Local elections: Reform's big day out spells more trouble for Starmer
5/8/202628 min
Labour is losing votes to the Greens and seats to Reform. Across England, Scotland and Wales, the electoral map is shifting in ways not seen for years. The foundations of the two-party system are looking more fragile than ever.
In this bonus episode, we ask: are voters sending a message Westminster still isn’t hearing? What does history suggest about Starmer’s chances of staying in power? And what do Labour’s losses to both the Greens and Reform reveal about the future of British politics?
Find the best clips from the podcast and more from Helen and Cleo on the show's Instagram page here.
This podcast is part of The Independent Podcast Network and is produced in association with Next Chapter Studios
Executive Producers: Olivia Foster and Carrie Rose
Producer: Sam Durham
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsCleo Watson· Host0:00
Welcome to a special edition of In The Room, where we are talking about the local election results in England, Wales, and Scotland.
Helen MacNamara· Host0:08
We're recording this on Friday at 3:00 PM, so there's still plenty of important results still to come, but the early indications are clear, and one of the very strong things is that Reform UK, a party that's only existed for five short years, has made unprecedented gains right across the country.
Cleo Watson· Host0:22
Yes, and I'm just looking at the BBC results page just here. It's a very worrying time if you're a Labour or a Conservative, uh, backer, that's for sure. And it's a particularly worrying time if you're the Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, who is now facing many calls to step down.
Helen MacNamara· Host0:36
I'm Helen MacNamara, the former deputy cabinet secretary.
Cleo Watson· Host0:39
And I'm Cleo Watson, a former special advisor in Number 10.
Helen MacNamara· Host0:42
And this is In The Room. So, Cleo, I mean, you've been talking just then about refreshing the BBC results page, which I know you've been doing religiously since 10 past 11 last night. Um, what is your take on where we've got to?
Cleo Watson· Host0:57
Well, in some ways, it's exactly as predicted. Everyone was saying it's gonna be a bad night for Labour, it's gonna be a pretty bad night for the Tories, and the Lib Dems are gonna go, do well, but particularly Reform are gonna do brilliantly well and, of course, the Greens. And, I mean, it was kind of striking to see the Refor- the Reform res- results page because they only had two councilors, um, elected a couple of years ago, so it's a kind of amazing change for them. I think the point I really want to make, and this is something I've had to fight so many times since