
The two biggest names in Scottish political journalism, Bernard Ponsonby and Alex Massie, join forces to bring you a regular “must listen” insider briefing on the political and wider world.
Bernard has been Scotland's leading TV political editor for many years while Alex is the unavoidable commentator and columnist for the Times and Sunday Times. Together they bring decades of experience and unsur... more
| Publishes | Weekly | Episodes | 108 | Founded | 2 years ago |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Listeners | Categories | NewsNews CommentaryPolitics | |||

With 3 weeks until the Scottish Parliament Elections 2026, leading pollster, Mark Diffley, joins Bernard and Alex with the latest insights.
* What are the latest polls saying?
* Why there is much to play for in marginal seats?
* How vote share... more
* New polls suggest the SNP remains on course to win comfortably, but key questions remain over whether John Swinney secures a majority or must rely on support from other parties.
* Is Reform UK Scotland losing some momentum, with recent polling an... more
The Scottish Parliament is winding up ahead of the election in May. Is there any chance of a real upset ofr is it another SNP shoo-in?
Focussing on UK, Scottish and Global politics, if you like other great political podcasts like The Rest is Politics... more
* Reform UK Scotland manifesto launch
* Presented as the first major manifesto of the 2026 election campaign
* Framed as more about political messaging than a detailed governing programme
* Tax cuts versus reality
* Big promises on cutting in... more
People also subscribe to these shows.





I value greatly your inaccessibility. If you would turn up the volume progressively too, that will ensure that I continue to receive your wise counsel
The two podcasters are thoroughly experienced journalists looking at Scottish politics - both devolved and within the UK, and able to offer insightful opinions. There are advantages and disadvantages in learning about politics through journalism and you will find them here: advantages include an analysis free of party political blinkers and able to explain what is operating below the surface. But not having an inside view of the system, and relying on secondhand briefings, means in incomplete pi... more
Two top tier Scottish journalists, no question. Both excellent communicators and worth listening to always, though especially with Alex, I find myself in disagreement more often than not. Really hoping for substantial and in depth coverage of the attempted ‘assassination’ of Alex Salmond in a future episode, once the legals are concluded of course! Don’t let us down please gents!
Interesting.
There is probably a lot of very prescient and valuable analysis in this podcast, but the two presenters, and mostly Bernard fall into the trap of very much liking the sound of their own voice.
Would probably benefit from some judicious editing to keep them on track.
Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.
How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.
Apple Podcasts | #153 | |
Apple Podcasts | #237 |
Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.
Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.
| Listeners per Episode | |
|---|---|
| Gender Skew | |
| Location | |
| Interests | |
| Professions | |
| Age Range | |
| Household Income | |
| Social Media Reach |
Two veteran Scottish political journalists provide a regular insider briefing on Scottish and UK politics, with a focus on Holyrood elections, party dynamics, and policy debates. Episodes analyze campaigns, manifestos, polling, and the strategic moves of major players like the SNP, Reform UK, Labour, and Liberals, often tying Scotland's evolving landscape to wider Westminster conversations. The format blends detailed political context, historical perspective, and sharp commentary, offering listeners practical takeaways for understanding how political narratives translate into real-world outcomes. A standout trait is the hosts' deep networks and firsthand experience, which lend access to behind-the-headlines insight and nuanced interpretatio... more
Rephonic provides a wide range of podcast stats for The Ponsonby and Massie Podcast. We scanned the web and collated all of the information that we could find in our comprehensive podcast database. See how many people listen to The Ponsonby and Massie Podcast and access YouTube viewership numbers, download stats, audience demographics, chart rankings, ratings, reviews and more.
Rephonic provides a full set of podcast information for three million podcasts, including the number of listeners. View further listenership figures for The Ponsonby and Massie Podcast, including podcast download numbers and subscriber numbers, so you can make better decisions about which podcasts to sponsor or be a guest on. You will need to upgrade your account to access this premium data.
Rephonic provides comprehensive predictive audience data for The Ponsonby and Massie Podcast, including gender skew, age, country, political leaning, income, professions, education level, and interests. You can access these listener demographics by upgrading your account.
To see how many followers or subscribers The Ponsonby and Massie Podcast has on Spotify and other platforms such as Castbox and Podcast Addict, simply upgrade your account. You'll also find viewership figures for their YouTube channel if they have one.
These podcasts share a similar audience with The Ponsonby and Massie Podcast:
1. Holyrood Sources
2. Scotcast
3. Not Another One
4. How To Win An Election
5. Coffee House Shots
The Ponsonby and Massie Podcast launched 2 years ago and published 108 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.
Our systems regularly scour the web to find email addresses and social media links for this podcast. We scanned the web and collated all of the contact information that we could find in our podcast database. But in the unlikely event that you can't find what you're looking for, our concierge service lets you request our research team to source better contacts for you.
Rephonic pulls ratings and reviews for The Ponsonby and Massie Podcast from multiple sources, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, and Podcast Addict.
View all the reviews in one place instead of visiting each platform individually and use this information to decide if a show is worth pitching or not.
Rephonic provides full transcripts for episodes of The Ponsonby and Massie Podcast. Search within each transcript for your keywords, whether they be topics, brands or people, and figure out if it's worth pitching as a guest or sponsor. You can even set-up alerts to get notified when your keywords are mentioned.
Recent guests on The Ponsonby and Massie Podcast include:
1. Paul Sweeney
2. Thomas Kerr
3. John Swinney
4. Patrick Maguire
5. Jenny Lindsay
6. David Frum
7. Michael Marra
8. Matt Forde
To view more recent guests and their details, simply upgrade your Rephonic account. You'll also get access to a typical guest profile to help you decide if the show is worth pitching.