local elections

As votes the continue to be counted Amol and Nick give their take on where the election results leave both the Tories and Labour.

Pollster James Kanagasooriam, chief research officer with Focal Data who sits on the board of centre-right think tank Onward, is back with some expert analysis.

And find out how you can come along to a special recording of The Today Podcast: Live!

Regular episodes of The Today Podcast land on Thursdays. Subscribe on BBC Sounds to get Amol and Nick's take on the biggest stories of the week, with insights from behind the scenes at the UK's most influential radio news programme.

If you would like a question answering, get in touch by sending us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 4346 or email us Today@bbc.co.uk

The Today Podcast is hosted by Amol Rajan and Nick Robinson, both presenters of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the UK’s most influential radio news programme. Amol was the BBC’s media editor for six years and is the former editor of the Independent, he’s also the current presenter of University Challenge. Nick has presented the Today programme since 2015, he was the BBC’s political editor for ten years before that and also previously worked as ITV’s political editor.

The senior producer is Tom Smithard, the producers are Hazel Morgan and Joe Wilkinson. The editor is Louisa Lewis. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths. Technical production from Hannah Montgomery and digital production from Elliot Ryder.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Times Briefing for the Morning of Friday 5th May

For more on these stories throughout the day tune into Times Radio - on DAB, online, through your smart speaker or on the Times Radio app

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How the Republican grass roots got years ahead of a changing country, and whether the Democrats can catch up.

“The Run-Up” is a new politics podcast from The New York Times. Leading up to the 2022 midterms, we’ll be sharing the latest episode here every Saturday. If you want to hear episodes when they first drop on Thursdays, follow “The Run-Up” wherever you get your podcasts, including on Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher and Amazon Music.

Many Americans feel an obligation to keep up with political news. But maybe we should be focusing our energies elsewhere. Political scientist Eitan Hersh says there's been a rise in "political hobbyism" in the United States. We treat politics like entertainment, following the latest updates like we follow our favorite sports teams. Instead, he says, we should think of politics as a way to acquire power and persuade our neighbors to back the issues we support.