24 MAY – PETER MANDELSON & SAYEEDA WARSI
25 MAY – KEIR STARMER & ANDREA LEADSOM
2 JUNE – JESS PHILLIPS & ESTHER MCVEY
“our foremost satirical stand-up…Whatever your politics, you’ll find excellence here”
★★★★ Stephen Armstrong, The Sunday Times
“an enjoyable peek behind the scenes in Westminster and beyond”
50 Greatest Podcasts, The i
ShortList’s No. 1 Political Podcast
Comedian, Broadcaster and former political adviser Matt Forde (Spitting Image, Have I Got News For You, The Royal Variety Performance, Mock the Week and Question Time) announces a limited West End run featuring some of the biggest names in British politics.
On 24th May, Matt is joined by one of the most influential men in the history of the Labour Party, Peter Mandelson and the first female Muslim to serve in the British Cabinet and star of Channel 4’s Stand Up To Cancer, Sayeeda Warsi at the Garrick Theatre.
On 25th May, Matt interviews the Leader of the Labour Party, Keir Starmer and former Leader of the House of Commons and Theresa May’s rival for the Conservative leadership, Andrea Leadsom at the Garrick Theatre.
On 2nd June, Matt’s guests are Shadow Home Office Minister and all-round TV star Jess Phillips and former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (and former TV presenter) Esther McVey at the Vaudeville Theatre.
Tickets are available now at mattforde.com
The Political Party has been a sell-out live show during its monthly residency at Westminster’s The Other Palace since 2013. The podcast is regularly in iTunes’ Top 10 comedy podcasts and has over 6 million downloads. Previous guests include Julia Gillard, Anthony Scaramucci, Nicola Sturgeon, Sadiq Khan, Jeffrey Archer, Margaret Beckett, Michael Heseltine, Edwina Currie and Ken Clarke. The British Podcast Award nominated show was recently listed by ‘The i’ newspaper as one of the 50 Greatest Podcasts, adding to top podcast picks in the press from titles including The Observer, The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Radio Times and ShortList.
Alongside The Political Party podcast, Matt is set to co-host British Scandal with Alice Levine, a brand-new audio series exploring the gripping stories, fascinating characters and critical questions arising on a journey through some of the biggest UK scandals, launching on the 27th April on all major UK podcast platforms.
Matt’s first book Politically Homeless (Sunday Times Best Political Books of the Year 2020), looking at themes such as tribalism, the curse of complacency and why some politicians refuse to speak normally, will be released in paperback by Quercus on 13th May.
Matt recently voiced Donald Trump, Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer’s puppets and wrote for the new series of the iconic British satirical show Spitting Image (Britbox UK). He has hosted four series of Unspun with Matt Forde on Dave, receiving several nominations at the Broadcast Digital Awards, and has numerous other broadcast credits including: Have I Got News For You (BBC One), The Royal Variety Performance (ITV), Mock The Week (BBC Two), 8 out of 10 Cats (Channel 4), Hypothetical (Dave) Rory Bremner’s Coalition Report and Rory Bremner’s Election Report (BBC Two), Question Time (BBC One), This Week (BBC One), Newsnight (BBC Two) and Daily Politics (BBC Two). Matt currently presents Absolute Radio’s weekly Rock n Roll Football Show.
For more information and press tickets, please contact: Victoria Wedderburn at VWedderburn@avalonuk.com / 07557160139
What the Press Have Said About Matt Forde
“Possibly the best political comedy show on the Fringe”
★★★★★ Dominic Cavendish, The Telegraph
“Forde is as gratifyingly sane as comedians come… smart, funny ideas”
★★★★ Dominic Maxwell, The Times
“Is there a better political comic than Matt Forde currently working in the UK? I can’t think of another to touch him”
★★★★½ Jay Richardson, Chortle
“Matt Forde never fails with his state-of-the-nation address, a mix of bang-on-the-money political takedowns and spot-on impressions”
★★★★ Mark Wareham, Mail On Sunday
“Matt Forde is the consummate political comedian”
★★★★ Tim Cornwell, The Scotsman
