The State of It: Reform shake Labour to its core
5/8/202627 min
For now, the Prime Minister Keir Starmer vows to stay as the Reform leader Nigel Farage calls this a “truly historic shift in British politics”.
Steven and Lara caught up at the Times office in Westminster just after 4pm to unpack the results from England’s local council and mayoral elections, alongside national contests in Scotland and Wales, as Reform and the Greens surge and Labour suffer huge losses.
Hosts:
- Steven Swinford, political editor, The Times
- Lara Spirit, deputy political editor, The Sunday Times
Producers: Euan Dawtrey, Harry Kitson
Picture credit: Getty Images
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsLara Spirit· Host0:00
We have launched Operation Epic Fury.
Manveen Rana· Host0:02
Stop Star seeing a proper country When everyone says they're right Who do you believe? None of us knew the depth of that relationship If the lines are blurred He knew Can you read between them?
Nigel Farage· Soundbite0:13
Depth of the relationship When the story breaks Who brings perspective?
Keir Starmer· Soundbite0:17
The mistake I made If you want to understand the issues that define our times, it starts with listening Times Radio, on your smart speaker, on digital radio, or the Times Radio app.
Manveen Rana· Host0:29
From The Times and The Sunday Times, this is the story. I'm Manveen Rana. Yesterday saw the most consequential local elections in a generation, as voters across England, Wales, and Scotland went to the polls. Ahead of the elections, we traveled across the UK, speaking to voters in what used to be the Labour heartlands in Wales and Scotland, and everywhere we went, we heard one overwhelming response: disillusionment with the Labour Party. With the results now trickling in, we thought you'd want an update. So here is an emergency episode of our sister podcast, The State of It. The Times politicos have been hard at work all day, taking in the results and making sense of what they might mean for Starmer's government and those vying to take his place. Here they are,