The Rest Is Politics

The Rest Is Politics is a British podcast and television series hosted by Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart. It launched in March 2022, and has since become one of the leading political podcasts in the United Kingdom. The podcast is produced by Goalhanger Podcasts. Campbell and Stewart generally discuss contemporary news and politics, with a strong focus on international developments, such as foreign elections and humanitarian catastrophes. An American edition was launched in April 2024 with Anthony Scaramucci and Katty Kay hosting.

Background
Both Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart are former political figures, and both left their respective parties because of their opposition to more extreme elements in them. Their podcast is aimed at "disagreeing agreeably", seeking a more temperate and informed political debate.

Campbell is a journalist, political strategist, and mental health activist, known for his work as communications chief for Tony Blair. A former member of the Labour Party, Campbell was expelled after having voted for the Liberal Democrats in the 2019 European Parliament elections in the United Kingdom. Stewart is an academic, author, former diplomat and politician. A former member of the Conservative Party, Stewart served as international development secretary and prisons minister under Theresa May. He represented Penrith and The Border in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom for around nine years. In 2019, after Boris Johnson was elected leader of the Conservatives, Stewart resigned from the cabinet. He was part of the 2019 suspension of rebel Conservative MPs for having rebelled against Johnson's approach to Brexit. He later also resigned his party membership.

Goalhanger Podcasts is owned by former England footballer Gary Lineker, and also produces the podcasts The Rest Is History, hosted by Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland, Battleground hosted by Saul David and Patrick Bishop, We Have Ways Of Making You Talk hosted by Al Murray and James Holland, The Rest Is Money, hosted by Robert Peston and Steph McGovern, The Rest is Football, hosted by Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, and Micah Richards, and The Rest is Entertainment, hosted by Richard Osman and Marina Hyde.

Format
The podcast ordinarily releases two episodes every week: a "main" episode and a "question time" episode. The main episodes last around 30 to 50 minutes, and involve Campbell and Stewart discussing contemporary events and news stories, mostly from the United Kingdom. During the question time episodes, they answer questions from listeners. The questions are not limited to topics formerly discussed on the podcast, and include news stories not discussed on the main episodes as well as the hosts' political careers. The theme music that starts and ends each episode is "A Diabolical Caper", written by composer Luke Richards. On some occasions, the podcast releases "emergency" episodes, reacting to major news events, such as the resignations of Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak, which sparked the July 2022 United Kingdom government crisis that culminated in the resignation of Boris Johnson, the October 2022 United Kingdom government crisis which resulted in the dismissal of Kwasi Kwarteng and resignation of Liz Truss, and the first 2024 United States presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

The Rest Is Politics: Election Special
Ahead of the 2024 general election, The Rest Is Politics was announced in Channel 4's coverage line-up, presenting alongside Emily Maitlis.

Special guests
The podcast hosts special guests, interviewing active and retired politicians on their careers and current events. In January 2023, Goalhanger began a new podcast series, Leading, for Campbell and Stewart to interview their special guests and to invite non-political figures as guests. Since Leading released, The Rest Is Politics did not invite any special guests, with the exception of Israeli public intellectual Yuval Noah Harari and Palestinian ambassador Husam Zomlot during the Israel–Hamas war. The following public figures have been interviewed on the podcasts' special episodes: