Political Podcast Awards - the winners, 2026
The UK’s top political podcasts have been revealed, with popular underdogs Simple Politics picking up the People’s Choice award, and Ed Balls and George Osborne (above) claiming the Political Podcast of the Year award for Political Currency.
The stars of political podcasting gathered in Westminster tonight (Wednesday 28 January) for the Political Podcast Awards, presented by iNHouse Communications and sponsored by YouTube.
Winners were greeted with a raucous atmosphere at the event in Westminster, where attendees were entertained by an unlikely partnership of TV star Gyles Brandreth and former Trump Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci.
Delivering his keynote speech, Scaramucci said:
“I was told to be as outrageous as possible, so can only hope I did the job right.”
He didn’t disappoint, enthralling the audience with tales of his time in the Trump White House.
Scaramucci added: “Trump sucks at just about everything, but he’s been great for the podcast business!”
The Podcast of the Year winners, former Chancellor George Osborne and former Secretary of State Ed Balls, have gone from fierce political opponents to a formidable podcasting partnership, presenting a twice-weekly rundown of key political issues and answering audience questions.
Simple Politics, the People’s Choice winners, is hosted by Diane Daniels and former teacher Tatton Spiller. Though the podcast may be less well-known within the Westminster bubble, it has proven to be popular favourite amongst the public, with over a million followers on social media.
Sky News Political Editor Beth Rigby, former Labour Deputy Leader Harriet Harman and former Scottish Conservatives leader Ruth Davidson, from Sky’s Electoral Dysfunction, picked up trophies for Presenter of the Year and the funniest Comedy Moment – an interview with Wes Streeting revealing his cunning plan to avoid being made Home Secretary in a reshuffle, and expletive-ladenrelief at remaining Health Secretary.
Sky’s Sam Coates and Politico’s Anne McElvoy’s daily morning podcast was named Most Original Format.
Awards also went to Spectator Editor and former Tory cabinet minister Michael Gove’s new show Quite Right! (Best Newcomer) and former Downing Street advisor Jimmy McLoughlin’s Jobs of the future episode with Sir Tony Blair (Best Interview).
The Story of the Year, focused on the leak of the Afghan files, was shared between Global’s The News Agents and The Financial Times’ Political Fix.
Celebrating his win, Political Currency co-host George Osborne said:
“There’s absolutely no way I would have predicted ten years ago that I would be stood here tonight winning an award with Ed.
“The person I would have had executed back in Tudor times has become my podcast partner and a very good friend.”
The categories without a public vote were decided by an independent judging panel, chaired by Good Morning Britain’s Head of Politics Anne Alexander, and made up of others including Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen and former Labour advisor Deborah Mattinson.
The judges concluded that the multi-party alliance of Harriet Harman and Ruth Davidson, along with Sky Political Editor Beth Rigby, were a “masterclass in chemistry and balance”, awarding them presenters of the year against stiff competition.
Getting up at the crack of dawn clearly paid off for Rigby’s deputy Sam Coates and Politico’s Anne McElvoy, whose podcast “has become part of the daily routine” and deemed to have the most original format.
Story of the year was shared The News Agents and Political Fix, both of whom used their podcasts to investigate the 2022 leak of Afghan allies resettling in the UK, putting many at severe risk from the Taliban. The judges called it “the defining story of the year, characterised by outstanding journalism”.
Jimmy McLoughlin’s Jimmy’s Jobs podcast won Interview of the Year for his agenda-setting interview with Sir Tony Blair, in which the former Prime Minister – recently appointed to President Trump’s Board of Peace in Gaza – called for a shift in attitudes to mental health.
Political Currency’s Ellie Clifford was declared the Producer of the Year, while PoliticsJOE’s Laura Beveridge won the Rising Star award reserved for political podcasting’s “one to watch”. There was even a gong for The Feminist Files – a podcast released from the University of Cambridge which claimed the first ever Student Podcast of the Year award.
Chair of iNHouse Communications and founder of the Political Podcast Awards, Katie Perrior said:
“What a night! It was fantastic to see so much talent from the political podcast world gathered in one room to celebrate their success in delivering information to the public in innovative ways.
“The strength of the submissions for the awards demonstrates that, despite the challenges faced by the media, quality content and insightful analysis will always stand out, regardless of the format.
“Our independent judging panel faced a challenging task in selecting winners from a range of spectacular examples of creativity and editorial excellence. Thank you to everyone who submitted entries, and congratulations to the winners. We look forward to experiencing even more outstanding material in the coming year.”
Alison Lomax, Managing Director for YouTube UK and Ireland, the awards sponsors, said:
"We are hugely proud to sponsor the 2026 Political Podcast Awards, particularly the People’s Choice award, which highlighted the outstanding journalism happening beyond Westminster.
Political podcasts are now more popular than ever, and have become a central part of the news and current affairs agenda. We see this shift firsthand on YouTube; witnessing phenomenal growth in viewership that has positioned the platform as a leading destination for news and politics.
“Congratulations to all the winners, and we look forward to seeing more fantastic podcast content over the next year!
The judging panel also included MPs Steve Race, Gregor Poynton, Liam Conlon and Tom Rutland, Women2Win founder Baroness Anne Jenkin, and IPPR Executive Director Harry Quilter-Pinner.
THE POLITICAL PODCAST AWARDS 2026 WINNERS IN FULL
Hosted by: Captivate4.5 ★
Hosted by: Megaphone
Hosted by: Captivate
Hosted by: Captivate4.5 ★
Hosted by: Acast4.2 ★
Hosted by: Acast4.6 ★
Hosted by: Acast4.4 ★
Hosted by: Captivate4.4 ★
Hosted by: Acast
Hosted by: Megaphone4.7 ★
Hosted by: Acast4.2 ★
The above list of podcasts is available as an OPML file for your podcast player
This is a press release which we link to from Podnews, our daily newsletter about podcasting and on-demand. We may make small edits for editorial reasons.