Those are just a few of the questions that came up in my recent conversation with FP economics columnist Adam Tooze on the podcast we co-host, Ones and Tooze. What follows is an excerpt, edited for length and clarity. For the full conversation, look for Ones and Tooze wherever you get your podcasts. And check out Adam’s Substack newsletter.

Keir Starmer has been in office as Britain’s prime minister for a little longer than a year—and currently enjoys only a 22 percent approval rating among the public. Starmer has responded to those struggles with recent shake-ups of his cabinet and governing agenda. But, with the official visit to Britain by U.S. President Donald Trump underway, rumors still circulate that Starmer will eventually be forced to resign—and that a far-right prime minister will inevitably take his place. Does Starmer’s failure have to do with his lack of a clear ideology? And what sort of agenda would the far-right Reform party’s Nigel Farage pursue if he were to be prime minister?

Keir Starmer has been in office as Britain’s prime minister for a little longer than a year—and currently enjoys only a 22 percent approval rating among the public. Starmer has responded to those struggles with recent shake-ups of his cabinet and governing agenda. But, with the official visit to Britain by U.S. President Donald Trump underway, rumors still circulate that Starmer will eventually be forced to resign—and that a far-right prime minister will inevitably take his place. Does Starmer’s failure have to do with his lack of a clear ideology? And what sort of agenda would the far-right Reform party’s Nigel Farage pursue if he were to be prime minister?

Those are just a few of the questions that came up in my recent conversation with FP economics columnist Adam Tooze on the podcast we co-host, Ones and Tooze. What follows is an excerpt, edited for length and clarity. For the full conversation, look for Ones and Tooze wherever you get your podcasts.