It's Bloody Complicated - A Compass Podcast

Climate chaos is looming. The question of how to protect and preserve our planet for future generations is a conversation that’s not just timely, but absolutely essential.

That’s why, for Episode 95 o…

After Labour came to power in 1997, Clare Short served as the UK’s first cabinet-level Secretary of State for International Development, a post she would go on to hold for six years. In this role, sh…

Labour faces a huge challenge at the next election: first to win power, then to use it to change our country for the better. The polls suggest it will clear the first hurdle, but what of the second?

T…

In 1993, New Zealanders voted to replace First Past the Post with a proportional voting system. 30 years on, we discussed how this all-important electoral overhaul came about with two special guests:

• …

On this episode, we brought together an expert panel to discuss the threat of the far-right to democracy and how progressives are fighting for change.

• Nick Lowles, Hope Not Hate chief executive
• Hannah …

The average human lifespan is absurdly, insultingly brief. If you live to be 80, you’ll have had about 4,000 weeks. But, to Oliver Burkeman, that’s no reason for despair. 

Four Thousand Weeks: Time Ma…

What would a Fair Society actually look like? What are the feasible policy building blocks that could help us get there?

In Daniel Chandler’s book Free and Equal he makes the case for a new progressiv…

Ahead of the 75th anniversary of the NHS this year, Julia Grace Patterson is publishing a new book, Critical: Why the NHS is being betrayed and how we can fight for it. After years of austerity, a gl…

Vince Cable has been a Labour party councillor, a SDP coalition candidate, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, our Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, an academic, a civ…

On this episode, Frances Foley, deputy director of Compass hosted two great movers and shakers of the community power movement:

• Andy Jackson, community leader at We’re Right Here, the campaign for com…

With the Conservatives publicly announcing that they are expecting of loss of more than 1,000 councillors in the upcoming local elections, it looks to be a good year for progressive councillors. But …

On the 4th April 2020, Keir Starmer assumed office as the Leader of the Labour Party. He won that leadership election with almost a 30% winning margin.

3 years on, Neal talks with journalists Rachel S…

On 21st April 2023, Extinction Rebellion are bringing 100,000 to protest peacefully outside the Houses of Parliament to demand an end to the fossil fuel era and for a citizen-led transformation towar…

Zack Polanski has had an incredible year.

Last September, he was elected the Deputy Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales. As a member of the London Assembly, he is the Chair of the Environme…

When people can't feed themselves and their families and the planet burns, it's clear democracy is not working. On this episode of It's Bloody Complicated, we're diving into the mechanics of how our …

On this episode of It's Bloody Complicated, Frances hosted a conversation between Anthony Barnett and one of the symbols of hope for British progressives - longtime Compass friend and the only Green …

Significant power is vested in Wall Street and Silicon Valley. How did we come to live in a world dominated by big tech and finance, where they hold considerable sway over the direction of politics a…

It's fair to say that the events of the past few years still encroach on the everyday lives of people. Whether it’s the Covid pandemic, Brexit, economic instability or the cost of living crisis - how…

After the historic vote on the Labour Conference floor for a manifesto commitment at the next general election to implement proportional representation in the House of Commons, a group of the organis…

Politics isn’t working. To do the big things, to transform our society and planet we have to transform the way we do politics. 

On this special episode of It's Bloody Complicated, our four guests help…