Matt Cole
Senior political reporter, BBC Westminster

Across more than half a dozen interviews, the take-home message from the Liberal Democrat leader was that his candidates would be "listeners and local champions" as councillors.

He repeatedly spoke of how finding solutions to the problems with social care would pay dividends for local council finances.

Sir Ed also made time to trash-talk President Donald Trump whenever he could, blaming the US incursions in Iran for pushing up petrol pump prices.

Several BBC Local radio station presenters pressed the Lib Dem leader on his party’s poor showing in some opinion polls – fifth in some cases.

But Sir Ed said his party was "flying" and claimed it had won more council by-elections that Labour, the Tories and the Green Party combined in the last year.

The elections on Thursday, 7 May will tell us if his assessment is right.

• Our live coverage is now finishing, but you can find more local elections coverage here.

Image source, PA Media

Sir Ed told BBC Radio WM's Ed James he was sceptical about the timing of a prospective end to Birmingham's bin strike saga.

Birmingham City Council's Labour leader John Cotton said yesterday an end to the action was "within sight", with a new offer to be put to striking workers.

Sir Ed said he would like to see the deal before committing to support it.

"We’re supposed to believe they’ve got a solution right at the last minute, just a few days before polling day," he said.

"Call me cynical, but I bet your listeners are a bit cynical about whether this is real or not."

He said it was wrong both sides had previously not got together for months, and meant "people across Birmingham suffer".

He added that sorting the strike would be a “top priority” for a Lib Dem-run administration.

During his round of BBC Local Radio interviews, Sir Ed has underlined his commitment to improving social care - partly as a result of his own experiences of caring for family members.

"People want to be able to look after their loved ones," he told BBC Essex's Ben Fryer.

"[It's a] far more cost effective ways of doing things."

When asked if that meant the Lib Dems would raise council taxes to pay for this support, Sir Ed replied: "No, the sorts of things I am talking about don’t cost very much."

In relation to Essex's local elections, Sir Ed said he expected his party to make quite a few gains in places like Chelmsford and Brentwood.

Elly Zaniewicka
Senior political reporter, BBC Westminster

Image source, Contributed

Sir Ed Davey has been making sure he includes his favourite political themes during these local radio interviews.

Foremost among those is his opposition to President Trump and the style of politics he represents - insisting people don’t want "Trumpian politics" and accusing both the Conservative and Reform UK leaders of being "cheerleaders" for the Republican US president.

Sir Ed has insisted it is a relevant issue in the local elections because Trump’s "idiotic" decision to go to war with Iran is leading to higher prices for petrol and food.

On issues closer to home, Sir Ed has been talking about tackling sewage spills, a theme the Liberal Democrats felt struck a chord with voters at the general election.

He also got into the nitty-gritty of what his party would do to improve the local environment.

He pledged the Lib Dems would pay for tip-offs that lead to the arrest of fly-tippers, and bring in a maximum £5 charge for bulky waste collections so people can afford to dispose of their waste responsibly.

BBC Radio Merseyside

Sir Ed Davey says his now familiar election stunts - like falling off a surfboard on Windermere - have a serious side.

He was challenged by BBC Radio Merseyside’s Tony Snell (pictured below) that the lasting image of the Lib Dem leader is of him falling off a surfboard or bungee jumping.

Of his Windermere fall he said "the serious message was about sewage and big water companies have been making big profits with big bonuses for their bosses".

"They have not been giving us the clean water we need... [but have been] destroying our rivers and our lakes and it’s a scandal," he said.

BBC Radio Surrey

Sir Ed was also asked, by BBC Radio Surrey, about the challenges facing councils regarding social care and provisions for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) - an issue the Lib Dems have championed.

He was challenged on the funding decisions needed to make extra provisions work. Surrey County Council currently says that, from the money it gets from an average Band D council taxpayer, it spends about 42% on its adults, wellbeing and health partnerships.

Sir Ed said: "What they are not doing is early interventions.

"If you help families really early, you can ensure children can manage their conditions far better.”

On the prospect of gaining seats on the new East Surrey and West Surrey unitary councils after the 7 May vote, Sir Ed said he hoped people would be "waking up after these local elections and see many, many more Liberal Democrat councillors”.

Matt Cole
Senior political reporter, BBC Westminster

Sir Ed delivered a blunt message in his interview with BBC Radio Sussex when defending Liberal Democrat-run councils putting up parking fees in Horsham and charging a pound to pee in public toilets in Eastbourne.

"Unless you sort out social care, you won’t sort out the finances of a local council," he stressed.

The Lib Dem leader said the increases underlined how councils everywhere were dealing with stretched finances, but said solving social care would free up cash for other services.

Sir Ed explained social care was by far the biggest drain on council funds, and that "it impacts everything".

As he's told several BBC Local Radio stations, he again highlighted how valuing care homes and carers would lower costs and help the NHS.

Sir Ed said hospital beds are three times as expensive as those in care homes, so suggested that by improving social care, money could be freed up for potholes, pavements and more.

BBC Radio Sussex

Turning to the cost of living/inflation, Sir Ed was challenged by BBC Radio Sussex’s Sarah Gorrell (pictured) about local authorities run by the Liberal Democrats raising council tax by the maximum amount allowed.

In Horsham, charges in some car parks were increased by 294% in October 2024, while using toilets in Eastbourne now requires a £1 entry fee, as of April 2025 - the days of "spending a penny" long gone.

In response, Sir Ed said those changes “show how council finances are really stretched”, blaming the pressure arising from increased adult social care demand.

Sir Ed, who has a severely disabled son, added: “My experience of being a carer has taught me that if you support family carers more, the pressure is reduced on adult social care and on the NHS."

BBC Essex

Image source, Carl Recine/Reuters

Sir Ed Davey told BBC Essex's Ben Fryer the Liberal Democrats were the party to take "local issues seriously [and] the environment seriously".

When asked why the Lib Dems were in fifth place in some opinion polls and if they had become "irrelevant", the party leader replied he was "more interested in elections - and in elections we are flying".

"I take you back to the last election - we got our best result in 100 years."

He added that his party was "going into these elections actually with our tails high".

Fryer said some of Lib Dems' recent policies - including breaking up the Treasury and replacing it with a new government department of growth, based in Birmingham (pictured) - were "not exactly the talk of the town".

"I think growing the economy so we can tackle the cost of living - that is important," said Sir Ed.

"The cost of living is the biggest issue on many doorsteps.

"We’ve seen that get worse thanks to Trump’s idiotic war in Iran."

Sir Ed Davey's series of live interviews with BBC Local Radio has ended.

More highlights of what he said to come...

BBC Radio London

In his interview with BBC Radio London’s Eddie Nestor, Sir Ed was asked about his views on social care - one of the biggest issues putting pressure on the budgets of the capital’s 32 boroughs.

The Lib Dem leader said his party had been the only one seeking to address the issue both nationally and locally.

"If you get social care right, you sort out the NHS quite frankly," said Sir Ed.

He went on to say the issue was close to his heart having cared for his mother, grandmother and now his severely disabled son.

"To sort out social care, you actually have to start with family carers," he said.

"People looking after their families at home - if we give them just a bit more support that is affordable, you actually take pressure off the rest of the system."

Nestor raised today's story that London’s councils overspent £200m in 2025-26 on adult social care.

Davey said Liberal Democrat-run councils had proved to capable of being "prudent" with council finances through driving efficiencies and making "difficult decisions" when needed.

Matt Cole
Senior political reporter, BBC Westminster

That “local champion” phrase makes another appearance in the early exchanges with Eddie Nestor on BBC Radio London.

Leaning into that, Sir Ed said he expected the Liberal Democrats to do well in the capital's local elections – especially in boroughs in the south-west of the city, such as Merton.

The party leader went big with the alliteration as he rattled off a list of things that his party rolls up its sleeves and gets done - “potholes and pavements,” as well as “rubbish and recycling”.

Sir Ed also claimed the party are good at dealing with bigger issues like crime.

BBC Radio Leeds

BBC Radio Leeds presenter Gayle Lofthouse asked Sir Ed what his party would do about the "enormous challenges" young people are facing in Bradford.

He was also asked if he would tackle student loan interest rates, as it was his coalition government that introduced "enormous tuition fees".

Sir Ed agreed it was unfair and pledged to stop freezing the repayment threshold for certain graduates.

"We’ve said put the thresholds up, so graduates on lower salaries can keep more and don’t have to pay it back until they earn more," he said.

When Lofthouse pointed out Bradford had some of England's most deprived areas and asked how he planned to lift people out of poverty, he replied: "The best way is to reduce taxes for the lowest paid".

"If you’re on a low wage, you can be absolutely sure the Liberal Democrats would be your friend because we would make sure any tax cuts favoured you," he added.

Matt Cole
Senior political reporter, BBC Westminster

The Liberal Democrats like to describe their councillors as “local champions”.

So it's not a surprise that Sir Ed Davey rolled out that phrase to end his “tell-us-what-you’d-do-in-20-seconds” challenge set by presenter Gayle Lofthouse on BBC Radio Leeds.

He actually beat the buzzer by finishing early, but said his party’s “local champions” would fix things such as congestion around Leeds, special educational needs and disability provision for children.

That said – much of the local talk disappeared – with Sir Ed’s answers then focusing on national matters including university tuition fees, problems with Brexit, which the Lib Dems opposed, and reducing taxes for the lowest paid.

Some of his strongest answers were on social care, saying we need to fix the NHS and that family carers and care workers needed more support.

He finished by saying if he had a super power (he was asked – he didn’t just volunteer this) that he’d bring peace in Iran to lower petrol and diesel costs.

He has repeatedly called President Trump's attacks on Iran "idiotic" across his local radio interviews, a criticism he has levelled at the US before.

BBC Radio Newcastle

BBC Radio Newcastle's Anna Foster (pictured) asked Sir Ed why there were parts of north-east England where people cannot vote for the Liberal Democrats.

The presenter highlighted South Tyneside, where the Lib Dems have only put forward two candidates for the council's 54 seats.

Sir Ed rejected the idea the Liberal Democrats were forgetting the region and said his party were "exposing the major mistakes" made by Reform UK at Durham County Council, and were the official opposition in Gateshead and Newcastle.

"If you elect a Liberal Democrat, you get someone who listens to the local community and the issues people care about," said Sir Ed.

The party leader said an example of this was his party's stance on fly-tipping in Newcastle and added that the Lib Dems would bring in bigger fines for offenders.

• Listen back to the Newcastle interview in full on BBC Sounds

• Ed Davey backs Welsh Lib Dem leader Jane Dodds after rift
• Lib Dems pledge £5,000 rewards for tip-offs about fly-tipping
• Lib Dems say stopping Reform is main local elections aim

Tony Bonsignore
Political reporter, BBC Westminster

Sir Ed Davey's Lib Dems go into these elections with an already established local network - and record - in local government, as well as a strong presence in Westminster.

The party has three main messages.

The first is about competence - Sir Ed says Lib Dem councillors "do the hard work that actually gets things done".

They also want to talk about the cost of living and their plans to cut fuel duty, energy bills and travel costs.

Finally, they say they are the antidote to what they call Reform UK’s "Trump-style politics".

That last point may be the key to their performance in these elections.

Labour, the Greens and a host of other smaller parties and Independents are all vying to be seen as the anti-Reform vote.

In a multi-party political world, this will be more challenging than ever.

Sir Ed will also be looking for evidence that the party is moving beyond its traditional heartlands.

Tony Bonsignore
Political reporter, BBC Westminster

Image source, PA Media

Sir Ed Davey became Lib Dem party leader in 2020, just months after a disappointing general election performance. For a while, it seemed as though the party might never shake off criticism of its time in coalition with the Tories, and for its stance opposing Brexit.

But bit by bit, the former financial analyst did just that.

A series of by-election and local election victories followed, and in the run-up to the 2024 election, Sir Ed became famous for a series of publicity stunts, including paddle-boarding, building sandcastles and wheelbarrow racing.

Critics scoffed, but the Lib Dems returned their highest number of MPs for more than a century - 72.

Sir Ed made much of his past life and present circumstances in that campaign, as he sought to explain the reasons behind his political philosophy.

He lost his father when he was four years old. His mother died when he was 16 and he was caring for her in the final years of her life.

Now he cares for his severely disabled son.

The Lib Dem leader still faces questions, though, about his time in government, including his role in the austerity public spending cuts and in the Post Office scandal.

He's also under pressure to show how his party can thrive in a multi-party world, and how his message of unity can land in an increasingly polarised political world.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has now begun his round of interviews with BBC local radio stations.

He's currently facing questions from BBC Radio Leeds presenter Gayle Lofthouse.

You can follow all the interviews by tapping on the watch live button at the top of this page which will give you a "radio visualisation".

Image source, Getty Images

This is going to be the biggest set of elections since the 2024 general election.

Voters in Scotland and Wales will elect representatives to their national parliaments, while a number of local council and mayoral polls will take place in England on Thursday, 7 May.

This includes elections in 30 English councils that will now go ahead after the government abandoned previously announced plans to delay them while the reorganisation of local government proceeds.

In Northern Ireland, local council and Assembly elections are scheduled for May 2027.

You can check which elections are taking place in your local area here.