James Price | Why Everything Feels Broken

“When Starmer came in in 2024, how many people across the entire British state changed jobs?

Two hundred…  One hundred ministers… and one hundred special advisors… And that’s it. And everybody else in that deep state stayed exactly the same.”

Timothy Allen sits down with James Price, former UK government adviser and political commentator, for a wide-ranging conversation on what it’s really like inside the machinery of the modern state.

Drawing on his experience at the heart of government, James offers a candid perspective on why many institutions are increasingly struggling to deliver, how political incentives shape decision-making behind the scenes, and why problems that appear local to the UK may in fact be symptoms of a much broader systemic shift.

The discussion explores the growing gap between what governments promise and what they can realistically achieve, the pressures created by cultural and demographic change, and whether traditional models of governance are equipped to handle the complexity of what’s coming next. Along the way, they touch on the limits of reform, the role of public perception, and what all of this might mean for those looking beyond the nation-state for alternative ways of organising society.

Enjoy the conversation.