Make Me Prime Minister is a brand new Channel 4 series that is set to lift the lid on what it really takes to be Prime Minister.
Twelve ambitious candidates with strong views from across the political spectrum will be put through their paces on the campaign trail in a raft of prime ministerial tasks set and adjudicated by political heavyweights Alastair Campbell and Baroness Sayeeda Warsi.
The candidates will need to persuade and convince former politicians, experienced journalists and most importantly the public, that they have the charisma, vision, and political acumen to lead.
Across the series, the candidates will be whittled down until just one secures victory to be crowned Channel 4’s Alternative Prime Minister.
Here we tell you everything you need to know about Make Me Prime Minister and introduce you to the twelve ambitious candidates...
Make Me Prime Minister — release date
Make Me Prime Minister is a six-part competition that starts on Channel 4 on Tuesday 27 September at 9.15 pm.
Make Me Prime Minister — is there a trailer?
Yes, there is a great trailer and you can watch it below...
Will there be any former Prime Ministers on Make Me Prime Minister?
Yes. Two of the country’s former Prime Ministers will appear in the six-part series. Tony Blair and David Cameron have both offered their own candid and personal advice on what it is like to be Prime Minister and given advice to the candidates taking part in the series.
What do Alastair Campbell and Baroness Syeeda Warsi say about the series? And how did they feel when they were approached with the idea?
Alastair Campbell says, "My hackles were initially up because of the reality TV element. I’ve had every kind of TV offer over the years, including Strictly and I’m A Celebrity, but there was a serious purpose to this. We want it to say something important about the current state of politics and for it to inspire people."
Sayeeda Warsi says, "The minute they said it’s about finding the next generation of political leaders I thought, ‘Brilliant’. It’s television with a purpose. Alastair and I both genuinely despair at the current state of politics and so found a common purpose about what we wanted from these candidates."
What sort of person does it take to make it to Number 10? And what essential qualities were Alastair and Sayeeda looking for?
ALASTAIR: "Well bear in mind this is to find the alternative Prime Minister so we are looking for qualities that our current lot haven’t been displaying such as values, morals and ethics."
SAYEEDA: " We wanted people with real conviction who are prepared to stand by their ideas. They need that sense of responsibility, of actually understanding the seriousness of the office they’re holding and a clear sense of where they’re going."
How do they think our new Prime Minister, Liz Truss would have fared in this process?
ALASTAIR: "She wouldn’t have made it past week one. There are two main reasons she’d be out. One, you can’t trust her to tell the truth and two, is the ease with which you can lead her into things. We would have called her out for talking absolute nonsense."
SAYEEDA: "I think she would have made it to week two. I think Rishi Sunak would have been gone by week three. I don’t think he would have survived the Select Committee."
Can you see any of the candidates going into politics after this experience?
ALASTAIR: "There are several who, whether in elected politics or in government, I could see really making an impact. Sayeeda and I are both helping them move into places they might want to get to in terms of campaigns. "
SAYEEDA: "I would love to see one of them as a by-election candidate. One of the tough things about politics is, it's really hard to break through the treacle of getting selected as a candidate and it’s soul destroying sometimes. But at by-elections (when a seat becomes vacant in the House of Commons) you can cut through that. I would love a political party to watch this and think, ‘I’m going to field them at the next by-election’"
Make Me Prime Minister — who are the 12 candidates?
ADAM, 61, a marketing consultant from Suffolk
Stepfather to four children, Adam studied history at Bristol University and would describe himself as compassionate, realistic, patriotic and honest. He thinks he’d make a great leader as he has a lot of good ideas which aren’t ‘necessarily going to be popular but they’ll almost certainly be right.’
Formerly the Business Director for marketing giants Saatchi & Saatchi when they won the Labour account in 2007 after years of working for the Conservatives, he says Brexit drove him mad and he feels it’s about the time the government levelled with the population of the country.
ALICE, 20, a student from London
A first year Classics student at Oxford, Alice is a staunch Brexiteer who feels that ‘politicians right now are a bit of a pantomime.’ She grew up in an agnostic family but converted to Catholicism when she was 18 years old and was subsequently baptised.
Having met her political hero, Margaret Thatcher, when she was very young, Alice describes herself as a ‘patriot’ who genuinely cares about the interests of the nation. She would like Britain to be more self-sufficient and wants to see a revival of British industry and agriculture.
CAROLINE, 55, a hairdresser from Buckinghamshire
Mum of three, former science teacher and Extinction Rebellion member, Caroline, was introduced to her first protest in 2019 by her eldest daughter. Having been arrested four times, she has made ‘a deal with herself’ to do her part in controlling climate change and finds it frustrating when people say it’s not as bad as we think.
Caroline is very passionate about education and feels our curriculum should be more creative, we should lose SATs and follow in the footsteps of Scandinavia.
Increasingly disillusioned with the type of politics we have, Caroline believes the government are ‘self-serving’ and does not act ‘in the interest of the people.’
CONALL, 24, a paralegal from Belfast
Self-described ‘Ralph Lauren connoisseur’ and frequent TikTokker, Conall, believes the current UK government are a ‘shambles’ and as an Irishman, is fed up with people asking, ‘Are you Labour or Tory?’ without mentioning any other parties.
When it comes to climate change, Conall isn’t convinced it’s as bad as people make out and believes the current issues in society stem back to education.
He also feels the UK is severely behind other countries when it comes to supervised drug consumption rooms and believes it’s massively impacting the NHS. He would like the UK to look at preventing drug use, and promoting safe drug use because in his opinion, criminalization hasn’t worked.
DANNY, 37, a venue operator from London
Freely admitting he wasn’t into politics until the pandemic hit, Danny has since made a name for himself on Instagram with a series of candid and often personal videos. Describing himself as ‘a legend, joker and sensible,’ and using his platform to bring the outsider’s viewpoint to politics, he believes the political infrastructure in the UK is wrong, with only 35% of the country being truly represented.
Openly pansexual Danny, whose father is legendary music producer and DJ Goldie, feels strongly about both government spending and the education system and wants to get rid of private schools.
DARIUS , 23, entrepreneur and charity fundraiser, from London
At the age of six months, Darius and his family fled from Afghanistan to escape the Taliban regime and were smuggled into the UK in the back of a refrigerated lorry. Later graduating from Kings College with a degree in Politics and Philosophy, Darius has supported the Conservatives since he was 18 and believes the Conservative Party embodies people with strong business acumen, innovation and creativity.
Darius would like to be the first British-Afghan refugee leader and is passionate about business, International Trade and attracting investment from overseas. Given the opportunity, he would like to tackle crime in society, calling it a huge challenge facing different communities across the country.
HOLLY, 29, sports agent and ex-footballer from Leicester
Describing herself as passionate, enthusiastic and a go-getter, Holly is a qualified solicitor and ex-captain and former first-team coach for Leicester City WFC. She is also on the advisory board for the ‘Kick It Out’ campaign and has publicly spoken about tackling racism in sport.
Becoming an MP has always been in the back of Holly’s mind, and she believes her experience as a football captain would help. ‘I would always think, how can I captivate the people around me? What they do need/want and how can I build that energy? Someone might not like the answer, but they’ll respect you for being straight with them.’ Holly is passionate about health and would like to tackle child obesity in the UK, putting measures in place to support both children and parents.
JACKIE WEAVER, 63, a chief officer from Shropshire
Unlikely internet sensation, mother to three sons, and Chief Officer of the Cheshire Association of Local Councils, Jackie, shot to virtual fame after angrily being told ‘you have no authority here!’ during a heated Zoom meeting of Handforth Parish Council in December 2020. Born in Motherwell to a ‘very poor’ Scottish family, she lives in Shropshire with her retired mechanical engineer husband who she met on a blind date.
If Jackie were leader, she ‘would make decisions that people don’t like,’ believes that we should ‘take a less emotional look at the NHS and see it for what it is, a business!” and would like to focus funding away from central government and towards local government so that ‘changes you care about can be made.’
KELLY, 25, an equality and diversity inclusion manager from Edinburgh
Former Miss Universe Great Britain 2020 finalist, Kelly, is passionate about disability rights, inclusion and equality having been late diagnosed with autism and ADHD last year.
She has been campaigning for the SNP since the age of 16, became an elected member of the Scottish Youth Parliament at 17 and in 2018, was selected to be Nicola Sturgeon’s official support at the end-of-year celebration for Scotland’s Year of Young People.
Kelly, a Unite 2030 policy intern turned lead, is returning to the UN this year for their Sustainable Development Camp and General Assembly. She has frequently taken part in protests, once shielding a polling station from Spanish police during the Catalonian independence referendum. She feels ‘the right to protest is necessary for democracy.’
NATALIE , 36, a medical communications director from Manchester
Healthcare professional Natalie, who has Type 1 diabetes, recently launched a clothing range in 2017 for people who wear insulin pumps or take daily injections. If she were leader, Natalie would love to put ‘a cap on capitalism’ as it would ‘solve not just economic problems, but problems of corruption, problems of careerists’ adding ‘I would want to see my cabinet act with their heart and not their pocket.’
Natalie believes the national curriculum is outdated and needs refreshing to suit each child rather than a blanket approach. Hugely passionate about more support for the ‘overwhelmed’ NHS, she thinks schools should help by offering further mental health and wellbeing support to pupils.
RICO, 30, a diversity consultant from London
Diversity consultant and Trans Man Rico is extremely passionate about campaigning for Black and LGBTQ+ rights and has previously spoken in both Parliament and at the Mayor of London’s office. Having been featured in the NYC Journal’s 50 Under 50 Class of 2022, he is also part of the United Nation’s Unite 2030 Youth Delegate program.
Rico believes the UK are incredibly behind others when it comes to the inclusivity and needs of the non-binary population and whilst improving access to the Gender Recognition Certificate is high up his priority list, he feels the ‘shocking’ cost of living crisis is the most paramount issue.
VERITY, 22, a restaurant supervisor from Brighton
Growing up in a family that loved to debate politics, Verity is infuriated by the lack of female voices in politics and feels there ‘still isn’t a platform for women to be heard.’ She is passionate about voting and encourages other women to vote in her local town.
Describing herself as adventurous, spontaneous and independent, Verity has previously campaigned at Black Lives Matter, equality and climate change protests. Verity would like the series to show that ‘women are exactly the same and equal to men’ and if she were leader, she wants to change the world, ‘but not in a power-hungry way.’
Make Me Prime Minister begins on Channel 4 on Tuesday 27 September at 9.15pm.
