The Coventry MP who left the Labour party and joined Jeremy Corbyn's new left-wing ‘Your Party'. Zarah Sultana's husband and friends tell us how her upbringing shaped her politics and reveal her questionable taste in music. 'I think she would describe her taste as no taste', claims her husband Craig Lloyd. She was born in Birmingham to political parents who were both members of the Labour party. Her father even took her on a Labour party delegation to the occupied West Bank when she was a student, an important trip that inspired her to join those campaigning for a free Palestine and she's continued campaigning ever since. Her political career hasn't always been smooth sailing, leaving the Labour party over a row about lifting the two-child benefit cap. However her friends say she is driven by something deeper than her own career aims, she's trying to reshape British politics.Guests:
Craig Lloyd, husband
Sienna Rodgers, deputy editor of parliament's The House magazine
Ian Byrne, Labour MP for Liverpool West Derby
Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Labour MP for Clapham and Brixton Hill
Georgie Robertson, friend and activist
Barnaby Raine, friend and activist Production team:
Presenter: Mark Coles
Producers: Sally Abrahams, Mhairi MacKenzie, Phoebe Keane and Tom Farmer
Production co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele
Sound: Gareth Jones
Editor: Justine Lang Credits:
Married At First Sight, CPL productions
Ladybarn Primary School, Facebook
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Marjorie Taylor Greene
Marjorie Taylor Greene is a darling of MAGA. But this week a disagreement with Trump over the Epstein files has seen him brand her as a traitor. Born in 1974 in the suburbs of Georgia, Marjorie Taylor Greene had a conventional upbringing. She graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in Business Administration, and later owned her family’s construction business and a stake in a CrossFit gym. But like so many Americans, Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign was a turning point for Marjorie Taylor Greene. In 2020, the newly-styled ‘MTG’ ran for election in her home state, winning a seat to the House of Representatives. Soon she was a recognised name on the national stage, known for her provocative style and endorsement of conspiracy theories. In the years since, MTG has aligned herself so closely with the president that some called her ‘Trump in heels’. But her campaigning for the release of the Epstein files has caused a rift between her and her one-time hero.Stephen Smith spoke to Professor Gina Yannitel Reinhardt, senior POLITICO staff writer Michael Kruse, QAnon expert Gabriel Gatehouse, political scientist Andra Gillespie and Atlanta Journal Constitution columnist Patricia Murphy, about career, her life in politics and what this rift could mean for her future. Production
Presenter: Stephen Smith
Producers: Sally Abrahams, Phoebe Keane, Mhairi MacKenzie
Editor: Justine Lang
Sound: Rod FarquharArchive
CNN interview with Marjorie Taylor Greene, 16 November 2025
Bloomberg News: Marjorie Taylor Green speech in the House of Representatives, 4 February 2021
‘Marjorie Taylor Greene Confronts David Hogg’, @marjorietaylorgreene6928, 21 January 2020
The Newsagents interview with Marjorie Taylor Greene, 6 March 2024
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David Hockney
David Hockney is arguably Britain’s most loved living artist. He's known as a colourful character, not only because of his vibrant, colour rich paintings of Californian landscapes, glittering blue pools, and thick Yorkshire woodlands, but also his own carefully curated image from the 1960s- bright blond hair and oversized thick black round glasses.
He was born in Bradford in 1937, and knew by the age of 10 he wanted to be an artist. He studied at the Royal College of Art, and by his mid 20s he was key player in London’s bohemian pop-art scene. He then moved to LA in pursuit of sunshine and inspiration. He delights in using new technology to create; from the polaroid, to the fax machine, and his iPad. Now, more than 60 years into his career, aged 88, David Hockney is not slowing down. His image has recently been depicted by drones in a light-show in the skies above Bradford, in a colourful tribute to the city’s most famous son. Becky Milligan speaks to his muse, the textile designer Celia Birtwell, art historian Marco Livingstone, dancer and contemporary Wayne Sleep and art critic Waldemar Januszczak. Production
Presenter: Becky Milligan
Producers: Ben Crighton, Mhairi MacKenzie and Marie Lennon
Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele
Editor: Justine Lang
Sound Editor: Gareth JonesArchive
BBC Imagine…Summer 2009: David Hockney – A Bigger Picture (Coluga Pictures)
BBC The Interview: David Hockney - A Life in Art (2025)
“Joie de Vivre” clip courtesy of Louisiana Channel, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art (2011)
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Afua Kyei
Afua Kyei, Chief Financial Officer at the Bank of England, has been named Britain's most influential black person. She grew up in South London, reading copious numbers of Enid Blyton books and listening to Boyzone, got 6 A levels and went to university a year early. She studied chemistry at Oxford and Princeton, but then had a change of heart . She became a chartered accountant and - in 2019 at the age of just 36 - she was appointed Chief Financial Officer at the Bank of England, the Bank's youngest and first ever black executive officer in its 325 year history. Mark Coles looks back at the life of this year’s most influential Black Briton talking to Afua's friends, family and colleagues to discover how she combines parenting four children under the age of nine with balancing the books at the Bank of England. Presenter: Mark Coles
Producers: Adele Armstrong and Mhairi MacKenzie
Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele
Editor: Justine Lang
Sound Engineer: Gareth JonesPhoto credit: Nick Moorhead
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Andy Burnham
As Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership of the Labour party comes under increasing pressure and criticism, we profile a man who may well be waiting in the wings.
Andy Burnham, a Labour stalwart who started his political career in the Blair and Brown era, seems determined to have his say in the party’s future too. Last month, he caused a political storm when he was widely interpreted as openly challenging Sir Keir Starmer’s authority during the party conference, confirming that MPs had contacted him about returning to Westminster to run for the party leadership.
It’s not his first brush with the Labour leadership - he lost two contests in the 2010s before leaving Westminster to win the Greater Manchester mayoralty, a role which has further increased his profile and earned him the nickname ‘King of the North’, a nod to his popularity within the region.
Stephen Smith speaks to his friends, family and political peers to find out what shaped one of the most influential figures in today’s Labour party, and whether his criticism of the government could propel him to the top job, or keep him from it.
Presenter: Stephen Smith
Producers: Ben Crighton, Nathan Gower, Alex Loftus and Mhairi MacKenzie
Editor: Justine Lang
Sound Editor: Gareth Jones and Duncan Hannant
Production Coordinator: Maria OgundeleArchive:
Perisher: Million Pound Captains (BBC)
Boys from the Blackstuff (BBC)
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