Katy Balls

Chloe Smith is the Conservative MP for Norwich North and minister at the Cabinet Office. She entered parliament at the age of 27 and rose through the ranks quickly. In 2012, she was interviewed by Jeremy Paxman in what has been described as a 'car crash interview' when she was sent out to defend then-Chancellor George Osborne's U-turn on fuel duty. On the podcast, she talks to Katy about what it was like to do that interview and the aftermath, why she proposed to her husband, and what it was like to receive a fake anthrax package.

The Prime Minister is trying to reform the civil service. He's not the first to try - so will he succeed? (00:50) The stakes for success are high, as his opponent is no longer Jeremy Corbyn, but the more impressive Keir Starmer. How have Starmer's first almost 100 days gone? (15:45) And last, how widespread is loneliness? (29:45)With the Spectator's political editor James Forsyth; Jill Rutter from UK In a Changing Europe; our deputy political editor Katy Balls; former C4 Economics Editor Paul Mason; author Leaf Arbuthnot; and Andy Nazer from the Campaign to End Loneliness.Presented by Cindy Yu.

China's new national security law has been passed in Hong Kong, and from this morning it has been implemented as handfuls of protestors have already been arrested under its new wide-ranging powers. Dominic Raab has pledged to speed up the process to offer British residency for Hong Kong's BNO passport holders and their dependents. Cindy Yu talks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls about whether or not the government should go even further. Also on the podcast: the local lockdown in Leicester and Keir Starmer's new strategy.

The country is facing a post-pandemic recession that will leave millions unemployed and businesses bankrupted, so despite all the noise, is Boris's 'New Deal' tackling the right problems? Our Economics Correspondent Kate Andrews joins the podcast today, and tells James Forsyth and Katy Balls why she thinks today's announcement was little more than rehashing of the Conservatives' pre-coronavirus manifesto.

Leicester is set to lock down locally. It's an approach that the Prime Minister has dubbed 'whack-a-mole', referring to clampdowns on local clusters that will inevitably arise in the coming months. All eyes are on Leicester's experience now as it signals whether or not the national lockdown is a thing of the past. Katy Balls talks to James Forsyth and Fraser Nelson. Also on the podcast: the government's schools funding and socially distanced weddings.

The Cabinet Secretary Mark Sedwill has announced that he will be stepping down in September, though his resignation letter suggests that it wasn't necessarily his decision. This move comes as Michael Gove makes a wide-ranging speech on reform of the civil service. The government looks to be gearing up its Whitehall reform, and on the podcast, Cindy Yu talks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls about how these events are all linked.

Throughout the leadership contest, Keir Starmer was careful not to upset the delicate balance between the hard left and the moderates in the party. But with the sacking of Rebecca Long Bailey, he has risked the wrath of the Corbynites and unambiguously moved the party on from the era of Corbyn. Has he triggered a new Labour civil war? Katy Balls talks to James Forsyth and the New Statesman's Stephen Bush.

After retweeting an interview with Maxine Peake in which the actress voiced an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory, Rebecca Long Bailey has been sacked as the shadow education secretary. On the podcast, Cindy Yu talks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls about whether or not this will trigger a Corbynite backlash.

Boris Johnson has announced further measures to ease the lockdown, and from the 4th July, more venues will be open than not, including restaurants, pubs, and galleries. It also marks a new phase in the lockdown, when social distancing will be guidelines, not law. But does the public actually want the lockdown to be eased? Katy Balls talks to James Forsyth and Fraser Nelson.

There's a rebellion brewing on the backbenches - MPs claim that there are over 50 backbenchers who oppose the government's proposal to loosen Sunday trading laws. On the podcast, Katy Balls talks to James Forsyth and Fraser Nelson about whether there might be more to this rebellion than initially meets the eye.