The Stooshie: the politics podcast from DC Thomson

Rishi returns as Tories brace

The prime minister was back in Scotland to help Douglas Ross in a tight contest.
Were they words of encouragement or damage limitation?
Can Lib Dems pull of a Highland surprise?
And will Reform have any impact in Scotland?
All that and analysis of the latest election coverage from political reporters across the P&J, The Courier and the Sunday Post.

Election latest, and an Aberdeenshire shock

We discuss how Labour suspended its candidate in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East after exclusive reporting from our politics team.
What happens next in the big contest between the SNP and Tories in the crucial region?
Does Gordon Brown's impact still resonate in Fife - and can the Kingdom turn red?
And we make some rash predictions about how many seats the Conservatives might win or lose in Scotland.

Douglas Ross and the Tory turmoil

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross rocked his own campaign, leaving us to wonder what can possibly happen next.
We look at new polling on the picture in Scotland, and what's happening with Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak.
And we wonder if everyone's made up their mind already and just wants to watch Scotland at the Euros.

John Swinney interview special

In an exclusive interview, John Swinney says he feared for his party when he stood to become leader earlier this year.
 
Speaking to David Clegg, the first minister reflected on the fast-paced first weeks in office, propelled from a think-tank event in London into the top job in Scottish politics.
 
Mr Swinney explains why he'd turned down a job from Humza Yousaf only a month before he resigned, and details why he thinks he's the right man to reverse his party's decline in the polls as voters become fatigued from 17 years of SNP dominance. 

General election fever, week 1

Rishi Sunak came to the Highlands where he doesn’t even have a candidate.
Keir Starmer promised Scotland the earth, but not a location for his fabled GB Energy HQ.
John Swinney found himself in an election moments after becoming First Minister.
We discuss week one, we test the water among the people of Perth, and all the rest in the first of our election podcasts.

Why Scotland's doctors are worried about Physician Associates

Simon Barker, a children's orthopaedic surgeon in Aberdeen, explains the growing concern over the use of new “physician associates” in a stretched health service.
Are they valuable, quickly-trained additions, or is this “mission creep” to paper over gaps doctors can’t always cover?
Dr Barker is deputy chairman of the British Medical Association’s Scottish council, and works in NHS Grampian.

Scotland's new drug addiction recovery plan explored

Douglas Ross tells us drug addiction and death is a problem in rural areas like his Moray constituency, not just cities with problems such as Dundee and Glasgow.
The Tory leader explains why his ‘right to addiction recovery bill’ should get support at Holyrood.
We also look our coverage of the Men’s Sheds scheme which forced the SNP into a funding U-turn.
And we explore Scottish Labour’s problems getting local candidates into constituencies.

We search for words of wisdom as John Swinney becomes First Minister

Becoming first minister was the easy bit for John Swinney.
Now the handshakes and warm words are over, the hard work of governing begins.
We speak with Kayleigh Quinn, who knows a thing or two about wrangling a difficult group at Holyrood.
The former Scottish Labour organiser tells us what might be going through the new leader’s head as he looks at reshaping the SNP.

Humza Yousaf quits - what next for the SNP?

Humza Yousaf folded on April 29 after losing authority by ditching his Green coalition partners.
We ask people in the outgoing first minister’s home city of Dundee what they think of his year in charge.
We also hear from Green MSP Maggie Chapman, who was asked if she still has confidence in her own party leaders.
Our political reporters look at the wreckage and discuss what might happen next as another SNP leadership contest looms.

Alistair Greig’s £13m Ponzi fraud

A long-running plea for justice in the north of Scotland is being described as similar in scale to the Post Office scandal.
At its heart are the dozens of families devastated by conman Alistair Greig.
He was a respected financial advisor based in Aberdeen who ended up duping 184 victims out of £13 million.
Now they want justice.
To tell the story, we’re joined by Dale Haslam, an investigations reporter with the Press and Journal newspaper.
He has just returned from Westminster to hear from MPs including Alistair Carmichael pushing the campaigner’s case for answers.