Make Me Prime Minister: Channel 4 release date, contestants, judges with Alastair Campbell and Sayeeda Warsi

Make Me Prime Minister, essentially the political equivalent of The Apprentice, is starting on Channel 4 on Tuesday 26 September.

The series, which is hosted and judged by Conservative peer Sayeeda Warsi and FBPE podcaster Alastair Campbell, will see members of the public compete in different challenges to see who’s best suited to live at Number 10 (and possibly the other parts of the job too).

Here’s everything you need to know about Make Me Prime Minister.

What’s it about?

Make Me Prime Minister is a new Apprentice style vanity project/light entertainment show. 12 members of the public - Jackie Weaver amongst them - compete in themed challenges in the hopes of convincing Conservative peer Sayeeda Warsi and former New Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell that they would be a good Prime Minister.

The official Channel 4 synopsis explains that “Alastair Campbell and Baroness Sayeeda Warsi put 12 ambitious Brits through their political paces, as they compete to be crowned Channel 4’s Alternative Prime Minister. Who has what it takes?”

Presumably “Make Me First Lord of the Treasury” wasn’t a snappy enough title. Which is fair enough, actually, because it’s not a very snappy title.

Who are Alastair Campbell and Sayeeda Warsi?

Alastair Campbell was Tony Blair’s director of communications for a number of years, both during New Labour’s time in opposition and in government; he’s credited with coming up with phrases like “New Labour” and “the People’s Princess”. He’s been heavily criticised for his involvement in the “dodgy dossier” that is now percieved as having distorted intelligence findings to provide a false pretext for the war in Iraq. He resigned from government in 2003 due to the inquiry into the suicide of Dr David Kelly, which Kelly’s family have linked to government actions; Campbell now hosts a mental health podcast.

Baroness Sayeeda Warsi is a Conservative politician. In 2007, while a member of David Cameron’s Shadow Cabinet, she said the British National Party had “legitimate views”. She eventually resigned from David Cameron’s cabinet in opposition to the British Government’s continued sale of arms to Israel, and has since tried to draw attention to the intense Islamophobia of the Conservative party in general (and Michael Gove in particular).

They’ll be joined at various points by other political figures looking to bolster their public reputation, like Johnny Mercer.

Who is competing in Make Me Prime Minister?

There are 12 contestants competing to be Channel 4’s Alternative Prime Minister. They are, generally speaking, members of the general public, though you might have heard of Jackie Weaver before already. Some of them are also Tiktokkers, so you won’t have heard of them but they’ll expect you to have.

They range from their early 20s to their early 70s, and live all around the country. Most of them, however, are right-wing - like 20-year-old Alice, a staunch Conservative who still reminisces about meeting Thatcher at the age of 6 - and presumably are looking to use this show to position themseles as a Sophie Corcoran/Darren Grimes type.

Is there a trailer for Make Me Prime Minister?

Yes, there is. You can watch it right here.

When and how can I watch Make Me Prime Minister?

Make Me Prime Minister begins on Tuesday 27 September at 9:15pm on Channel 4, right after Bake Off.

That’ll be its regular slot for the next six weeks. You can also watch each episode on All4 after its terrestrial broadcast.

How many episodes is Make Me Prime Minister?

There are six episodes in this series of Make Me Prime Minister, each around an hour long.

Why should I watch Make Me Prime Minister?

Because you were watching Bake Off first and the remote control is out of reach.