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 Want more? Free links: Rishi Sunak on rack as Tory election losses mount The big messages from the local elections  Is Rishi Sunak in trouble after the local elections? Political gravity catches up with the SNP Sign up here for 30 free days of Stephen Bush's Inside Politics newsletter, winner of the World Association of News Publishers 2023 ‘Best Newsletter’ award.  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.  Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.