The program is hosted and moderated by David Speers, and features regular panellists Paul Murray, Janine Perrett and Laura Jayes.

[1] Speers typically presents the program from the Parliament House studio in Canberra, while the remaining panellists are usually in the Sky News centre in Sydney.

[2] The format originated as the 20 minute final segment of PM Agenda, which Speers hosts.

[3] In 2016 The Last Word broke out to become its own program,[4] replacing the final 30 minutes of PM Agenda, airing four-times weekly at 5:30pm AEST.

[5][6] James Bracey was a previous panelist before he left Sky News at the end of 2016.