The Tories suffered sobering losses in local elections across England in the last big electoral test before a general election.

Labour also trounced the Tories in the parliamentary by-election in Blackpool South - with Reform running a close third in that seat. The FT’s Whitehall editor Lucy Fisher is joined by Political Fix regulars Robert Shrimsley and Miranda Green to comb through the results.

Plus, the team is joined by James Kanagasooriam, chief research officer at polling firm Focaldata to dive into the details.

Join Lucy and colleagues for an FT subscriber webinar on May 8 to discuss what the local election results tell us about who will win the UK general election. Get your pass now at ft.com/ukwebinar

Follow Lucy on X: @LOS_Fisher, Robert @robertshrimsley, Miranda @greenmiranda, James @JamesKanag

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Presented by Lucy Fisher. Produced by Audrey Tinline with Leah Quinn. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer.

Audio mix and original music by Breen Turner. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.

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