Tory grandee Sir Robert Syms makes a startling prediction to Christopher Hope in the Red Lion this week - he thinks his party can win the next election. The MP for Poole Symes thinks that people's political views are not as fixed as they used to be, and once the ship has steadied, Sunak can give the party a vision to inspire voters.

Also on the podcast, Baroness Anne Jenkin explains the impact that smartphones are having on young people's perceptions of sex: "they have porn in their pockets and we don't know what the consequences of are going to be of this in future".

Plus Pam Moorhouse and Gerard Dughill give Chopper their pitch for a return to historic British counties.

Online porn is warping an entire generation, by Baroness Anne Jenkin

A century of the most powerful club in Parliament, by Christopher Hope

Get Back Our British Counties

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Chopper is off frolicking in the sun so this week Dia Chakravarty is in the podcast hotseat for an in-depth look at a subject that saw Conservative MPs starting their Easter holidays with a spring in their step - the CPTPP, or the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. Not exactly catchy, is it?

Amanda Tickel, Head of Tax and Trade Policy at Deloitte UK, and Liam Halligan, Economist and Telegraph columnist break down what the CPTPP is and how it differs from the EU.

Plus Philip Davies MP and Shadow Minister for Trade Nick Thomas-Symonds give their somewhat different assessments on the possible pros and cons, whether the deal represents the Brexit people voted for, and how Labour might have negotiated differently.

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It’s been a week of reflection, and so we brought quiet contemplation to the Red Lion pub this week.

With the death of Nigel Lawson earlier this week reminding Tories of a time when the Government was bold about tax cuts, Sir John Redwood MP joins Christopher Hope to talk about what the current crop of Conservatives can learn from the late former Chancellor.

And as we mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday agreement, veteran Telegraph journalist Philip Johnston reflects on that seismic moment and how its ripples continue now.

Plus legendary Olympian Sir Steve Redgrave tells Chopper why he's encouraging men to get their hormone levels checked, and how he believes there should be a men's health minister.

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It's a bumper episode for Chopper's Politics listeners this week, don't say we don't treat you.

Lord Mandelson joins Christopher Hope on the week that former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was barred from standing as Labour candidate. He muses on whether Sir Keir Starmer might actually want Corbyn to run against him ("I couldn't possibly say..."), reveals how impressed he is by the upcoming crop of Labour candidates, "absolutely as good, if not better, than those we selected in the 1990s before the new Labour government", but why his party can't presume it's in the bag.

Plus Henry Dimbleby on nutrition and the nanny state, and Professor Tim Bale on whether the Tories can still claim to be the party of reinvention.

Ravenous: How to get ourselves and our planet into shape, by Henry Dimbleby and Jemima Lewis

The Conservative Party After Brexit: Turmoil and Transformation, by Tim Bale

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Note: this episode was recorded before Humza Yousaf was announced as the new leader of the SNP on Monday 27th March 2023.

Ahead of the SNP leadership contest result, Christopher Hope brings you a Scotland special edition of Chopper's Politics. The Telegraph's Scottish Political Editor, Simon Johnson, and columnist and staunch unionist Alan Cochrane, head to the studio to talk about the role of the Greens in the future of Scotland and whether the unionist parties, whisper it, might be in talks about some future tactical voting.

Plus the Labour's Anas Sarwar, found time to pop into the Red Lion to talk about why he thinks Sturgeon's departure makes it easier for Sir Keir Starmer to become Prime Minister, and how he would put the economy front and centre of a Labour lead Scotland, after years of focus on social policy.

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This week two of the Conservative Party's obsessions reared their head yet again: Boris Johnson and Brexit. You may think you've everything there is to know about either subject but no, there's more, so Christopher Hope has invited a cavalcade of distinguished guests to the Red Lion pub to chew the fat on everyone's pet subjects.

Conservative Home Editor Paul Goodman gives his assessment of whether we could see a Boris by-election, and why he believes the former PM is doomed to channel Bilbo Baggins (no, really).

Plus former Levelling Up Secretary Simon Clarke MP gives his reasoning for rebelling against the Windsor Framework, and insists the public at large don't blame Johnson for any dubious "events" during lockdown.

And Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Johnny Mercer MP, on how he thinks sunnier times are on the horizon for the Tories despite this week, and why he believes that the Sunak government will be the one to end veteran homelessness.

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Taxes, childcare and Brexit beer boost: The Telegraph's Camilla Tominey and Gordon Rayner join Christopher Hope to give us the top lines of Jeremy Hunt's Budget.

Will the Chancellor keep the promise he made to Chopper on this podcast in January that his priority will be bringing down business taxes? Listen to find out (although we suspect you can take a guess...)!

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Yvette Cooper MP joins Christopher Hope on the week that Rishi Sunak unveiled his plans to tackle illegal immigration. Conservatives think that illegal migration is the one policy area where the party can beat Labour, but the Shadow Home Secretary unsurprisingly disagrees.

She tells Chopper that Labour ministers will set themselves the objective to stop all small boats' crossings in the English Channel. Plus in a show of cross-party praise, she hails Theresa May's work to help victims of people trafficking as "pioneering" - and worries that this new Bill risks undoing all that work.

Also on the podcast, Damian Green MP on why he is backing the Bill and why he thinks Gary Lineker isn't as erudite a political thinker as he seems to think he is, and Telegraph columnist Anne-Elisabeth Moutet on whether we're about to embark on a new Entente Cordiale between Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron.

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More than 100,000 WhatsApp messages. 2.3 million words - the equivalent of three copies of the King James Bible. 

You’ve read the headlines about the Telegraph’s extraordinary examination of the Lockdown Files - and now you can hear from some of the journalists behind it. 

Christopher Hope is joined by the woman with the WhatsApps, Isabel Oakeshott, and Investigations Editor Claire Newell, in the newsroom where it happened. The pair tell Chopper how the team found the stories among the many files, whether it's all been worth it, and they consider his challenges to beat the Expenses Scandal record of 30 front pages in a row.

Keep up to date with the latest stories from the Lockdown Files: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/lockdown-files/

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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, alongside the European Union president Ursula von der Leyen, announced details of the Windsor Framework this week, a deal he's hoping will put an end to the past six and a half years of wrangling to an end. So is the Brexit hurly-burly done? Has the battle been finally won? 

Joining Christopher Hope in the Red Lion to chew the fat is former Brexit adviser to Theresa May, Raoul Ruparel, on how this deal differs from its forebears.

Plus the DUP's Sammy Wilson returns just days after last talking to Chopper, to explain why he wanted more than "sausages, solar panels and spaniels", and why he thinks the King will regret being present. And Northern Ireland minister Steve Baker on why he thinks this is the best deal to be done - but that he isn't celebrating until the DUP are on board.

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