The 12 Best Uk News Podcasts (2026)

Today in Focus is the Guardian's flagship daily podcast, and it has become one of the most trusted voices in UK news audio since launching in 2018. The morning edition, hosted by Helen Pidd, Nosheen Iqbal, and Annie Kelly, runs about 25-30 minutes and goes deep on a single story each day. What sets it apart is the production quality -- you get on-the-ground reporting mixed with expert analysis and personal testimony from people actually living through the news.

The show does not just summarize headlines. It picks one story and really unpacks it, bringing in Guardian journalists and outside voices to give you context you would not get from a quick news scroll. Think of it as your morning briefing but with actual depth. Recent episodes have covered everything from NHS staffing crises to the fallout of global trade disputes, and each one leaves you feeling genuinely more informed.

In 2024, they added an evening edition called The Latest, hosted by Lucy Hough, which runs about 10 minutes and catches you up on the day's biggest story. It is a smart addition for people who want a quick update without committing to a full episode. With over 700 episodes, a 4.5-star rating on Apple Podcasts, and consistent recognition at the British Podcast Awards, Today in Focus has earned its place as essential listening for anyone trying to understand what is happening in Britain and beyond. The reporting is thorough, the storytelling is compelling, and the hosts strike a tone that feels authoritative without being stuffy.

Emily Maitlis, Jon Sopel, and Lewis Goodall launched The News Agents in 2022 after leaving the BBC, and the podcast quickly became one of the biggest in the UK. All three are seasoned broadcast journalists who spent decades at the top of British political reporting, and it shows. The chemistry between them is genuinely entertaining -- Maitlis brings razor-sharp interviewing instincts, Sopel adds foreign affairs expertise from his years as the BBC's North America editor, and Goodall provides deep policy knowledge.

Episodes drop weekday afternoons and typically run 30-50 minutes. The format is conversational but substantive. They pick apart the day's biggest stories with the kind of insider perspective that only comes from years of working at the heart of Westminster and Washington. There is a healthy dose of skepticism toward whoever happens to be in power, and they are not afraid to call out spin from any direction.

With over a thousand episodes and a 4.3-star rating, the show has clearly found its audience. It won Best News and Current Affairs at the British Podcast Awards, which seems well deserved. The explicit content rating reflects the fact that the hosts occasionally let their frustration with political absurdity show, which honestly makes it feel more authentic than your average polished news broadcast. If you want to understand what is really going on in UK politics -- not just the press release version -- this is one of the sharpest options available. They also launched a US edition for American politics, but the original UK show remains the main draw.

Newscast is the BBC's daily news podcast, and it has become something of an institution in UK media. Hosted primarily by Adam Fleming, with regular appearances from BBC Political Editor Chris Mason, Laura Kuenssberg, and Paddy O'Connell, the show runs about 30-40 minutes and covers the day's biggest political and current affairs stories.

What makes Newscast work is the casual, behind-the-scenes feel. The BBC has enormous journalistic resources, and this podcast gives you access to correspondents and editors who are right at the center of major stories. They discuss what they are seeing, what the mood is at Westminster or Downing Street, and what might happen next -- often with a level of candor that does not quite make it into the main news bulletins. It feels like eavesdropping on a conversation between journalists who actually know what they are talking about.

The show has been running since 2017 and has built up around 2,000 episodes, earning a 4.5-star rating from nearly 400 reviews. It also has a TV version that airs on BBC One. There is an active community around it too, with a Discord server and WhatsApp group where listeners discuss episodes. The BBC Podcasts Premium subscription gets you ad-free listening, but the free version is perfectly fine. If you grew up with the BBC and trust its journalism, Newscast is the natural podcast extension of that -- authoritative, accessible, and refreshingly straightforward about the messy reality of politics.

Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart are an unlikely pairing -- one was Tony Blair's famously combative spin doctor, the other a Conservative cabinet minister and former MI6 operative. But their podcast works precisely because of that tension. They come at every issue from completely different political backgrounds, and the result is genuinely illuminating debate rather than the predictable point-scoring you get on most political shows.

Episodes drop twice a week and usually run 45-60 minutes. The format is straightforward: Campbell and Stewart pick apart the week's biggest political stories, drawing on their firsthand experience of how government actually works. Stewart's willingness to criticize his own party and Campbell's occasional admissions about New Labour's mistakes give the show a credibility that pure partisan commentary lacks. They clearly respect each other, and their arguments feel real rather than performed.

Produced by Goalhanger Podcasts (the same team behind The Rest Is History), the show has built a massive following -- over 550 episodes and 665 ratings with a 4.3-star average. There is a premium tier with ad-free listening and bonus content, but the free episodes give you plenty. The show has spawned spin-offs covering US politics, money, and classified intelligence stories. Listeners regularly describe it as the most balanced political podcast they have found, though some critics push back on that characterization. Either way, if you want to understand British politics from the perspective of two people who were actually in the room when big decisions were made, this is hard to beat.

The BBC World Service's Global News Podcast has been running since 2006, making it one of the longest-running news podcasts anywhere. It drops twice daily on weekdays and once on weekends, with bonus episodes for major breaking news. Each episode runs about 25-30 minutes and covers international stories with the kind of breadth that only the BBC's worldwide network of correspondents can deliver.

This is not a UK-centric show, but it is produced from a British editorial perspective, and UK news features prominently alongside stories from every continent. The format is traditional broadcast journalism -- correspondents reporting from conflict zones, election nights, climate summits, and everywhere in between. If you want to know what is happening globally without having to check five different news apps, this does the job efficiently.

With over 2,500 episodes and nearly 7,000 ratings averaging 4.3 stars, it has one of the largest and most established audiences in podcast news. Some long-time listeners have noted that hosting changes and ad insertions have affected the experience in recent years, but the core reporting remains strong. The show covers politics, economics, climate, technology, and health -- basically anything that matters internationally. For UK listeners, it provides important context about how British foreign policy and trade decisions play out around the world. It is the kind of podcast that makes your morning commute feel productive.

Sky News Daily, hosted by Niall Paterson, takes a single big story each evening and spends 12-20 minutes giving it proper attention. That focused approach is one of the show's biggest strengths. While other daily news podcasts try to cover everything, this one picks the story that matters most and brings in Sky News correspondents and expert guests to explain what is actually going on.

Paterson has a calm, direct presenting style that works well for audio. He asks the right questions without grandstanding, and the correspondents he brings on are often reporting from the scene -- whether that is a courtroom, a parliamentary lobby, or an international crisis zone. Sky News has strong domestic and international coverage, and the podcast draws on both.

The show has been running since 2014, with around a thousand episodes in the archive. It sits at a 4.1-star rating from 78 reviews, which is solid if not spectacular. New episodes drop every weeknight at 5pm, making it a good option for the end-of-day catch-up. The shorter format means you can fit it into a quick errand or a short drive home. Some listeners wish it covered more stories per episode, and there have been occasional complaints about editorial balance, but the journalism is consistently professional. If you already watch Sky News on television and want a podcast companion that goes a bit deeper on the day's top story, this is a natural fit.

The Briefing Room is BBC Radio 4 at its best -- David Aaronovitch brings together a panel of experts and insiders to break down a single complex issue in about 28-30 minutes. The show has been running since 2016, and with 375 episodes, it has tackled an impressive range of topics from NHS funding models to post-Brexit trade arrangements to the mechanics of parliamentary procedure.

The format is simple but effective. Aaronovitch identifies a big question in the news -- something people are arguing about but might not fully understand -- and assembles academics, journalists, and policy specialists from places like Chatham House, the LSE, and major news organizations to explain it properly. The panelists are chosen for their expertise rather than their entertainment value, which means you get genuinely informed discussion instead of hot takes.

What makes this podcast stand out is its refusal to oversimplify. It respects listeners enough to walk through the details of how policy actually works, who the key players are, and what the historical context is. You come away from each episode understanding the issue well enough to hold your own in a conversation about it. The 4.8-star rating from 53 reviews is the highest of any podcast on this list, and reviewers consistently praise it for being educational without being boring. It does not publish as frequently as some daily shows, but every episode is substantial. If you are the kind of person who gets frustrated by surface-level news coverage and wants to actually understand the machinery behind the headlines, The Briefing Room delivers.

Nick Robinson has been a fixture of British political journalism for decades -- he was BBC Political Editor, presented the Today programme, and has interviewed pretty much every major UK political figure of the last 30 years. Political Thinking is his more personal project, and it is quite different from the adversarial interview format he is known for.

Each episode features an extended conversation with someone who shapes political thinking, running about 45 minutes. The twist is that Robinson focuses less on policy positions and more on the person behind them. He asks guests about what formed their political views, what experiences shaped their worldview, and how they think about power and responsibility. Recent guests have included Nigel Farage, David Lammy, and Vitali Klitschko, which gives you a sense of the range.

The show drops every couple of weeks and airs on both BBC Radio 4 and BBC Two, which speaks to how much the BBC values it. With 305 episodes and a 4.5-star rating, it has built a loyal following among people who want something more thoughtful than the daily political scrum. Robinson is a skilled enough interviewer to draw out genuine revelations without making the conversation feel like a confrontation. Some episodes are surprisingly moving. It is not a daily news podcast, so it will not keep you up to date on the latest Westminster drama. But if you want to understand the people making the decisions and what drives them, this is uniquely valuable.

Private Eye is the UK's foremost satirical magazine, and Page 94 brings that same spirit of irreverent, dogged journalism to podcast form. Hosted by Andrew Hunter Murray (who you might also know from the No Such Thing as a Fish podcast), the show features Private Eye editor Ian Hislop and regular contributors like Helen Lewis and Adam Macqueen discussing the stories the magazine is covering.

Episodes come out every two weeks and run 35-47 minutes. The tone sits somewhere between investigative journalism and pub conversation -- they cover serious stories about government corruption, corporate malfeasance, and media failures, but with the wit and irreverence that Private Eye has been known for since 1961. Hislop, who has also been a fixture on Have I Got News for You for over three decades, brings an encyclopedic knowledge of British political scandals and a willingness to name names that most mainstream outlets would shy away from.

With 167 episodes and a 4.5-star rating, the podcast has a devoted audience that appreciates journalism with teeth. Reviewers describe it as a perfect companion to the magazine itself, offering context and conversation around stories that the mainstream press sometimes ignores. The show covers the kinds of accountability journalism -- planning scandals, NHS procurement issues, lobbying networks -- that do not get enough attention elsewhere. If you think British politics needs more scrutiny and less deference, Page 94 is exactly what you are looking for.

Politics Weekly UK has been running since 2006, making it one of the longest-established political podcasts in Britain. Guardian columnist John Harris, political editor Pippa Crerar, and policy editor Kiran Stacey rotate hosting duties, and each brings a distinct perspective -- Harris is known for his on-the-ground reporting outside the Westminster bubble, Crerar has deep contacts inside government, and Stacey brings sharp policy analysis.

Episodes drop weekly and run 20-38 minutes, covering the week's political news with input from Guardian reporters and occasional outside guests. The show has a centre-left editorial perspective, which is consistent with the Guardian's broader outlook, but the analysis is serious rather than polemical. They are genuinely interested in explaining why things are happening, not just reacting to them.

With 405 episodes and a 4.2-star rating from nearly 200 reviews, it has maintained a solid audience for nearly two decades. Some listeners have noted that audio quality can be inconsistent, and the show occasionally feels predictable in its takes. But the on-the-ground reporting that Harris contributes -- travelling to different parts of the UK to talk to actual voters -- gives it a dimension that Westminster-focused podcasts often lack. The show also produces an America edition for US politics coverage. If you read the Guardian and want a weekly podcast that matches its editorial sensibility, Politics Weekly UK is the obvious choice. It is especially good during election periods when the team's reporting resources are in full swing.

Oh God, What Now? started as a reaction to the Brexit chaos of 2017, and the title has remained depressingly appropriate ever since. The podcast features a rotating cast of sharp political commentators including Rafael Behr, Rachel Cunliffe, Gavin Esler, Marie Le Conte, and Andrew Harrison, who gather twice a week to make sense of whatever political mess is currently unfolding.

Episodes run 50-70 minutes and drop every Tuesday and Friday. The format is roundtable discussion with a panel of journalists and commentators who actually enjoy arguing with each other. The show promises "top quality guests and analysis, plus poor quality jokes," and that is a pretty accurate description. It manages to be both informative and genuinely funny, which is not easy when you are covering things like government u-turns and parliamentary procedure.

With 800 episodes and a 4.5-star rating from 144 reviews, the show has quietly built one of the most engaged audiences in UK political podcasting. The rotating panel means you get a variety of perspectives rather than the same two voices every episode, and the contributors tend to come from across the political spectrum. Produced by Podmasters, it has a slightly scrappier feel than the big BBC or Guardian productions, which works in its favour -- the conversations feel less managed and more honest. If you are tired of overly polished political coverage and want something that treats politics as the absurd, maddening, occasionally hilarious thing it actually is, this one delivers consistently.

Ed Balls and George Osborne hosting a podcast together still feels slightly surreal. One was Labour's shadow chancellor, the other was the Conservative chancellor who implemented austerity. They clashed publicly for years. And yet their podcast works brilliantly, precisely because they understand each other's world in a way that outside commentators simply cannot.

Political Currency drops weekly on Thursdays, with episodes running 50-60 minutes for full discussions and shorter 35-40 minute segments for their "Ex-Ministers' Questions" format. The premise is that economics and politics are inseparable, and Balls and Osborne use their firsthand experience of Treasury decision-making to explain how fiscal policy, budgets, and economic crises actually play out behind closed doors. When they discuss what it is like to prepare a budget or negotiate with the Bank of England, they are speaking from direct experience.

The show has 266 episodes and a 4.2-star rating from 45 reviews. There is a premium tier called Political Currency Gold with ad-free listening and bonus content, though the standard episodes are plenty substantive. What listeners appreciate most is the civility -- Balls and Osborne disagree frequently but argue in good faith, which makes for genuinely productive debate rather than performative point-scoring. If you care about the intersection of economics and British politics, and you want to hear from two people who actually pulled the levers of fiscal power from opposite sides, this is essential listening.