The local elections in England are on 4 May, with more than 8,000 council seats across the country up for grabs. It is the first major electoral test for Rishi Sunak since becoming Prime Minister and a sign of how things could go in the general election next year. What should we watch out for?  Anoosh Chakelian, Rachel Wearmouth and Freddie Hayward are joined by the New Statesman’s senior data journalist Ben Walker – founder of State of the Nation, a data site for understanding Britain – to discuss the electoral map and how key wards voted last time. The team assess whether Labour can make a definitive recovery in so-called Red Wall England and how the Tories are managing expectations. Then, in You Ask Us, the New Statesman’s Scotland editor, Chris Deerin, joins the podcast to answer a listener’s question: what on Earth’s going on with the SNP? If you have a question for You Ask Us, go to newstatesman.com/youaskus Subscribers can get an ad free version of the NS Podcast on the New Statesman app  Podcast listeners can subscribe to the New Statesman for just £1 a week for 12 weeks using our special offer. Just visit newstatesman.com/podcastoffer.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.