this is bbc news. i nicholas owen. —— i'm nicholas owen. the headlines at 11:00pm. theresa may hails an historic victory, as the conservative‘s win a seat in cumbria held by labour for more than 80 years. this truly is a government that is working for everyone and for every pa rt working for everyone and for every part of the country. meanwhile labour does hang on to its seat in stoke central, seeing off a challenge by ukip. it isa it is a message about the economy. it is a message about the economy. it is a message about the economy. it isa it is a message about the economy. it is a message about the economy. it is a message about the economy. it is a message aboutjobs. it is a message about this country. but above all, above all, it was a message that hope triumphs over fears. —— hope triumphs over fear. the half brother of north korea's leader was killed by a substance classified as a weapon of mass destruction, according to malaysian authorities. the battle for mosul — iraqi troops enter the west

of the city for the first time, to face strong resistance from so—called islamic state. and on newsnight, theresa may — an unelected leader with a major constitutional negotiation to deliver, and a small majority in house, wins the day and sails forth. in the light of labour's meltdown in copeland, is the party lead byjeremy corbyn far from an effective opposition? good evening and welcome to bbc news. theresa may has said winning the copeland by—election was an "astounding victory" for the conservatives. it's the first time a party in government has taken a seat in a by—election for 35 years. labour had held copeland since 1935, but the conservatives overturned a labour majority of more than 2,500. the labour leaderjeremy corbyn described the defeat as "very disappointing" —

but he said he wouldn't be standing down. in a second by—election in stoke—on—trent central, labour did see off a challenge from the ukip leader paul nuttall, but with a reduced majority. our deputy political editor, john pienaar, sent this report. his report does contain some flash photography. sometimes party leaders seem to grow a little after a win. theresa may's victory appearance here today told you she'd use the tories win in copeland to claim she could reach people and parts of britain no tory leader has won over since margaret thatcher. this truly is a government that is working for everyone and for every part of the country. as for the idea the tories could win too big, that good government needs good opposition, try telling them that — or her. does britain need a strong opposition to hold you to account over brexit? well, the opposition

will do what they will do. what i'm concerned about is what the government does, what the conservative government does. we are working for a country that truly does work for everyone, notjust the privileged few. i think that's the message that people here in copeland have heard. did you think that copeland would vote tory in this way? no. i mean, we could dream of it. i've been a councillorfor 20 something years and we dreamt one day it would — and it's... nothing like this has ever happened. the conservative party candidate, 13,748. cheering and applause. it was a big win. the first win in a by—election by any government over its opposition in 35 years, and in a place that's been labour since 1935. it's been very clear, talking to people throughout this campaign, thatjeremy corbyn does not represent them. and this is tory territory now. labour folk don't like it and some feel they know a reason why. copeland depends on sellafield,

jeremy corbyn has opposed nuclear power. the nuclear probably had quite a lot to do with it, the nuclear, becausejeremy corbyn said he didn't want it. so maybe — he did do a u—turn on that, but who knows. the men have done no good when they've been prime ministers, so maybe a woman changes everything. i don't think there's any hope. no hope for labour underjeremy corbyn? i don't think so. and i mean, i have to back him, because i am a labour man myself. i'm a member of the labour party. but you're telling me it's hopeless? i think it is. he's not strong enough. stoke had been a safe seat for labour, butjeremy corbyn turned up keen to celebrate holding out against ukip. it's a message about the economy, it's a message aboutjobs, it's a message about this country. but, above all, it was a message that hope triumphs over fear. what about copeland, mr corbyn? he'd already been dogged

by that defeat all day. our party mentorship is in good heart, it's very large, very strong and we'll be out again tomorrow, and every other day, campaigning to get the message across of socialjustice in britain. yet beating ukip in stoke was a big relief to labour... are you going to resign, paul? ..and a painful blow to ukip and its defeated candidate and leader. this seat was what? number 72 on our hit list. there's a a lot more that will happen, a lot more to come from us. we're not going anywhere, i'm not going anywhere, so therefore, you know, we move on and our time will — our time will come. paul nuttall may not be on his way out as leader, but his campaign wobbled, then failed. and the question's being raised, when ukip lost nigel farage, did it lose its way? thank you so much! those are beautiful! just now theresa may looks the biggest winner, ruling her party against weakened and divided opponents with an assurance that's almost regal.

and truly well done indeed. and i'll see you on monday. i'll see you on monday. but back to business means back to brexit and there's nothing easy about that. john pienaar, bbc news, copeland. a woman who died after being hit by debris in wolverhampton city centre during yesterday's storm has been named. tahnie martin was 29 and from stafford. storm doris brought winds of nearly 100 mph, causing power cuts and travel disruption. the police in malaysia say the substance used to kill the half—brother of the north korean leader, at a kuala lumpur airport, is one of the world's deadliest nerve agents. the authorities say tests on the body of kim jong nam revealed traces of vx, classified by the un as a weapon of mass destruction. from kuala lumpur, our correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes reports. —— kimjong—nam. last week at kuala lumpur airport someone chose to attack kim jong—nam in full view of at least half a dozen cctv cameras.

it was a very deliberate and very public act of violence. today, we learned what killed him. and it's even more shocking. i've already confirmed it — it's the xv, the vx nerve agent, which is a chemical weapon. kim jong—nam was walking across this busy departures hall last week when he was attacked at this spot. now we know what was used to kill him — vx, one of the most deadly nerve agents ever invented. just a tiny drop, a hundredth of a gram, would have been enough to kill him. vx is also banned under international convention, yet someone decided to use it here, in the midst of this international airport. vx is colourless and odourless, with the feel of engine oil. symptoms include coughing, shortness of breath, vomiting and muscle convulsions. south korea says the north started producing chemical weapons in the 1980s and has up to 5000 tons of stocks.

north korea's young dictator kim jong—un already has nuclear weapons. some think he is now sending a chilling new message, by killing his older brother with the world's deadliest nerve agent. they have shown that they want to be part of the weapons of mass destruction club and that they should be taken seriously. and if we do nothing, then we're going to be in a very difficult position. this is probably far more dangerous than the nuclear weapons programme that has been much vaunted in the public over the last 12 months. the more we learn, the more bizarre this story becomes. this is one of the alleged assassins taking part in a vietnamese tv talent show. this is her facebook page. nothing about her suggests she could be a killer. about the only thing we know for sure is that kimjong—nam must have died in excruciating pain, his body convulsed, his lungs gasping for air.

rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in kuala lumpur. back here, kenneth noye, who's serving a life sentence for murdering a man in a road—rage attack, has won a high court challenge against a decision by the ministry ofjustice to refuse to move him to an open prison. noye, who is 69, stabbed stephen cameron to death in 1996 on the m25 in kent. he'd argued that it was unfair and irrational not to allow him to go to a jail with lower security. a man has beenjailed for six years for killing an innocent bystander in an unprovoked attack. trevor timon, who's 31, admitted the manslaughter of oliver dearlove in blackheath in south—east london last august, but was cleared of murder. the judge said the "senseless" attack had caused "untold misery" for mr dearlove's family. iraqi troops have entered western mosulfor the first time

in their offensive to drive out so—called islamic state from the country's second city. west mosul is the last is stronghold in iraq. they're surrounded, along with an estimated three quarters of a million civilians. however, government forces today met fierce resistance, as they fought their way into the city from the airport. 0ur correspondent quentin somerville and cameraman nick millard were the first journalists to head in to the western district. they've sent this report. the so—called islamic state breached. the very first iraqi government forces roll into west mosul, and into a firefight. is were waiting, and well defended. iraqi forces are encountering heavy resistance as they move into west mosul. it has taken them less than a week to get this far, but this is a victory two years

in the making after the humiliation of the islamic state sweep across iraq... that was an outgoing rocket there. for these men, they realise that beyond here, beyond this neighbourhood, they are likely facing the battle of their lives. the assault started in now practised fashion, armoured columns moving fast across open ground. these iraqi officers plotted the route.