SPERI Presents...

Lessons in Power: Policy Innovation w/ Geoff Mulgan

SPERI Presents...

Show Notes

Keir Starmer's new government must now walk the line between the short-termist incentives of Parliamentary politics and the imperative to tackle the medium and long-term social issues that Labour has been elected to solve. What mode of governance can effectively strike this balance?

Sir Geoff Mulgan, now Professor of Collective Intelligence, Public Policy and Social Innovation at University College London, was Director of the Performance and Innovation Unit, Head of the Strategy Unit and Head of Policy in No 10 (1997-2007). He joins Michael and Mems to discuss strategies for addressing multidimensional and complex social issues; how Starmer should pursue his missions; the allure and limitations of incrementalism; and the challenges of a hollowed out Whitehall.

Lessons in Power is a SPERI Presents... podcast. Professor Michael Jacobs and Mems Ayinla interview ministers and advisors from the New Labour administration (1997-2010) to tease out lessons on a range of issues for Keir Starmer’s newly formed Labour government.

This episode is produced by the SPERI Presents… working group, including Remi Edwards, Chris Saltmarsh, Frank Maracchione, Emma Mahoney, Dillon Wamsley, Andrew Hindmoor, Mems Ayinla and Michael Jacobs. This episode was edited by Michael Jacobs and Remi Edwards. Music and audio by Andy_Gambino. Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash. Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More from SPERI Presents...

Oct 9, 2026

Why do states carry on extracting fossil fuels amid climate collapse? Why have some pledged to phaseout fossil fuels over the next few decades? Why are supply-side policies important? What will the coming decades of energy politics looks like?

Aug 28, 2026

What actually is an electrostate? How do the material substances of electricity and fossil fuels shape state power? Is the US a petrostate and does this question expose the flimsiness of the concept? When we talk about electrostates, do we really just mean China?

Jul 31, 2026

Why has the Global South been peripheralized in the study of international political economy (IPE)? What does this cause us to miss in our scholarship? How are sovereignties and power dynamics produced in the Global South? How should teaching IPE change?

Jun 25, 2026

How is value constructed and contested in the wine industry? What is the significance of place and nature? What does the win industry tell us about capitalist production in general?

Jun 11, 2026

How should we understand the ruptural shift of the second China shock? How does it effect what we thought we knew about China and global production? How can we study this transformation? What comes next?

See all episodes →