How to win an election

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How To Win An Election is a weekly political analysis podcast from The Times, published since October 2023.^[1] It is hosted by The Times columnist Hugo Rifkind alongside Daniel Finkelstein who was an advisor to various leaders of the Conservative Party, Sally Morgan of the Labour Party who advised prime minister Tony Blair and the treasury^[2] and Polly Mackenzie formerly of the Liberal Democrats and the Women's Equality parties who was an advisor to Nick Clegg as leader of the Liberal Democrats in government with David Cameron of the Conservatives from 2010 to 2015.^[3] It is released on Thursdays, and partially broadcast on Times Radio, within Hugo Rifkind's daily show on Times Radio.^[4]

It was initially hosted by political comedian and broadcaster Matt Chorley, until he left The Times in 2024, and Peter Mandelson was part of the team until January 2025 when he was appointed ambassador to the United States.^{[citation needed]}

It was listed by The Week as one of the best political podcasts,^[5] and later one of the best podcasts overall of 2023.^[6]

In December 2023, when discussing political donations, Mandelson said that Tony Blair's government had taken £1 million in donations from an animal rights group and later banned fox hunting.^[7]

In March 2024, when discussing how appearance mattered in politics, Mandelson was criticised for commenting on the show that Keir Starmer "needs to shed a few pounds".^[8] Starmer became prime minister in July of that year and appointed Mandelson as British ambassador to the United States in December.^[9] In September 2025, he was removed from this role due to his alleged links with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.^[10]

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