(This corrects an audio issue in the original version of this podcast)

Sporting metaphors aplenty today, with the sending off of Conservative party chair Nadhim Zahawi, strategist Isaac Levido giving a half-time pep talk to ministers at Chequers, and the risk of politicians nosediving before the next election. University of Manchester politics professor Rob Ford joins Stephen Carroll and Yuan Potts to discuss the political landscape, with a maximum of two years before the next election. Plus, Katharine Birbalsingh, dubbed Britain’s strictest headmistress, on the challenges facing schools ahead of Wednesday’s strike by teachers, and why she stepped down as the government’s social mobility adviser.