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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Presented by Hugh Muir and produced by Phil Maynard

Politics Weekly podcast: Gay marriage, Gove's U-turn and political books

The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) bill passed its first major hurdle in the Commons this week with a comfortable majority. But the episode leaves open sores for the Conservative party; 137 Tory MPs voted against gay marriage, including two cabinet ministers.

In the studio to discuss this are Guardian columnists Giles Fraser and Polly Toynbee and Max Wind-Cowie from the thinktank Demos.

We also hear from MPs Chris Bryant and Douglas Carswell.

Also on the agenda this week: Michael Gove has rowed back on his ambitious plan to replace GCSEs. Teaching unions and MPs had been heavily critical of his proposals - but how many of them have really been junked?

Eastleigh will elect its new MP later this month following the resignation of Chris Huhne. The former Lib Dem cabinet minister resigned this week having pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice over a speeding ticket 10 years ago.

And we head along to the Total Politics Political Book Awards, where luminaries such as the BBC's Nick Robinson, Geoffrey Robertson QC, Heather Brooke, Chris Mullin and Iain Dale give their views on what makes a good political book.

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