The week has kicked off with a huge political story - the resignation of Humza Yousaf - and will end with another, as voters across England and Wales turn out for the local elections.

Sky's political reporter Alexandra Rogers has looked ahead to a potentially defining night for Rishi Sunak's premiership, when hundreds of council seats, police and crime commissioner jobs, and mayoral posts will be up for grabs.

Read her full explainer below:

Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, has said it is "deeply depressing" that Tory party staff have allegedly "cheered on anti-Muslim hatred" after reports of leaked audio from a Reform UK meeting.

It has been alleged that Reform UK member Lee Anderson made the claim at a gathering in Kettering on Friday in a leaked recording heard by ITV News.

He allegedly said cabinet ministers were among those who gave their support after he was suspended from the Conservative Party.

One person reportedly told him: "Rishi has thrown you under the bus."

Mr Anderson was suspended from the Conservative Party after saying he believed "Islamists" had taken over control of London and Mr Khan.

He later defected to Reform UK.

Khan warns of 'fuelling hate crime'

In response, Mr Khan said: "We have a former Tory party deputy chair caught on camera being racist. 

"It is deeply depressing that he confirms his Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred was cheered on by current Tory party staff, MPs and cabinet ministers.

"It's unpatriotic to talk down modern, diverse, brilliant Britain in this way. And it has real-world consequences, fuelling hate crime and violent threats.

"The London mayoral election tomorrow will be close between Labour and the Tories. The choice is between Labour who are building a fairer, green, safer London for everyone - or the Tory candidate who wants to divide our communities and take London backwards."

A CCHQ spokesperson said: "A vote for Reform is a vote for Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour Party, taking us right back to square one.

"Only the Conservative Party is sticking to the plan, and delivering on the people's priorities."

Bin collections, potholes, local schools and town centres: Ruth Davidson and Jess Phillips were right in our Electoral Dysfunction podcast last week when they talked about these issues being the political meat of local elections when it comes to what voters want to talk about on the doorstep.

But it's true too that this set of local elections is hugely significant as the final big ballot test we're going to get before a general election.

Some 28 million people across England and Wales have the option of casting a vote - be it for councillors, mayors, London Assembly members or police and crime commissioners - and Labour is using this polling day as a dry run for a general election, testing their arguments, focusing their spending and attention in local battlegrounds where they need to win for general election victory.

And while much of the attention in the run-up to polling day has been on whether the results will trigger a full-blown leadership crisis for the Tories, what's perhaps more relevant to you the voters is what these elections tell us about the prospect of a majority Labour government.

Read more here:

Back to our political editor Beth Rigby's conversation with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, in which the topic of the Rwanda scheme was raised.

Beth asks about reports Labour may retain the migration flights for some time in government until they negotiate different returns agreements with the EU.

He says: "No, I don't believe in the scheme. 

"I don't think it will work. I know we have to stop the boats. I want to get going with our plan. 

"Stop the boats on day one, which requires us to stop the gangs that are running this vile trade or to work with law enforcement across the borders to make sure that people are not getting the boats in the first place.

"And that's why I've already had discussions in The Hague (including with EU law enforcement agency Europol) about how quickly we can share data intelligence to do that. 

"I'm absolutely determined to tackle this problem because the government has lost control of the borders. 

"What I'm not going to do is flog a dead horse."

 Our flagship weeknight politics show Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge will be live on Sky News from 7pm.

The fast-paced programme dissects the inner workings of Westminster, with interviews, insights, and analysis - bringing you, the audience, into the corridors of power.

Sophy will be joined by Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris and former England cricket star Monty Panesar, who's standing at the next election for George Galloway's Worker's Party.

And on her panel tonight will be:

• Guto Harri, former aide to Boris Johnson;
• Andrew Fisher, former head of policy for Jeremy Corbyn.

Watch live on Sky News, in the stream at the top of this page, and follow live updates here in the Politics Hub.

The conversation with Sir Keir Starmer now turns to the Hartlepool by-election in 2021, which was triggered after the resignation of Labour's Mike Hill.

The Conservative candidate Jill Mortimer won with 51.9% of the vote - and a swing from Labour of almost 16%

Beth Rigby asks if the Labour leader considered resigning that day.

He said: "I did, because I didn't feel that I should be bigger than the party and if I couldn't bring about the change, perhaps there should be a change.

"But actually, in the end, I reflected on it, talked to very many people and doubled down and determined… no, it's the change in the Labour Party that we need.

"And I do feel vindicated, because we are now a changed party."

Sir Keir adds the by-election loss was a "low point" and "it really hit me because my job was to turn around the Labour Party and take us from defeat to success".

He adds: "Losing hurts, and it should hurt in politics because this isn't about me, it is about whether the Labour Party can come back into government and serve working people so yes, it was a very, very low moment. 

"It required me then to double down and turbocharge the change that we needed in the Labour Party, so in that respect, retrospectively it was a good thing because it forced that onward pace, but I am not going to pretend it wasn’t a really hard time."

Sir Keir Starmer has today reiterated that the Labour Party "need to show progress" in the local elections on Thursday, despite being around 20 points ahead in the polls.

He tells our political editor Beth Rigby: "We have to show progress, there is no doubt about that.

"We're a changed Labour Party, we have to show that people have the confidence and the trust to vote for this changed Labour Party."

The Labour leader says: "The polls don't predict the future.

"The polls don't change the country, but I'll be looking for that progress."

Beth asks what this progress would ideally be.

"We want to make gains, there's no doubt about it. We're here at Harlow, we need and want to take this council.

"The feeling if you talk to our activists - there is optimism on the ground."

He is then asked about mayoral elections, and what he believes his prospects are in the West Midlands, where Labour is up against Tory mayor Andy Street.

Sir Keir admits this will be "a fight", adding: "It's going to be very, very tight."

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has today insisted the government's Rwanda scheme is a "gimmick" after it was confirmed police have raided the homes of the first people to be deported.

It comes following the recent passing of the Safety of Rwanda Act, which declared the central African nation safe following concerns raised by the Supreme Court last year.

Asked about this today, Sir Keir said: "The Rwanda scheme is a gimmick. We don’t support it and we won't be implementing it."

Starmer vows to 'take down gangs'

Sir Keir continued: "And the proof is absolutely clear. The prime minister did a victory speech on Rwanda a week ago on Monday. 

"Since then 1,300 people have arrived by small boats. The legislation got royal assent last Thursday. Since then 900 people have arrived by small boats and 230 arrived yesterday, and just one person has gone on a voluntary basis to Rwanda. 

"Nobody but nobody could think that this is going to work. 

"The real work has to be done on stopping the boats by taking down the gangs that are running the vile trade in the first place, and that's why I have already been over to The Hague to talk to law enforcement about how if we are privileged to come into power we can tackle this from day one at cause and stop people from arriving by small boats in the first place."

By Jake Levison, news reporter

The government has opened a consultation on the disability support system PIP (Personal Independence Payment), meaning eligibility criteria and other aspects of it could change.

Proposed changes come as part of the prime minister's pledge to reform the welfare system if the Conservatives win the next general election.

The criteria for getting PIP could change, as could the types of payments received by those who are eligible.

But what is PIP, who is able to get it, what is the government planning to change and who would be impacted?

Here's what you need to know.

Kate Forbes narrowly lost out to Humza Yousaf in last year's SNP leadership contest.

Ms Forbes has told Sky News she is considering entering the race again in the wake of Mr Yousaf's resignation.

The former finance secretary faced backlash during her campaign last year after admitting she would have voted against gay marriage in Scotland when it was made legal a decade ago.

The Free Church of Scotland member also told Sky News that having children out of marriage is "wrong" and something she would "seek to avoid".

However, the MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch stressed that "in a free society you can do what you want".

Ms Forbes had argued that "continuity won't cut it".

After losing to Mr Yousaf by 48% to 52%, she said: "If we are to continue to win elections, we need to continue to listen and maintain trust."

Ms Forbes turned down the role of rural affairs minister, which at the time was seen as a demotion.

Although her views on social issues remain unpopular with some of her MSP colleagues, she was one of the few SNP ministers who did not delete her WhatsApp messages during the COVID pandemic.

Ms Forbes would face resistance from the Scottish Greens, who have previously ruled out working with her.

SNP colleague Fergus Ewing is backing Ms Forbes, saying she is "head and shoulders" above any other potential candidate.