Enjoyable and informative but where’s the drama? Political Currency reviewed

The first episode of George Osborne and Ed Balls’s new podcast, Political Currency, opened with an old clip of the pair arguing across the despatch box. Osborne had described his latest Budget as ‘steady as she goes’ and Balls was having none of it. ‘What kind of ship does he think he’s on, the Titanic?’

If producers hoped that the duo would bring something of this, er, biting dynamic to their podcast, they were in for a surprise. The opening number saw little in the way of sparring between the former opponents. Seated in a studio in east London, they spent most of the time doing what so many in their milieu are doing at the moment, chummily sharing their views and frustrations and trying to squeeze some entertainment out of it. Their unstated mission: to knock Alastair Campbell, Rory Stewart and The Rest is Politics off the top perch. 

Which is to say they played it safe. They know the formula. Two guys chat as though they’re sharing crisps in a pub while feeding us news and opinion. A few jokes, some straightforward banter, a dose of dissension and back to the discussion. So far, it’s enjoyable and informative, with a good structure and high production value. But if it’s going to go galactic and, more importantly, retain listeners, there are a few things that need to happen first.

Neither Balls nor Osborne has quite made the transition from politician to presenter. This became obvious in the first episode when they were discussing Chinese spies. Balls, clearly fascinated by the topic, offered an anecdote about a civil servant having a drinking mug bugged and discovering this only when the item fell apart in the dishwasher.