<p>It’s been a dreadful night for Labour as council seats across the country have turned from red to turquoise. The Conservatives have not fared much better with Reform UK the big winner so far. With results still coming in, host Lucy Fisher discusses the fracturing of the vote and the future for beleaguered Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer with the FT’s deputy political editor Jim Pickard, Northern England correspondent Jen Williams and political columnist Stephen Bush.</p><br><p>Have a question for the panel? We’re planning a question and answer episode on Monday May 11. Email your questions to political<a href="mailto:
[email protected]" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">
[email protected]</a></p><br><p>Follow Lucy on X: @LOS_Fisher, and Bluesky: @<a href="http://lucyfisher.ft.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">lucyfisher.ft.com</a><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/robertshrimsley.bsky.social" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">;</a> Jim <a href="https://x.com/PickardJE" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@PickardJE</a> and @pickardje.bsky.social; Stephen <a href="https://x.com/stephenkb" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@stephenkb</a> & @stephenkb.bsky.social and Jen: <a href="https://x.com/JenWilliamsMEN" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@JenWilliamsMEN</a> and @jenwilliamsft.bsky.social</p><br><p><em>Want more? </em></p><p><a href="https://www.ft.com/content/63a73c94-a927-4683-be1a-9ed0e53442de?accessToken=zwAAAZ6hRvC6kc9jpzyUqSdGg9O-Gp7Q5TRC3gE.MEQCIFzdigcvMOXvavCbLs0boydPhhoxGpjrzfSyBOdYuJ-tAiAe06agPwRukCCvNi9wMdPGKUC2gV7Mj_hkU6-23qFYqA&segmentId=1f56959f-51cc-c373-0eed-368092f34da4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">UK elections: Labour suffers heavy losses as Reform surges</a></p><p><a href="https://www.ft.com/content/393fdc2e-53bb-4a52-a6cd-bc3531a2c2eb?accessToken=zwAAAZ6iXcKMkc85P9wuU7tKUtOmzbw1MaLC6wE.MEQCIBDhUbZVn1u5AbohZ3KmvazpeNPUclu1kZ_Xo3ASX5UWAiBX3JyCfwxKZO0mZXROxu7SW_t7jCGLiZFtLSVRi9uOIA&segmentId=1f56959f-51cc-c373-0eed-368092f34da4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Four things we learnt in the UK elections</a></p><p><a href="https://www.ft.com/content/828586ab-7205-4d8b-83dc-7764cffa4a06?accessToken=zwAAAZ6hQ6e6kdOChYarcgVNi9OD3Hdkz_pKBgE.MEUCIQCZ3vS8TvpX8t5FLoyGWINzo1Z_qN1XtNlLRS16esykIAIgKyqRgp1qbGBCpn640s32Bxl6BqBXFXrcg2p2_lyCFts&segmentId=1f56959f-51cc-c373-0eed-368092f34da4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Scale of defeat should shake ‘big two’ parties into serious action</a></p><p><a href="https://www.ft.com/content/8958faa6-cbde-499b-8016-b89ef857a22b?accessToken=zwAAAZ6hRHekkdOJWPqmy95Jm9OAFrie-FeiKwE.MEUCIC6N3ZdW1QN9mHvvn2imoBXcps6rgATj_g_BVLrfzf7AAiEApACZAH3prVbDm6JvelDTBiYz0HmtkSXzw3LH4NL3EUM&segmentId=1f56959f-51cc-c373-0eed-368092f34da4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Keir Starmer defies calls to quit after heavy Labour council losses</a></p><p><a href="https://www.ft.com/content/4f880e6a-01c3-419d-a831-b45c5ff54143?accessToken=zwAAAZ6iWv4kkc9PiA5qAcNBndOoMbRcX_VBQwE.MEUCIQDzj2HETj24ueEUbFFPPA1HTJ_E1b5EwgI9Xg7msG7S5QIgHh0BGqvKYUvNgLKOj3kIZl2z1JpiqRWTy3G_7jbTB28&segmentId=1f56959f-51cc-c373-0eed-368092f34da4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">UK local and devolved elections: Hour-by-hour guide to key results</a></p><p><a href="https://www.ft.com/content/9dbe3214-aa38-44d6-8857-ea617c49af8c?accessToken=zwAAAZ6hRYhikdOdvjIUqjhE1tOIV-phfEmvjAE.MEQCIFvtWlv8hp-P3Yeka_sTv2gHVHkQFnKDL90q8wjKGIJOAiBiNsaRPICIazgRsh6Ijijama9Mw4b6ixIrqZGWb89w1Q&segmentId=1f56959f-51cc-c373-0eed-368092f34da4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">In Labour’s bleak moment, Andy Burnham relishes his own</a></p><br><p><br></p><p>Sign up <a href="https://www.ft.com/InsidePoliticsOffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a> for Stephen Bush's morning newsletter Inside Politics for straight-talking insight into the stories that matter, plus puns and tongue (mostly) in cheek. Get 30 days free.</p><br><p>Presented by Lucy Fisher. Produced by Clare Williamson. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music and mix by Breen Turner. The broadcast engineers were Andrew Giorgiades and Petros Gioumpasis. Cheryl Brumley is the FT’s global head of Audio.</p><br><p><a href="https://www.ft.com/content/a4d61890-fcde-45a4-a4fb-01925a512430?" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com</strong></a></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>