Farage’s scandal-hit conference and Burnham’s next big test

Westminster is back, and so is conference season, beginning with Reform’s scandal-hit gathering in Birmingham. Helen was there, and gives her verdict on whether Nigel Farage’s party still feels like a government-in-waiting after a bruising week.

Meanwhile, Keir Starmer’s decision to stand down in Holborn and St Pancras has triggered the sixth by-election of the year, with Green leader Zack Polanski eyeing a contest that could become an early test of Andy Burnham’s ability to reunite the left.

And as politics returns for a new term, we ask whether Kemi Badenoch’s reshuffle can revive the Conservatives, what Burnham’s first moves back in government tell us about the autumn ahead, and whether Labour can really fight Reform, the Greens and the Tories at the same time.

Executive producer: Rod Ardehali

Producer: Sam Durham

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