it's past the ideological purity of the 1980s, and how Darren's Labour-voting grandad changed his mind about Maggie. The Burnham threat. Andy Burnham is coming for the same voter Reform wants. Darren's response: nobody in County Durham knows who he is, and Manchesterism isn't going to solve the North's problems. The migration radicalisation. A majority of British voters now support detention of illegal migrants. Darren's warning: if Reform doesn't get this right, people will conclude the ballot box is broken and go to the horseshoe of doom. Government in waiting. What Reform's first 100 days would look like, from scrapping green levies to lifting the cap on medical school places, and why Whitehall needs grabbing by the balls. Also discussed: HMO Britain, why the BBC immigration argument was always wrong, the billionaire who just left taking £330 million in tax with him, and whether Darren has parliamentary ambitions. Spoiler: the call might come. Find Darren on GB News and follow him on X. — Craft Politics is a cross-border political podcast where Canadian and British experts come on to answer one sharp political question per episode. Co-hosted by Joseph Lavoie (former senior advisor in a Canadian Prime Minister's Office) and Andrew Percy (former UK Conservative MP). Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/craft-politics/id1790715962 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3Zaw8zZHe7qiFYIby7lKRB Web: https://www.craftpolitics.fm Joseph Lavoie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephlavoie/ Andrew Percy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-percy-b996b431a/ Guest inquiries: joseph.lavoie@crestviewstrategy.com #CraftPolitics #UKPolitics #ReformUK #CanadianPolitics #Anglosphere
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    46 min
  • Ginny Roth: Trade War Reality Test

    Ginny Roth: Trade War Reality Test
    Sep 1 2026
    Ten days ago Ginny Roth posted a thread arguing that Canadians need to stop being shocked by Donald Trump and start making hard choices from a weak hand. Jason Kenney replied, accusing her of "craven cynicism masquerading as hard-headed realism." And now the Canadian right is having it out, complete with name-calling (Maple MAGA? Really?) So we brought Ginny on to make the argument herself. Ginny is a partner at Crestview Strategy, was director of communications for Pierre Poilievre's 2022 leadership campaign, and writes for The Hub and the National Post. What we got into: The magic politics button. There's a button every incumbent in the country can press right now — attack Trump, elbows up — and it converts straight into public support. Her worry is what that does to the decisions they're supposed to be making. We were closer to a deal than you think. And when it fell apart, you could see which pundits were quietly relieved. What she's actually afraid of. Ten years from now, the politics of this moment will have passed and we'll want open markets back. Ginny isn't sure the public support will still be there. NAFTA was hard fought the first time. The age split running through this. If you're established and 55-plus, this trade war costs you very little. If you're 40 and can't buy a house, you pay for it twice. Ginny says it maps almost exactly onto the conservative infighting. Draw a hard line on the right. The takeaway that surprised me most — the answer for Poilievre and Badenoch isn't running to the middle. It's being clear about what they won't talk about, and admitting nobody on the right plays the role Buckley played anymore. Andrew on the mushy middle. His phrase, and he means a coalition where nobody gets everything — with lines on the right you don't cross, same as the ones on the left. Also discussed: whether Canadians are being sold a pup on replacing the American market, what Kenney took from COVID, why Ginny doubts half the MAGA accounts in her mentions are real people, Andrew's proposed impurity test, and the ostriches — who did nothing wrong except get bird flu. Find Ginny at The Hub and the National Post, and on X @GinnyRothTO.
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    57 min
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