Local elections special: end of the two-party duopoly?
Political Fix
Financial Times
4.2 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 2 May 2025
⏱️ 35 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week, we’ve seen Reform UK trounce Labour and the Conservatives across England in local elections.
Nigel Farage’s party has secured a fifth MP, clinched two mayorships and seized control of at least seven councils.
In response, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is vowing to go harder and faster with his reforms, while Kemi Badenoch’s leadership of the Conservative party is coming under scrutiny.
Host Lucy Fisher is joined by podcast regulars George Parker, Robert Shrimsley and Stephen Bush to dissect what the results mean for the government, the opposition and traditional two-party politics in the UK.
Have a question for our panel? Drop us a line at politicalfix@ft.com. Record a voice note with your name and question, and email it to us.
Follow Lucy on Bluesky or X: @lucyfisher.bsky.social, @LOS_Fisher; Robert @robertshrimsley.bsky.social, @robertshrimsley,
Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social, @stephenkb and George Parker @GeorgeWParker @georgewparker.bskyb.social
Want more? Free links:
Reform UK sweeps English councils in local election rout
Nigel Farage shakes British politics with election surge
Multi-party politics heightens danger for muddled Labour
Reform wins first UK council in local election surge
Plus: The final State of Britain newsletter from Political Fix regular Pete Foster reflecting on his five or more years as the FT’s public policy editor, covering Brexit and its impact on UK government and business.
Post-Brexit UK: stuck between an unreliable US and a mercantilist EU
Sign up here for 30 days free 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 Clare Williamson. The executive producer is Flo Phillips. Original music and mix by Breen Turner. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Before we begin, a quick reminder that we're finally doing our first Q&A special episode next week. |
| 0:07.1 | If you have a burning question for us, record a voice note and email it to us at |
| 0:11.4 | Political Fix at Ft.com. |
| 0:13.9 | This is your last chance for this episode, so send those in now. |
| 0:18.4 | Welcome to Political Fix from the Financial Times with me, Lucy Fisher. |
| 0:22.8 | It's the equivalent of Christmas for political obsessives, local elections results day. |
| 0:28.4 | We're recording on Friday afternoon, and while there are many councils yet to declare, |
| 0:32.6 | its clear reform are having a very good day indeed. |
| 0:35.9 | They've swept a fifth MP, clinched their first mayor in |
| 0:38.9 | Lincolnshire, and seized control of at least two councils. The Lib Dems are on track for some |
| 0:44.2 | significant gains too, as the results trickle in. So what does this mean for Labour and the Conservatives |
| 0:49.4 | and our traditional two-party political system? To discuss it all, I'm joined by my FT colleagues Stephen |
| 0:55.4 | Hi, Stephen. Hi, Lucy. And Robert Shimsley. Hi, Robert. Hello, Lucy. And George Parker. Hello, George. |
| 1:01.3 | Hi, then. George, let's kick off with you. What's your key takeaway from this patchwork of results |
| 1:09.9 | we've got in so far? |
| 1:11.0 | Look, it's been an amazing night for Nigel Farage. You could tell that from the smile on |
| 1:14.8 | his face when he arrived at that rugby league ground for the Runcorn by-election result. |
| 1:19.5 | It's been a very bad night for Keir Stama and the Labour Party. That's clear. But I think |
| 1:23.5 | I'd go along with the leader of Kent Council, Conservative leader, Roger Goff, who said it was apocalyptic for his party. It's been an absolutely awful night for the Conservatives. |
| 1:32.7 | Robert, how about you? Yeah, I mean, I can't fault any of that analysis. Someone asked me this morning, |
| 1:38.5 | does this now mean Britain has a problem with populists? And I think actually what it proves is that |
| 1:43.5 | Britain's got a problem |
... |
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