On this week's New Statesman Podcast, Helen Lewis and Stephen Bush are looking back on the lessons learnt from last week's local elections. Then, in You Ask Us, they tackle the question of the smaller parties and how they can gain traction in a media climate not actively seeking their input.If you are a New Statesman digital subscriber you can get advert free access to this podcast by visiting newstatesman.com/nssubscribers. If you haven't signed up yet, visit newstatesman.com/subscribe to purchase your subscription. Send us your questions for future episodes via Twitter @ns_podcasts. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.