good afternoon. it is 2pm. welcome back to viewers on bbc two and the bbc news channel for our special live coverage of the local election results in england and wales and scotland. thousands of councillors being elected overnight and today, responsible for delivering your essential public services and all of this happening, unusually, during a general election campaign. that also has an impact. we'll have results as they're declared and we'll be getting reaction from the parties to what's going on. the conservatives have had a very good set of results so far. results coming in within the past hour, they've gained control of the derbyshire, overall control of cambridgeshire, and norfolk. making gains in nottinghamshire and parts of scotla nd gains in nottinghamshire and parts of scotland as well. we'll have more

details on that. labour having a turbulent time in england, scotland and wales, parts thereof. strong challenge from the snp. in wales they've lost bridgend and merthyr tydfil, keeping hold of cardiff, swa nsea tydfil, keeping hold of cardiff, swansea and newport. in england they've lost more than 100 councillors, many to the tories. they've won the male role contest in the liverpool city region. —— lost the liverpool city region. —— lost the mayoral contest. and it has been a terrible night for ukip, overnight they lost every seat they were defending. and the party has been wiped out on councils like lincolnshire, hampshire and essex. their vote share is down dramatically, most of it going straight to the conservatives. in scotland — the snp have managed to deprive labour of an overall majority in glasgow but we are not yet sure if they have won overall

control of scotland's biggest city for themselves. we're still waiting for most of the results in scotland. we'll keep a close eye on birmingham this afternoon. not least for the metro mayor race in the west midlands, set to be a very tight contest between labour and the tories. we'll bring you the result in the west midlands as soon as we have it. there's another metro mayor race, we'll see if andy burnham can win the contest, another significant contest to keep tabs on today. so, we're in the election studio, peter kellner resident analyst is with me once again. i'm joined kellner resident analyst is with me once again. i'mjoined in kellner resident analyst is with me once again. i'm joined in the studio at this point by karen bradley for

the conservatives, john nicholson for the scottish national party and down the line from manchester, andrew quinn, labour's campaign chair. thanks forjoining us. we'll be with you in a few minutes to have a chat about what's going on and ask you what you think of the trends so far. before all of that, let's have a look at where we are on the scorecard, the all—importa nt scorecard, the all—importa nt scorecard, to let you know where we are. for all of you scorecard, to let you know where we are. forall of youjoining scorecard, to let you know where we are. for all of you joining the coverage, a morning of following the results. lots of results to come, especially in scotland. so far the conservatives, having made significant gains, 365 up in terms of the number of seats. labour having lost 258 councillors so far... the lib dems down 36. the scottish national party at this point having made one game in terms of seats. but of course more contests to declare. the greens have made four gains,

they are on 19 seats at the moment. we'll talk more about all of those performances later. i'd like to show you the results before we have a quick update on the news from derbyshire. let's have a look at derbyshire. let's have a look at derbyshire. this is a very, very important derbyshire. this is a very, very im porta nt contest derbyshire. this is a very, very important contest that has happened. this is where labour had its big majority of 22 after 2013. look what's happened, tories on 37. a game from labour. 2a to labour. look at the difference from 2013, 19 seats up in derbyshire. it was a labour stronghold, labour having lost 19 seats. a punishing result for labour, a majority of ten in derbyshire for the conservatives. it's kind of telling us what's been going on in lots of parts of england. it's a complex picture and we're going to be looking in terms of the trends in scotland and wales, too. that's where we are at the moment. i'll be back in a second to talk about it all. it's a good

moment to catch up with the election stories, see the memorable images so far, and the day's of the news. let's say good afternoon to jane. huw, thank you. good afternoon. the conservatives have made big gains in the local elections, recording their best results since 2008. many of the votes cast yesterday across england, scotland and wales are still being counted, but labour has fared badly in many areas, including losing control of its former stronghold of glasgow. ukip has seen its vote collapse, only winning a single seat so far. the liberal democrats have had a mixed result, and haven't found the breakthrough they had been hoping for. 0urfirst report is from our political correspondent eleanor garnier. cheering and applause. it's the conservatives with the biggest cheers. they gained overall control in nine councils including derbyshire, cambridge and lincolnshire. tim charles bowles is duly elected as the west of england combined authority mayor.

here in the west of england, the conservative candidate made history by becoming the regional mayor. in cumbria, the tories have replaced labour as the largest party. but senior conservatives are playing down expectations ahead of the general election. the turnout in local elections of course, is much lower than in a general election. so it's wrong to predict what's going to happen onjune the 8th. we still have a general election to campaign for and to win after last night. but encouraging signs. the tories are celebrating in essex too, where this time round, voters turned their backs on ukip. in lincolnshire, where ukip‘s leader paul nuttall will fight for a westminster seat next month, the party was wiped out. and with such big losses, ukip‘s future is in question. i've been in ukip now for four years. the amount of times i've heard the phrase, "ukip‘s finished, it's all over", i've lost count. if i had a pound for every one, i'd probably be quite a rich woman. it's not over until it's over

and despite these pretty poor election results so far, it's not over. morning, mr corbyn. it's been a torrid time for labour. the pa rty‘s lost more than 250 seats. and in glasgow, where labour has been in powerfor more than 30 years, it's now lost overall control. these are counties which are the tory strongholds. it was going to be a tough night for labour anyway and we are in the middle of a general election campaign, so again, mixed motives. people are voting largely on local issues, not necessarily national ones. what is coming across is where people were predicting we would be wiped out in places like wales, we've done very well. the lib dems admit so far, it's been a mixed set of results for them. we held our ground in the face of a massive shift, an enormous shift of ukip voters to the conservatives and you know, given that happened, we've done well to stay where we are.

the green party says with the tories dominating, other parties need to collaborate. well i am worried about how well the conservatives have done in terms of both the green party, but more broadly for the future of progressive politics. i think that has to be a wake—up call for parties on the left and the centre—left to think about how we work together under this incredibly undemocratic system. for some, the results today have been too close to call. the tories denied an overall majority in northumberland after the lib dem candidate literally drew the longest straw. for now, it's back to the counting. there is still plenty of that to be done. mr rotherham, who represented liverpool walton, won with 60% of the vote, he'll lead the region's combined authority in a newly created role. 0ne

region's combined authority in a newly created role. one of the story to bring you, jean—claude juncker has said the english language is losing importance in europe. translation: i hesitated between english and french. i made my choice. i will express myself in french. applause because... slowly but surely english is losing importance in europe. laughter jean—claude juncker speaking at a conference in italy. that is all the news for now, more through the afternoon. now, let's go back to the local election results and hugh edwards. we'll be back with jane later for

the news. we are focusing on quite a few big battle grounds this afternoon. there will be lots of results coming in we can try to unpick. 0ne results coming in we can try to unpick. one of the biggest ones, certainly, in terms of the power of the person being elected, in terms of the budget of the person being elected, in terms of the real clash of political cultures, is in the west midlands, the contest for the metro mayor, the city region mayor, a battle between labour and the conservatives. it's taking place under the preference system of voting, so there could be quite a few stages. let's talk to patrick burns in birmingham. where are we on this metro mayor election? clearly heading towards a photo finish between the labour candidate sean simon and conservative andy street. what we had so far is seven separate

counts. this is the largest, birmingham. there is one in each of the major metropolitan council areas in this part of the country. they are bringing these votes together on the first round to see if they need to go through to the second preference votes under the supplementary vote system. a rather complicated thing to explain. essentially what we now know is andy street for the conservatives, sean simon goes through to the second round. 0n the counter so far, sean simon has his nose ahead, if we're heading towards that photo finish. if you factor in the votes potentially from the other candidates now eliminated, second preference votes, there are enough there to tilt the final result one way 0r another. i'm sorry i couldn't make it any more simple for you, it's a rather complex procedure. we

recommend is probably another three hours or so left in this. both sides say labour say the battle is in play, the conservatives say it is too close to call. it confirms the impression i've had during the course of this day, talking to people in the two principal parties camps, neither side is displaying a great deal of confidence, they are hoping for the best at this stage. it's a real knife edge photo finish as we expected it would be. that's exciting, let's hope it comes within the next three hours so we can report it and we're still on her. on the candidates will be eliminated, tell us more about them and where you think those votes could be expected to go the first thing that stands

out is that ukip, as elsewhere in the country, have performed very badly. where we'll ukip support go? the logical thing to say is maybe you would expect ukip switches to head towards the conservatives. the greens have polled tolerably well but the liberal democrats began there is an anti—brexit factor. birmingham itself was evenly balanced between the two. 0nly birmingham itself was evenly balanced between the two. only 2000 votes leave and remain out of a total of. these are very narrow margins. the vote... she finishes a third... when we're most of her second preference votes go? there is obvious speculation both ways, one way 0r another, i don't want to add

to the accumulation of fake news or alternative facts, but i think it's true to say both the main candidates have reason to consider their charge is alive. we'll be back to you if there is a development. that is one of the contest in play. we have a result in this group of six new mayors. they result in liverpool. we'lljoin the victor, labour's steve rotherham. many congratulations to you. thanks, huw. i'm wondering what it is in terms of liverpool, i'll ask you about the national picture in a second. can we try to unpick the result in liverpool. what was the campaign fought on there? well, it was fought ona fought on there? well, it was fought on a manifesto that i put forward to the1.5 on a manifesto that i put forward to the 1.5 million people in our city region who overwhelmingly have

supported a labour vision of the future of our city region, which, when i say overwhelming, 60% overall. 70% in the city of liverpool alone. are you disappointed with the turnout? you'll be thrilled with the victory but the turnout was 26%, is it lower than you thought? it was about what we predicted in all honesty, that's because it's a new area, we haven't had a combined authority like other areas, like manchester have had for 25 or 30 years. so it's a new thing. the first police and crime commission was about 12% so we've done considerably better than that. it's about in line with what we think is the turnout in the rest of the country. what is your message to those labour colleagues including stephen kinnock who we spoke to earlier, saying results across scotla nd earlier, saying results across scotland england and wales are a disaster for labour and raise questions about the leadership, what is your response to that? it's no

surprise stephen saying that, i know him very well. i play in the parliamentary football team with stephen and he's expressed his concerns before. what matters is that in areas like ours we were able to put our message over. we have a very strong mandate and our ma nifesto very strong mandate and our manifesto will be permitted in the first hundred days. it's the best platform we can have to demonstrate that labour in power can be trusted. fighting this campaign during a general election campaign. to what extent where you also having to contend with issues to do with the future of the uk in europe and the rest of it? there are certainly brexit on the doorstep, but there are all sorts of issues where that was confused. local issues, local council issues with what was happening with the metro mayor because we've never had one before, so people didn't really understand what the metro mayor was. we've got

somebody called the liverpool city region including parts of cheshire, there was confusion over that. it'll settle down in three years, the people will have another opportunity to decide who their metro mayor should be in 2020. i expect it will get a decent mandate again in 2020. steve rotherham were to talk to you, congratulations once again on your win in liverpool. the new city region mayor in liverpool. steve rotherham. 43 needed for a majority in lancashire, the conservatives have that. more results to come, this is a partial result. 43 to the tories, 12 to labour, two to the lib dems, what has happened since 2013? let's have a look. the conservatives have put on ten seats in lancashire, so we have 59 wards declared out of 84. so we have 59 wards declared out of 8a. labour have lost nine. we have

the lib dems1—1,ukip 8a. labour have lost nine. we have the lib dems1—1, ukip plus one, the independents minus one. it's a sense for you of another big battle ground going on. i'm going to bring in andrew, the labour campaign chair. he is in manchester today. your thoughts, given we've been talking to your colleague steve rotherham, on the board labour performance. diane abbott today has said lots of it is disappointing, but she says everything is to play for onjune but she says everything is to play for on june the 8th. but she says everything is to play for onjune the 8th. what is your take? of course it's disappointing when we lose that labour colleagues and good labour candidates don't get elected. some of the predictions, particularly in places like cardiff, swa nsea particularly in places like cardiff, swansea and newport, haven't come out the way the pollsters suggested they might. we've had a good win in they might. we've had a good win in

the liverpool city region and predict a very good win here in greater manchester. west midlands is all to play for. it's a very mixed picture but it doesn't underestimate the challenge facing the labour party. and in parts of the country we've had results that aren't as good as we would hope. what accounts for that, do you think?” good as we would hope. what accounts for that, do you think? i think there is a number of issues. firstly, when you look at where we are in the national opinion polls, labour has managed to hold its vote share reasonably well from 2013. what has happened is the ukip vote has collapsed and it has come in the main, gone to the conservatives, which has handed them a tranche of seats they lost four years ago. that has been part of the problem. we must also do a lot better. we have a general election on the 8th ofjune. we have five weeks to determine the future for the next five years for this country. i believe we now need

to get on the ground, knock on doors, talking to people. reminding them labour values are fundamentally devalu es them labour values are fundamentally devalues the british people support. you didn't mention leadership as a factor, why is that? the leadership issue was resolved last year when labour party members decided jeremy corbyn would remain the leader of the labour party. we're in a general election and for us it's about setting out that vision of a better, fairer britain, a britain that works for the many, not the few. we've got five weeks to hit the ground speaking to people, find out what their hopes and worries are, as well as their dreams and aspirations. i think when we start speaking to people, when we get that transformational manifesto published, we can start to explain the difference that a labour party in government for the next five yea rs in government for the next five years will make to the communities

we seek to represent in every part of the united kingdom. labour campaign chairandrew of the united kingdom. labour campaign chair andrew gwynne, thank you. we're in a position in bbc election centre to give you a projected national share of the vote. let me tell you not what this is but what it isn't. it's not some kind of forecast about wolverhampton onjune kind of forecast about wolverhampton on june the 8th, kind of forecast about wolverhampton onjune the 8th, nothing like that. this is really a figure we've put together, john curtis and his team have put together, basically saying what would have happened if all the country had voted in these local elections yesterday. that is the sense of it for you. let's have a look at the projected national share. this is it. giving the conservatives 38% on the projected national share. it gives labour 27%, the lib dems18%, it gives ukip 5% and the others 12%. if we look at

the change from the pns we offered in 2015, it's showing the tories up by 3%, labour down by 2%, in 2015, it's showing the tories up by 3%, labourdown by 2%, lib in 2015, it's showing the tories up by 3%, labour down by 2%, lib dems up by 3%, labour down by 2%, lib dems up by by 3%, labour down by 2%, lib dems up by 7%, ukip down by 8%, don't forget in 2015, we're not talking about 2013, the last local elections, this is pns from 2015. no change for the others. it's a very important figure we've just offered you. i'll bring injohn curtis, the resident expert. i want you to explain in clear terms what this figure refers to. this is our estimate for how the country as a whole would have voted if the movement since the english county council election results were last fought over in 2013, if the movement since then had been reflected across the country as a whole. it means the

calculation has been done on the same basis. as for the annual round of english local elections. as you've already said, first of all, this is definitely not a forecast of what will happen onjune eight, it's not even a statement of what would have happened if the general election had been yesterday. it is an attempt to provide you with a simple summary measure of the overall performance of the parties in the english county council elections put together in such a way we can compare party performances in this year's local elections with 2015, 2013, indeed pretty much any other year. with all the health warnings you tacked onto it, what does it tell us about the relative strengths of the party? i've got john nicholson here, probably looking to see where the snp is on that, you can tell us that in the second. let's talk about relative

strength as we go towardsjune the 8th. what do you make of it?|j strength as we go towardsjune the 8th. what do you make of it? i guess the thing many people will notice is where the conservative lead over labour is substantial, while this is the best performance since 2008 for the best performance since 2008 for the conservatives and the worst labour performance since it was turfed out of office in 2010, the lead in this projected national share is rather less than the 17 point lead that on average has been in the most recent opinion polls. and the swing since 2015 local elections is around half the swing the national opinion polls have been showing. as we've been trying to say throughout today, it was always clear the conservatives were well ahead in these local elections, but it still leaves this question of whether they are doing well enough that if it were to be translated into the general election they would get the landslide they are looking

for. in 2015 it took seven point lead in the parliamentary election just to get that majority of 12 theresa may didn't want. it's one obvious technical point. the liberal democrats are doing much better in this projected national share. it's parfor this projected national share. it's par for the course. liberal democrats nearly always do better in local elections than general elections, it tends to be the case even on the same day. that arithmetically begins to depress the conservative lead to a degree. it's not going to account for all of it. for liberal democrats themselves, it's relatively good news. the best performance in local elections since they went into coalition with conservatives in 2010. still well below the 25% figure is the party was getting regularly in the 2005-2010 was getting regularly in the

2005—2010 parliament. it is partial recovery for the democrats. for ukip, we only started estimating in 2013 when they did so well in the elections. this is their worst performance so far. 0verall elections. this is their worst performance so far. overall the broad picture is what the opinion polls were telling us, ukip squeezed, that progress by the liberal democrats, but not dramatic. labour heading for a bad result. it's whether the conservatives are doing well enough to get that big majority theresa may would like. i'll put some of those points to karen bradley in a moment. what do you say to john karen bradley in a moment. what do you say tojohn nicholson and the snp? from the data i seen, it takes a while to put it together, because of the boundary changes north of the border. it looks to me as though the snp might get 40% of the total vote in scotland, but i'm not sure they are going to get much more than that. in aberdeen for example, where

we have the whole result, the snp vote wasn't up that much. they failed to win north ayrshire, that one would have expected them to win if they were doing the kind of performance they got in 2015—2016. i think in truth this is towards the disappointing. from what i've seen so far, limited, much more to come in terms of the expectations we had of the snp. karen, your response to the pns. john suggesting it is a strong performance but not as strong as some have been predicting. you set yourself this isn't a forecast, and local elections are based on local issues. i pay tribute to all those conservative candidates who have worked so hard over the last few years and months to get elected. well done to them. there is no way anyone can take that and say, this isa anyone can take that and say, this is a foregone conclusion forjune the 8th, absolutely not. it's a different election fought on

different election fought on different issues. that clear choice between who the british public want to be leader, strong and stable leadership with theresa may, or coalition of chaos with jeremy corbyn. dear, dear, two cliches one after another, karen, you are the secretary of state for culture, you're meant to be interested in language, you have to come up with better line than that, really. this isa better line than that, really. this is a really important choice, it's vital we make that point. those lines were written for you, strong and stable leadership and coalition of chaos. it's like being with ste pford of chaos. it's like being with stepford wives, the way politicians from the conservative party keep churning out the lines. people are frustrated by this patronising tone in the election. we've got to improve... what about the snp performance? i was very intrigued with whatjohn said, john said the snp vote wasn't up that much in aberdeen. the snp has been in

government for 11 years, and the vote is up in aberdeen. that's meant to be the area where the tories think they are having a great revival. i've seen the figures, the final figures revival. i've seen the figures, the finalfigures are revival. i've seen the figures, the final figures are snp 19 conservatives 11, labour nine, lib dems four. that in aberdeen. it isa it is a curious criticism that the snp isn't up that much, but i hope the conservatives. pretending there will be a hung parliament. you mentioned aberdeen. let's look at aberdeen, as we know is a hung council. 19 to the snp, 11 to the tories, nine to the labour party, four seats to the lib dems. this is what has happened since 2008. labour losing nine seats. but is the picture in aberdeen. your pieces

there is what? they are clearly making progress, the tories? ruth davidson gets up in the morning and she says, let's not talk about independence. she talks about independence. she talks about independence all day and then says, i wish the snp. talking about independence. maybe it is working if you look at that result? what she has done is peel away the right wing of the labour party. if you look at the votes in scotland, there is a shift between labour to the conservatives. the snp vote is roughly static but the labour party is losing ground to the tories. there seems to be a straight shift from one to the other. how do you explain that, labour straight to the tories? i think bruce has done a greatjob in tories? i think bruce has done a great job in scotland from a very low base. tributes to be paid to her. the point that this is not

going to be a hung parliament, the results are clear. we have seen in liverpool, 60% of the vote has gone to labour. there is a real possibility of a labour government. no there isn't. we will make it clear that is the choice that will be made by people on the 8th of june. we cannot take people for fools, we know what will happen in this election. i don't. fools, we know what will happen in this election. idon't. ido. you cannot take anything for granted. that is the lying politicians use, but we know there will be a conservative government and you will win with a whopping great majority. so the question for voters across the country is, do you want the tories to have a serious opposition? conservative mps make this point

privately, it is good to have strong opposition. i think a lot of tory voters must think, they are going to win, but maybe there should be a strong opposition also.|j win, but maybe there should be a strong opposition also. i broadly agree that when you have whopping great majorities, in scotland in the la st great majorities, in scotland in the last general election, there were 56 snp mps out of 59. buy your own arguments, wouldn't it be healthier for scottish politics if there were slightly fewer snp mps and more unionist mps? you are comparing apples with pears. snp mps at westminster are not attempting to form a government. they are not opposition bloc. the speakerfrom the opposition bloc said we are persisted because we support first past the post. we have a result, tees valley, the results for the

mayor. 21% turnout. so the conservatives on 40000 and close behind, suejeffery on 39,000 for labour. if we look at the figures, 39%, each. it is a conservative win in tees valley on 48,000 after everything is recalculated and 46,000 for labour. so, what are we saying at this point? let's go to couege saying at this point? let's go to college green and talk to steve richards and another journalist. steve, your take on what is going on? sometimes politics needs decoding, it doesn't really at the moment. what we see is what is happening, it is interesting to hear karen bradley talk up the prospects ofa karen bradley talk up the prospects of a labour victory. meanwhile we

have labour candidate saying, you can have labour candidate saying, you ca n vote have labour candidate saying, you can vote for me, don't worry because we will not win. when you are in that situation, the general narrative is pretty clear, the conservatives are heading for a significant victory next month. these local election results on the whole, with john these local election results on the whole, withjohn curtis' brilliant qualifications do confirm that pattern. julia, what are your thoughts? it is absurd to have a situation where the conservatives are playing down what is a successful date and the labour party are trying to talk up what is a disastrous situation. the snp talking up a tory victory. the question is, how much we can read in to the general election in a few weeks. an awful lot of us, me included, want to vote on whether my bins are being collected or whether a local councillor is someone you know or not. very different from

general collections. as you have seen with some of the turnout, so few of the people who vote in a general election have turned out to vote. it is dangerous to read anything into what it might mean for the general election, other than a tory majority. significant contest, the new mayor of the west midlands, which is a very powerful position and that is closed between the conservatives and labour. these results must not be discounted in terms of what they say? no, if labour were to lose the contest for the mayor, that would be a big blow to their morale as they then look forward to the general election where morale is pretty dodgy anyway. asjulia said, where morale is pretty dodgy anyway. as julia said, it where morale is pretty dodgy anyway. asjulia said, it is important to remember with the mayoral contest, the local dimensional. what ever happens now and injune when theresa may is now expected to win big, is that we will have these pockets of

power elsewhere, in birmingham, manchester, liverpool. there is a scottish parliament. it is one of the big differences to the 1980s when margaret thatcher won big. when she did, she ruled the whole of the uk, there was virtually no local departments, and a scottish parliament. but if the tories were to win this one, there would be a celebration at conservative hq here because it will tell them what will happen in the general election. one of the big power bases, by the looks of the big power bases, by the looks of it, will not be the liberal democrats. they are the one big party going for the remain vote. it looks like a lot of leave voters have gone to the tories and others have gone to the tories and others have voted on the bin collection rather than voting for the remain party. the party of the 11% rather than the 48% by the end of today. steve a nd than the 48% by the end of today. steve and julia, enjoy the rest of the results. ranks forjoining us. a

little later than planned, we will get the news, notjust the election news but the news as well let's join jane hill. the conservatives have made big gains in the council elections in england and wales, recording their best results since 2008. many of the votes cast yesterday across england, scotland and wales are still to be counted, but labour have suffered losses and ukip have lost all but one seat. the kernel edds have taken 11 councils and gained more than 400 seats and be our head with billy 1500 councillors was but earlier the party was downplaying the significance of these victories. many significance of these victories. ma ny votes significance of these victories. many votes remain uncounted. i think the early results are encouraging, but they are early results. we have seen less than a quarter of the vote actually counted and reported.

the turnout in local elections, of course, is much, much lower than in a general election. it is wrong to predict what will happen onjune 8th. we still have a general election to campaign for and to win after last night, but encouraging signs. labour is on course to lose control of glasgow, the party has been in control in the city since 1980. the party has lost five councils over role and more than 270 council seats but the party did hold onto cardiff. diane abbott warned people not to read too much into these results. these are disappointing results. i wouldn't say anything different. but i think we have to be careful from extrapolating from local elections to the general. the turnout is much lower and in many cases, people vote specifically on local issues. but, i'm not pretending that these aren't disappointing results. the results have been disappointing for ukip. so far the party has

only managed to win one of the the seats it has contested, losing 92 previously held council seats. including all four seats it held on bevan county council. ukip says it still has sitting councillors in the country, although those positions were not up for election this time. the results have been mixed for the liberal democrats. a short time ago the party had lost 39 council seats. the lib dems also failed to retake somerset council from the conservatives, although the tory leaderjohn 0sman was ousted by lib dem former mp tessa munt. former labour mp steve rotherham has become liverpool's first metro mayor. mr rotherham, a former bricklayer who represented liverpool walton, won with 60% of the vote. he said people had voted in favour ofa he said people had voted in favour of a bold manifesto and a fresh start. tim bowles weren't in the

west of england for the conservatives. played comrie in wales and the green party have made gains. the greens are up two seen so far while plaid cymru has 33 more councillors. it's notjust election season here, in france it's the last day of a contentious campaign to chose a new president. the two candidates, the centrist and favourite emmanuel macron, and the right wing marine le pen, are out on the campaign trail for the last time today, before voters go to the polls on sunday. christian fraser is in paris for us now. what is your sense of it? it has been a long other times bitter campaign. iam been a long other times bitter campaign. i am not sure been a long other times bitter campaign. iam not sure it been a long other times bitter campaign. i am not sure it has done much to heal the divisions in france

and we have seen more hostility today. marine le pen was at the cathedral which is where they used to crown the old kings of france. but such is the hostility from the crowds that whether, after she had been around the cathedral, she had to go out through a robing room at the back and to a waiting car. earlier we saw a huge banner that was unfurled under the arches of the eiffel tower, it had been put up by greenpeace which had hash tag resist on it. so the hostility to marine le pen is there. although a emmanuel macron has a big lead, 62—38, the talk is, they don't want anyone to ta ke talk is, they don't want anyone to take the vote for granted and they don't want complacency. the biggest threat to him is the abstention rate, which could be quite high. thank you, christian. we have been

hearing from michel barnier at a conference about eu's citizens rights in florence. he warned there are concerns about the right to free movement which has been given to european citizens. we should not allow populace to take the political debate hostage. but we should not ignore what are often deeply felt opinions and reactions. people are concerned about the free movement of eu workers, not only in the uk, but also in many other member states. that's a summary of the news, now back to local elections 2017 with huw edwards. welcome back. we are covering the

results of the local elections in england, scotland and wales and we will be focusing on lots of these results still coming in. some of them in big contest such as the west midlands for the new city and regional mad. but the results coming in. norfolk has come in. this is a conservative gain. a familiar story in lots of parts of england from no overall control, 55 seats to the conservatives in norfolk. 17 to labour, 11 the lib dems. it is a familiar picture in terms of the colla pse familiar picture in terms of the collapse of ukip. let's look at the difference because we have 15 games for the conservatives and 15 losses for the conservatives and 15 losses for ukip. the east of england telling us quite a familiar story by now. those are the norfolk figures, i want to go straight to andrew

sinclair, our correspondent in great yarmouth, that is where he was earlier. andrew, where are you? i am now at county hall in norfolk. with the wii would come here for the final declaration. this place was technically in no overall control, this conservatives were just about able to run it for the last year now they have a majority of 26 and across norfolk, the conservatives brought in some very impressive majorities, as the counting went ahead. the other headlines in norfolk, yes, ukip have been wiped out, as they have been across east anglia but also the green party have been wiped out. they were wiped out because of a small labour surge which we saw in norwich in the labour heartland of norfolk really. this is quite important, because this part of norwich, the seat was held up the last election by clive lewis from labour. the former business secretary, seen by some as

being a future leadership contender. he was going to face a big fight in the forthcoming general election. he still does face a fight, but i think he will sleep a little bit more happily the night, knowing labour have done so well in norwich. the other bits of news from norfolk, is we see a bit of a liberal democrat surge on the north norfolk coast. they have taken seats from ukip and also took one seat from the conservatives. that will go down with norman lamb, the liberal democrat health spokesman, who is facing a big challenge from the conservatives on the north norfolk coast, because he only has a majority of 4000. at the end of the day, the main story, from the whole of east anglia is, this ukip wipe—out. it is significant for this pa rt wipe—out. it is significant for this part of the world because this is where ukip started to see its first signs of support, it won its first ever town council in ramsey in 2010.

since then, it went on to pick up a load of smaller council seats, district council level and then in 2013, at the last county council elections, ukip sprung onto the stage by winning a lot of seats here in norfolk. so many that at one stage it was the second largest party in the council. it won a lot of seeds in cambridgeshire and six. the story here, is ukip has absolutely no seats at a county council level. that is norfolk, just putting the figure is up for. can you talk us through that and it is the ukip loss and the search for the conservatives? yes, that is interesting in cambridgeshire. cambridge was put into no overall control. it is normally a solid conservative council, but it went into no overall control, like norfolk, because ukip did well. for

a while, they brought in changes to something called the cabinet system, which was a change in the way local business was done. they did make quite an impact in cambridge, but they have lost the seats. a lot of they have lost the seats. a lot of the seats were up in the cambridge offends, area is seen as traditional ukip territory. remember, it was the surge of these seats for ukip in places like cambridge, norfolk and six which made the conservatives, under david cameron realise, they had to stay true to their pledge to granta had to stay true to their pledge to grant a referendum. but ukip support has dissipated. before we left great yarmouth, we went into the street to talk to people to say, what do you think has happened to the ukip vote? every person we spoke to in great yarmouth said the same thing, we think ukip'sjob yarmouth said the same thing, we think ukip's job is yarmouth said the same thing, we think ukip'sjob is done. and that echoes ukip's one former mp, douglas ca rswell,

mp, douglas carswell, who when he left ukip two weeks ago, said the same thing— job done. left ukip two weeks ago, said the same thing- job done. andrew, thank you very much from norfolk with the latest picture in the east of england. peter, talk us through your thoughts of this ukip collapse on the fact it has fed very strongly into a very big conservative surge in some of these counties. we are being told by some conservatives, it is not all about that, there are other reasons for conservatives doing well, but we cannot discount this as a very, very big factor? doing well, but we cannot discount this as a very, very big factor7m isa this as a very, very big factor7m is a huge factor. i am looking at the seeds ukip were defending. we have the voting numbers in. in those seats where ukip14 years ago, they are now forth. they got fewer votes in theirown are now forth. they got fewer votes in their own seats. the conservative vote has gone up massively in those areas. i think part of the

significance is this, one of the reasons why the conservatives did. get a bigger majority in 2015 was, a lot of people who would have otherwise voted conservative, voted ukip because of the european issue. those conservatives have gone back to being conservative voters. if nothing else changes in the general election, that will deliver a bigger majority to theresa may. overall, compared with four years ago, if anything there is an overall swing from right to left, if you add up tory and ukip on one side and the liberal democrats, labour and the greens on the other. the tories have huge gains, ukip have a number of losses, labour down, liberal democrats down. under our voting system, this coming together of the right of centre votes behind the conservatives, where it was more split two years ago, that is

terrific news for theresa may. what ever happens to the labour vote, people on the left is what they think about jeremy corbyn. barry, we'll be with you in a second. i know ruth davidson is also waiting to talk to us, why don't i bring us up to talk to us, why don't i bring us up today so far on the scottish result so ruth davidson can address some of those. 21 losses in terms of seats for the snp. the conservatives, having gained 91 seat so far in scotland, and the independents down 11. labour on 122, the lib dems on 37. let's look at dundee. the snp losing its control in dundee, they are on 14 seats, labour are in dundee, they are on 14 seats, labourare and nine, in dundee, they are on 14 seats, labour are and nine, and just short of that control, look at the change

from the last time in 2012. in dundee, it the snp have lost two seats which accounts for the loss of overall control. that is the picture in dundee, do i have any other scottish results to show? i have aberdeenshire. this is a hung council. the tories on 23, snp on 21. lib dems on 14, independence on ten. this is another case of the conservatives are making progress. if we look at the change from 2012, they have put on nine seats and the snp have gone down eight seats in aberdeenshire. the lib dems up two, independents down two and labour are down one seat. i will bring ruth davidson in. thanks for joining will bring ruth davidson in. thanks forjoining us, ruth. headline thoughts on where you are today? i think today is shaping up to be a good day for the scottish

conservatives. it consolidates some of the gains we made last year at the scottish parliament and became the scottish parliament and became the second party in scotland. people across scotland are looking for the scottish fight back against the snp where they have tried to create a sense of momentum. wherever you are, from the borders to the highlands, the only party strong enough to lead the only party strong enough to lead the fight back is the scottish conservatives. we have john nicholson, and i wonder what he might have to say about that. nicholson, and i wonder what he might have to say about thatm nicholson, and i wonder what he might have to say about that. it is always good to see ruth, i am looking at her local government leaflet in front of me. she always says, get on with the job and stop obsessing about the constitution. this leaflet doesn't mention bins, transport or education. what it says is, we need to send nicola sturgeon a message. what ruth does, she gets up a message. what ruth does, she gets up every morning and she talks about independence all day long. the narrative is, iwish

independence all day long. the narrative is, i wish those nationalists would stop talking about independence. somebody looking on, on the basis of these results, it she is right. all credit to ruth, she has achieved her aim and she has peeled away the right of the labour party and successfully managed... lets let ruth answer that. there is a simple way ofjohn and his collea g u es a simple way ofjohn and his colleagues to want me to stop talking about independence and that is the nicola sturgeon to do what she said you do, respect the decision from the last referendum. because of electoral rules, we don't mention the individual candidate or individual seats, every one of our candidates put forward their election address that had the key points of their area, had priorities for the local council. it is making

sure we do both things, we fight on a national level and local level. i think it is sour grapes onjohn, a man under pressure in his own seat and has a minority that he has to defend. at least i am fighting my own seat again, ruth because you had to cross the country to fight for a different seat. let's not project too much ahead. peta wants to talk about the voting system which will help viewers understand the situation in scotland and the dynamics are often different? in the english elections it is traditional first past the post system. in scottish local elections it is the single transferable vote. if you are wondering how some of these councils are coming up nowhere overall control, because of proportional voting you tend to get nowhere overall control. unless one party is miles ahead of the others, they

might get the majority. but it does raise the question, at local government level, scotland only works when parties get together and cooperate. either as a joint administration, or issue by issue. what we are seeing betweenjohn administration, or issue by issue. what we are seeing between john and ruth, the tone will have to change when the conservatives in local councils and the snp in local councils and the snp in local councils find they have to get together to get things done. we have ruled out any coalition with the conservatives and we have been clear, that will not be happening. ruth, on the basis of the results we have already, not just ruth, on the basis of the results we have already, notjust in scotland, but across england and in wales, how confident are you as a conservative, we have karen bradley here as well, looking forward tojulia tooth? we have karen bradley here as well, looking forward to julia tooth? we have got to continue to work hard, we ta ke have got to continue to work hard, we take nothing for granted. it is different elections north and south of the border. i will stick with scotland, peter is right we have a

system in scotland where it is tra nsfera ble vote system in scotland where it is transferable vote our local elections. we have to look at indicators and it is who got the largest preference share of the votes. if you look across the borders, perthshire, aberdeenshire, angus robertson's seat, john nicholson's boss in westminster, easy it is the scottish conservatives. we need to use this asa conservatives. we need to use this as a platform to take this fight to the snp and lead the fight back against the snp. ruth davidson, thanks forjoining us today. we will carry on the debate in a moment and bring karen bradley in on conservative prospects and barry, we will be in and talking to you as well. in the meantime, what i would like to do is maybe take a quick break and have a look at the weather prospects. will we are ending the week with similar

weather as to what we had at the start. things haven't changed that much and that means another sunny day across parts of northern ireland. the best of the sunshine is across northern areas where we are closest to this area of high pressure. we have had an easterly wind making it feel chilly across the east and extra cloud in the south. that is how it looked earlier on in devon. there are some breaks in the cloud in southern areas. not continuously grey skies, there will beafairamount continuously grey skies, there will be a fair amount of blue sky, a mixture of patchy cloud and sunny spells in the east midlands and wales. best of the sunshine in northern inman, scotland. further west, temperatures up to 19 possibly 20 degrees in places. as we go through this evening, cloud will thicken up across england and wales i produced the odd spot of drizzle. more persistent rain trying to push into the far south—west, but it will

be the far south—west, cornwall, south west devon, channel islands. it may be cold across scotland, and northern ireland for a touch of frost. this high pressure will try to bring a change, introduce rain into the south. but not having a lot of luck. it will be cornwall, parts of luck. it will be cornwall, parts of west and south devon and the channel islands that see the rain tomorrow. more cloud across england and wales but northern ireland and scotland, is where we will have the best of the sunshine. the far north—east will hold onto low cloud, particularly a wrong coast. it should be a warmer day for the likes of glasgow and edinburgh. to northern ireland and northern england, sunny spells. east anglia, wales and towards the south coast, more in the way of cloud. writer glimpses and parts of west devon, cornwall and the channel islands, rain splashing through at times. even that isn't going to last too long. that will clear away during saturday evening. on sunday evening, it looks like more of the same. but

a subtle change in the wind direction, more of a north or north—easterly wind. that will feed clouding across northern and eastern scotland, down the east of england and places exposed to the wind, it will feel chilly. cooler weather on sunday across north—west scotland. what about next week? no changes there, it is going to stay largely dry. very good afternoon. it is three o'clock, welcome to view was on bbc two and the bbc news channel. this is our special live coverage of the local elections in england, wales and scotland. we're making good progress getting some results through. thousands of council has been elected overnight, this morning

and this afternoon. they are responsible above all for delivering very important public services in your areas. all of this happening during a general election campaign, it's affected some of the dynamics. it will be getting reaction from the parties as to what is going on. this is where they stand, conservatives having a very good set of results so far. this afternoon, they've taken derbyshire council from labour and they've also won overall control in cambridgeshire, lancashire, suffolk, norfolk and elsewhere. they've also made gains in scotland and wales as well. and the tory candidate for the tees valley mayoralty, in north east england, has narrowly beaten his labour rival this afternoon. labour have been going backwards — they've lost control of glasgow city council, which they've held

for nearly 40 years. and they've now lost over 100 councillors in england and in wales. but they have won three mayoral contests — in liverpool, north tyneside and doncaster. a pretty terrible night and day for ukip, they've now lost over 100 seats, most of them in england. the party has been wiped out on consuls like cambridge, northamptonshire and essex. most of that going to the conservatives. in scotland — the snp have managed to deprive labour of an overall majority in glasgow but we are not yet sure if they have won overall control of scotland's biggest city for themselves. but elsewhere in scotland — the snp have lost some seats. coming up — all eyes are on birmingham this afternoon for the west midlands mayoral race. it's set to be a tight contest between labour and the tories —

we'll bring you the result as soon as we have it. it has been created under the devolution strategy of the government. big budgetjobs, big spending jobs, where the new mayor will be in charge of housing and transport in some areas, too. conservative andy street is a fraction ahead on the first round. we'll bring the result as soon as we have it. and we'll be in manchester — to see if labour's andy burnham can win the regional mayoral contest there. lots to come. it's 3pm. we started at 9am. the scottish counting started at nine and lots of results coming through. we expect more this afternoon. we're keeping an eye out for those big mayoral contest in the west midlands and greater

manchester. peter kellner is still with me, karen bradley from john nicholson for the snp, and we have gary gardner. you're there, aren't you? we're going to talk to you. —— barry gardiner. lots of people will say, why hasn't he spoken to barry. we'll come to you in a second. we'll go to the news of jane hill. then we'll be back to talk to barry gardiner. the conservatives have made significant gains in the local elections — with labour performing poorly and ukip suffering big losses. the tories have gained 7 councils — including most recently winning norfolk from no overall control and taking derbyshire county council from labour. labour have lost 6 councils — including glasgow city council which they've held since 1980. our political correspondent eleanor garnier has more. cheering and applause.

it's the conservatives with the biggest cheers. they gained overall control in nine councils including derbyshire, cambridge and lincolnshire. the party's won control of warwickshire, gloucs, the conservative party candidate is elected as mayor for the tees valley authority. a huge win in one of labour's former heartlands saw the conservative candidate elected mayor. senior conservatives are playing down expectations ahead of the general election. the turnout in local elections of course, is much lower than in a general election. so it's wrong to predict what's going to happen onjune the 8th. we still have a general election to campaign for and to win after last night. but encouraging signs. the tories are celebrating in essex too, where this time round, voters turned their backs on ukip. in lincolnshire, where ukip's leader paul nuttall will fight for a westminster seat next month,

the party was wiped out. and with such big losses, ukip's future is in question. i've been in ukip now for four years. the amount of times i've heard the phrase, "ukip's finished, it's all over", i've lost count. if i had a pound for every one, i'd probably be quite a rich woman. it's not over until it's over and despite these pretty poor election results so far, it's not over. steve rotherham has won the role of mayor of liverpool city region. elsewhere it has been a torrid time for the party, losing more than 280 seats so far. in glasgow where labour has been in powerfor more than 30 years, it has lost overall control. these are counties which are the tory strongholds. it was going to be a tough night for labour anyway and we are in the middle of a general election campaign, so again, mixed motives. people are voting largely

on local issues, not necessarily national ones. what is coming across is where people were predicting we would be wiped out in places like wales, we've done very well. the lib dems admit so far, it's been a mixed set of results for them. we held our ground in the face of a massive shift, an enormous shift of ukip voters to the conservatives and you know, given that happened, we've done well to stay where we are. the green party says with the tories dominating, other parties need to collaborate. well i am worried about how well the conservatives have done in terms of both the green party, but more broadly for the future of progressive politics. i think that has to be a wake—up call for parties on the left and the centre—left to think about how we work together under this incredibly undemocratic system. for some, the results today have been too close to call. the tories denied an overall majority in northumberland after the lib dem candidate literally drew the longest straw. for now, it's back to the counting.

there is still plenty of that to be done. we must leave it there because there isa we must leave it there because there is a significant result expected. let's go back to huw. welcome back to the election centre, we expect a result any time in manchester. this is the result of one of the metro mayor contests. we we re one of the metro mayor contests. we were talking about the west midlands where there is a big contest between the conservatives and labour. another big contest in manchester where andy burnham is one of those contesting this new post, newly invented post. we expect a declaration soon. barry gardiner is with me in the studio with peter

comer, john nicholson and karen bradley. the significance of these new bradley. the significance of these n . bradley. the significance of these new jobs? there are power bases around the country. what we've seen, if you look to north america, you look at the influence state governors or layers of big cities have, it's a real counterbalance to the weight of the centre. i think they are important, a new way of getting more democracy into that system, getting government more localised, getting local people to have their say that much better. i think there will also be power bases. the key thing is what resources they are going to get from the centre. what we've seen with this conservative government is they've given greater responsibility to local government, but given less resource to match the responsibility. that is very difficult then because they say, look, it's not a matterfor us in the centre, it's a matter for local government. it's the decisions taken down there. republicans are saying,

if given us the responsibility but not the money to deal with the problems you've given us. yet this devolution package looking at the city regions has come with quite a big budget attached. these mayoral jobs were conditions attached to that devolved budget in many ways. they will have quite a lot of money to look after, in some cases more than £1 billion, when you look at the west midlands and greater manchester. there are vague resources . manchester. there are vague resources. the extent to which they can cooperate with local government, let's say andy burnham the labour candidate wins in greater manchester, what are the prospects for cooperating with centre government? all politicians have to work in the national interest, work in the interest of the people they serve. we may not like the result of the electorate often delivers for us, but nonetheless, it is ourjob

to make the system work for the people who elected us. that is what our mayor, as andy i expect will be, is elected as mayor of manchester. i'm sure that's precisely what he'll do. he's a very experienced politician, of course, he's been shadow secretary of state, he's been in the cabinets before. is somebody who knows the workings of westminster, and i think we'll do a superbjob for westminster, and i think we'll do a superb job for his city and region. i'm being told there is a declaration imminent in manchester, so we'll stay with it. i'll bring in karen bradley if i may. this devolution strategy was very much something george osborne for example was in charge of, something he pushed strongly. is there the same commitment under theresa may to this strategy of devolving to the big city regions? theresa may has been clear she wants a country that works for everyone, not just clear she wants a country that works for everyone, notjust the privileged few, that means the whole country. we've seen the success the

mayor of london has been. we need to counterbalance it with the regions and cities, i represent a seat in north savage, i want to see strong government in the region, so we can get the kind of infrastructure and facilities we need. and we have the economic growth needed across the country. discussing resources and budgets, when i ask you about commitment, really it is a resource question. this theresa may likely, philip hammond in future, if re—elected, are they likely to be as committed in terms of the resources to these jobs? without resources it's difficult to see how these metro mayors can do the job quickly. there has been a commitment to making sure the funding goes across the whole country. you need a strong economy to do that. the only way you will have a strong economy is if you have strong and stable leadership.

ifi have strong and stable leadership. if i can bring peter kellner in, we have these images of manchester, the expected result in the metro mayor contest in manchester and greater manchester, where it's due in the next few minutes. there are people congregating, ready to come forward to the stage. peter kellner, a thought about the significance of the restructuring. this is a very big departure in terms of the power base in some of these big regions. it is, yet it has to be said, the voters don't seem to be quite as excited as the politicians, the highest turnout in the mayoral contest is 34%, they've been down as low as 22. i think it'll take time, perhaps five or ten years, when mayors become personalities, things happen, they get rivals that get momentum, maybe turnouts will go up.

but at the moment i have to say something like three out of four voters have stayed at home rather than take part. i'm going to gamble a little because i'm thinking, do i have a couple of minutes before the greater manchester result is true? i'm going to gamble, and going to say, hold these pictures. if you're listening in manchester, we don't wa nt listening in manchester, we don't want a declaration in the next couple of minutes, we want you to stay for a second because i have results from scotland. let's have a look at fife, it's come through, a hung council. 29 to the snp, 24 to labour, 15 to the tories, seven to the lib dems. what has changed since 2012? the snp have made four games, labour downturn, the tories 12 games. it ties in with the conversations we were having earlier about the patterns of support, where conservatives are gaining in some

parts of scotland, lib dems have lost three, the independents have lost three, the independents have lost three, the independents have lost three as well. if we look at the scottish borders, this is one of the scottish borders, this is one of the areas the conservatives would be hoping to do well. it's a hung council, shot by three of overall control. conservatives putting on five, no change for the snp. the lib dems losing ground in the scottish borders. that is the hung council in the scottish borders. a quick comment? one of the quiet stories, quietly disastrous stories, of the day is how the lib dems are performing across scotland. i know they are doing quite well south of they are doing quite well south of the border, especially in certain areas that voted against brexit. but in scotland where i think they are on 7% in the national opinion polls they have encountered the figures, every time i see one of your bar graphs seem to have been down a few

seats, held on, certainly not doing well. the idea of the liberal democrat fight back in scotland doesn't seem to be catching fire.l quick recap of the figures in scotland, the snp down 17 at the moment but still by far the biggest number of seats. the conservatives are firmly established in second place. one of the problems for the lib dems is its only two years after the last election to memories of the coalition and the bedroom tax, putting up vat 20%, all the things we remember about the lib dems are still fresh in people's memories. plus we've got tim farron coming up with this disastrous line that he's a bit ofa with this disastrous line that he's a bit of a eurosceptic. it reinforces the impression they can't be trusted. i'm sure we'll have a lib dem in the studio later. lib dems are down in england, wales and scotland. scotland very marginal,

they've got 44 councillors, downfall. it may move around a bit. the lib dems must be pretty disappointed. they talked up the prospect in the south—west of england which i never understood, because since the south—west of england voted heavily for brexit, why would people replace a brexit tory with an anti—brexit lib dem? one county that will have done well is oxfordshire, where they had been gaining and it was a remain county. we haven't had voting... in london where vince cable is standing in twickenham, there is hardly a ukip vote to squeeze, so conservatives might be quite vulnerable in some parts of england, where we didn't have votes yesterday. yesterday's english elections were preponderantly in areas that voted leave. twit that is the latest tally in scotland. we've had some social media messaging from jeremy corbyn.

barry will be pleased to see this. jeremy corbyn says congratulations to welsh labour a specifically welsh from jeremy corbyn. for defying the pundits, he says, winning outright in cardiffand pundits, he says, winning outright in cardiff and swansea and newport... that is the latest message from jeremy corbyn. i suppose there will be people in welsh politics who will come back to you on that and say, bragging about hanging on to some of these areas which should and always have been labour is not a big thing to brag about. i don't think it's bragging, i think what he is doing is congratulating the candidates have worked very hard. you will know some of those areas were very, very heavily targeted by the conservatives. the overall picture in wales is one we can take heart from, given that it was a key target area. the more interesting picture across the whole of the united

kingdom is the way in which these local elections are really the elections of two referenda. what we've seen both in terms of the referendum in scotland, the hangover from that, the division in scotland between the parties is now very much between the parties is now very much between the parties is now very much between the nationalists and unionists. what the tories have tried to do, clearly with some success , tried to do, clearly with some success, is to paint themselves as the only unionist option against the nationalists. and within the rest of the country, of course, it's the leave and remain axis working. interesting, asjohn was noting, the liberals haven't picked up the 48%, they are becoming the party of the 11 or 12%. it's a very difficult picture for labour, of course, to actually address this question, because so many of our constituencies, where constituencies we re constituencies, where constituencies were preponderantly constituencies, where constituencies were prepondera ntly people constituencies, where constituencies were preponderantly people voting to

leave, though our party and those members who vote labour preponderantly those who voted to remain. i think what you're seeing is the labour party trying to put a message across which i believe is the right one, which says we mustn't go for this hard deregulated brexit off the coast of europe. and equally we have to respect the referendum result by saying we will leave the eu. it's a difficult message, but it's the message we have because we believe it's the weight we unite both the 48 and 52%. what is happening in this election is, we're seeing both those referendums, where the polarisation has taken place between unionists and nationalists, between unionists and nationalists, between believers and remainers, it is then worked to massage the figures in the way we are seeing. let's have a look at manchester. do we have guidance on what is going on in manchester? 0k, they keep telling us it's another few minutes. i in manchester? 0k, they keep telling us it's anotherfew minutes. i don't wa nt to us it's anotherfew minutes. i don't want to stay on that too long. let's go to glasgow. i think anita is in

glasgow. she has more on the results and what has been going on. anita? yes, 55 out of 85 seats declared here in glasgow, let me give you a tally. the snp have 24 of those seats, labour 19, conservatives tally. the snp have 24 of those seats, labour19, conservatives six, the scottish green party six. let's analyse what we have so far with our scotla nd analyse what we have so far with our scotland correspondent stephen godden. first of all, can the snp, based on these figures, still win overall control, have overall majority of glasgow city council? put simply, it's theoretically possible but unlikely, it's fair to say that. this is the fun time of the election count where we have to do the arithmetic. 43 is the magic number in glasgow. we need 43 seats to have overall majority. the snp have 23 candidates still in the

election at the moment. they would need to return 19 of those. still a lot of work to do. it's typed. it is. we still have that symbolic moment from this morning. it wasn't unexpected. labour losing their majority, losing control of the city council, hugely symbolic for what was traditional heartland for them. the scottish conservatives, talking to one msp earlier, she said they hoped they would need more than a table for four in the glasgow city council canteen. they have six so far with more games to come possibly. it's striking where they have made those games. shettleston, one of the most deprived areas in scotland, you wouldn't expect conservatives to make gains in an area like shettleston. it fits into the national picture, tories making gains in places they wouldn't expect. gains in dundee have made the difference between the snp losing overall control of their

majority of dundee city council. the reason they put that down to is they campaigned heavily on this note to second independence referendum. this was about to deliver is council services. thank you very much. you can pick your headline here in glasgow. there are lots of them. let's discuss all these developments with three journalists. we let's discuss all these developments with threejournalists. we have richard walker, consulting editor and co—founder of the pro—independence, the national. kevin mckenna, columnist for the herald and observer and paul sinclair, former adviser to gordon brown. hamza yusuf of the snp told me it was a huge disappointment for the party not to win overall control and have overall majority in glasgow at the last local elections. they may end up the biggest party this time but still not have overall

control. it's bound to be another disappointment isn't it? we have to keep things in perspective. it's disappointing we haven't got enough members to form a majority in glasgow, to form an administration, but we'll be able to form one with the green party, i'm sure. it is a cause for celebration. it's still true glasgow has rejected the labour party. the story of this election is the demolition of the labour party in scotland, transfer of support to the conservatives. the snp would wa nt to the conservatives. the snp would want to frame any gains as a vote for another independence referendum. if it doesn't get the majority here, it would suffer loss of control in other scottish councils. does that damage that agenda? they would say not. if, as expected, they win a majority of seats, they are the biggest party through scotland. if,

as they are expected to do, they win as they are expected to do, they win a majority of seats in the general election on june eight, a majority of seats in the general election onjune eight, that will be four national elections either side of the border, which the snp have won overwhelmingly. and in each of them they carried the message of saying yes to a second referendum. if there had been material and significant changes in the make—up of the uk, which of course we've seen by theresa may's approach to a ha rd seen by theresa may's approach to a hard brexit. how significant are the losses for labour year, which has held overall control of this council for 40 years. you've got to look at the fact it was remarkable, they are meant to get an overall majority in 2012. what's important, everything in scotland is seen through the constitutional prison. let's look at the trajectory of the vote. this city voted for independence in 2014.

55% of people voted snp in 2015, 53 last year in the scottish elections, now it looks like the snp won't get above 45%. they may be winning, but ina above 45%. they may be winning, but in a downward trajectory. somebody in the labour party i know what it feels like and it doesn't end well. it's very difficult for them, once you start losing momentum it's very difficult to reverse it. i think if the vote, particularly in the general election, goes below 45% of the snp, if there are more conservative games, and it looks like there will be, at the very hard for nicola sturgeon to justify another referendum.” for nicola sturgeon to justify another referendum. i asked if these could be the least local local elections we've had on that constitutional question of whether voters were pro independence or prounion. how important has it been in the conservative ‘s success in

glasgow? that's a key question, i was speaking to a senior labour candidate a few minutes ago who told me she felt heart sorry for the local candidates in these elections of all parties because until theresa may called the snap election they we re may called the snap election they were campaigning on local issues and services. the referendum dominated everything. it's certainly dominating more now. these are small communities who have a deep sense of identification with their candidates, then they suddenly had to switch and know they would be overwhelmed by the european and scottish constitution. in a line, are the result is going to have an impact on the general election? this isn't a referendum on independence ora isn't a referendum on independence or a general election. we can see what we might expect in the general election. keep very much and thanks to your guests. there were several

interesting things there, not least this whole issue of campaigning. indeed the point you raised earlier about the reasons for the success of the conservative campaign in scotland, and to what extent with davidson has managed to nail attention on the prospect of a second independence referendum. on a constitutional issue early on you we re constitutional issue early on you were clearly irritated by the leaflet you were brandishing. ijust made the serious point it may have worked. irritating is maybe too strong, it is what it is, i think it isa strong, it is what it is, i think it is a bit disingenuous to run a local government campaign entirely about the constitution while saying how outraged you are about other people talking about the constitution. with couldn't answer that which is why she started talking about tory election spending and said it was charged to a different budget. that wasn't the point, the point was it didn't mention beans, roads or education. it has been a theme of the tory election campaign. is it

not unavoidable, the sense this has been such a massive issue, notjust in the referendum 2014, but ever since, since the call came for a second referendum and parliamentary debate, that such high profile it would be difficult to avoid. bayfront local campaigning and national campaigning, your right to say it was nicola sturgeon who raised the prospect of a second referendum, not with davidson. i think it's absolutely right with davidson should raise that point and make that point to voters. local candidates have been fighting on local issues, as they have up and down the whole country across england scotland and wales.” down the whole country across england scotland and wales. i want better bins, and i care about independence. it's absolutely intellectual evacuates as a campaign it might be successful, but it hardly reaches the sunlit uplands of

political debate, does it? they are not mutually in my own house i've had one leaflet from the tories in the course of the local government election campaign, and it was exclusively about independence, it did not mention local services. barry, given the challenge labour is having and has had in scotland, on this debate which is meant to be about local issues, to what extent has the massive shadow of the constitutional question really make that campaign for you more challenging? it clearly has. i regard this as an absolute clarion call to people in the labour party, that if they want a fairer society, ifi that if they want a fairer society, if i want to see better education than the snp have been able to provide and to end the austerity, both of the conservatives and indeed of the snp, but wider in this

country. if you look at the way in which services have been cut, if you look at the way in which social care has lost £4.6 billion, you cannot sit there as a member of the labour party and think, i think the right things, i believe in the right policies, you have got to get out in the next four weeks on the doorsteps and campaign forthem. the next four weeks on the doorsteps and campaign for them. it is the only way we will be able to deliver the fairer more equal society we want. you look at what happened today with the government being forced by the high court to publish its air pollution strategy. we see exactly why we need a government thatis exactly why we need a government that is going to be able to change this and redress the balance in favour of working people. let's go straight to manchester. andy burnham and the candidates for the metro mayor. we are expecting the declaration to come any minute. all the candidates lined up, an important post, one of six that have

been created and we will be looking to the one in the west midlands where there is a close contest between the conservatives and the labour party. but andy burnham is smiling. yes, labour had a 20 point lead in manchester. i margaret asquith, returning officer appointed for the district of bolton at the greater manchester combined authority mayoral election, held on the 4th of may 2017, hereby certify and declare that the total number of verified ballot papers was 58,165. the total number of first preference votes given the east candidates was sean anstey, the conservative party candidate, 16000 and 68. mohamed salah 's lynn, independent, 865.

jane elizabeth brophy, liberal democrats, 2248. andy burnham, labour and co—operative party, 34,000... cheering and applause marcus jonathan farmer, independent, 242. stephen morris, english democrats is putting england first, 1158. the uk independence party 1378. will patterson, the green party, 868. the total number of first preference votes, 57,477 and the total number of ballot papers

rejected but 688. so a declaration. asi rejected but 688. so a declaration. as i understand it, those are the figures for bolton. now some of the otherfigure ‘s. figures for bolton. now some of the other figure 's. returning officer appointed for the district of berhe at the greater manchester combined authority 's mayoral election held on the 4th of may 2017, heh by certify and declare that the total numbers of verified ballot papers was, 45,000 387. the total numbers of first... was, 45,000 387. the total numbers of first. .. we are getting the results in four bury, we have had bolton. there are ten districts in greater manchester. we will be back for the one right at the end where they add them all up and tell us who has won. at the moment, andy burnham is looking cheerful. it looks to me

as if he has probably improved labour's share around manchester from two years ago. we will see when the other figures are in, from two years ago. we will see when the otherfigures are in, but from two years ago. we will see when the other figures are in, but this isa the other figures are in, but this is a strong performance. whereas, in the west midlands, where it is very tight, it looks as if this is a less good performance by labourfor the general election. what would account for that, is this a matter of andy burnham being a prominent candidate, what else would lend itself to that narrative. he is very popular. both asa narrative. he is very popular. both as a cabinet minister, attractive personality. and also, around the hillsborough tragedy, he didn't do it as hillsborough tragedy, he didn't do itasa hillsborough tragedy, he didn't do it as a partisan politician. he came out as a politician in a really impressive light. that is right. he

embedded himself into the spirit of the north—west, right in the heart of the community in that way. his work on that public enquiry was quite superlative. but this was an area in the north—west where the tories have been expecting to make gains. what this shows is that for all the resources they have put into this, for all the expectation that they've had to make gains in this pa rt they've had to make gains in this part of the country and for all the talk they had about northern powerhouse, that is not going according to plan for them. it doesn't mean that whilst i am delighted for andy burnham, i look at these results overall in england. here we are only defending what are basically the rural constituencies and we only had three councils in the whole of england to defend. but nonetheless, the clear message is that we have gone down in our share of the councils and the seats we

have been able to hold onto. of the councils and the seats we have been able to hold onto] of the councils and the seats we have been able to hold onto. , andy berman was an opponent ofjeremy corbyn the first time he stood for the party leadership. he is known not to be a corba nights, known as a labour moderate. he seems to have outperformed labour in most of the re st of outperformed labour in most of the rest of england, do you think there isa rest of england, do you think there is a connection between his very good personal performance and the fa ct good personal performance and the fact he is a standout and non—corbin politician? let me say, andy burnham served injeremy's politician? let me say, andy burnham served in jeremy's shadow cabinet. he came back in after the initial resignations, as all others did and decided we would get on with the job of opposing the government because it is the government implementing the cuts to local government, cuts to social care services, cuts to funding in schools... so you don't think there is any connection... he is an immensely popular politician,

but what you have to say is this is a concentrated, urban area. the rest of the results we're looking at in these local elections are much more rural constituencies. i don't think there is a straight read across, now don't. that means labour should be doing better in the west midlands, rather than it being a close contest with sean simon losing. if what you say is right about concentrated urban areas... it goes across the gain your own thesis because sean simon was not somebody associated withjeremy corbyn. simon was not somebody associated with jeremy corbyn. he was somebody with jeremy corbyn. he was somebody with very strong local connections, a well loved local mp. he had 20,000 more votes in birmingham van andy street did where sean had served as an mp. he is somebody, like andy, who had the local connection. i don't think there is the read across

you want to make about personalities. i deprecate in way our whole political culture is becoming increasingly presidential. i don't want to be america. i want to be be united kingdom where we talk about policies, we understand the policies of government stands on, that it has in its manifesto, things that matter. whether it is local government or housing, if you look at labour councils, labour councils builds on average, 1000 more houses each year than their conservative counterparts. these are the figures that matter to people'slives. these are the ways in which young people can get on the housing ladder, who are finding themselves trapped in o—hours contracts, cannot even get a deposit for a mortgage, not even the deposit for a mortgage, not even the deposit for rent sometimes. this is the difference labour councils can make and it is the difference a labour government can make. let's go back

and listen to what is going on in manchester. i think they are making steady progress through some of these ten declarations before we get to the end. independent, 490. jane elizabeth brophy, liberal democrats, 2187. andy burnham, 24,000... cheering and applause . going andy burnham's way. i think we have reached oldham or rochdale in the greater manchester declaration, so not many to go. let's stay on that for a second, because i am wondering if we can bring in karen quicklyjust to a nswer bring in karen quicklyjust to answer the point about this being a platform for a labour politician might andy burnham to show what labour might do if it were in power. and in that sense, it is creating a

power base for one of your opponents, which you might think down the cause, might be less than helpful? we have been clear we want to see strong devolution and to see strong, local and regional government. i think what this election the show, throughout the course of the afternoon there has been an assumption on the 8th of june this will be a walk in the park for the conservatives. clearly, there are votes for labour and there are people who will vote for labour and they will vote for parties other than the conservatives. it comes back to the clear choice people will have on the 8th ofjune as to whether they want the strong and sta ble whether they want the strong and stable leadership of theresa may or they want coalition chaos. john has said he would not go into coalition with the conservatives, so he obviously is prepared to go into coalition with jeremy obviously is prepared to go into coalition withjeremy corbyn propping him up. you are right, we

have debated the rape clause, which is absurd, we are seeing what the tories are doing with disability cuts. so on a range of issues, both you and i get on great, the policy is your government is putting through our obnoxious in many areas. absolutely, we would not help implement them with the tories. the point is, your prime minister called this election, not for the national interest, but purely party political advantage. and we all know it. she thought she had a window in the polls, she had previously known very well when article 50 was going to be triggered and when the negotiations would start and when they will finish. at that point she said, she would not call a general election until 2020. now, she would not call a general election until2020. now, she has decided would not call a general election until 2020. now, she has decided to do it at this window because she

knows the negotiations are not going to go in the way the british people think is well. afterwards she doesn't want to be boxed into a general election. that is why she wanted an overwhelming majority. she may find that actually, if you look at the figures, the figures that have been put up by the national share of the vote, it is coming in at 38% for the conservatives. it is coming in at 27% for labour and about 18% for the liberal democrats. that is why you should be very worried. because actually, the liberal democrats have nine mps in parliament, we have 229 and if we have that surge, you will have called a general election for your own benefit and it will not work. she called the election at the only time an election can be held between now and the end of the negotiations of article 50. this is the only window there is. she said she would not do it. she repeatedly said she

would not do that. i don't talk over you. she said she had the mandate thatis you. she said she had the mandate that is needed to get the best result for britain and the right deal with europe. result for britain and the right dealwith europe. seven times result for britain and the right deal with europe. seven times she said she wouldn't. she has decided in the national interest to do that. that is not true. nothing is taken for granted, no politician goes into a general election on the assumption the polls will be working for them, you do it because it is in the national interest and it is the right thing to do. this narrative would work if you had been in lots of troubles in the commons over brexit. can i askew how many votes on brexit... we know the brexit. can i askew how many votes on brexit. .. we know the answer to that. it is clear, and the house of lords, they will hamper anything. that. it is clear, and the house of lords, they will hamper anythingm is thejob of lords, they will hamper anythingm is the job of politicians in a

democracy to hold the government to account. it is chilling to hear the prime minister angrily denouncing the role of the opposition. you haven't lost one vote in the house of commons over brexit. your prime minister promised on seven separate occasions that she would not hold an election. she has clearly lost faith with the british public over what she has done. you have gone to the electorate because you know you can whip labour now and when brexit sta rts whip labour now and when brexit starts to go badly wrong in about 18 months' time, there will be no opposition because there will be ra nks opposition because there will be ra n ks of opposition because there will be ranks of conservative mps, possibly as much as 100 all tripping through the lobbies. it is bad for democracy. i take issue that any others have lost faith with the british public. we are implementing what the british public asked her to do. i am talking about calling the election. i am going to pause it there because we are representing

there because we are representing the conservatives, the snp and labour of course, we want to get the liberal democrats perspective. we we re liberal democrats perspective. we were talking earlier on to tom and jenny, but tim farron, the party leader is in saint all buns today. this is what has been going on there. you guys deserve the applause. well done. congratulations. great news, all of you. thank you so much all of you for being here. i am you. thank you so much all of you for being here. iam not you. thank you so much all of you for being here. i am not here by accident, st albans is a wonderful place to visit, but particularly on the day the liberal democrats top the day the liberal democrats top the poll here in the constituency. it bodes incredibly well for daisy in five weeks but she could be our new member of parliament. this is one of many constituencies around the country where the liberal democrats top the polls, double our

seats, as things would appear at the moment on the general election on the 8th ofjune. increasing our vote share by 7%, are best in any election nationally for seven years. double the increased the tories have experienced in terms of a shower around the country with the labour party utterly imploding and devastated like no other opposition party in recent memory. but there is another lesson to learn from last night about as apart from the liberal democrats' revival and success around the country, we still see britain headed for a conservative landslide. now, imagine this, imagine the reason may on the 9th ofjune this, imagine the reason may on the 9th of june with this, imagine the reason may on the 9th ofjune with a majority larger than margaret that should's. imagine what that means for your family, what that means for your family, what it means for you, what it means for your job what it means for you, what it means for yourjob security, what it means for yourjob security, what it means for yourjob security, what it means for your hospital, schools with a colossal conservative majority like that. i don't need to imagine it, i grew up in a community under a government like that. i grew up in a

community in the 1980s with a government with that kind of majority taking us for granted. i grew up in a community where half of my mates' parents and me included, spent time out of work because we had a government that at tate britain for granted. they can take you for granted, your family for granted. i want to leave the country that says that is not acceptable. i am determined over the next five weeks, we will put an end to that coronation theresa may now expects. if you wanted prevent the conservatives taking you, your family, your schools and hospital for granted, it is only a liberal democrat who will stand up for you. i want my children to grow up in a country where people are decent to one another and can expect the state to be decent to them. i am determined i will leave that kind of country here in st albans and in campus places around the country, we have shown it is only the liberal democrats who can offer you the hope that britain will not be led by a

1—party that britain will not be led by a 1— party state that britain will not be led by a 1—party state on the 9th ofjune. do not let theresa may take you for granted. imaginea not let theresa may take you for granted. imagine a better britain. thank you. tim farron in st albans. he chose st albans because the one for wards in the city of st albans and the liberal democrats won all four of and the liberal democrats won all fourof them. it and the liberal democrats won all four of them. it was 70% remain. most of the contests yesterday where in leave england rather than remain england. there are a handful of liberal target seat where people voted remain. these results over the country will be disappointing for the liberal democrats. but that result in st albans gives them hope that it may be half a dozen target seats where there went election just sedate where there was a big remain vote last year and maybe the liberal

democrats are back in play. can i pick up on what tim farron was saying? i think that is right, what we may see a few extra liberal seats in those remain areas because they appealed directly only to the 48% remain. they ignored the second part of their title, democrat in ignoring the referendum, but that is another matter. we are just watching nicola sturgeon arriving at snp headquarters. those are the images. tim farron was pointing out we don't wa nt tim farron was pointing out we don't want to wake up onjune nine in a i—party state. want to wake up onjune nine in a 1— party state. even want to wake up onjune nine in a i—party state. even if he gets five or six and increases his share of members in the house of commons by 50, 60%, he will have 14, 15 members. we have 229 in the labour party. the only party in the house of commons who will be able to stop what tim farron was talking about which is an monolithic government

trampling over people in this country, is the labour party and thatis country, is the labour party and that is why we need to get out on the doorstep and get the message across. this is nicola sturgeon, the first minister, congratulating her campaigners. we will come back to talk about the results in scotland, including edinburgh in a moment. let's go to manchester because they are now in the final stages of this declaration in the metro mayor, that is andy burnham. putting england first, 11,000115. uk independence party, 10500 and 83. will patterson, the green party, 13400 and 24. the total number of first preference votes was 566,000 735. the total number of ballot papers rejected at first count or 6808. therefore i declare that andy burnham is duly elected as the mayor of the

manchester combined authority. those are the figures. a turnout of 29%. taking more than 350,000 votes. conservatives in second place. let's listen to what andy burnham has got to say. thank you everybody. this is an historic day for greater manchester. i want to thank all those who have worked so hard to make it happen, particularly so howard bernstein and tony lloyd. i want to thank the staff of our ten councils who have been working to count the votes. the combined authority and greater manchester police, who have run the selection so smoothly. i must thank my incredible campaign team chaired by andrew quin mp and of course, kevin lee. thanks so much to you all. i want to also thank my fellow

candidates, particularly from the main parties under green party for making this a friendly and positive campaign which has set the right tone for a new era in greater manchester. but most of all i want to thank the people of greater manchester. you have given me a big job to do and a big mandate with which to do it. i will give it my all and which to do it. i will give it my allandi which to do it. i will give it my all and i will let you down. —— will not let you down. all i can say is, 63% of the vote! i hear that down the road in liverpool, the candour that there got 59% of the vote. i think we can all say today, that is

manchester 1—0. whether you voted for me or not, it doesn't matter, i will be the mayor for you, for the people, a strong voice for all of greater manchester. this is the dawn ofa greater manchester. this is the dawn of a new era, notjust for the city region but for politics in our country. it has been to london centric. the old political party structures haven't delivered for all people and all places. they have created this crisis in politics, which we are living through now. and do you know what? we can hold as many general elections as we like and that would never solve the problem. people here have worked ha rd to problem. people here have worked hard to get to this moment and we're not going to waste it. greater manchester is going to take control. we are going to change politics and make it work better for people. we

will give power and purpose to those people and places westminster has left behind. we will get the voice of the north heard more loudly than ever before. we ask that people are greater manchester to help us write the manifesto and now i invite them to help us implement it. we will leave the same old politics behind in westminster, create a new politics here and involve people in new ways. here, focus will be on making a difference, not point—scoring. here, people won't be the target for cuts, you will be the priority for investment. here, older people won't be labelled bed blockers, but treated with respect. and here, in this great city, we will never accept it as an inevitable fact of modern life, that for some people to succeed, others had to sleep rough on a cold streets. andy burnham, the newly

elected metro mayor, one of six posts created. he thanked the green party for the spirit in which the campaign has been conducted. the greens getting 2% in the greater manchester contest. jonathan ba rtley of the green party has been waiting patiently to talk to others. your thoughts on, not just patiently to talk to others. your thoughts on, notjust manchester, but the broad results? i noticed in edinburgh are you had done well with eight seats, but your thoughts on your performance overall? a tough night for progressive parties. coming up with national gains, openings from the isle of wight 's, the highlands down to the somerset levels, we have made gains. i wonder if you should have a word with your boss because you are giving disproportionate coverage to far right politicians from ukip and they have ended up with one seed. we are going to make in excess of 20 just

in england and wales and we are showing we are a national party. all the other parties are losing seats on the progressive side. let's have some fair coverage. show us on the telly, let people see what we have got because when people do see the green party, they vote for the green party. the total collapse in the ukip seat numbers is a story, jonathan, which ever way you look at it? it is a story and there is a lesson to be learned. there was a big surge nationally and it wasn't about engaging with local communities, they went in on the tide and now the tide has gone out and they have collapsed. with the greens, we are holding a lot of seats and we are working to get the nitty—gritty sorted out, the bins collected and standing up in the context brexit. what is a local authority if it isn't about protecting the environment and

things around us. people do vote for the greens. i havejust things around us. people do vote for the greens. i have just been things around us. people do vote for the greens. i havejust been in things around us. people do vote for the greens. i have just been in the isle of wight where we have our first counsellor. we hope to make again on the back of that with a surge in the next general election and maybe win the parliamentary seat. it is about gaining the trust of local communities and offering ourselves as a vote of local communities and offering ourselves as a vote for people to centre westminster. why did you lose your representation in oxford and norfolk? in norfolk, there is a very left move within the labour party there which came on to some of our territory. whether they were called and sympathisers, it is harder to distinguish. there are local factors at play but also national factors at play as well. thank you forjoining us. well, that's it from the election centre. if you are watching on bbc two. the bbc news channel

coverage will continue. thanks to my guests in the studio who have been in the studio. our coverage continues for another couple of hours and there are still results to come, so don't think the story is over. coverage continues for a couple of hours on the bbc news channel. lots more to come. join me then with a new panel in just a moment. but if you are watching on bbc two, it has been good to have your company, thanks for watching and the bye for now. good afternoon. it is 4pm. welcome to our special live coverage of the local elections in england, wales and scotland. lots of results in but quite a few still to come. thousands of councillors being elected and they are responsible for delivering what's of your essential services. that's the real importance of this democratic exercise. it's all happening under the shadow of a

general election campaign which slightly changes things as well. we'll have the results in as they are declared, we've just had the results on the manchester mayoral contest. the conservatives having a very good set of results, they've gained over 500 councillors across england, scotland and wales. they took derbyshire from labour, that was a big result and they've also one two —— they've also won two mayoral contests today. labour have lost overall control of glasgow city council which they've held for nearly 40 years. in wealth they have lost several councils but in cardiff they kept control, also swansea and newport. in england so far they've lost nearly 150 councillors, many of

those to the conservatives. andy burnham has been elected to the first metro mayor position in greater manchester. he took 63% of the vote. what about ukip who did so well four years ago? they've had a terrible time, losing virtually every seat they were defending. they are down by nearly 150 councillors so far. the party has been wiped out in lincolnshire, hampshire and ethics and their vote share is down dramatically, most of it going to the conservatives. we'll be keeping an eye on quite a few areas including birmingham for that crucial race for the metro mayor of the west midlands, another new position created. this is a fight between labour and conservatives, between labour and conservatives, between andy street and sion simon. we hope that result will be in in the next hour or so. stay with us for that. very soon these seats will be filled

next to be and we'll have iain duncan smith, john mcdonnell for labour. they are on their way to the studio and peter kellner is with me once again and we will be talking about some of the trends we've been spotting today. let's have a quick look at the scorecard because i'd like to look at that now. we spoke to jonathan we spoke tojonathan barkley a we spoke to jonathan barkley a few minutes ago. ukip have lost 139 seats so far, they have the one

council seat in these results. it's been a very turbulent time for them. we'll be back in a few minutes to speak to our guests and to pick up on the latest results coming in. in the meantime let's join jane on the latest results coming in. in the meantime let's joinjane for the day's news. huw, thank you. the conservatives have made significant gains in the local elections, with labour performing poorly and ukip suffering big losses. the tories have gained 11 councils — including taking derbyshire county council from labour. labour have lost six councils — including glasgow city council which they've held since 1980. in the last half an hour labour's andy burnham has been elected as mayor of manchester. our political correspondent eleanor garnier has more. applause it's the conservatives with the biggest shares. they've gained

overall control in more than ten councils, including derbyshire, cambridgeshire and lincolnshire. conservative party candidate is duly elected as mayor for the tees valley combined authority. and a huge win in one of labour's former heartlands saw the conservative candidate become elected mayor. in cumbria the tories have replace labour as the largest party, but senior conservatives are playing down expectations ahead of the general election. the turnout in local elections is much lower than in a general election. it's wrong to predict what's going to happen on june the 8th. we are still going to have a general election to campaign for and have a general election to campaign forand a win have a general election to campaign for and a win after last night. but encouraging signs. the tories are celebrating in essex too, where this time round voters turned their backs on ukip. in lincolnshire where ukip's leader paul nuttall will fight for a westminster seat next month, the party was wiped out. and

with such big losses, ukip's future is in question. i've been in ukip forfour is in question. i've been in ukip for four years, the amount of times i've heard the phrase ukip is finished, i've lost count. if i had a pound of everyone i would probably be quite a rich woman. it's not over till it's over and despite these pretty poor results, it's not over. the former labour mp andy burnham is now the new mayor of greater manchester, and there was success for the party in liverpool too, where steve rubber room was elected mayor of the city region. but elsewhere, it's been a torrid time for labour, losing more than 320 seats so far. in glasgow where labour has been in powerfor more than 30 years, it's now lost overall control. these other counties which other tory strongholds. it was going to bea other tory strongholds. it was going to be a tough night for labour a nyway to be a tough night for labour anyway and we are in the middle of a

general election campaign. people operating largely on local issues, not necessarily on national ones. what is coming across is that where people were predicting we would be wiped out, in places like wales we've done very well. you guys deserve the applause! no significant breakthrough for the lib dems but they are making the most of their results. the liberal democrats are really encouraging, we topped the poll in many more seats than we currently hold. we would double our numberof mps of currently hold. we would double our number of mps of the result was replicated last night, our best result for seven years. the green party says with the tories dominating other parties need to collaborate. i'm worried about how well the conservatives have done in terms of the green party and for the future of progressive politics. there has to be a wake—up call to parties on the left and centre left a think about how we work together under this incredibly undemocratic system. for some, the results today have been too close to call, the tories were denied an overall

majority in northumberland after the lib dem candidate literally drew the longest straw. now, it's back to the counting. there's still plenty of that to be done. a scheme to get older, more polluting vans or cars off the roads could be introduced, under draft plans published by the government. the proposals are part of efforts to cut air pollution caused by cars braking and accelerating. there could also be clean air zones in england — which might include charges to enter designated areas. the final day of campaigning is continuing in the french presidential election. voters go to the polls on sunday. the far—right candidate marine le pen was heckled during her visit to reims cathedral, in northern france. the centrist candidate emmanuel macron — who has a substantial lead in opinion polls — has visited the southern city of rodez. that's a summary of the news — now back to local elections 2017 with huw edwards. welcome back. it's coming up to ten

past four. apart from say hello to our guests and welcome them to the studio, is get a quick update from the west midlands because that is the west midlands because that is the big result coming in. probably within the next 90 minutes although who am! within the next 90 minutes although who am i to say? patrick burns is there. let's have the latest on this big fight that is happening there.” think we can probably do better than your estimate, i think it might be 45 minutes away. i did say earlier on that this had the makings of a photo finish between the conservative candidate andy street, the formerjohn lewis boss, and sion simon the labour candidate, former minister under gordon brown. on the

first round of first preference votes, andy street had a majority of 6000. if you do the percentages that's just a tiny bit over 1% of the total first preference votes cast. extraordinarily close. what we haveis cast. extraordinarily close. what we have is one of the seven counts. there's one in each of the metropolitan council areas around the west midlands, this is the biggest in birmingham. what's happening now is that the second preference votes from the vote originally cast further for other candidates, who have now been eliminated, are factored into the totals. then you get the aggregate figure which leads eventually to the decision over all. a footnote to this is that the two front runners, andy street and sion simon didn't appearfor the andy street and sion simon didn't appear for the declaration of the first round of voting, and the other

four who have been eliminated took such a four who have been eliminated took sucha dim four who have been eliminated took such a dim view that they've agreed what i might call a faustian pact, and they have left and are going to boycott the final declaration. so you'll just see the two boycott the final declaration. so you'lljust see the two of them for the final declaration. as we factor in the second preference votes from the other candidates, andy street still has just a nose of an advantage in this photo finish analogy. one killer statistic to go back to you with is there have been 55 mayoral elections in england and in only five of those has the candidate who finished second on the first round of first preference is gone on to win. let's talk about body language because that is a favourite exercise of hours on these occasions. i'm just favourite exercise of hours on these occasions. i'mjust wondering, favourite exercise of hours on these occasions. i'm just wondering, when you look at the balance of the other people there and when we look at those eliminated candidates and we try to make sense of where those rates might go, are there any

signals from the teams themselves as to whether they think they are onto a better share of that the others?” can tell you the body language among both the andy street and sion simon camps is anxious, absolutely nerve shredding. as you might understand given the narrowness of it. the other thing that's telling is that before the liberal democrat team left, they were sort of in an intriguing position, and they feel the sense they have had of where their second preferences might go, that it feels to them like its 50-50. that that it feels to them like its 50—50. that adds to this overall sense of knife edge photofit —— photo finish. the other question is where we'll be 29,000 ukip second preference votes go, if they did indeed espresso second preference, because it is optional —— express a

second preference. the only set second preference. the only set second preferences around those of accou nts second preferences around those of accounts we're getting reports from suggest they may go to the tories. you reckon 45 minutes? fingers crossed. we'll be back. we'll hold you to it! patrick burns keeping an eye on things in birmingham. that's a bit ofa eye on things in birmingham. that's a bit of a nailbiter. it is, we knew it would be close. but what now we are down to the scientific language of body language and it shows you how close it really is! i'm disappointed the other candidates aren't going to be there. it's a democracy figure do say, but yes it is close. i suppose, given that you've had a pretty difficult night and day, nobody is pretending you haven't had a difficult time, i'm wondering therefore does this result assume an even greater importance for you and assume an even greater importance foryou and an assume an even greater importance for you and an even greater victory

for you and an even greater victory for you? it would give you a big victory to brandish at the end of the day. i think the results have been extremely mixed. we saw andy burnham's result. i watched the individual counts, because they announced all ten individually. winning a majority in virtually every cou nts winning a majority in virtually every counts as well. the northwest is web the conservatives targeted so i found that quite reassuring. we knew it would be close in the west midlands. i think for us it's been tough, let's admit it, it's been disappointing. but there have been mixed results. where people were predicting we might have been wiped out, in wales in particular, and we might have experienced difficulties like in the north—west, that hasn't happened. south lanarkshire, labour has lost control of that. asjohn

was speaking to me that came up. yet another scottish result, labour having lost control. the snp on 27, the labour party on 22, the conservatives on 14. we are probably looking at another conservative surge. let's look at the difference. again, in the broad context, i know that the scottish story clearly is very different parts of england and wales, the context is different, but you've seen a pretty clear picture there of a conservative party in parts of scotland making inroads, and taking votes from former labour voters. that's been direct, why is that happening? there's an element of the problems that we've experienced for a number of years in scotland. we knew it was going to be a long haul to rebuild. i think there's a reaction against nicola

sturgeon for people wanting to vote for a unionist party like the conservatives, even though the labour party is strongly in favour of the union. i think there's been that sort of division. i think there's a fair amount of disillusionment with politics in scotla nd disillusionment with politics in scotland as well. we've admitted it's going to be a long haulfor labour to regain it's going to be a long haulfor labourto regain in it's going to be a long haulfor labour to regain in scotland. i'm going to bring in kezia dugdale in a second. a quick thought on what we've heard so far. prospects for a tight contest in the west midlands andindeed tight contest in the west midlands and indeed some of the areas of scotla nd and indeed some of the areas of scotland you've done rather well in. the conservatives have played this town but i agree withjohn. what you are seeing is a patchy results and you can't extrapolate from this into a general election result. the cities in manchester and liverpool have elected labour. so, there's a different picture emerging. if i wa nt different picture emerging. if i want to focus on scotland for a

second, what is great and macro quite interesting in scotland is in areas and south lanarkshire is traditionally a conservative area, and in parts of glasgow, is a very deprived area where you are beginning to see conservative candidates coming through. i'm pleased in one sense, but the conservatives are taking a message to some of the more deprived areas and getting that message across which is an important thing for rebuilding the conservative party in scotland. but overall this isn't a moment for extrapolating to the general election because these are council elections and we have to be cautious about where this takes us. indeed we do. let's have a look at the edinburgh result. edinburgh is a hung council. what's the difference between today and 2012? we heard earlier on from our

correspondent in edinburgh about the areas of the city that have been doing well for the conservatives. labour losing nine in edinburgh. it's a good moment for us to bring in kezia dugdale, the labour leader in scotland. thank you for talking to us. can we have your overall judgment so far? it's undoubtedly a disappointing result for labour in scotland. not particularly a surprise here. the polls in scotland have consistently shown labour around 15%. a number of newspapers last week said we would lose every single one of our councils. the reality is that we are topping the ta bles reality is that we are topping the tables in at least four areas across the country in inverclyde, east lothian, midlothian, north ayrshire labour at the top of the results today. in many towns and cities its labour that other strong opposition to the snp. what happened today is

you seen the constitutional politics biting scotland once again. it's yes versus no biting scotland once again. it's yes versus no in that regard. you are down 103 seats, i'm just saying that the viewers to understand what has gone on. the conservatives up 142 in scotland, the snp down 17. let's talk about glasgow which has been such a labour stronghold. how much ofa such a labour stronghold. how much of a blow was that? you've got to remember that glasgow warriors a very strong yes city. i think this isa very strong yes city. i think this is a disappointing result for the snp in glasgow. they were screaming and shouting in the chambers but the reality is the snp tick every seat in that city in 2015, every seat in 2016, they should have walked it. their vote share is falling from the mid-50% their vote share is falling from the mid—50% to around 40%. it's not clear what the results in glasgow is going to be but once again

constitutional politics to the fore. it is the case that wherever you are across scotland, it's labour that offers the strong opposition to the snp. that's what we are going to do, we are going out on the streets tomorrow and start the campaign for the general election. by voting labour you can reject a second independence referendum and also vote for your public services. i heard iain duncan smith trying to declare victory for the tories in the east end of glasgow. that's not people putting their faith the east end of glasgow. that's not people putting theirfaith in the east end of glasgow. that's not people putting their faith in the tory plans for public services, that is constitutional politics. once again it will turn to the labour party to reject the cut off by the snp and the tories and that's what every single one of our local champions elected today is going to do. just understand, on the basis of this performance and the fact you suffered quite heavy losses in this context in scotland, how confident can you be looking ahead five weeks tojune can you be looking ahead five weeks to june the 8th? i hope we are going to june the 8th? i hope we are going to make progress in the general election. east lothian is an example of that, seat currently held by the

snp, labour has won that today. we've got an excellent candidate the general election. i think you'll see in things like that across the country, labour coming to the fore. rejecting independence, rejecting a second referendum but also focusing on the bread and butter issues, living standards, the housing crisis, investment in school than the nhs. labour is going to do what it's always done and focus on representing the many, not the few. thank you forjoining us. the highland result is in, just for us to give you the latest result from scotland. the independents have a big presence in the highland, it's a hung council. the change from 2012... the conservatives again making the biggest gains there in council

seats. so, looking at that lib dem figure, i was looking across scotla nd figure, i was looking across scotland actually. we are down at two overall in scotland. really, where you were in a sense in the scottish picture. it's interesting because we've made some losses but we've also made some gains. what's really encouraging for scotland and elsewhere is that we've made gains and topped the poll in places like edinburgh west and east and barton share where we had the seats before in 2015. from our perspective it's encouraging because we are seeing the great back in the seats we will be fighting for in five weeks' time. just to underline that, i'm wondering where would you pick out for us specifically on the basis of the performance last night and today, and we are still seeing some results coming in of significance for the lib dems, when you look

ahead five weeks. when you say you have a realistic hope, where is that? certainly the seat somebody mentioned and some seats in the although not the amount people were expecting. there's absolutely no doubt that if the percentage share of the vote being projected an hour ago of 18%, then you look in the microclimate areas of specific seats, where we are topping the poll, cambridge for example, that's really strong for us and we will be expecting to make gains from conservatives and labour. the prime minister has been talking about these elections and maybe giving us a few hints about what might be in course in a few weeks' time. the prime minister today has been in bre ntford prime minister today has been in brentford and she's just been speaking. since i became prime minister, i've been determined to make sure that this is a government that works for the whole country, and it is encouraging that we have

won support across the whole of the uk. but i won't take anything for granted and neither will the team i lead, because there is too much at sta ke. lead, because there is too much at stake. this isn't about who wins and who loses in the local elections, it is about continuing to fight for the best brexit dealfor is about continuing to fight for the best brexit deal for families and businesses across the uk, to lock in the economic progress we've made and get on with the job of making a success of the years ahead. the reality is that today, despite the evident will of the british people, we have bureaucrats in europe who are questioning our resolve to get the right deal. the reality is that only a general election vote for the conservatives in 34 days' time will strengthen my hand to get the best dealfor britain from strengthen my hand to get the best deal for britain from brexit. strengthen my hand to get the best dealfor britain from brexit. so today, i will continue my efforts to earn the support of you, the people.

the prime minister. picking up the theme that she developed the other day in downing street in those outspoken remarks, when she was telling people what she thought about the latest reports coming out of brussels to do with the brexit process. we'll talk a bit about that with my guests, but we are joined by andy burnham who has just been elected as the new method greater manchester. many congratulations on the result. —— the new mayor of manchester. thank you. i should also congratulate you on the longest declaration of all time. it's a big place greater manchester! what are you going to do with the powers you've been given. they are significant powers, there's a big budget attached to this, it was all down to the plan george osborne and david cameron put into effect. what are you going to do with those powers? change politics. we are

going to build a whole new way of doing things here. that was the call from people in greater manchester and we are going to respond. we are going to start monday morning on homelessness. that was the issue of the campaign. it troubles me it's barely featured in the general election campaign but people are worried about it, they don't like to see at, and so they know the government has created debt but they wa nt government has created debt but they want action and i will take action. monday morning we will set up a new homelessness fund and get on with thejob. homelessness fund and get on with the job. that's how homelessness fund and get on with thejob. that's how devolution homelessness fund and get on with the job. that's how devolution can change things. we can, tissues from a different direction. that's what we are going to do. —— we can redirect issues. your election is in contrast to labour performances elsewhere in england and wales, how would you describe the party's performance? it's a very mixed picture. it's not encouraging in some places. there is an emphatic

result here, i'm proud of the result that we have achieved here. it's not a day for me to comment on everywhere else, i've been running a strong campaign here in greater manchester about how we're going change things. and really help the north finder 's political voice. that is what i've come into this contest to do. westminster isn't going to solve things. we could have as many general elections as we like, in my view it's not going to change the london centric politics we've got. or my focus is on taking this mandate and using it to change politics for the better and give the law a stronger political voice than had before. all of this has been taking place in the context of a general election, we just the taking place in the context of a general election, wejust the prime minister say again that in her view this election all about continuing the fight for the best brexit deal forfamilies the fight for the best brexit deal for families and businesses across the uk. do you accept that this does come down to a brexit process and if

so, where does that leave labour? personally i think this is an unnecessary general election, because parliament triggered article 50, it voted in that way to respect the referendum result. i think this isa the referendum result. i think this is a self—serving politics from a power hungry prime minister. we should be getting on with the job right now of getting that good deal, building bridges with europe, not burning those bridges as the prime minister seems to be doing. she wa nts to minister seems to be doing. she wants to make it all about brexit and nothing else. there are rising numbers of people huddled in the doorways of greater manchester, we've got schools sending begging letters home to parents, and nhs in growing crisis. what about those issues? when will they be debated properly? what i see is a self—serving move by the conservative party. they wanted all on their own terms, they call an election and bingo running unprepared to face the public and the tv debates. it's not good enough

in my view. we will get on with the job here. people want to see devolution work. to be honest, it's frustrating the primers to call the general election in the middle of this election which was quite a big change in the way our country is run. i think people want to see this process work and not have it com pletely process work and not have it completely overshadowed by the general election. a final word on the turnout which was 29%, it's got to bea the turnout which was 29%, it's got to be a sort of disappointment to you. it isa it is a new role and when you look at the mayor of london, it was a similar turnout. a moment ago, at the crucial moments of the campaign, the crucial moments of the campaign, the prime minister decided to call a general election. to be honest, i find that very frustrating. a dysfunctional westminster has intruded into this situation, which i would argue is the best solution we have got to reconnect people with politics. instead, the old way of

doing things has crowded that thinking out. greater manchester will take this moment to change the way we do politics, make it work better for people here, way we do politics, make it work betterfor people here, make it more meaningful and involve people in different ways. we are living through a political crisis now and i don't think the westminster system knows how to solve it. we do. we asked people for their ideas in the ma nifesto we asked people for their ideas in the manifesto we put forward and now we will ask the people of greater manchester to help us deliver it. andy burnham, the new metro mayor for greater manchester. he is enjoying his victory but we will talk about the broader themes of the campaign that will come up. i am hoping to talk to nicola sturgeon, the first minister of scotland in a moment. before that, andy burnham made a few serious accusations against the prime minister, for the reasons she has called the election and the way she is trying to manipulate it, as he sees it around brexit. what is your answer? first

of all, i congratulate him for being so successful, wish him all the best. i don't agree with him in the sense of why she called it. there are some good reasons why. she really does need a personal mandate in these negotiations to show that as an elected prime minister she is able to conduct those negotiations in europe in a strong way. she has talked about strong and stable leadership. and also, somebody said he will recall that because you don't want to run into the election. there is a good reason why. if you are conducting negotiations that have a two—year limited timescale and if the other side knows your focus will move quickly to an election, it is in their interest to delay quite a lot of that and let it run because the pressure would build on the british negotiating team because they know they will have to

start preparing for an election. by clearing this away and giving us another two years she ensures there is no lack of focus in the general election. finally, everybody from the labour party, the scottish nationalists, everybody, has a charge against theresa may saying, you haven't got a personal mandate. we hope she is going to get that now. what andy burnham says, this is not a foregone conclusion. it is very feasible but labour could do much better in the general election and therefore we have to fight hard and therefore we have to fight hard and put the issue of strong and sta ble and put the issue of strong and stable leadership at the forefront against chaotic leadership of the labour party. i want to go to glasgow because we will talk about leadership there because the first minister, nicola sturgeonjoins us now. good afternoon to you. hello. what do you make of your performance

so far? i am looking at the scotland scoreboard. i will show it to the viewers now. it is showing me the snp so farare viewers now. it is showing me the snp so far are on 350 council seats, they have lost 17 the tories have surged and they are in second place with labour in third. how would you describe the snp's performance?” with labour in third. how would you describe the snp's performance? i am delighted. we have more votes, more seats and we are the largest party with more councils than any other party in scotland. it is a clear and emphatic victory for the snp. we are the largest city in edinburgh, dundee and aberdeen and in glasgow, where we have today ended 40 years of labour control of glasgow city council. this is a fantastic victory. in terms of the tory support, that has come from labour. it is not the snp losing ground to the tory. if you look at the labour and tory support they are almost a mirror image of each other. the soul—searching in scotland today has to be done by the labour party. for

the snp, i am delighted it is another clear election victory and a great springboard for the general election. john curtis was saying earlier, your performance as a party is not as strong as it was in 2015, 16 and he pointed out you had a realistic expectation of taking control of glasgow city council. why didn't that happen? as john curtis knows, we have proportional representation. the majority is the exception and not the rule. we set out to win glasgow and we have. in terms of the comparison with 2015 and 2016, those who are parliamentary elections, this is a council election. the snp vote has held up our share and the seats have held up our share and the seats have held up our share and the seats have held up and we will be the largest party in more councils. perhaps the majority of councils, although that is not absolutely clear yet. there

is not absolutely clear yet. there is not absolutely clear yet. there is no way anybody can spin this result as anything other than a very clear and emphatic win for the snp. it puts us in pole position to protect services and gives us a great springboard for the general election. it is clear the tories are on track to win the general election, so if people in scotland won strong voices and a strong opposition to the tories, that can only come from the snp. you keep saying clear and emphatic and i wonder how that squares with the outcome in dundee where you lost overall control? we were one seat short. i come back to the point, people who pay close attention to the elections will understand we have a single transferable vote for council elections in scotland, proportional representation. majorities are not usual, they are the exception and not the rule. there may well be in scotland that

has majority control after this election, but we are the largest party in not just election, but we are the largest party in notjust dundee, but aberdeen, edinburgh, glasgow, a whole host of other councils across the country. in very simple terms, the country. in very simple terms, the snp will emerge from this election with more votes than any other party by some distance, with more seats than any other party and in the driving seat of more councils than any other party. by anybody‘s standards, that is a clear and emphatic win for the snp in this election. bear with us, we have north lanarkshire in. i want to show the viewers. it is a hung council, 33 to your party, 32 to labour, tend to do conservatives and two to the liberal dems. labour have lost 12 and the tories, this is a pattern we have seen a lot of, the tories have gained ten seats on north

lanarkshire gained ten seats on north la narkshire council. to gained ten seats on north lanarkshire council. to go back to your reasoning as to why the conservatives are making a few inroads here, your colleague, john nicholson was in effect complaining because he thought ruth davidson had gone on about the concept of the constitution and independence referendum. it was put to him that the strategy has worked in lots of these areas. what do you say? north lanarkshire illustrates these areas. what do you say? north la narkshire illustrates my these areas. what do you say? north lanarkshire illustrates my point very well. it is not the only council to do so. north lanarkshire, like glasgow, they use two—way the labour vote, the snp is now the largest party. if you look at north lanarkshire, the snp has improved its standing and what you see is almost a mirror image of labour and the conservatives. labour have seeds that have fallen and the tories have gone up. so the question about the tory performance, with the greatest of respect, are not questions for me because it is not the snp who has lost ground to the tories. the

questions about the tory support our questions about the tory support our questions for the labour party. we saw the start of this last year, we have seen a collapse in the labour party vote and that is where the tories are picking up their support. it is not coming from the snp because the snp continues to be strong and continues to win these elections. understood, but we are interested in your view. bear with us, john mcdonnell is here and your thoughts and why the first minister thinks labour has suffered in parts of scotland ? thinks labour has suffered in parts of scotland? i think nicola sturgeon should be worried because the snp surge has come to a halt. whatever she is saying at the moment, they we re she is saying at the moment, they were expected to take glasgow, they we re were expected to take glasgow, they were expecting greater gains than this. what reflects is an increasing rejection of any concept of further independence referendum. those votes have gone to the tories. i am disappointed at labour's position in

a numberofareas, disappointed at labour's position in a number of areas, but disappointed at labour's position in a number ofareas, but it means disappointed at labour's position in a number of areas, but it means the snp's surge we have seen has come to a halt. they are beginning to fall back and that is a rejection of any concept of the independence referendum. that is certainly right. the snp have been going backwards and it is clear, talking to colleagues in scotland a couple of weeks ago, the conservatives' literature was full of know the independence referendum two. iain duncan smith? it was the first minister herself, who made a big issue about independence referendum. she put it on the table, she called for it and told theresa may she wa nted for it and told theresa may she wanted it asap. i don't think when the scottish nationalists complain about there being an issue about the referendum, they have any ground to stand on because they raise this as the single issue they felt was important in scotland. i think it is

the right, legitimate tactic, but if you look at other literature, it was often about local issues as well. this is a huge feather in the for ruth davidson, it is a personal leadership issue, she has become the person to take on the first minister and scottish nationalists and is making ground. this is very good for politics in scotland. first minister, thoughts on your prospects as you see them in five weeks on the 8th ofjune? i am looking forward to the general election and the performance of the snp is a great springboard for that campaign. i will come back to that in a second, but if i may pick up on some of the points i have been listening to. if the tories want to say it was a campaign about independence, the tories have to face up to the fact they put that centre stage and the snp have won this election in scotla nd snp have won this election in scotland and the tories have lost it. as far asjohn mcdonnell is

concerned, i know labour doesn't have much to smile about in any part of the uk, but labour has seen its vote collapse in scotland. those in the labour ranks who support independence have long since started to vote for the snp and now we see those who don't support independence, going to the conservatives. labour is in a sorry state. i am standing in a city that i have been politically active in for most of my a dull life. they used to weigh the labour voting glasgow, now the snp holds every constituency and we are now the largest party at council level about to form an administration. in terms of the general election, it is a clear on the back of the english results, theresa may is on course to win the election. what the question is for scotland is, do we want to make sure we have strong voices the scotla nd make sure we have strong voices the scotland with an opposition that can hold the tory government to account? it is clear labour cannot do that,

they are barely fit for opposition and certainly not fit for government. if you want that from scotland, it can only come from the snp and that is a very good spring board as we go into the 8th ofjune. i have to make this point, two years ago, the vote of the snp in the general election was greater than that of the three main unionist parties put together, labour, conservative and liberal democrat. looking at these results, as of yesterday, a fairly substantial majority for the three unionist parties combined over the snp. a reasonably substantial vote. it may be very different in five weeks, but the question i would like to ask nicola sturgeon, given first past the post, you are bound to come out with a clear majority of seats in scotland. but if the vote for the unionist parties is substantially greater than the vote for the snp, does that affect your thinking about

another referendum? no, it doesn't. with the greatest respect, i am focusing on winning the general election. we have just focusing on winning the general election. we havejust won focusing on winning the general election. we have just won council election. we have just won council election. what i think is interesting, forgive me there is a result been declared here, so i am not hearing very much at the moment. but it is interesting we have other parties in scotland who are seeing the snp winning election, at the election, at the election, who are trying to redefine what victory and defeat means because they know they cannot win. i will continue to focus on getting more seats and votes than any other party and by any definition that will be the snp continuing to win the election. i am not taking anything for granted for the general election, we have a campaign ahead and part of the success for the snp over the last decade has been not taking voters for granted. in glasgow, what

happens to parties when they take the electorate for granted as labour has done over many years. first minister, banks are battling against the noise in the background. thank you. nicola sturgeon. an interesting point in terms of the reconfiguration and your question about what that change the thinking ona about what that change the thinking on a second independence referendum. we had a straight response, which you would expect, but it is an interesting point. under the local election, under proportional representation, it is hard for any party to win out right and the snp won fewer votes and seats than the three unionist parties put together. general election, back to first past the post so you could have a situation where the snp win 40, 40 596 situation where the snp win 40, 40 5% of the vote for examples and maybe win 50 out of 59 seats. but when you add together the votes of the three unionist parties, if you had had the local election in the general election, it wouldn't be so

clear cut that scotland is the being of the snp. if you are making a crude calculation of when to go for another independence results, this result would make you think twice. john, i will have to go to the west midlands. the total number of valid second preference votes cast for each of the remaining candidates is as follows... andy street, the conservative party candidate, 7690. simon sean llewelyn, labour and co—operative party, 10300 and 82. total number of valid second preference votes is 31,000 488. the total number of rejected ballot papers is 2988. thank you. thank you, kate. as returning

officer for the west midlands, the election for the mayor on the 4th of may 20 17th, election for the mayor on the 4th of may 2017th, i hereby certify that the total number of valid second preference votes cast for each of the remaining candidates is as follows. . . the remaining candidates is as follows... andy street, the conservative party candidate, 22,000 348. simon sean llewelyn, labour and cooperative party, 24,603. the total numberof cooperative party, 24,603. the total number of ballot papers rejected at the second count is as follows, 7515. the total number of valid first and second preference votes for each of the remaining candidates is as follows. andy street, the

conservative party candidate, first preferences, 216,000 280. second preferences, 216,000 280. second preferences, 22,000 348. total, 238,000 628. simon sean llewelyn, labour and cooperative party. first preferences, 210,000 259. second preferences, 210,000 259. second preferences, 24,000 603. total, 234,000 862. andy street, the conservative party candidate, is duly elected as mayor for the west midlands authority. andy street is elected as metro

mayor in the west midlands for the conservatives. 0k, thank you all. i think it is customary to say if few words on occasions like this and they should start with my thanks, of course. first of all that must be to martin and his team of returning officers across the west midlands. it has all been conducted brilliantly today said thank you very much, martin and all of your team, including all the counters. thank you. secondly, i do wa nt to counters. thank you. secondly, i do want to say an enormous thank you to all of my fellow candidates. the beverly, james, pete, graham and above all else to sean. because i honestly think we have conducted

this ina honestly think we have conducted this in a very cordial way in the best tradition of british politics. sean, thank you. i should also say thank you to council bobsleigh has combined the west midlands combined authority of the best point, so thank you for all you have done to get to this point. i should thank my own team, i am only going to mention dolly my election agent, but you all the what you have done in that team and we have come an enormous distance. thank you very much indeed. now, talking... talking of journeys. in september when we started, i talked about what i wa nted started, i talked about what i wanted to achieve in the campaign. i saidi wanted to achieve in the campaign. i said i wanted it to reach every single community across the west midlands. i said single community across the west midlands. isaid i single community across the west midlands. i said i wanted single community across the west midlands. isaid i wanted it single community across the west midlands. i said i wanted it to be moderate, tolerant and inclusive and isaidi moderate, tolerant and inclusive and i said i wanted to present practical solutions to difficult issues. and

thatis solutions to difficult issues. and that is exactly what we have done. judging by the results, we have reached every area across the west midlands and we have won support in every single community. what we have seen here today is what i would call the rebirth of the new urban conservative agenda. it is defined... andy street giving his victory speech in the west midlands. just to recap, it is quite a narrow victory, andy street, the former boss ofjohn victory, andy street, the former boss of john lewis, victory, andy street, the former boss ofjohn lewis, conservative candidate who has been victorious in the west midlands in probably the most powerful of these positions that have been created, the six metro mayor is we have been talking about today, which have been elected. we have had greater manchester and we have spoken to andy burnham. but there we have andy street, who has defeated john simon ina very

street, who has defeated john simon in a very tough race. john mcdonnell is with me. thoughts on what is symbolically, as well, if i may say so, symbolically, a tough result for labour? it is, i am so sorry for sean simon. it was always going to be close and to be that close. they have worked really hard. it is disappointing, but we knew it was going to be tied. i thought maybe he would be able to get it. it looks like a would be able to get it. it looks likea game would be able to get it. it looks like a game in the second preference, the ukip votes have collapsed into the tories. i think this is what has happened again. 29,000 new kit boats in the first round and 20,000 additional votes for andy street. but there are 50,000 lost centre—left votes. if you go to the liberal democrats and the greens. i suspect a lot of them voted for each other. it meant they

weren't voted for each other. it meant they we ren't counted at voted for each other. it meant they weren't counted at all the second time round. while you had come if you like on the first count, 52—48 lead the party is on the left and the parties on the right. because of those wasted second votes, you have a narrow victory for the candidates on the right over the candidates on the left. in ireland, people get used to a proportional representation system.” used to a proportional representation system. i am tremendously disappointed. it has been said several times about andy street's campaign, but he has been accused several times of spending just about £1 million on the very early stages of the campaign and that undoubtedly, say his opponents, helped him unfairly. is it a factor or not? can i congratulate andy street, i know his campaign was one very ha rd street, i know his campaign was one very hard and i like him as an individual, he is a decent person and he will do his best for his may

are tea. the rules are the rules, he can spend what he did come in hasn't broken any rules. he has been quite open about it. he said he thinks the campaign is worth spending the money on because he wants to be elected and wants to do the right thing for his area. the reality is, when you have these head to head elections, you will get a different pattern of how that goes about. if someone wants to change the rules, that is a different matter and if they want to look at the rules again, then fine. but andy street won a fair fight and it was a very close fight. congratulations to simon for going all the way. i am a great believer in mayoral elections because they would bring local focus and the man.

but it does remind us we have lost some around the country. the labour party has been solid in places like manchester, liverpool and others. party has been solid in places like manchester, liverpooland others. it shows my colleagues we cannot be complacent. you have to fight harder the election and make sure we get theresa may elected. it is all beginning now. we have had the manchester and midlands results in the last hour or so. real contrast compared with the general election votes two years ago. in west midlands, it looked like a 5% swing from labour to the conservatives. in manchester, there was something like a9% manchester, there was something like a 9% swing from the conservatives to the labour party. there is a real difference. i won't go into the reason, but the liverpool result from two years ago looks more like the midlands the manchester. just pause for a second, i want to go to

west sussex and we spoke to peter henley, our correspondence. we were talking about west sussex earlier which is a conservative hold. i can show viewers the figures now because they are worth underlining. 56 seats. a big conservative wing. labour, losing ten. and 11 games for the tories in west sussex. peter, what is the kind of take, what is your take on what has happened? all of those ukip seats went to the conservatives. this is a big leave area. nigel farage is the mep for the south—east of england and i wonder if things have changed. theresa may has taken over as the

person who is doing the job on brexit. so those ukip voters have switched to the conservatives. by contrast that with oxfordshire. another conservative county, struggling with cuts in school funding and in a dull social care or even contrast it with surrey he was asking for a 15% increase in its council tax at one stage. the conservatives just level pegging in oxford. the liberal democrats up from 16% share of the vote to 25% and in oxfordshire, labour holding steady on 21% of the vote. the difference between the leave and remain areas and what people are doing is interesting. thank you for the update. we are going to go and have a weather update in a minute, but just a have a weather update in a minute, butjust a quick comment, because he spoke about oxfordshire and traditionally there is a strong lib dem element, your thoughts on what has happened there. it repeats what i was saying earlier, we have seen

substantial swings to us both in oxford we st substantial swings to us both in oxford west and abingdon but in witney where we have the by—election before christmas. i am not surprised. whilst west sussex, the ukip seats might have gone to the conservatives, that is not true in eastleigh where we gained three seats from ukip. we will pick up again ina seats from ukip. we will pick up again in a moment. we will get a quick update on the weather. it has been a lovely day across large parts of the uk. this is a picture from the highlands. blue sky and snow on the peaks, it has been melting all week. not sunny everywhere. we have this cloud in essex. look at the satellite sequence and you can see sunshine is widespread and there is the breeze dragging the cloud into the southernmost counties but even there, there is breaks in the cloud and it is dry virtually everywhere. in the evening there will be the

burial cloud across southern counties come increasing and spreading north. might generate the odd spot of rain in the midlands coming to wales as well. more persistent rain clipping into cornwall. not as chilly as it was last night. but a touch of frost developing in the north of scotland. scotla nd developing in the north of scotland. scotland tomorrow will be lovely with plenty of sunshine. through the evening we have wet weather drifting a little bit further up into the south—western corner of the uk. into tomorrow and it will be a lovely day, in the north of the uk, with plenty of sunshine and on the western side of scotland. northern ireland will do well in the morning but more cloud in the afternoon. generally cloudy across northern ingham, wales and east anglia but dry virtually everywhere. into the afternoon, western scotland doing well. always more low cloud on the north coast which will keep the temperature is 11 or 12 degrees. quite warm in the sunshine in the west. northern ireland seen 14, 15,

16 degrees. cool on the north sea coast. but had further inland, temperatures a bit higher, 15, 16 degrees for cardiff and bournemouth. but the wet weather down towards the south—west. that will move away saturday evening. wetter weather for the south—west and for the channel islands as well. heading into sunday, we have this breeze coming from the north from the north sea coastal areas. great with light rain and drizzle, but had further west and drizzle, but had further west and the wind is lighter, brighter skies and sunshine. maybe a few showers in the far south—west but doing well in terms of temperatures. middle to upper teens in the south—west but cooler along the north sea coast. looking ahead to next week and for the most part it will stay dry for the early part. the might start seeing things on settled later on next week. good afternoon, it's 5pm, welcome to our special live coverage of the

local elections in england, wales and scotland. the final hour of coverage on the bbc news channel today, thousands of councillors elected overnight and today, they are the ones responsible for delivering local services but of course other things are happening as well. there is a general election campaign happening and that is part of the story we are telling today. we will have the last results to be declared hopefully in the next hour or so declared hopefully in the next hour orso and we declared hopefully in the next hour or so and we will get reaction from the political parties as to what has gone on. within the past few minutes and the street has been elected as the first ever metro mayor of the west of england. sorry, that's the west of england. sorry, that's the west midlands. and sean simon losing ina tight west midlands. and sean simon losing in a tight contest. the conservatives have gained around 550 councillors, they took derbyshire from labour this afternoon, big

result for them. pretty difficult time for labour as john result for them. pretty difficult time for labour asjohn mcdonnell has been telling us, losing overall control of glasgow city council for the first time in decades, losing over 100 councillors in england and in wales and scotland if you add them together they have lost over 300. but andy burnham has been elected metro mayor for manchester. he took 63% of the vote. ukip have had a terrible time losing virtually every seat they were defending, down by almost 150 councillors and the party has been wiped out on councils such as lincolnshire, hampshire and essex. the vote share is down dramatically, most of that going to the conservatives. here in the studio we will get some reaction in the next hour or so from john

mcdonnell of labour and iain duncan smith, thank you for giving us company and peter kellner is here to give us analysis and we'll be joined by professorjohn curtis who will give us his latest take on the days events. all that, but let's look at the scorecard, the scoreboard at the moment. this is where we are, in terms of council seats, these are the numbers of councillors, if you arejust the numbers of councillors, if you are just joining the numbers of councillors, if you arejustjoining us this is the numbers of councillors, if you are justjoining us this is where we are justjoining us this is where we are virtually at the end of this day. 550 gained for the conservatives, 385 losses for labour, independence losing 12, the lib dems as we speak having lost 36, the snp having lost seven and plaid cymru having gained 33. the greens are on 40 as we speak, they have put

on six overnight and today. and ukip asi on six overnight and today. and ukip as i was saying, look at that figure, a losses from their high point in 2013, just one single seat i think point in 2013, just one single seat ithink in point in 2013, just one single seat i think in lancashire. lots of chat to come and we'll be getting as much reaction as we can trying to draw the schemes together for you in the next hour or so so we can get a good ta ke next hour or so so we can get a good take on what these elections mean and maybe rather cautiously looking ahead five weeks as well to the general election. all that to come but let's catch up with the day 's news, the election news and all the rest of the news with jane. huw, thank you — good afternoon. the prime minister says they are taking nothing for granted as too much is at stake following their local election success. the conservatives are enjoying their best results for more than a decade in the local elections. they are the only party to make significant gains, at the expense of labour and ukip. the tories have taken 11 councils

including some which had previously been staunchly labour — like derbyshire. labour have performed poorly — losing more than 300 council seats. ukip have been virtually wiped out. the liberal democrats have lost 35 seats. in the election of metro mayors, andy street has taken the west midlands for the tories, and andy burnham won manchester for labour. our political correspondent eleanor garnier has the full story cheering and applause. it's the conservatives with the biggest cheers. they've gained overall control in more than ten councils, including derbyshire, cambridgeshire and lincolnshire. the conservative party candidate is duly elected as mayor for the tees valley combined authority. and a huge win in one of labour's former heartlands saw the conservative candidate become elected mayor. theresa may struck a cautious note i

head of the general election. i'm not taking anything for granted, i will be going out for the remaining weeks of this general election campaign to earn the support of the british people. but also as i have said, only a conservative vote at the general election will strengthen my hand to get the best brexit deal for people across the whole of the united kingdom. the tories are celebrating and essex to wear at this time around voters turned their back on ukip. in lincolnshire were ukip leader paul nuttall will fight for westminster seat next month the party was wiped out. and with such big losses the future of ukip is in question. i have been ukip for four yea rs question. i have been ukip for four years and the number of times i have heard we are finished i have lost count, if i had a pound for every one i would be quite a rich woman.

it's not over until it's over and despite these pretty poor election results so far it's not over.” declare andy burn duly elected as the mayor of the greater manchester combined authority. —— andy burnham. andy burnham is now the new mayor of greater manchester and success for the party in liverpool as well where steve rotherham was elected mayor of the city region. elsewhere it's been a torrid time for labour losing more than 320 seats so far. in glasgow where labour has been in powerfor more than 30 years it's now lost overall control. these are the counties which are tory strongholds. it was going to be a tough night for us anyway and we are in the middle ofa us anyway and we are in the middle of a general election campaign so mixed motives, people are voting on local issues not necessarily national ones. but what's coming across is that where people were predicting we would get wiped out in

places like wales we have done very well. the snp has replaced labour is the biggest party in glasgow but fell short of a majority. the snp vote has held up, our share of the seats have held up and we will be the largest party in more councils, perhaps a majority of councils but that's not absolutely clear yet. but there is no way anyone can spin this result as anything other than a clear and emphatic win for the snp. you guys deserve the applause. no significant breakthrough for the lib dems but making the most of their results. it's been a good day for the green party which has picked up some new councillors. for some the results today have been too close to tall, the tories denied an overall majority in northumberland after the lib dem candidate literally drew the longest straw. for now it's back to the counting, there is still plenty of that to be done. the final day of campaigning

is continuing in the french presidential election. voters go to the polls on sunday. the far—right candidate marine le pen was heckled during her visit to reims cathedral, in northern france. the centrist candidate emmanuel macron — who has a substantial lead in opinion polls — has visited the southern city of rodez. a man has been critically injured in a helicopter crash in buckinghamshire. emergency services said the helicopter landed on its side when it came down at wycombe air park this morning. two other men were also hurt. that's a summary of the news — now back to local elections 2017 with huw edwards. welcome back to the election centre on the bbc news channel, in the next

45 minutes or so we will take you through the main themes as we see them and the results which have come m, them and the results which have come in, one ortwo them and the results which have come in, one or two still to come but it's worth taking stock and looking at different parts of the uk, talked about scotland and we will come back to that but we've not talked about wales for a while because that was an interesting challenge for several parties not least labour and with lots of talk last week of a big conservative surge led me show you the welsh figures as they stand. this is the scorecard, labour having lost a councillors in wales. john mcdonnell might say that is not as bad as some have forecast. ukip down by two with no seat at the moment on the board. looking at

monmouthshire, this was a result which came in earlier today, it was a conservative gain from a hung council back in 2012, 25 tory seats. monmouthshire a strong conservative tradition has been sending labour mps to parliament in the past but mainly conservative. you will see lots of independent representation in quitea lots of independent representation in quite a few of the welsh councils. bridgend, the backyard of ca rwyn councils. bridgend, the backyard of carwyn jones, the councils. bridgend, the backyard of carwynjones, the welsh first minister for carwynjones, the welsh first ministerfor labour. carwynjones, the welsh first minister for labour. look at this, 11 for the conservatives, you might think they are in third place but if you look at what happened last time that the story, ten games for the conservatives and 13 losses for labour and bridgend traditionally a very strong web area. —— very strong

labour area. cardiff, the capital city, this has been quite a big fight in terms of control of the council and labour had some fears they would lose overall control but they would lose overall control but they have not, they have held on. we need to look at the change to get the real story probably, some losses for labour, sex, but they still hold on. the tories surging by 13 seats which puts them in a different place. the lib dems will be disappointed losing five seats in cardiff where in cardiff central we have had strong representation in the past, again for plaid cymru, i think that will disappoint them. and the independence losing three. i don't want to take too much time on

the figures because we are at city hall, i've taken us to lots of the results, why don't you tell us where you see the parties this evening and what they can be pleased about and what they can be pleased about and what they can be pleased about and what they should be disappointed about. no doubt i think labour in wales will be disappointed. but let's not forget in the last election they made 200 games so with all the expectation they were going to implode in wales they have not done as badly as expected. but it was a mixed evening in some ways overnight, it began terribly badly with losing the leader in merthyr tydfil, losing the majority in bridgend, where carwyn jones tydfil, losing the majority in bridgend, where carwynjones has his assembly seat, but it picked up i think when the news came with cardiff, holding onto that, it was a significant victory because they held onto newport, they'vejust held on to swansea, so the three big

cities in south east wales being held was a huge boost. what was looking like a poor evening turned out to be not quite as bad. you mentioned plaid cymru, they have taken, they mentioned plaid cymru, they have ta ken, they have mentioned plaid cymru, they have taken, they have held on, one of the results coming in since we last spoke was carmarthenshire, they have just missed out on gaining a majority there. they have increased their numbers in gwynedd but no one has overall control. the other two which are interesting since we last spoke is the vale of glamorgan, even though there is no overall control the conservatives have made significant gains, just one shy of a majority so possibly they will look to rule that council with a minority. no doubt the tories will be pleased with how they have done in wales, taking a lot of seats from the labour party, labour will be

disappointed. i think plaid cymru will be disappointed in not gaining another council or two but they have made gains so that's a positive for them while the lib dems have imploded in wales and ukip have not moved at all. a mixed picture but i think the labour party as i say, when the cardiff result came in the tide changed, it was more positive after what was looking like a difficult evening. but where does that success in cardiff live? does it lie with the labour party in wales or centrally because talking to people on their doorstep they said the influence ofjeremy corbyn had impacted their vote but it does not seem to have implicated that much in the local election vote. stephen kinnock talking year earlier and he was healing the leadership of ca rwyn and he was healing the leadership of carwyn jones and he was healing the leadership of ca rwyn jones and and he was healing the leadership of carwyn jones and john mcdonnell who you have in the studio was seeing the success in cardiff was down to

jeremy corbyn's recent visit. but where he was labour lost their four seats so who should get the plaudits for keeping hold of cardiff? i am not sure. i think it's a big victory and it will be a significant one to making sure today has not been as bad as people expected. carwynjones has had his say, saying it's a mixed night for labour in wales and he is focusing on regrouping and campaigning for the general election next month. thank you. i want to go to birmingham because i think i'm joined by sean simon the labour candidate who lost two and a street in the metro mayor, commiserations on what has happened, i wonder what your thoughts are on such a narrow defeat? it's very disappointing, obviously. i keep being asked, you

lost in your heartlands, we won in birmingham, coventry, wolverhampton, soundwell, where we really lost was the conservative heartland of solihull which the conservatives having spent millions of pounds had a turnout of bird higher bull tweet third higher than the regional balance and that tipped the balance. but i will not pretend that he did not hear coming back from the doorsteps of the areas we did win in our heart lines a message from labour voters that their confidence is waning in our strength as a party in the traditional labour values. are you still with us? i am the

still with you. making a point about what voters are telling you about having confidence in the party, i am transcending this properly in that you're talking about leadership here? i am talking about values actually. the issues which came back on the doorstep were about values about our regional campaign overshadowed by national political issues all the time. we should have been talking about transport and housing and taking back control of our region from london which has let us down but we ended up talking about defence and immigration and brexit and on those issues labour voters in labour areas were saying we do not feel confident that you are strong enough in our traditional labour values, which we always have been here and that's the lesson we need to learn as a party. are you

saying that labour as it currently stands has lost contact with its voters ? stands has lost contact with its voters? i am saying there is a portion of our traditional labour votes right across the west midlands which whilst it has remained faithful to the labour party has nevertheless been less so and the less so consists of people consistently saying we are not quite confident at the moment that you are strong enough in our core labour values that matter to us. that's the lesson we need to learn as a party, and quickly. to what extent have people been bringing up the name of jeremy corbyn in the reasoning or has that not been part of your experience? personalising and blaming individuals is not something

that i am going to get into. the conversations i have been having on the doorstep on about values more than anything, a sense that our voters, some of our voters, don't have confidence any more or at the moment that we share the court labour values as we have done with the kind of strength they want to see from us. if that is the case who is responsible for that? the labour party is to blame. we are responsible to our electorate and our people. it's our responsibility asa our people. it's our responsibility as a party to represent the real values of the people we seek to serve. what has happened in this election, as i said earlier, let's not forget, what has also happened

is the tories have spent millions of pounds which in our campaign we simply have not had access to. we have not had access to a fraction of the millions the tories have spent and they have spent that money in conservative heartland areas on raising the turnout by a third more than the regional average and it's that actually that has swung this election in their favour. that actually that has swung this election in theirfavour. but that actually that has swung this election in their favour. but at the same time it is true our people in the areas we did win, even the areas we did win like birmingham, wolverhampton, coventry, sand well, people have been saying consistently on the doorstep we are not confident in labour values any more. that's a pretty clear message, it's an incredibly serious thing to say, that the party is not in a position

at the moment where it can connect, convincingly, with lots of the people he was trying to get to vote for him. that does not seem to be reflected elsewhere, manchester, 63% majority, 59% in liverpool, and in birminghami majority, 59% in liverpool, and in birmingham i think we had a 20 point lead. so i will listen to andy and i think we have to get that more effectively across, our values. this election seems to have been won on the turnout in solihull were a lot of money was spent and i think we need to start looking at election expenditure in some way so it becomes a more equal and even battle. i will ask about that, we picked it up earlier as a theme, it isa picked it up earlier as a theme, it is a serious thing to say, he is a

former mp, is a serious thing to say, he is a formermp, mep, an is a serious thing to say, he is a former mp, mep, an experienced campaigner, several years going into this campaign and the whole process of getting an elected mayor, he has clearly talked to an incredibly broad range of people, in the labour party family and outside it. if he is saying one of the reasons he's lost this important context is that the party is not actually upholding the party is not actually upholding the kind of values that gets people on board that is a very serious thing. of course it is and we will have that conversation. bridge are not convinced? in other areas that is not the report we are getting back. we lost by under 5000 votes but if you look at the vote in bristol getting majorities in parliamentary constituencies. we will listen to all the lessons and in the next five weeks get our message across and if in that area there are issues picked up by the party in this issue about labour values we will listen hard to make

sure we get the message in the campaign on the streets. earlier clive lewis treated seeing given today's results i hope someone reappraise is the strategy of triangulating our own brexit position and i think that's a serious problem for labour. i think it's one of the reasons we've gained substantial labour vote in the areas we are strong and remain areas as well. in the first quarter of this year the lib dems raised more money than labourand! year the lib dems raised more money than labour and i think web are understanding the issues smaller parties face when one party can go out and raise millions at the drop ofa out and raise millions at the drop of a hat. i think that is true. it's come up again, this spending issue, you actually said earlier if the rules need to be revisited they should be revisited, what are your thoughts now on the whole concept of spending a huge amount of money before the rules start in the actual

campaign? no rules were broken but it is to do with spending a lot of money. a little bit of sour grapes here, the rules are the same for everyone , here, the rules are the same for everyone, andy street fought a tough campaign, raising the money himself. the rules are the rules. it's a lot of money to spend the of reaction. people wanted him to get collected so they've given him the support. the conservatives have consistently refused to look at changing these fund—raising arrangements and we have been fighting for a long time. i understand all this but let's be honest it's a little bit of sour grapes, he won the election, people did not have devoted for him, he had to persuade them. this showing in birmingham tells me what theresa may said was correct, you cannot take anything for granted, it's a fight between us and the labour party.”

am not sure money makes as much difference as people say, the liberal democrats years and decades gone past you were the people who gained five, six, seven percentage points ina gained five, six, seven percentage points in a campaign, and you were spending far less. do you remember the referendum party 20 years ago, £20 million and they lost almost all of their deposits. i think money places much smaller part than people think. we have talked to sion simon in the west midlands and talked about wales, let's get a recap on the position in scotland coming up to 5:30pm, 5:25pm. the scottish scorecard is as follows. a quick look at glasgow because

that's the result we were boxing on earlier. the loss of labour's control of glasgow however this is now no overall control. i think it's fairto now no overall control. i think it's fair to say quite a few in the snp had hoped they would be in a position to say they were in control but they are not. look at the difference between today and 2012, eight up to the snp, labour down by 16, the tories up by seven, greens up 16, the tories up by seven, greens up by 16, the tories up by seven, greens up by three. this is also a hung council, nine to the snp. what has happened? council, nine to the snp. what has happened ? another conservative addition in terms of the table, up by five. it's a hung council. with

all that in mind i want to go to anita mcveigh who we have not spoken to in anita mcveigh who we have not spoken toina anita mcveigh who we have not spoken to in a while and she will bring us date with glasgow. thank you, just picking up on that point, not a single majority council in scotland which is a fascinating picture if you look back at the last local elections are in a quarter of the councils the party that was the largest party did not go on to form the administration saw a lot of trading to be done in the days ahead to form lots of coalitions. any number of interesting stories coming out of the count in glasgow, let's getan out of the count in glasgow, let's get an overview of that with our scotla nd get an overview of that with our scotland correspondent, what are your thoughts? the snp, the largest party in glasgow but falling short ofa party in glasgow but falling short of a majority by four seats. we heard at the start of the day that in 2012 it was a target and they we re in 2012 it was a target and they were disappointed not to have achieved that. since then glasgow was a yes city in the referendum,

the snp winning all the seats at the holyrood and westminster elections but if there is disappointment here it not been expressed publicly. labour not unexpectedly losing control of the council but still hugely symbolic and the conservatives winning seats in places you would not have expected them to such as shettleston here in glasgow which feeds into the national picture of the conservatives gaining seats primarily at the expense of labour. thank you. let's assess the developments here again today with duncan hamilton, former snp msp, adam tomkins, the conservative msp and tom harris the former labour mp, thank you for waiting to talk to us here on bbc news. thank you and first of all, duncan, four vote short of the overall majority, nicola sturgeon seeing an emphatic

victory, saying nobody can spin it otherwise, it must be a disappointment not to get that overall majority here in glasgow? let's start with about a on any view it's a victory for the snp despite what anyone wants to say and do not a minute underplay the symbolic importance as you have heard about what has happened, 37 yea rs heard about what has happened, 37 years since labour was not in control here. to lose that in a city where a glasgow has already lost all of the constituencies both at westminster and in holyrood really means there is a huge, clearly a huge problem for labour and the story of the election in scotland is of the loss of labour votes straight to the tories which is haemorrhaging votes. let me pick up on that with

adam, the conservatives had one seat on glasgow council and they have now got eight, has that largely been as duncan was saying conservative gaining at the expense of labour?” think so, at 10% swing in the holyrood elections and that momentum we got last year has been maintained in these local government elections, moving from one councillor to eight and they have been elected across all parts of the city. working—class neighbourhoods, middle—class neighbourhoods. there is now no go area and glasgow for the scottish conservatives. no street in scotland where there is not a conservative voter. where does labour ago now in glasgow and supplementary to that what do you think it means for

voters hear the fact there is no overall majority? no overall majority will be dealt with quickly, the green party are essentially scottish nationalists. without hesitation they will go into coalition with the snp just as they support the minority government at holyrood. i think before today it's fairto holyrood. i think before today it's fair to say some labour friends were quite despondent, they thought they would be wiped off the map in glasgow given as duncan said the snp already control every single one of the constituencies at westminster and holyrood level. for them to have retreated to a fairly firm base is a little bit of a silver lining but of course it's a dark cloud, this is glasgow and labour has lost glasgow for the first time since 1980 when we took it control of an snp conservative coalition. thank you very much gentlemen, definitely a sense of a changing of the guard

here at glasgow city council, a hive of activity behind me, almost eve ryo ne of activity behind me, almost everyone has gone, they are packing up everyone has gone, they are packing up shop and in the days ahead a lot of meetings going on to try to form a coalition, likely to be the snp and the greens, back to you. thank you to you and your guests for that take on the position this evening in scotland. for the next half hour or so we will be looking at some of the big mayoral contests we've not discussed, and looking at those figures you can see on the screen, projected national share and we will be explaining what we mean by that and what that tells us and what it might tell us about what could happen in five weeks' time, we will explain why we need to be cautious around those percentages as well but it's an interesting story to tell. what we are going to do now at 5:33pm is get the latest on the day 's news. the conservatives are

enjoying their best results for more than a decade in the local elections. it was a difficult night for labour and ukip has seen export collapse. the conservatives have taken 11 councils. the prime minister has responded to the conservatives success saying she is taking nothing for granted because there's too much at stake. since i became prime minister i been determined to make sure this is a government that works for the whole country and it's encouraging we have won support across the whole of the united kingdom but i will not take anything for granted and neither will the tea m for granted and neither will the team i lead because there's too much at stake. this is not about to wins and loses in the local elections it's about continuing to fight for the best brexit deal for families across the united kingdom, to lock

in the economic progress we've made and get on with the job of making a success of the years ahead. labour has admitted having a tough night after losing ground to the conservatives in england and struggling in some of its heartlands in wales. in scotland the party lost control of glasgow city council, an authority they have held since 1980. they have lost seven councils overall and more than 380 council seats but the party held on to cardiff, jeremy corbyn has insisted there are some positive signs for labour. we have got councillors elected all over the country. everyone predicted we would lose in cardiff and we won, everyone said the same in swansea and we increased the same in swansea and we increased the majority, we came within 5000 votes of winning the west of england which everyone said was impossible. we've had disappointing results in other parts of the country, yes we have to go out there in the next four weeks and get the message out of the kind of country we could be.

and the results have also been disappointing for ukip, so far the party winning just one of the seats it contested losing a previously held council seats. ukip says it still has sitting councillors in the country although these are positions which were not up for election yesterday. and the results have been mixed for the lib dems, the party is down by 38 council seats, the lib dems also failed to retake somerset council from the conservatives but tim farron said the results are good news. increasingly vote share by 7%, the best vote share in any election nationally, double the increase the tories have experienced in terms of vote share around the country with the labour party utterly imploding and devastated like no other party in recent memory. but there is another lesson to learn, apart from the lib dems revival and success arrow in the country we still see

britain headed for a conservative landslide. the scottish national party still has the largest number of councillors in scotland however they lost control of one council and have so far lost 14 council seats, the leader of the snp nicola sturgeon said her party had still enjoyed an emphatic victory. the snp vote has held up, our share of the seats has held up and we will be the largest party in more councils, perhaps a majority but that's not absolutely clear so there is no way that anybody can spin this result as anything other than a clear and emphatic win for the snp and it fits is in pole position to protect local services the length and breadth of the country and gives us a great springboard for the general election. elections have also been taking place for metro mayers in various cities, in the last hour the former boss ofjohn lewis andy street has taken the west led minz for the tories and labour's andy

burnham was elected mayor of manchester winning with more than 63%. another victory for labour in merseyside where the former labour mp steve rotherham was elected. plaid cymru and the green party have also made gains, the greens up three seats so far lost plaid cymru has 33 more councillors. we will take a look at some of the other main stories today and france goes to the polls on sunday to pick a new president, the two candidates, the centrist emmanuel macron and marine le pen are out on the campaign trail for the last time today, correspondent christian frazier following the campaign in paris, not many hours of campaigning left, what

is your reading? we are into the last few hours of what has been a bitterly fought campaign, i am sure it's not done much to hear much of the divisions but emmanuel macron looks as if he's going to become the next it's become a little bit hostile for marine le pen, she was egged on one of her tours yesterday, yesterday she was at a cathedral, beautiful cathedral where they used to grow in the old kings of france but they did not go too well, she had to go out at the back of the cathedral to a waiting car at the back just to cathedral to a waiting car at the backjust to avoid some hostile crowds at the front. tomorrow will bea crowds at the front. tomorrow will be a day of reflection for the french, will have to consider everything they've heard and we will have the vote on sunday, a special programme on bbc news on sunday

evening from 6:30pm and we'll bring you a result when we get it. the one thing we'll have to watch the abstention rate, in uk terms the participation sounds quite a lot but it will be the lowest turnout if there is a big abstention we might have a big shock on our hands, i would we might have a big shock on our hands, iwould not we might have a big shock on our hands, i would not put my house on actual macron, but we have seen what happened with brexit and donald trump. the russian defence ministry has announced an agreement to set up safe dawns will come into force at midnight tonight local time, agreement was reached between russia and iran which both backed the syrian government. turkey which supports the rebels is also reported

to have agreed to act as a guarantor but some representatives of the rebels have also rejected the plan. that's the latest from here in the newsroom back to the latest on the local elections. welcome back to the election studio, still getting some results, talking earlier about the results in the west midlands, these metro mirror posts which have been created, another one to give you, cambridge and peterborough, this result, i win for the conservatives, these are the first preference votes we have on screen because it's another system of voting where people have preferences and if the person doesn't cross the threshold there is a second—round and we have james

palmer on 76,000. a turnout of 33%, if we look at the percentage of the votes we then see the tories... what happened then, because it went to a second round where all the others we re second round where all the others were eliminated, they have their preferences shared and this is what happened, james palmer for the conservatives on 88,000 and the lib dems in second place a majority of 21,000 in cambridge and peterborough, the latest in our results and i win for the conservatives on that second preference round, we have a quote from the labour leaderjeremy corbyn, this is the key line, of

course i'm disappointed he says, we have to get our supporters out to vote injune, have to get our supporters out to vote in june, talking have to get our supporters out to vote injune, talking about the general election on the eighth, we have to get our message across and i'm determined to do that and maybe that can be seen in the context of what sion simon was telling us, that he had difficulty getting the labour message across in terms of the values people perceive the party to have although he was not personalising it to that extent, with all of that in mind, let's go to college green. we are going to examine what these results mean, we're going to talk to representatives from both wings of the labour party, i have the person who ran the jeremy the labour party, i have the person who ran thejeremy corbyn campaign and a man from the progress group,

are these results because ofjeremy corbyn's leadership, these disappointing results as he's described them? disappointing results as he's described them ? it's disappointing results as he's described them? it's a difficult day for labour. we've not done as badly as people have said but that result in the west midlands, i think sion simon will be disappointed with that and rightly so. is it because of the leadership ofjeremy corbyn? again and again his leadership coming up on the doorstep. the collapse of the labour voter ship on the doorstep. the collapse of the labourvotership in on the doorstep. the collapse of the labour voter ship in two ukip which is now going to the tories and i think that's a double issue which has been exasperated massively by the referendum and brexit.” has been exasperated massively by the referendum and brexit. i was on the referendum and brexit. i was on the doorstep in nottinghamshire, ten miles in nine hours in ten different

council wards, time and again one name always mentioned was the labour leader and it's been a damning verdict andl leader and it's been a damning verdict and i say this with the heaviest of hearts because labour councillors are being punished around the country, if this result carries on labour mps will get, punished and teresa may is heading towards a landslide and that's deeply regrettable, its lacklustre so far, little of the big concerns of people being talked about, it's time to get out of first gear. on the basis of these results, if they we re the basis of these results, if they were projected onto a general election no wayjeremy corbyn could ever be prime minister. over party member needs to get out

there and so that this is a very clear choice. if you don't want a ha rd tory clear choice. if you don't want a hard tory brexit in which jobs will be put at risk, the economy is not going to be bought its knees, because companies are already fleeing this country we will be in a very tough situation. livelihoods are at risk, the nhs is under threat, education is getting hammered and we have to say, what do you want? do want brexit that can deliver for ordinary people, put money in your back pocket. but if labour does badly in the general election as in his council elections, willjeremy corbyn stand down? should he stand down, in your opinion, as a man he ran his leadership —— leadership campaign? everyone in labour will be reflecting on their position and how they take ourselves forward. we have got four weeks. we have closed some of the opinion poll gaps in the national polls. these are clearly difficult results. in london, in

andy burnham's area of greater manchester and on merseyside, we have 10 million people looking to labour for leadership and we need to get out there and fight to get the re st of get out there and fight to get the rest of the country to look to us for the bishop. in a word, she jeremy corbyn stand down if these are carried on into the general election? the d fighting the marginal seats. justin pipe labour safe once. we are in a defensive strategy and to stop a hard brexit the need to return as many labour mps as possible. richard angell and sam parry, representing both wings of the labour party, many thanks. back to the studio. what did you make of that, john? richard angell, to be frank, has been one of jeremy's most betrayal that critics from the minute thatjeremy got on the ballot paper so i'm not surprised. are you disappointed? the message is clear. we are tyson soon be disappointed. of course we are. we have five weeks to go. we must get that message out there. we have

seen a mixed bag of results. some areas like manchester and liverpool and even in the west of england we have had some good results. not wiped out in wales the way that people predicted. our share of the vote has been better than in the opinion polls. it is all to fight for in the next five weeks. what we're going do now is, we're going to bring in john we're going do now is, we're going to bring injohn curtice who has joined us once again. welcome. wigan to talk about these figures that we have on the screen, the projected national share. and they are, as they stand on 138% for the tories, 27 for labour, 18% for the lib dems, 596 27 for labour, 18% for the lib dems, 5% ukip and 12% to the others. when people look at these figures, john, just again to underline, lots of people have joined us just again to underline, lots of people havejoined us since just again to underline, lots of people have joined us since we last spoke about this. can we just underline what these figures are, and what they signify? these figures area and what they signify? these figures are a summary measure of the way in

which the parties performed in the english county council elections and, to do that we have taken the results and projected them into what they would be from national vote of they would be from national vote of the country voted along the votes of the country voted along the votes of the english county elections. we can concern. . . the english county elections. we can concern... not only the four years ago with the local elections that took place on the same day as the last general election. ukip are doing badly but you look at the evidence that's the case. one suspects afterjune 8th ukip will think about what is their future as a party and what are they going to be able to say that persuades voters to stick with them. the second key point, it's perfectly clear that the conservatives are a long way ahead in these local elections, though, however, not necessarily as far ahead as they would want to be on june 8, because the 11—point lead that we think they have in these

local elections is probably not sufficient to deliver the land slide of the kind that theresa may is evidently looking for. conversely, however, yes, john mcdonnell is right, andy burnham takes the prize for producing the best labour result of the day. the truth is the odd occasion when labour did better against expectations, are relatively rare and going backwards as compared with a poor performance four years ago is not the best way to start a general election campaign. the liberal democrats made progress. they're still not doing as well as they did in local elections before going into coalition with the conservatives. at least they are in somewhat better position, as the opinion polls suggested they were. crucial thing to remember, however, all of this is a summary of how well the parties have done in the local elections, we're not saying this is how the parties would have performed

if there had been a general election yesterday. we're not saying that this is what's going to happen on june 8. it gives an indication of how, in these local contests, the parties have stood and by comparing these local contests with other recent contests we give some idea of who is up and who is down. peter, some thoughts on this? john, you're absolutely right that these local elections should be regarded with caution. comparing like with like, local elections in years gone by, this 11% projected conservative lead is exactly the same as they got in 1982 in the middle of the falklands war. if one looks at past patterns of local elections and national elections, the conservatives almost always do noticeably better in general elections than in the local elections that build up to them. labour never does better or in the past has never done better in national elections than in local elections. it may all be different

this time. can i say one other thing, local votes, this time. can i say one other thing, localvotes, local this time. can i say one other thing, local votes, local seats. this time. can i say one other thing, localvotes, local seats. in votes the big story is ukip crashing down, tories up. not much change labour, down a little compared with 2013. look at seats, ukip have disappeared. labour has done very badly in seats. here's the problem for labour going into the general election is if labour stands still in votes, there'll be a lot of seats probably where the ukip vote will go to the conservatives and labour will lose seats not because necessarily labour is massively unpopular but because the tory vote will rise above the labour vote by virtue of ukip's collapse. that is the substantive challenge that labour has. john, what do you make of that? peter's absolutely right. you can see this in what happened to the liberal democrats in these elections. the liberal democrat vote is up as compared with 2013, but the

number of seats they've got is actually down slightly. why? because the liberal democrats when they were facing a local conservative challenge, even if they managed to increase their vote locally, discovered that the conservatives did better and in some cases overtook the incumbent liberal democrat. we should remember under first—past—the—post system in the end it's not how well you do, but how well you do relative to your opponents. the problem faced labour and the liberal democrats at the moment is that the conservatives are doing rather well, thank you very much, and therefore whatever progress they might make is looking relatively small compared with the iceberg that is seemingly coming down from the conservative party, potentially threatening to put a hole both in the labour and the liberal democrat ships. do you see that iceberg coming or not? no i don't. these were county council elections and mayoral elections. it didn't include london, for example. i was watching the counts in say manchester and liverpool, where the individual boroughs were responding

and we were getting sizeable majority. it was the same in the we st of majority. it was the same in the west of england, in the bristol seats, we were getting labourjorts, on the basis of the first preference votes, like first—past—the—post. you don't think you can extrapolate in that sense. in terms of the share of the vote, that overall share of the vote that we've seen from today's performance, i think, vote that we've seen from today's performance, ithink, is challengeable and manageable. we can close that gap. it's going to take a lot of work on the ground getting our mess anning across. now we can get fair balance, with the greatest respect, in terms of broadcast media, i think there's a real opportunity to do that. i go back to it time and again, i'd like to see theresa may and jeremy corbyn debate in the same was as has happened in the french elections. why don't we have that televised debate? in that way people have the fair opportunity of putting their policies across and display their leadership qualities. john's expression of hope or confidence there about making something up in the next five weeks, on the basis of past form, you're saying, is what — unlikely?”

on the basis of past form, you're saying, is what - unlikely? ithink it would be a remarkable achievement if labour manage to do it. one bit of history that helps labour a bit, the last time we had a snap election governed by a single issue, is when edward heath went to the country in '74, on the three day week, the miners strike. the conservatives we re miners strike. the conservatives were ahead in the poll. as the election went on, in the way that john describes, on television, the issue changed in people's minds from the coal miners' strike to jobs and the coal miners' strike to jobs and the cost of living. labour caught up. edward heath was thrown out. though that precedent is of help to the labour party, all the others i can think of are more in the conservatives favour. the conservatives favour. the conservatives are trying to present this as a brexit campaign. the other issues are intruding. in addition, people are linking those other issues like jobs in particular to the brexit issue. that's why i think the brexit issue. that's why i think the debate is widening.” the brexit issue. that's why i think the debate is widening. i think what theresa may said earlier on is

right. the reality is here, these results tell us whilst we can be pleased with having done well in these council elections, they are after all, council elections. the point being made both by everyone who's talked about this, john curtis was saying it earlier, this is not enough to chancellor change —— to change the political position to give hera change the political position to give her a strong enough majority. her message is good, but we can't ta ke her message is good, but we can't take that frob granted. the —— for granted. this is a straight fight to make sure that the labour party doesn't get elected. the key issues are that you are going to the polls, the british people are going to the polls to decide the number one premiere issue, which is to give the government a strong mandate to get the best deal out of the brexit negotiations and the person that needs to do that is the one that shows the greatest strength and stability in the course of that.”

knew it was coming. listen, strength and stability is the issue. can't help yourself. it's like having daleks. i didn't interrupt you. help yourself. it's like having daleks. ididn't interrupt you. i wasjust asked what daleks. ididn't interrupt you. i was just asked what is the single issue, the single issue —” was just asked what is the single issue, the single issue - i asked whether it would be a single issue. the single issue is who governs you. as the prime minister wishes to define it, but the liberal democrats, other parties, will wish to define it otherwise. part of the issue, the problem we face is theresa may saying as a very clear ha rd theresa may saying as a very clear hard brexit approach. she's going to try and get a good deal, if not she'll walk away. the liberal democrats say actually you need us asa democrats say actually you need us as a strong opposition. labour aren't strong on this particular issue. we want to fight for the nhs because a year ago, we were being promised extra money by the leavers, £350 million a week for the nhs. the nhs is still in crisis. that is going to be a key issue. they don't wa nt going to be a key issue. they don't want a rerun of the referendum. we have to respect the referendum

result. what people don't want increasingly is the type of brexit that theresa may is threatening. philip hammond would threaten we would become a tax haven. yoo you're right, why on earth did support theresa may and triggering article 50. because the referendum result had to be respected. people should have the final say. what you have here is an arguing coalition which ends up chaotic politics in government. i have to say, i didn't get this in earlier on. i haven't spoken to linton. i'm not even in government. let's have the live debate. i'm happy for theresa may to stand on the single platform of strong and stable leadership. are you going to have the debate. stop running away. your man's run away from the other debate. we are about to be running away from the studio. our time's nearly up. one very, very quick sentence from john curtis, if you were summing up today's

contests, one sentence, what is the end thought today? the end thought is that the general election is not all done and dusted. there is going to bea all done and dusted. there is going to be a vital fight for whether or not the conservatives can get the land slide majority they want. meanwhile, north of the border, the snp look as though they have a rather biggerjob on their hands than perhaps they thought 24 hours ago. thank you, john. thank you to my guests. thank you for watching, coverage continues on the bbc news channel, but we'll see you later on. bye for now. tory triumph in the local elections — the best result for the conservatives since 2008. amid the celebrations, the party and the prime minister are careful not to look complacent before the general election. i'm not taking anything for granted. i will be going out for the remaining weeks of this general election campaign to earn the support of the british people. labour take heart from some successes, but overall

suffer terrible losses. we have had very disappointing results in other parts of the country. yes, we have to go out there in the next four weeks and get a message out of the kind of country we could be. questions about ukip's future, as they lose every seat they contested but one. and in scotland, the tories make big gains, the snp now has the greatest number of seats and labour loses in its heartland. also tonight: