The Conservatives take a pounding in the local elections and Labour are taking councils in former Brexit heartlands. But there’s a crumb of Tory comfort in Ben Houchen’s victory in the Tees Valley mayoral election – and Labour fail to take key target Harlow.

As results continue to roll in, what do the last votes before the general election mean for Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer?

Plus we are approaching a cliff-edge moment on departmental budgeting… good job there’s an IfG paper for that.

Emma Norris, Akash Paun and Ben Paxton are joined by our special guest, political journalist Rachel Wearmouth, for this week’s podcast.