Clive Lewis MP on the Labour Left Podcast: It s time to reset OUR Labour Party

On the latest episode of the Labour Left Podcast our presenter Bryn Griffiths interviews Clive Lewis MP to consider the new balance of forces within Andy Burnham’s Labour Party.

The summer break is over; the 2026 conference season is upon us and if we are going to beat Reform and save our Party we need a reset. But is a radical party reset underway?

In a candid and wide-ranging interview, Clive Lewis, the Labour MP for Norwich South, explores how far Andy Burnham has moved us on from Labour Together’s toxic inner-party culture.

It’s great to see the back of Starmer, Mandelson and McSweeney, the architects of The Fraud, but are we on track to deliver the Party reset we need to beat Nigel Farage?  Is the exclusion of Declassified UK from the Labour Conference and Lord Tom Watson’s new job at Palantir a discouraging start for those of us that want to see a complete cultural transformation of the Labour Party?  Looking at the list of Andy’s appointments, does it look like the soft left has been ‘ghosted?

Bryn Griffiths, the Labour Left Podcast host, meets up with Clive Lewis MP at this year’s Burston trade union festival.

As you would expect, the Labour Left Podcast considers the route map to electoral reform and proportional representation (PR).  Is Andy going to retain his zeal for electoral reform or could the Burnham Bounce tempt him off course and result in yet another PR false dawn?

We know Andy would like to focus on the bread-and-butter issues, such as the cost of living, but in a world of fragmenting geo-political blocs there will be no escape from foreign policy.  So, we explore the crumbling of post-war Atlanticism and what this means for Gaza, our relationship with Europe and Irish unity.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Clive floats his ideas about how the Labour left needs to get better organised if we are to break through the opening that Andy Burnham’s leadership has created.  Is it time for the whole of the Labour left to step out of its silos and create a new federal structure of the Labour left’s existing organisations?

Andy Burnham’s leadership has created a new opportunity for the Labour left.   In Clive’s words, “I don’t want to be in a party where I am tolerated.  I want to be in a party where I am an integral part of it and our views are an integral part and our values are an integral part of it.”

You can watch the podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Audible, Substack and listen to it on Spotify.  You can even ask Alexa to play the Labour Left Podcast. If your favourite podcast site isn’t listed, just search for the Labour Left Podcast and it should be there.

If you enjoy the Clive Lewis interview, take a look at the Labour Left Podcast back catalogue to hear guests such as Clive’s fellow MPs Nadia Whittome, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Richard Burgon and John McDonnell; Sandy Martin of the Labour Campaign for Electoral Reform; Neal Lawson of Compass; the anti-fascist historian David Renton looking at today’s extreme right; Rachel Shabi explaining the truth about antisemitism; Jeremy Gilbert on Stuart Hall’s analysis of Thatcherism; Bernard Regan, of Palestine Solidarity, on Netanyahu’s genocide; Corinne Fowler talking about Britain’s history of slavery and colonialism; and Andrew Fisher the man behind For the Many Not the Few.

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Bryn Griffiths is an activist in Colchester Labour Party and North Essex World Transformed. He is the Vice-Chair of Momentum and sits on the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy’s Executive. 

Bryn hosts Labour Hub’s spin off – the Labour Left Podcast.  You can find all the episodes of the podcast on You Tube or if you prefer audio platforms (for example Amazon, Audible Spotify, Apple, etc,) go to your favourite podcast provider and just search for the Labour Left Podcast.  You can also follow Bryn on Substack just search for Bryn H Griffiths @LabourLeftPodcast.