new few hours. what else has the new prime minister been up to. a couple of appointments _ prime minister been up to. a couple of appointments to _ prime minister been up to. a couple of appointments to ministerial - of appointments to ministerial positions, quite eye—catching. james timpson of the high street cobblers is a prisons minister. sir patrick vallance has been appointed as a science minister in the house of lords. the prime minister has also been doing the standard things a new prime minister does, which is a blitz of telephone calls to allies around the world. among them a conversation with president biden, talking about the relationship between washington and london and reflecting they will see each other next week at a nato summit in washington. also conversations with the taoiseach, the irish prime minister, simon harris, they will meet in a couple of weeks' time.

volodymyr zelensky, the president of ukraine, the italian prime minister and the canadian prime minister and speaking to the first ministers of wales and scotland and the first minister and deputy first ministers of northern ireland. so a busy few hours for the new prime minister, as he finds his way around the building behind us. hit he finds his way around the building behind us. ., behind us. hit the ground running. all riuht behind us. hit the ground running. all right we _ behind us. hit the ground running. all right we will _ behind us. hit the ground running. all right we will get _ behind us. hit the ground running. all right we will get another - behind us. hit the ground running. all right we will get another word i all right we will get another word from you later. labour managed to win their landslide without a significant increase in their vote compared to the last election. and turnout across the country was around 60% — the lowest in 20 years. reeta chakrabarti has been looking at the numbers. let's take a look at turnout first. and, despite some of the huge figures overnight, turnout was actually significantly down. overall across the uk, just 60% of voters came out to have their say. and as you can see, compared to five years ago, that's the dotted line there, the grey one, that is down 7.6%. and if you look back historically,

it's much lower than it used to be in the �*80s and in the �*90s. so a landslide labour victory, but the party's vote share tells a more nuanced story. so, compared to 2019, it's up less than 2%. and the lib dems over here are up even less. but they've both achieved their huge successes because of the plummeting in the conservative vote, down just shy of 20%. and let's not forget reform, the major beneficiaries of that fall in terms of vote share. there they are. but not in terms of seats. and that's because of the first—past—the—post system. so, let's break down the vote share in terms of the nations. this is how england looked — with the labour vote barely up by one percentage point and the conservatives down 21%, doing desperately badly. but a different story for reform and also actually for the greens, who had a good night. let's take a look now at wales, where the labour vote share again was notably down.

but that didn't stop them from gaining nine seats. again, that's because of the electoral system and mainly because the conservatives did so badly. let's take a look at scotland, where it is a completely different picture. a major surge by labour — up i7%. and that's at huge cost to the snp, down 15%. and they appear to have been severely damaged by recent events. in northern ireland, the main political parties aren't in play, but overall sinn fein have overtaken the dup in terms of vote share and also in terms of seats. but they won't take them up at westminster. one of the stories of the night, the low turnout. everywhere you looked last night, there were senior conservative figures losing their seats. perhaps the most significant was the former prime minister liz truss, who lost her majority of more than 2a,000 in what had been

one of the safest tory seats. rishi sunak said he'd heard the anger and disappointment of voters, and the inquest has already begun into why the conservative vote collapsed. here'sjoe pike. the candidates, please, to join me on the stage... it was a predawn postmortem. as a party, the conservatives must come back together, look deep in our political souls, and ask some uncomfortable questions. as one catastrophic conservative campaign concluded, another battle began. do you plan to stand for leader, kemi? the search for a successor. is it time for a newjob? former business secretary kemi badenoch is tipped to run, as is ex—immigration minister robertjenrick. congratulations, robert, good luck with your leadership bid, which will no doubt be coming up soon. other possibilities include centrist tom tugendhat, and further to the right, three ex—home secretaries — james cleverly... good morning, everybody. ..priti patel and suella braverman.

and we need to learn our lesson. but only survivors can stand, and amongst the night's record 12 cabinet casualties... the conservative party candidate, 13,715. ..were likely leadership contenders penny mordaunt and grant shapps. we have tried the patience of traditional conservative voters with a propensity to create an endless political soap opera. among the 250 tories dumped by voters, liz truss, who was slow hand clapped for keeping her fellow candidates waiting. we haven't delivered sufficiently on the policies people want. - but do you accept that, first as a cabinet minister and then, for a brief time as prime minister, you were part of the people in power who were overseeing those things not being delivered? i agree i was part of that, that is absolutely true. i in an unexpected win, jeremy hunt held on.

he moved out of 11 downing street with his family hours after. conservatives returning here know their party has lost voters in multiple directions but it is one rival — reform uk — which has caused particular problems. after decades of tory splits on europe, many assumed that achieving brexit would consign nigel farage to history but instead he will be in parliament, sitting a few metres away. the new leader will need to decide whether to bring him close or keep their distance. rishi sunak has resigned as pm but remains conservative leader, for now. big boots to fill. first elected just nine years ago, he rose rapidly. you will not face this alone. becoming a national name during the pandemic, but fined during partygate. he resigned as chancellor after tensions with borisjohnson. your own an economic adviser said that that would lead to mortgage rates and interest rates going up. he lost to liz truss in the leadership race but ended up in office,

after her administration imploded. he would claim that his legacy is financial stability. others would argue that it is leading an election campaign of historically disastrous proportions which has left his party now searching for their fifth leader in five years. joe pike, bbc news, westminster. the full extent of the tory rout. the liberal democrats converted an energetic and memorable campaign, into many new seats. ed davey focussed resources on areas across the south west of england held by the conservatives. they also took the seats of the former prime minister borisjohnson in henley, david cameron in witney, and theresa may in maidenhead, from where hannah miller reports. # sweet caroline. ..# a series of historic wins that felt... # so good, so good!

..as the liberal democrats won 71 seats, even more than they managed before going into coalition. our best result for over 100 years. ed davey rebuilding the party to become the third biggest in parliament. trust is a very precious commodity. it's hard won. and sometimes you lose it, and you will have to work very hard to win it back. the party took a swathe of seats across the south—west, including cheltenham, where they defeated justice secretary alex chalk, and tunbridge wells in kent, which has been conservative ever since its creation in 197a. there are two main factors in the lib dems' success — the crumbling of the conservative vote in heartlands like here in maidenhead, but also the party's own laser—like focus on places where it had previously come second. their national vote share has barely

changed compared to 2019, but the lib dems stacked up votes in key target areas. while people may have laughed at the stunts, behind the scenes there was a serious strategy. how long has this been in the making? we have been working in maidenhead for a long time now. we took control of the council last year. we have been working since 2019 to really cement ourselves in the community so residents that we are known as local champions. at the village hall, kate told us why she supported the lib dems. i used to vote conservative and i'm just so disapppointed in them that it's time for change. do you feel the conservatives lost here or did the lib dems win? hmm, i think the lib dems won. we are looking forward for the lib dems to do what they should do for the community. whilst there is much

to celebrate for the lib dems, they now have plenty to prove if they want their gains to be a spectacle that lasts for more than a moment. hannah miller, bbc news, maidenhead. there were celebrations too for reform uk, winning five seats, with the party leader, nigel farage, entering the commons as an mp on his eighth attempt. during a speech today, where he was interrupted by hecklers, he said his party's success in taking votes from the conservatives was just the first step, and now he'd be targeting labour. lucy manning reports on the rise of reform uk. hello, how are you? nigel farage took himself off for a celebratory lunch in london, finally making it as an mp, and not his party's only one. do you feel a bit guilty that you have taken so many votes from the tory party, and let labour have this landslide? listen, they would have lost anyway. how should a bruised tory party deal with you now, that you have four mps? i don't really care.

they can do what they like. they will fight amongst themselves like they have done for the last four years. i am not bothered about them at all. successfully squeezing the conservative support. third in the share of votes, third in the number of votes, but not matched by the number of seats, something that mr farage has an issue with. reform uk's mps arrived today at westminster and at first had to deal with more than half a dozen hecklers. nigel, you're a racist, you party's full of racists. boring. boring! this is good preparation for the house of commons, i suppose, isn't it? we may be too few in number to be necessarily be thought of as the opposition in the house of commons, but let me promise you, we are going to be the opposition

around the country. i am now going to declare the result... early morning before the sun rose in clacton, the rise of nigel farage. nigel farage, reform uk, 21,000. the smile said it all. he has helped wipe out the tories, but now he wants more. we will be targeting labour votes. we are coming for labour, be in no doubt about that. believe me, folks, this is just the first step of something that is going stun all of you. earlier, he had gathered with supporters at a restaurant by clacton pier and celebrated theirfirst win — lee anderson, in ashford. cheering this evening nigel farage took the call from his candidate in south basildon and east thurrock to say after three counts he'd won the seat. epic! well, all can i tell you now

is as an elected politician, your life is ruined completely! congratulations! so, four mps become five, now westminster must prepare for the arrival of nigel farage. one of his mps said, "there will be fireworks!" lucy manning, bbc news. despite the remarkable scale of labour's victory, there were some setbacks for keir starmer. in leicester south, the labour frontbencher jonathan ashworth was defeated by a pro—palestinian independent candidate. there were similar labour losses in dewsbury and batley, and also in blackburn. and in islington north, the former labour leaderjeremy corbyn won as an independent, after being banned from standing by labour in the seat which he's held for more than a0 years.

the political landscape shifted in every part of the uk overnight. in a moment, we'll get the latest from sara girvin in northern ireland, where sinn fein are now the largest party. hywel griffith has the story in wales, where there are no conservative mps left. but we begin in scotland, on a dramatic night of losses for the snp. james cook has that story. applause. in dramatic, emphatic fashion, scottish labour is back. they swept the board here in glasgow, a moment for which they have waited nearly a decade. people across glasgow, scotland and the uk have voted for change. as the clock ticked past midnight, it slowly dawned on the snp this was notjust a bad dream — it was a nightmare. there is no doubt this has been a very difficult election, and the snp has some serious questions to answer. what are they? i think we need to reflect

on the fact that, during this campaign, the biggest concern of voters was the cost of living crisis, and unfortunately, when voters were concerned about the cost of living crisis, all they were hearing was discussion about luxury camper vans and ipads. a reference to two very different investigations into snp finances and an msp's expenses. and for the leader, questions about his focus on independence. i want to make it clear that i take full responsibility for the scottish national party campaign and the outcome that has been achieved. that is what leadership is about. you plan your campaign and you take responsibility for it when it is completed. dawn brought more than a splash of red to clydeside. at the last election, labour had just one scottish mp. now we need a wide angle lens to fit them all in. let me be really clear. the vote last night was not about independence, and i say directly to people who may have voted snp in the past,

may have voted for independence in the past or may even be thinking about voting for independence at some point in the future. i want to deliver change for you. i don't support independence, i don't support a referendum, but i recognise people demand change — labour's winning election message was that it could deliver change. across the uk, it might have five years or so to prove to voters that it can deliver it, but here in scotland, there is a more urgent deadline — the scottish parliamentary elections are just two years away. the problem is, it may need to win that election before it can even tackle some of the country's biggest concerns. educational attainment gap is widening, health outcomes are weak, child poverty is stubbornly high. all of these things show that we are not progressing as a society, and that's a job for the labour party now, to fix that. the snp had got used to winning. it's painfully obvious how much losing hurts. james cook, bbc news, glasgow.

a red letter day for monmouth. now back in labour's colours for the first time in almost 20 years, its people persuaded, just about, by their message. well, i don't want to go with the political thing of "we needed a change," but we needed a change. met up with family yesterday and they all had the same opinion. they may have voted conservative in the past, but yesterday the three of us as groups voted labour. no wonder the party wanted to come here to celebrate. even if success depends on how you frame things. its share of the vote in wales was actually down — the number of labour voters, the lowest since 1935. there are lots of lessons for us in the result, and the scale of the victory does give us a special responsibility. but i found on the doorstep that, as well as a real thirst for change, there's an honesty about the length of time it will take to put right the last 1a years. it is the end of an era

for the conservatives here. former welsh secretaries all lost their seats in what was a total tory wipe—out. people were telling us what they felt about some of the antics and shenanigans that had gone on over the last five years in westminster, and that turned people off from voting conservative. so the tide has turned in wales, and notjust for the bigger parties. look beneath the surface and you'll also see a swell of support for reform in wales. not enough to claim any mps this time, but they will have an eye on the senedd elections just around the corner. plaid, too, says it's heading in the right direction after claiming four mps. we're looking forward already to the 2026 senedd election, | when we are now clearly _ the strongest challengers to labour. plenty of work ahead, but for now, the welsh map is mostly painted red. hywel griffith, bbc news. cheering. with just 18 seats up for grabs in northern ireland, every win and every loss matters.

by holding its seven seats, nationalist sinn fein has become northern ireland's biggest party at westminster for the first time. it doesn't take its seats in the house of commons because it doesn't think westminster should make decisions for northern ireland. it wants a united ireland. i think the fact that we are now the largest party of local government, the largest party of the assembly and the largest party of westminster, speaks to the fact that i think that it's time for change. it's time for us to be able to take control of our own fortunes here at home. so i look forward to the journey that we have ahead in terms of having a constitutional change conversation. it was a bad night for the democratic unionist party, which suffered significant losses — none bigger than in north antrim, where ian paisley was unseated from a constituency his family has held for more than 50 years. the architect of that political earthquake was the leader of the traditional unionist voice, jim allister, the dup's most ardent critic over its decision to go back into power sharing at stormont.

dup leader gavin robinson held his seat but warned about votes being split between different unionist parties. i think in constituencies right across northern ireland you can see the consequences of divided unionism. i think you can see that there are constituencies within northern ireland for which there isn't the luxury in a first past the post election, to shop around. the alliance party, which doesn't identify as unionist or nationalist, took the seat held by the dup's former leader, sirjeffrey donaldson, since 1997. as the shock waves of this election settle, there is much to consider. but with sinn fein in the top spot and the dup bruised, calls for a conversation about an irish unity referendum are likely to grow louder. sara girvin, bbc news. as we've been hearing, labour made gains right across the country, taking seats they'd never held

before, and winning back the so—called red wall of constituencies across the north and the midlands that turned blue in 2019, but have historically voted labour. ed thomas has spent the day in grimsby, finding out how people there feel, about labour's message of change. the red wall is being rebuilt. grimsby has gone red again. labour, get in! thank god. let's hope they can save the nhs, if nothing else. but still... it has been scandal- after scandal after scandal. who else could we vote for? and grimsby�*s challenges — deprivation, inequality — are now labour's to solve. but a win is a win. this is leanne's place. a baby bank, food bank, and subsidised bingo. she is seeing more and more families in need. this country isn't the country that it used to be. she voted labour, but onlyjust. just how committed are you to labour? i voted for them.

i'm not particularly committed to them. a tactical vote, to get the others out. simple as that? simple as that. labour's to—do list can be found here. the cost of living still hurts. one in four commercial premises are empty in grimsby. many feel let down. every time there is a vote, they're going to do this, they're going to do that, they're going to change this, they're going to change that, but what's happening? nothing. like elsewhere, more than one in two people here who could vote, didn't. did you vote? no. why would you not vote? because i don't care. i have been a labour man all my life. - trade unionist. working class. | no point in me voting. this town has gone downhill. i don't vote because i'm very disillusioned. - labour faces new pressures. reform came second in grimsby. butchers lee and his dad gary have found a new political home. i like nigel farage. i don't think the others have got the balls to do anything about what is happening in the country. your number one issue this election?

i would say it is immigration. there will be more and more people voting for reform if nothing changes. that is what is going to happen, i think. but change has come. it has got to be better than it has been, for my whole family. we have to now be hopeful going forward, otherwise what's the point? looking foward is grace. stood tall, went in, voted for what i thought was right. she's 18 and voted labour in her very first election. i'm feeling very hopeful. i hope that it is a new path, new direction. hopefully it is going to be a bit better. that hope is that the promises made are promises kept. ed thomas, bbc news, grimsby. sir keir starmer has become the seventh labour prime minister. his ascent to the top of politics began in 2015, when he was first elected to parliament, following a career in law. vicki young reports now on the rise of the new prime minister.

when you are named after the first leader of the labour party, maybe a political career is inevitable, but keir starmer did not take a direct route to number ten. his story began in surrey where he lived with his parents — a nurse and a toolmaker — and his three siblings. he went to reigate grammar, and when it became a private school, he stayed on a bursary. he was musical, playing the flute, piano and violin. he later gained law degrees from leeds and oxford universities and became barrister specialising in human rights. in the �*80s, he spoke about the laws restricting acid house parties. the police must limit themselves to those powers and not beyond it. friends from those days were among the crowd in downing street today. one recalls keir starmer�*s immense capacity for work and study. what people do not see are those quiet moments in private when he is incredibly engaging, incredibly fun, but when it comes to work, i think it is fair to say that he takes it very seriously.

one way that he has always relaxed is football. his passion for the game as a player and arsenal fan continues today. i'm a massive football fan. one of my boyhood memories is the five o'clock, sports report. remember that? hums theme tune. in 2008, he became the director of public prosecutions, overseeing high profile cases like mps' expenses, and then, having joined the labour party in his teens, came a relatively late entrance into politics, elected to the commons at the age of 52. do you want to be prime minister? i'm not going to fall into that trap! it's like asking me if i want to play for england! like my son said to me earlier this week, shall i play for arsenal or chelsea when i grow up? that kind of conversation, i don't think it is that helpful! he was passionately opposed to brexit and argued for a second referendum. whenjeremy corbyn was re—elected labour leader, keir starmer took a job when many of his colleagues refused, but he later showed a ruthless streak when he suspended his predecessor from the party over anti—semitism.

he has spoken often of his admiration for the nhs, clapping for carers with his wife during covid, but it was his mother's attitude to her lifelong illness that taught him a lesson for life. he recently recalled her bravery the day that she had an operation to amputate her leg. shejust said to me, "keir, i hope they don't cut the wrong blooming leg off!" a bit of me thinks if my mum could go into that operation with that frame of mind, i ought to be able to get up and do whatever it is i've got to do. and that is the attitude his friends say he will bring to the enormous task ahead of him now. vicki young, bbc news, westminster. so what's in the new prime minister's in—tray over the coming days? well, this weekend he's expected to take more calls from world leaders and he'll continue building his cabinet, appointing junior ministers to government departments. on tuesday, the new parliament will meet, with the first opportunity to speak at the despatch box as prime minister. then, on wednesday and thursday,

he'll be propelled onto the world stage, flying to washington for the nato leaders' summit, where he'll meet, among others, president biden. he's already spoken to president zelensky of ukraine today. but perhaps the most pressing priority for the prime minister is the economy. the new chancellor, rachel reeves, issued a damning assessment of the state of the uk's finances, saying, in her words, "there's not a huge amount of money." our economics editor, faisal islam, has spent the day with her. in halifax, a new solar—panelled bus terminal. if the new chancellor's plans for a green economic revolution are delivered, this sight will be repeated up and down the country. one local entrepreneur says speed is of the essence. rachel says that she has a plan and that plan needs to be implemented. how much time has she got? we've run out of time already and that's the reality, isn't it, that there's businesses that are folding. local authorities

have gone bankrupt. this afternoon at the treasury, a glass ceiling in british economics broken at last. it is also a huge privilege to be the first ever female chancellor of the exchequer. so every young woman and girl... earlier in her seat in leeds, the new chancellor was candid to bbc news about her room for manoeuvre. i know the scale of the challenge. there's not a huge amount of money there and so what we need to do is unlock private sector investment. does this suggest that you're willing to see some political pain in order to get the growth the country needs? we're willing to have that fight because unless we can unlock that investment, unless we can reform our planning system to be able to do that, we're going to be stuck in this doom loop of high taxes, low growth, and poor public services. we've got to break out of that doom loop. with crumbling council finances, universities going bankrupt, and infrastructure investment badly needed, the new chancellor can see, even in her own back yard of west yorkshire, the problems facing the economy.

to change that, she says she has a plan. but with money scarce, painful political decisions are needed and quickly. the new government thinks the uk can double onshore wind power, treble solar and quadruple offshore wind by the end of the decade. what matters for green growth is there's £100 billion of capital, more than that, waiting to be deployed in the uk. that's been going abroad because we can't build stuff here. that means that not only do you not get the jobs in construction and, you know, actually creating this infrastructure, but we don't benefit from the cheap electricity it would bring as well. that's going to change. in west yorkshire and beyond, there are more basic challenges too, like getting the transpennine trains to run on time, or run at all. the new government has a mandate to get the economy back on track. how quickly can it deliver? faisal islam, bbc news. the sweep of electoral history hasn't been kind to labour. the party is much more

proficient at losing elections than winning them. it's a century since they first entered government, so how does this latest victory compare to other political landslides of the past? here's allan little. only two elections in living memory have fundamentally reshaped british society. the first was the labour landslide of 19115. put labour in. vote conservative — socialism must win. it brought swathes of the economy into public ownership — coal, steel, shipbuilding. it vastly extended the welfare state. it built millions of council houses. it founded the national health service. in this new society, levels of social and economic inequality fell dramatically. the conservatives came to accept much of this as a new reality, and a cross—party consensus formed that lasted nearly a0 years.

the second transformational election was mrs thatcher's victory in 1979. she, too, would use her mandate to build a new kind of britain. the heavy industries were swept away, to be replaced by all of this — an economy based on services and especially finance. council houses were sold off and so were the public utilities. the market — not the state — would propel this new britain. under tony blair, new labour came to accept much of this new reality and a second cross—party consensus emerged. that, too, has lasted for decades. is yesterday's labour victory comparable to those two pivotal moments? does it have the potential to transform britain? keir starmer has won a very big majority, but the country faces very big problems. so not only is he going to have to rebuild the economy and restore our public services, but actually rebuild trust and confidence in our democracy.

everybody has just felt drowned down by the chaos, really, and the disreputableness of the government. and i think it already feels that you can breathe more easily with this new team. people are entitled to have a democracy they can be proud of. they haven't had that for a long time. but this election may yet prove historic for what it says not so much about labour, but about what has happened to the conservatives. the conservative party has been the most electorally successful force in british politics for 200 years, and they've enjoyed that success from the pragmatic centre right of the political spectrum. now, there could well be a gap where the centre right used to be. when you look at today's conservative party, do you recognise it as something that you once belonged to? i think that the conservative party has drifted towards becoming a sort of narrow minded, nationalist, populist party. tommy robinson in a cravat.

so it's a terrible prospect, and i hope there'll be enough people in the conservative party who will stand out against it. where is the right of centre in the british political spectrum now? well, it's been shredded. and the idea that the bravermans of this world and priti patel and others represent true conservatism is historical and practical and present day bilge. not long ago, it was considered impossible for labour to come back from the crushing defeat it suffered in 2019 in the space of a single parliament. but voters are much more willing to switch party allegiances now. the electorate is probably more volatile than it's been at any time in the democratic era. for these are days of a deep public disaffection with politics. labour now has five years, but by the next election, the challenge may come from a radical new right wing force that will seek to thrive on that disaffection. allan little, bbc news, westminster. let's get a final word from chris.

it was bucketing down when the election was called, now its over, it is bucketing down again. rishi sunak said that he will stay on until a new leaderfound. the until a new leader found. the conservatives _ until a new leader found. the conservatives are _ until a new leader found. tue conservatives are the until a new leader found. tte conservatives are the formula one car of the british politics. they have been shrivelled by what has happened. so a debate has already started about how they revive themselves. and there is the question of the role that rishi sunak plays. at what point does he say that he will go. does he delay his departure. the conservative party faces some very, very big questions. yes about its future, but also how in the short—term it works

its way to a new leader. that also how in the short-term it works its way to a new leader.— its way to a new leader. that is the tories what about _ its way to a new leader. that is the tories what about labour? - its way to a new leader. that is the tories what about labour? put - its way to a new leader. that is the tories what about labour? put into conteb at the scene scale of the victory —— contextt conteb at the scene scale of the victory —— context t the scale of the victory. tt victory -- context t the scale of the victory-— the victory. it is huge. we have onl had the victory. it is huge. we have only had four — the victory. it is huge. we have only had four occasions - the victory. it is huge. we have only had four occasions in - the victory. it is huge. we have only had four occasions in 45 i only had four occasions in 45 years where power has shifted from labour to conservative or serve to labour. 1979, 1997, 201 and now 2024. what is curious about this particular election is the scale of keir starmer�*s success in terms of winning seats, and yet the share of the vote that labour managed is actually pretty limited. the smallest share of the vote for single party of government in many years. so critics will say it is broad but not deep and then there is the scale of the challenges that keir starmer will face, just as rishi sunakfaced keir starmer will face, just as rishi sunak faced and we know all of those, whether it is nhs, the tax

burden, the international picture. that is huge. so he wants to be seen to be cracking on with that cabinet meeting happening here tomorrow morning. meeting happening here tomorrow morninu. . ~ meeting happening here tomorrow morninu. ., ~ i. we'll look back at some of the most memorable moments of the last 24 hours in a moment but first, let's take a look at the weather with chris fawkes. i know what you going to say! yes, is it raining. _ i know what you going to say! yes, is it raining, clive? _ i know what you going to say! yes, is it raining, clive? you _ i know what you going to say! yes, is it raining, clive? you can - i know what you going to say! te: is it raining, clive? you can see it on the umbrellas and the first signs of that rain, this cloud coming into falmouth to rid at the end of the afternoon, this low pressure is developing and forming over the top of the uk with heavy rain across the south—east, heavy downpours in devon and cornwall, pretty widespread showers in northern ireland and scotland. as the low pressure continues to form over the coming hours, it will turn quite windy as well. overnight, all in all it looks pretty wet with heavy bursts of rain around, the winds picking up a particularly across southern parts

of england and wales, perhaps claim it spells in the central lowlands and southern scotland and the far north of england but otherwise, you will probably see some rain at some point over the next few hours and the rain is still with us in the morning. these bands of heavy rain pushing eastwards with time but in the afternoon it turns a bit brighter with a mixture of sunshine and showers and that is true in northern ireland and indeed scotland as well. gusty winds of around 30 mph in england and wales so quite a blow we afternoon and temperatures for most of the 16—19 but look at that, just 12 in parts of north—east scotland where it will be optically cool scotland where it will be optically cool. sunday is the better date of the weekend but it's all relative. after a sunny start we get showers forming they are likely to be widespread and heavy and thundery in nature. temperatures, london around 24 this time of year on average but 18 is another cooljuly day but it will feel ok in any sunshine come to a similar pattern greets us on

monday and tuesday, low loitering and moving across the uk and so there is no real end in sight to this rather changeable spell of cool july weather so you have more rain to look forward to! cheers, chris, thank you for that. that's it from downing street, on a momentous day in british politics. i'll leave you now with some of the sights and sounds of the last 24 hours, as labour achieved its landslide victory. have a very good night. we did it! cheering. # sweet caroline... this is just the first step of something that is going to stun all of you.

i have called sir keir starmer to congratulate him. it was clearly a terrible night for the conservatives. - sir keir starmer, your majesty. your majesty. applause. we leave clive in his drizzly downing street, welcome to the end of a busy day in british politics and of course the uk's new prime minister is spending his first night at downing street after labour—mack wanted to extort victory in the general election. the conservatives suffered their worst ever defeat

in their near 200 year history. good evening, thank you for being with us. keir starmer has started some of the work already. he has the weekend to get his head around a few things. come home monday morning, what's at the top of his to do list, do you think? so i think on monday morning the thing that is most going to be thinking about is the fact that he's going to be flying to washington the very next day to a nato summit. tt washington the very next day to a nate summit-— nato summit. it comes at a time where the _ nato summit. it comes at a time where the support _ nato summit. it comes at a time where the support for _ nato summit. it comes at a time where the support for ukraine i nato summit. it comes at a time. where the support for ukraine has been somewhat creaking particularly in america, particularly in the shadow of a potential donald trump presidency, so think he is very quickly going to have to turn into a statesman on the world stage, he is going to quickly turn his mind to how to deal with foreign affairs and show the uk's partners across the world that he and the labour government will continue to support ukraine in particular in the same way that rishi sunak and the

conservatives did.— way that rishi sunak and the conservatives did. we've been told that he has — conservatives did. we've been told that he has both _ conservatives did. we've been told that he has both spoken _ conservatives did. we've been told that he has both spoken with - conservatives did. we've been told that he has both spoken with both| that he has both spoken with both president biden and presents on ski on the phone as well as other world leaders obviously. how do you think his meetings will go with the nato summit? ., ., ~' ~' his meetings will go with the nato summit? ., ., ~ ~ , his meetings will go with the nato summit? ~ , ., , summit? look, i think he is actually met a lot of— summit? look, i think he is actually met a lot of leaders, _ summit? look, i think he is actually met a lot of leaders, he _ summit? look, i think he is actually met a lot of leaders, he has - met a lot of leaders, he has met president macomb before, he met schultz, he hasn't met biden but he's met his team and a lot around him, will have quite a successful time because we are talking about a lot of world leaders in these key countries and also canada is another one, where it is the centre left in power, they are politicians who are close to the labour party and they are people who he has dealt with a lot. i think on an interpersonal level it will be quite ok. what he's going to have to find very quickly is the uk is in a position where we have to try and show leadership in nato, we have started to lose it a bit because of the decreases in event spending —— defence spending, into an area where germany and

france are starting to be big players, he is part of it quickly going to have to assert his authority beyond the niceties to show he can lead the alliance on the european side and particularly when the american part of the alliance is you know, quite predictable, and white be quite unpredictable —— might be quite unpredictable for the years to come. might be quite unpredictable for the years to come-— might be quite unpredictable for the years to come. labour party members in their manifesto _ years to come. labour party members in their manifesto amongst _ years to come. labour party members in their manifesto amongst other - in their manifesto amongst other things of course the nhs and education. the ministerfor things of course the nhs and education. the minister for those departments already been appointed, what are the first steps in starting to fulfil some of those promises? i think of the education side, what they'll do very quickly as they will bring in the tax on private schools, taxing them vat which will mean that they get that money and they will spend it more inside schools to hire teachers, i think they said 6500 new teachers, i think they said 6500 new teachers across the state school system, so that's an easy tax measure to do, that will can be done in the next fiscal statement which

will be done around the autumn time, that something on paper which is quite straightforward even if it's more complex and carrying it out. the more difficult part will be when it gets to the health challenges, wes streeting, the new health secretary said he wants to have a wide—ranging reform of the health service which will include some measures of privatisation, some areas where the private sector is used more, and there is so many challenges in the health system and there is such a long waiting list that you can'tjust there is such a long waiting list that you can't just throw money at it, they are promising too much more money for the hospital system in this country so there is an issue when they are not pledging to raise much tax. they will really have to grapple with it and that will be something people will concentrate on very closely. lats something people will concentrate on ve closel . ., , ., something people will concentrate on very closely-— very closely. lots to be done there, i know you'll— very closely. lots to be done there, i know you'll be _ very closely. lots to be done there, i know you'll be keeping _ very closely. lots to be done there, i know you'll be keeping your - very closely. lots to be done there, i know you'll be keeping your eye i very closely. lots to be done there, | i know you'll be keeping your eye on it closely, thanks forjoining us. thank you. a large gap between the share of total votes won by each party and the share of parliamentary seats won has prompted renewed calls

for reform of the electoral system. reform uk has complained that it got four million votes — under the current first—past—the—post system — but only four mps. the greens have also said they want to see a "fairer system". bbc verify has been looking at the disparity between the vote share and the share of seats in the 2024 general election and has found that it is the largest on record — as ben chu now explains. the result of this election has prompted complaints of unfairness because of the gap between the share of votes won by some of the parties and the share of seats won. is this justified? well, let's take a look. here are the vote shares of the party standing across england, scotland and wales. labour on 34%, the conservatives on 24%, reform on 14%, liberal democrats on 12% and the greens on 7%. but here are their shares of the 650 house of commons seats, and labour gets a much larger share of the seats than it does of the votes. almost twice the share.

and look at some of the smaller parties. reform got 14% of the votes, but only 1% of the seats. the greens, they got 7% of the votes, but only 1% of the seats. now, bear in mind that this is how the uk's first past the post system works. it has a tendency to give disproportionate results relative to systems in some other countries. first past the post means the person with the largest number of votes in each constituency gets elected, and candidates from other parties get nothing for their votes in that area. but how disproportionate has this result been relative to previous elections? well, this shows the vote shares and the seat shares of the party that won the most seats in each election since 1997. and this is 2024 at the end. so how does this gap in 2024 between the vote share and the seat share compare historically? well, let's go all

the way back to 1922, and this shows the 2024 gap 30% points. so as you can see, it's bigger than every uk election going back 100 years. but does this show the system is unfair? well, it's important to note that political parties have to campaign within the voting system as it is, and labour points out, it put its campaigning resources into certain seats in order to maximise its chances of winning a large number of seats, rather than boosting its overall vote share. it's also vital to recognise voters might well vote differently if the voting system was more proportional. and, by the way, a plan to replace the current first past the post system with an alternative vote system, which advocates said would make results more proportional to the national share of votes cast, was rejected by the public pretty comprehensively in a 2011 referendum. so will there be an appetite for another national debate on the subject of electoral reform? let's see.

so with a look at some of main events today — christian fraser has been casting his eye across what's been happening and is at the newswall. it has been an extraordinary 24 hours for labour and the new prime minister, sir keir starmer. this looks for all the world like a 1997 tony blair landslide. this an implosion for the conservatives. there is no precedent for this, even all the way back to 1832 and the great reform act. but there is a word of caution in these results for labour and the liberal democrats, and that is in the vote share. here is the collapsing conservative share, but look at labour's vote share — going upjust a couple of points to 35%. that is the lowest vote share for a party returned with a majority. it is lower than jeremy corbyn in 2017. it's certainly lower than that landslide we were talking about in 1997.

similar picture for the liberal democrats. they've picked up 71 seats, but their vote share is flatlining. so how have they done it? well, the answer is in the way people voted and where they voted. so where labour was competitive against the conservatives, you see some evidence of tactical voting. labour's vote was up, the liberal democrat vote is squeezed, and there you see the split on the right. conversely, in liberal democrat—conservative seats, where liberal democrats were competitive against the conservative candidate, the liberal democrats are up 7%, labour's vote is squeezed. so this is more about a revulsion of the conservative candidates in these seats than it is about revolution. let's have a look at how that works in a couple of examples. so this is chichester, a lib dem gain from the conservatives —

gillian keegan, the former education secretary. there you see quite a big swing towards the liberal democrats, and that squeeze in the labour vote. yes, reform takes a big chunk out of the right, but it wouldn't have mattered because people are lending their votes to the liberal democrats to get rid of the conservative. similar picture the other way around in hitchin, where you have bim afolami, a former treasury minister. again, labour's vote going up and almost conversely, the liberal democrat vote going down. and again, the reform a lot of vote for reform, but it doesn't matter. and so that's why you get a situation where reform pick up four million in vote share and only get four, possibly five seats when it's all done and dusted. and yet the liberal democrats, with 3.5 million votes, get 71. their vote is concentrated in the seats where it counts. let's talk about the nations, so we can talk about scotland. back in 2019, the snp picked up 48

of the then 59 seats. scotland lost two in the boundary review. any labour recovery had to come through glasgow, through the central belt, through north lanarkshire, south lanarkshire, east renfrewshire out to the west. let's click it on and see what happened. in fact, labour took all six glasgow seats, a total disaster for the snp. some interesting seats here. uh, this one here — cowdenbeath and kirkcaldy was formerly gordon brown's seat lothian east, douglas, alexander, um and of course now they have many, many more seats than that one seat they had in 2019, in edinburgh south. let's have a look at the picture in wales. in actual vote share terms in scotland, labour party did particularly well — doubled their vote share. but in wales, actually, their vote share was down 4%. and there's a reason for that. first of all, of course they're

being judged on their record in wales because labour are in charge of the senned. are in charge of the senedd. and there's been that vote of no confidence in the first minister, vaughan gething. but the conservatives were very much on the defensive. we knew that in north wales, where they had a good night in 2019, a swing of 5% would deliver a clutch of seats for labour. so let's click it forward and see what happened, and you'll see that the conservatives are completely wiped out. the welsh secretary david tc davies, taken out in monmouthshire. in carmarthenshire, the chief whip, simon hart, is gone. this really good result actually should point this out for plaid cymru. that was a traditional three way marginal and they took it. so a really good result for plaid. and they finished with four having been reduced nominally speaking to two under the boundary review. not all great news though, for labour candidates up and down the country. spare a thought forjonathan

ashworth, the man who appears on radio four today programme or on the bbc to defend labour and speak for the shadow cabinet. on the cusp of power, and he's taken out by an independent who is campaigning on gaza and the middle east, who's critical ofjonathan ashworth, the shadow secretary for work and pensions, because he hadn't voted for a ceasefire. and there's a big minority vote, muslim minority vote, in leicester south. in fact, in four seats, we've seen independents take seats from labour on a campaign for gaza and the middle east. and jonathan ashworth certainly one of those who paid the price. you will see in the cabinet a lot of sympathy for him, because, in fact, rachel reeves and yvette cooper who have taken two of the great offices of state — they were clinging on in 2019 up there in leeds, and now they're in government. yvette cooper has been there, of course, before home secretary. she's been on the front benches in power and in opposition. she's putting forward, as home secretary, a plan to tackle

the boats crossing the channel. there will be a new border force with powers under the anti—terrorism laws. she will certainly bejudged on that. david lammy, mpfor tottenham, campaigning mp. he will become the foreign secretary. got a lot of praise actually through the campaign, particularly on d—day. bad for rishi sunak, but very good for keir starmer. you and it was david lammy who put him alongside some of the world leaders on that day, working some of his contacts. rachel reeves — she's waited for this job. she's been trying to convince people and business that the labour party can be trusted with the economy and are fiscally responsible. she's talked about reducing debt as a share of national income to bring down borrowing, but of course she has to find growth. where will she find that growth? here's three others for you. angela rayner, who's been injeremy corbyn's shadow cabinet deputy prime minister. she'll also be secretary for levelling up, formerly a senior officer for unison, a union worker very much

on the left of the party. you could maybe say she is the sort ofjohn prescott figure within this new labour government. john healey, one of the longest serving mps who arere in the cabinet. as defence secretary, he served on ed miliband's shadow cabinet. he served onjeremy corbyn's shadow cabinet. now he is the defence secretary with sir keir starmer, and quite a job he has because although labour is committed to meeting that 2.5% target on defence spending, they have ordered a spending review. they say they will do it as and when they can. but lots of pressure on the defence secretary. and wes streeting finally health secretary, also a campaigning mp, was formerly president of the national students union, someone who suffered himself with ill health. he had kidney cancer. he's recovering from that. so he knows all about waiting lists. he knows about the problems in the nhs, but quite a job to fix it. lots to do for the new cabinet and some very, very urgent work to get under way.

certainly a lot to read through there, lots going on today, a busy day in politics. you there, lots going on today, a busy day in militia-— day in politics. you can read all about it at _ day in politics. you can read all about it at the _ day in politics. you can read all about it at the bbc's _ day in politics. you can read all about it at the bbc's news - day in politics. you can read all. about it at the bbc's news website about it at the bbc�*s news website and the news app, 20 of their to keep you occupied,. now it's time for a look at the weather with chris fawkes. that's it for me for now, have a very good evening. hello there! friday was another pretty unsubtle day, but at least many areas saw at least some sunshine for a time, and through the afternoon didn't look too bad here in flamborough in east yorkshire. some hazy sunshine, a bit of high cloud, and the seas looking quite calm. won't look like that, mind you, for saturday because further southwards we ended friday with a band of rain moving in, and this area of rain is actually going to develop into a whole new area of low pressure. so that's notjust going to be bringing some wet weather our way, but also it'll be quite windy at times as we go through saturday, particularly for england and wales, where we've got the tightly packed

isobars with us. so next few hours are quite a heavy rain across england and wales, there'll be some heavy showers for northern ireland, and another zone of quite persistent rain setting up across northern areas of scotland. our temperatures to start off saturday morning, generally around about double figures about 10—13 for most. but as we start off saturday, there will be these areas of heavy rain associated with this developing low pressure system. gusty winds running into the 30s of miles an hour, knocking the edge off the temperatures. and even as the rain clears through, showers will follow. sunshine and showers for northern ireland, some persistent rain for northeast scotland —that could cause 1 or two issues here. and look at that, just 12 degrees in aberdeen, certainly a lot colder than it was on friday. now, the second half of the weekend on the whole looks like being the better of the two days of the weekend, but it's all relative, really. we start the day on a dry and sunny note, but showers become pretty widespread through the afternoon, some of those turning heavy and thundery as well. temperatures for many areas, still generally mid to high teens. could be a few areas that sneak

a 20, but i suppose where thejuly sunshine comes out it won't feel too bad. next week, if you're hoping for signs of change, you can forget that, we've got low pressures coming our way from the southwest. now, monday is another showery kind of day, so most areas will start the day dry with sunshine, the cloud then develops late morning into the early afternoon, and then we start to see some showers and thunderstorms break out in places. could be a few areas that miss those — maybe east anglia, south east england seeing largely dry weather. and a little bit warmer here as well, temperatures could get into the low 20s for a time, but overall next week it is looking pretty unsettled, with rain or showers around and temperatures still a little below average for the time of year. bye for now.

live from washington. this is bbc news britian's new pm sir keir starmer promises to rebuild britain "brick by brick" after a landslide

election win for labour. changing a country's not like flicking a switch, but have no doubt that the work of change begins immediately. what a defiantjoe biden says he's "completely ruling out" dropping out of the presidential election and, israel—gaza ceasefire talks ramp up — as the humanitarian crisis on the ground, deepens. hello, i'm caitriona perry we begin in the uk where the labour party's resounding election victory has ended 14 years of conservative government. new prime minister sir keir starmer is promising to rebuild britain "brick by brick" and provide security for millions of working—class families.after a ceremonial