I know NOTHING about politics. How can I start to learn?

Lol at "I’m not specifically interested in education or Grant Shapps" - since Grant Shapps (in all his many aliases) would be a rather niche interest. One for a posthumously written biography perhaps, as conmen-turned-rightwing-politicians tend to be rather litigious.

I'd start with the Guardian, in particular the Society section - that's "society" as in the effects of policies on the likes of you and me, not "society" in the sense of dukes and duchesses. I like the Guardian because it's free to read and has a social conscience. Unfortunately there's a dearth of reliable news sources that aren't paywalled.

I wouldn't bother with the Today Programme, which is predominantly dull Westminster gossip delivered in an annoyingly supercilious manner. TV news is usually rubbish too, with a focus on the sensational (yay, bombings! People with gory injuries!) and a disinclination to explain anything ever, so it's like reading some novel with a really complicated plot where someone has ripped out the first few chapters.

I'd have thought Google is your friend on this one. Find out (if you don't know) how the UK government is structured, how it's elected, what an MP is and how laws are passed. I'm imagining there are some straightforward, concise explanations of all this on the BBC or Wikipedia.
Then look up who's in the cabinet and who's in the shadow cabinet to get a sense of who people are and their roles.
Then you'll get a bit more out of listening to the Today programme (or PM at 5 p.m. R4 if you have time) and/or reading a broadsheet or news website.

Listening to the rest is politics pod cast is a good shout.

To understand the system you could buy this op...

British Politics For Dummies, 2nd Edition amzn.eu/d/0fAinwy9

I've been listening to the Newsagents and the Rest is Politics and I think they're great starting place for anyone, like myself, is a complete layman and wants to understand more about politics.

Lots of great podcasts mentioned but I'd recommend BBC Newscast as the most accessible for the level you describe you are at. Useful explainers before they go into new issues.

I suggest you find at least one news outlet that doesn't seem to reflect your values - if you are generally left wing don't just read the Guardian, for example. Don't assume the BBC is unbiased. You could follow political journalists from different media on Twitter. They will post links to their latest stories. You can get past paywalls using archive.ph.

Great advice. Challenge your thinking constantly and try to understand what makes other people think differently. You don't have to agree, just don't fall into the trap of tribalistic knee jerk reactions.

It’s been mentioned above, but ‘How Westminster Works - and Why It Doesn’t’ by Ian Dunt is a good, short and highly readable intro to structures around which politics operate: Parliament, the executive, the administration, the press, the legal system, etc. Unless you have a grasp of those, the commentary on podcasts and news broadcasts can be confusing.

I would pick one newspaper on the left and one on the right. The “truth” will be between those two.

This, exactly.

Actually though I get a shed load of political knowledge from a long running series of MN threads:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5113309-thread-1-starmer-a-new-hope?page=12&reply=136611835

We have a lot of shared articles and discussions. May be a bit dominated by centre/left politics but it's my favourite thread on MN

I completely agree with this. In fact read up about Nazi propaganda and you will recognize their techniques still being used today. I suggest you find at least one news outlet that doesn't seem to reflect your values - if you are generally left wing don't just read the Guardian, for example. Don't assume the BBC is unbiased. You could follow political journalists from different media on Twitter. They will post links to their latest stories. You can get past paywalls using archive.ph.

I like Radio 5 too, a bit more easy going than R4 and the phone ins tend to have a wide range of opinions

The Rest is Politics is great. I'd also recommend Electoral Dysfunction - it's all women and I find it a bit more relatable than TRIP.

TRIP is good though because they explain quite a lit about different political systems

I agree with a lot of suggestions above. Radio 4 is my constant companion.

I also highly recommend the YouTube channel TLDR (acronym of Too Long Didn't Read). It provides clear, incisive, intelligent information about politics, economics, social history etc, and is great for understanding why we are where we are.

All media, whether broadcast, podcast or paper-based does have biases, so it is well to recognise this and take it into account as you read, watch and listen.

I try to also consume content created by those whose opinions - as broadly agreed - sit in a different place on the political spectrum to mine.

I like having my own views reflected back to me (I can nod sagely along and feel vindicated!), but I also want to step outside of my personal echo chamber and understand other perspectives.

I think it's quite tough to learn about politics from the news tbh. Like jumping into a drama series half way through, when you don't know who the characters are or what just happened.
Journalists themselves are often frustrated that the medium doesn't allow them to explain the background.
When a subject comes up that you don't understand, I would recommend searching the briefings at the House of Commons library. (They're all online)
They are really concise, easy to read and lay out the background.
The House of Commons Library produce one for everything that's going to be debated so that politicians (who know A LOT less than you might think) can get themselves up to speed.
If a subjects been in the news lately there'll be a House of Commons briefing paper on it. Once you've read it you'll know about as much as many of the politicians making actual decisions. (Frightening but true!)

@westborne - I once, as an undergrad in the midst of a Jurisprudence essay crisis, had the joy of watching a boyfriend pick up a discarded page of my notes and innocently ask ‘What’s a Rawl?’ …

I used to know about this stuff in-depth for a living. I compare it to watch EastEnders. If you watch it regularly soon you have a passable understanding of the dynamics and if you keep it up you’ll have an in-depth understanding. The Today prog is a magazine show across three hours. You would do better choosing an evening terrestrial news programme (C4 news or the BBC 10 o’clock news, a Sunday paper or The Week) because they work to sum things up for you, rather than riffing based on what’s going on right now

While the Today programme is useful, it doesn't always explain why things are important. I find BBC World service properly useful as there are clearer explanations for a global audience who may not know all the ins and outs of an issue. Al Jazeera is also great for a broader, world perspective.

Also if you are curious, look thngs up! Wikipedia still has good explanations of people, roles and issues - I used it a lot in the elections. The Guardian often has "explainer" articles too.

I have been a bit baffled by the French elections but it's been interesting trying to get a grip on who their system works and who is who!

Ask yourself how YOU would organise society:

Taxation : who pays and how much?

Corporation. Tax : is there a basic tax? Should larger companies pay more than small ones? If so what are the thresholds?

You can't just come up with any answer because you have constraints:

Health
Education
Defence
Transportation
Etc...

For each of these you can decide whether the state or the public pays (for instance who pays for new roads and their maintenance ?)

Does your tax intake help you pay for the above in such a way that enough voters are satisfied?

If not: do you borrow money to make up for the difference?

Once you think you have figured it out read what other people proposed : Plato, Marx , Humes , the Chicago school...

Agree with the explainers from Ros Atkins

How Westminster Works (and why it doesn’t) is good

The Tim Shipman trio (soon to be quartet) of books on the Tory government during Brexit and beyond give a good view of recent years

Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall gives a decent global overview of how terrain shapes borders and politics. If any country or region grabs you from that, you can go into it more.

Oh and I read most online newspapers through the local library - free for library card holders.

Don’t use you tube. There are indeed some good resources, but there are also parties using it to promote very biased and even extremist views.

yes to newsround etc explainers to get up to speed. Then I get a couple of newspapers daily bulletin (guardian - free and very good, and financial times - also very good but online paper is paid for). Guardian will occasionally go back to basics and explain what an ongoing event in the news actually is.

This is a really good point. I find it useful to look at how a big news story is covered in different newspapers from the right-wing (The Telegraph) to the left- wing (The Guardian) and consider what’s been discussed differently and why.

This also applies to information online, especially controversial topics on social media (including here on MN). Think about all the threads about the elections and how posts on them might have been false or misrepresented. Some scepticism is healthy.

Op I am exactly the same. I remember being a teenager and asking my dad to explain politics to me and he said 'watch the news'. It's like saying, can you teach me French? And the person saying 'just watch TV in French'. I find the news completely meaningless unless I have something to relate it to, otherwise it's just 'who is that? What's that party? What's that law? Why do those people oppose it? And before they've said a paragraph, I'm lost. A bit like watching the movie in French, making out the odd 'oui' but having zero idea about what's going on.

You literally need to look up kid's websites. You have to come in and read simplistic descriptions of the most basic principles of politics and very gradually expand your knowledge in very small steps. My husband used to teach politics to secondary school students and has started explaining things to our nine year old son. I feel like I'm finally starting to understand. Jumping straight into the news did not help me. Very simple, child centred descriptions did.

Start listening to the BBC Newscast podcast. It's daily and really accessible, chatty and quite fun whilst also keeping you well informed. It's the only news I bother with and it's enough that people think I'm very well informed at work. I listen to it whilst walking, doing the washing up or whatever.

The trouble with YouTube is that it’s completely unregulated. Far better to focus on sources with some sort of accreditation - qualified journalists working for accountable news outlets, or recognised academics attached to established university departments. People who can’t get away with spouting tripe without push back or oversight.