Jack Burgess
Live reporter

Well that was another dramatic week in the world of politics.

On the show today we heard from Dan Poulter in an exclusive TV interview after his defection from the Conservatives to Labour.

And we had reaction from Home Office minister Chris Philp and shadow health secretary Wes Streeting.

We also discussed the challenges facing the SNP government in Scotland, with Alba party leader Alex Salmond and the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Ed Davey, joining us.

Nancy Pelosi, the veteran Democrat and former US House speaker, also spoke to us about campus protests targeting Israel over its conduct in the Gaza war. Pelosi told Laura that she fears a possible second presidential term for Donald Trump. You can watch her comments on this here:

On the panel, giving us their reactions, were former cabinet minister Robert Jenrick, Labour peer Baroness Chakrabarti, and SNP MP Ian Blackford.

We’ve got local elections coming up in England and Wales next week, and the SNP’s grip on power is on-the-line in Scotland.

So there will be plenty to talk about on next week’s show - same time, same place, see you there.

This page was written by Alexandra Binley and Ben Hatton, and edited by Jack Burgess and Francesca Gillett.

Professor Sir John Curtice
Professor of politics at University of Strathclyde

Not everyone votes the same way in local elections as they would in a general election – about one in five people do not.

As a result, the Liberal Democrats and Greens, in particular, typically outperform their current standing in the national polls.

Nevertheless, the rises and falls in party support in the local ballot boxes typically reflect the ups and downs in the parties’ standings in the polls.

Most of the elections on 2 May are for seats that were previously contested three years ago, in May 2021.

The electoral climate was very different then.

The Conservatives were six points ahead of Labour in the national polls.

They achieved the rare feat for an incumbent government of making net gains in local elections – including 13 councils and more than 200 council seats.

Labour had a disappointing night, losing more than 300 seats as well as a parliamentary by-election in heavily pro-Leave Hartlepool.

Reform UK, the rebranded Brexit Party, was at just 3% in the polls.

Now, the Conservatives are about 19 points behind Labour, while Reform is averaging 12%.

Read more analysis from Prof Sir John Curtice here.

Turning our attention to the week ahead, today is the last Sunday before voters across England and Wales head to the polls for the local elections 2024 on Thursday. So there will certainly be a lot to talk about on next week's show.

Elections are taking place in 107 local authorities in England, and voters will also choose the Mayor of London, London Assembly members and 10 mayors outside the capital.

Across England and Wales, voters will also elect 37 police and crime commissioners (PCCs), external.

In the constituency of Blackpool South, a by-election will also decide who will be the MP following the resignation of former Conservative MP Scott Benton.

No elections are taking place in Scotland or Northern Ireland.

You can read more about next week's local elections with our explainers here:

• When and where are they, and who can vote?
• Councils to watch in the 2024 local elections
• What photo ID do you need to vote in local elections?
• Local elections: Use our lookup tool so see what's happening in your area
• Curtice: What could the local elections mean for the general election?

Laura Kuenssberg
Presenter, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg

"OMG." That's what one SNP politician said to me when they realised First Minister Humza Yousaf had binned a planned public event on Friday morning, fuelling the guessing game about whether or not he'll quit.

In fact, when he popped up in his home city of Dundee in the "busy politician" outfit of hard hat and high-vis vest, he said he wouldn't quit - while also seeming to admit, rather astonishingly, that he had made a horlicks of his breakup with coalition partners the Greens.

"I've heard they're upset, I've heard their anger," he said. "And I can honestly say that was not the intention."

As our Scotland editor James Cook writes, Yousaf, who was cruelly tagged Humza "Useless" by the tabloids even before he became first minister, is in serious danger of being kicked out of office in a few days' time.

His old SNP leadership rival, Ash Regan, member of Alex Salmond's Alba Party, is likely to hold the casting vote when MSPs decide his future. It's not impossible that she backs him - for a political price. Yousaf might keep his job if he gets her vote, but a deal with Alba might mean he loses control of certain policies.

Image source, PA MEDIA

There are no guarantees - and the chances of him being able to get the Greens back on side seem, right now, slim to none.

"It's hard to see him making it to next Thursday," one SNP insider said. "And if he did, it would all fall apart in a few weeks when on every vote, he is stuck between paying a high price to the Greens or selling his soul to Alex Salmond."

Click here to read more of Laura’s analysis.

Panellist Baroness Chakrabarti, who is a Labour peer, also gave her thoughts on migration earlier.

She called the government's Rwanda bill a "stunt" and said it's more about "stopping the courts" than stopping the boats.

Baroness Chakrabarti continued by predicting Prime Minister Rishi Sunak would try to pull out of the European Court of Human Rights at the next general election as a result of court challenges to the bill.

She said the Rwanda bill will make it very hard for asylum seekers to get "any redress before British courts" and she adds that their lawyers "will be duty bound to pursue claims in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg".

If you’d like to get the latest expert insights and insider stories from Laura throughout the week, you can sign up for her weekly newsletter.

Just click here to subscribe.

To subscribe you need to be 13 or over and have a BBC account.

A little bit earlier we heard from former immigration minister Robert Jenrick, who quit in December last year over the government's Rwanda bill. He said at the time he didn't believe it was strong enough.

Now, his focus is on legal immigration. He says the numbers of people coming to the country are "so great" that they are putting "immense pressure" on houses, services and community cohesion, and immigration isn't making the country any richer.

"The only way to end this is to set a cap," he says but doesn't give a number. Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, external, he says migration should be capped at the "tens of thousands" to restore trust.

Home Office minister Chris Philp was also asked about the government's plans for migration earlier in the programme.

Philp has said the government are "taking measures" to "reduce legal migration by about 300,000 a year".

The programme is now over for another week. As it drew to a close, the three panellists were each asked a different final question by Kuenssberg.

Will Humza Yousaf still be first minister in Scotland by the end of the week? I believe he will, says the SNP's Ian Blackford. "I will say to all party leaders, go talk to Humza. Let's see where he can build consensus."

Are you feeling the election is about to be called, or is Westminster chasing its tail getting excited about a summer election? Chasing its tail, Baroness Chakrabarti says.

This time next week, the Conservatives are expected to have a hard time at local elections. Do you think there will be a challenge to Rishi Sunak? "No I don't," says Robert Jenrick. "I don't think this is about personalities, it's about policies and delivering for the public".

Pelosi claims Biden’s record on jobs is better than Trump's, but says her party could do better at convincing people of that and making their message clear.

Are people turning to Trump because they feel there’s no alternative, Laura asks.

Pelosi says she sees it differently - she sees in Biden a president with a “great” vision for America, has experience and wisdom, and “knows what will work and he knows how to do it” because he has been a lawmaker for a long time.

Asked if Biden’s visible frailty is an issue, Pelosi says: “When people see him they come back and say, why do people say that about him? He has humour and vitality and knowledge.” She adds Biden is younger than her.

More now from Laura's interview with Nancy Pelosi, which also covered the upcoming election in the US where Donald Trump looks set to challenge Joe Biden for presidency.

Laura puts it to Pelosi that Trump is leading Biden on inflation and jobs.

The polls may be wrong, Pelosi replies. "The polls were wrong in the last [mid-term] election.”

“Joe Biden’s numbers are improving, if polls mean that much,” she adds, arguing the campaigning is “going very well for us”.

Next up is a recorded interview with former Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, whose first question is about the student protests against the war in Gaza that have been unfolding on US campuses.

She says there’s “complete justification for speaking out against what’s happening - it challenges the conscience of the world.

“The starvation, the malnutrition, the famine, it’s unforgivable.” But, she adds, she would like to see “some of that enthusiasm recognise Hamas as a terrorist organisation that did a barbaric thing in Israel on 7 October”.

She continues: “Israel has a right to defend itself.”

More from Pelosi's interview here.

Laura says Salmond has devoted much of his life to independence and asks if he, as a former SNP leader, would really sink an SNP government. Or is he just enjoying the moment?

Salmond says his Alba Party are going to win seats at the next Scottish election whenever it is, and praises his party's performance in the polls.

He says they also have to think about what's in the interest of Scotland, which he says is putting independence back at the top of the agenda, moving away from "identity politics" and to get the Scottish Parliament more focused on issues such as jobs and housing.

Kuenssberg asks former SNP leader Alex Salmond if there are talks under way between his new party, Alba, and his former colleague, Yousaf.

He says that Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf and Alba's only MSP Ash Regan will hold talks in the coming days.

He says he's hoping for a "constructive outcome" and his party is putting forward proposals for these talks.

However, he says Alba is preparing for Scottish Parliamentary elections if not.

Laura's next guest is Alba leader Alex Salmond, speaking live from Aberdeenshire. She asks him what his price is for supporting SNP leader Humza Yousaf, who may need the vote of his party's one MSP to stay in power.

He says his party's MSP Ash Regan is in a "highly influential position" and will take "reasonable" proposals to Yousaf, which could help the first minister to get out of a "tight political corner".

Salmond talks about wanting to reemphasise independence as a priority for the Scottish government and move away from the "identity agenda", and focus on other priorities.

Asked about ongoing strikes by junior doctors who are calling for more pay, Davey is asked whether GPs should be given more money.

"Yes" is his simple answer, saying some GP surgeries are having to "lay off" staff due to a lack of funding.

"The situation which is dire at the moment is going to get worse under the Conservatives," he says.

Laura asks about the health service and a Lib Dem announcement that they want people over 70 or with a serious health condition to have access to a named GP - is it feasible?

Davey says it's really important that people do have a named doctor, particularly in those circumstances.

The evidence shows it improves health outcomes, and he says it saves the NHS money.

Laura presses him on where the money would come from, and Davey says the Tory's tax cuts given to "big banks" since 2015 should be reversed.

Next up is Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, who's asked whether his party would form a coalition with Labour in the Scottish Parliament to form a majority, should the current SNP government collapse.

Davey swerves the question, saying he doesn't want to "prejudge" what could happen.

Instead he says Scottish Parliamentary elections must be held as the SNP is "failing" in Scotland because it's "so obsessed with independence, they've not focused on the basics".

At the start of the programme Laura asked government minister Chris Philp about a viral moment from last week's Question Time, where he faced ridicule for asking: "I mean, Rwanda is a different country to Congo isn't it? It's a different country?"

See how he explained the moment:

Next, Laura asks Streeting about immigration and Conservatives talking about capping numbers.

Streeting says on net migration, people agree it's too high - but to bring it down you need a "serious plan".

He says shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper has a "serious plan" and accuses the Conservatives of producing "gimmicks".

Next Streeting is asked about Labour's pledge, made in Sunday's Daily Express, that the party would keep the triple lock - which ensures pensions either rise in line with inflation, average wages, or by 2.5%, whichever is highest - for at least five years if it wins the next election.

He says it's part of his party's plan to give pensioners the reassurance that they "will get certainty under Labour", something he says can't be guaranteed under the Conservatives.