This is a Global Player Original podcast.

So welcome to the third edition of Sloppy Seconds, which we know you're all enjoying.

Well, at least you tell us you are.

Anyone who isn't enjoying it hasn't told us, so that's good.

Or we've just blocked you.

We wouldn't do that, would we?

So we start off this second edition of the podcast with what we're grandly calling and patronisingly calling

the explainer. And I've been sending Jackie lots of ideas for this and we've got about

years worth already, haven't we? We have and we've had some from our listeners as well, which I've

religiously put on my list. But today's was a bit obvious, really, wasn't it? Because we have,

in two days' time, the 2nd of May, when voters across England and Wales will head to the polls

with a whole range of different elections. And I think one of the first things is probably

worth saying is there'll be a lot of time spent analyzing the results of these elections as a way

of thinking about what's going to happen when the general election comes. But actually, they are

important in their own right. As somebody who's started in local government,

you know, it's always, you always are slightly resentful when people only see local elections

as a sort of opinion poll

for what's going to happen in a general election.

But they're quite significant.

We've got 10 metro mayors being elected,

several thousand local councillors,

37 police and crime commissioners, and all 25

...