“Matt Forde’s podcast is like Top of the Pops for Westminster…phenomenally popular fortnightly show…refreshingly positive”
The Sunday Times
“Forde’s Political Party podcasts have become essential listening for both comedy fans and Westminster wonks”
The Evening Standard
“Forde is a brilliant interrogator, being just friendly enough to coax out some surprising admissions and insights. It successfully makes politics funny, which is no mean feat in the current climate.”
ShortList’s No. 1 Political Podcast
“Forde is a master at the long- form interview and turns sometimes robotic politicians into human beings. This is without doubt the most entertaining and insightful political interview podcast of them all”
Iain Dale’s Top 50 Political Podcasts, Mace Magazine
It was announced today, 8th July, that leading political comedian and satirist Matt Forde (Spitting Image, HIGNFY, British Scandal) is set to interview Sadiq Khan, Kirsty Wark, Ian Murray and Joanna Cherry, over four live Edinburgh Festival Fringe Political Party podcast specials.
On 7th August, Ian Murray, the Secretary of State for Scotland, will join Matt to discuss Labour’s first year in government and its fortunes in Scotland ahead of the 2026 Holyrood elections.
On 13th August, Joanna Cherry KC returns to the podcast for a candid conversation about her relationship with her own party, the SNP’s position on women’s rights following the Supreme Court ruling and what her future ambitions are.
On 15th August, Sadiq Khan speaks to Matt following his historic re-election last year for a third term as Mayor of London. For most of his time as Mayor, he had to deal with a Conservative government. Now that Labour are in charge, how has that impacted what he can do? What can Labour nationally learn from his success in London? What’s his assessment of how Labour are doing?
On 21st August, broadcasting icon Kirsty Wark – recently honoured with the prestigious BAFTA Fellowship for her outstanding 40-year career in television – joins Matt for a wide-ranging conversation. Together, they will reflect on her decades presenting Newsnight, the changing political journalism landscape, the challenges posed by misinformation and social media, debates about press freedom, and the key stories and politicians that have defined her career.
Fresh from delivering the best-reviewed show of last year’s Fringe – topping 1,638 others per the British Comedy Guide – and completing his biggest tour to date, Matt will also return to the festival with his new stand-up show Defying Calamity. Running from 30th July to 24th August at 8pm at Pleasance Beyond, Matt searches for positivity in life despite the rising tide of populism in the UK, the actions of Donald Trump, and his own ongoing health battles.
Political Party and Defying Calamity tickets are available to buy now at mattforde.com
Since launching in 2013, Matt’s Political Party podcast has brought Parliament to life through stand-up and lively debate with some of politics’ most powerful figures, including Keir Starmer, Nicola Sturgeon, Tony Blair, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Angela Rayner, Michael Heseltine, Anthony Scaramucci, Alastair Campbell, Gordon Brown and Gary Neville. Following an 18-month hiatus due to his bone cancer diagnosis, Matt has resumed his four-time extended West End residency, with Michael Gove set to appear as his next guest on 14th July. The podcast has amassed over 11 million downloads, earned multiple nominations from award bodies including the British Podcast Awards and Chortle Awards, and is regularly featured as a top podcast pick in the press.
The news arrives shortly after it was announced that Spitting Image will return to screens this autumn with a brand-new YouTube series, Spitting Image: The Rest Is Bulls*!t, with an initial one-off teaser episode released last week and available to view on the official Spitting Image YouTube channel.
The new series is led creatively by two of the writers’ of the critically acclaimed stage show Idiots Assemble: Spitting Image The Musical, Al Murray and Matt Forde. The live show was praised by the Evening Standard for being “shockingly funny… I wasn’t expecting this to be so outrageously entertaining”, in a five-star review from the Daily Telegraph the show was applauded for being “a barrel-load of offence-giving fun and a salty dash of rebellion” with The Mail on Sunday celebrating the writer’s “healthy disrespect for the Establishment”.
The BAFTA and Emmy award-winning satirical Spitting Image television series originally ran for 18 series between 1984 and 1996 and was watched by over 15 million viewers. In 2020 it made a return to TV to (since disbanded UK streaming service) BritBox, with Matt writing and voicing characters, including portrayals of Boris Johnson, Keir Starmer, and Donald Trump, achieving critical praise across the political divide. On official social media channels, Spitting Image content was massively popular with over 200 million views globally and three number 1 trending videos on YouTube. Three new one-off specials for ITV (alongside BritBox) also saw huge success on terrestrial television: with a 4.4 million audience in 2020 achieving ITV’s highest Saturday night ratings at that time in four years.
After enduring what he thought was sciatica during the 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Matt was diagnosed with cancer. A few weeks later he was having the base of his spine removed and has since relearned to walk. Despite these challenges, he returned to work – picking up where he left off with The Political Party, as well as his other acclaimed podcasts British Scandal and Down The Dog, and continuing to host Rock ‘n’ Roll Football on Absolute Radio.
Elsewhere in the world of audio, Matt most recently completed his six-part political comedy series on BBC Radio 4, The Matt Forde Focus Group, featuring Forde in conversation with politicians, comedians and subject experts, discussing current issues and the ideas behind them
Matt 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).
What The Press Said About The End of An Era Tour:
“a sensational start to the Festival…the most topically incisive impersonator on the block…exemplary in its vocal accuracy and political acumen. It’s laugh-a-minute stuff, underpinned by the kind of wisdom and natural resilience our leaders could learn from. He was always impressive, but he deserves his inevitable standing-ovation as never before.”
Dominic Cavendish, The Daily Telegraph ★★★★★
“flying the flag for satire…succeeds in seamlessly weaving together the personal and the political in a meaty hour of impressions, gags and reflections. Forde is brilliant…so much to admire here. But you come away admiring the man as much as the performer”
Mark Wareham, Mail On Sunday ★★★★★
“An outstanding hour…nobody else serving up party-political humour at this level…the greatest set piece of the evening, perhaps the best routine in town. Stunning.”
Dominic Maxwell, The Times ★★★★
9 ★★★★★
3 ★★★★
EDINBURGH FRINGE LISTINGS INFORMATION
Matt Forde – The Political Party with Ian Murray, Joanna Cherry and Kirsty Wark
Venue: Gilded Balloon at the Museum – Auditorium
Date & Time: 7th (Ian Murray), 13th (Joanna Cherry), 21st August (Kirsty Wark) at 2.45pm
Duration: 60 min
Matt Forde – The Political Party with Sadiq Khan
Venue: Underbelly Bristo Square, McEwan Hall
Date & Time: 15th August at 5.30pm
Duration: 60 min
Matt Forde – Defying Gravity
Venue: Pleasance, Beyond
Date & Time: 30th July – 24th August at 8pm
Duration: 60 min
Web: mattforde.com
