Government Commitment to Public Service and Accountability

Today, Reform have won the Runcorn and Helsby by-election by just six votes - one of the closest parliamentary elections ever. Sarah Pochin overturned Labour's large majority to become Reform's fifth MP after a recount.

Elsewhere, Reform wins its first mayoral election in Greater Lincolnshire, and Labour narrowly holds three mayoral races in North Tyneside, the West of England, and Doncaster - with Reform second in all three.

This is still an emerging picture, with plenty more results to come.

Adam is joined by Chris Mason, Laura Kuenssberg - as well as Richard Fuller from the Conservatives, Luke Pollard from Labour, Adrian Ramsay from the Greens and Daisy Cooper from the Lib Dems.

You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers. You can join our Newscast online community here: https://discord.gg/m3YPUGv9

New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bit.ly/3ENLcS1 Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. It was presented by Adam Fleming. It was made by Jack Maclaren with Alix Pickles. The technical producer was Philip Bull. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The editor is Sam Bonham.