this is bbc news. i'm ben brown live in westminster as the results from the local elections come in from all over the uk. big wins for the conservatives — they've taken control of eleven councils and gained more than 500 seats. i will not take anything for granted. this is not about who wins and loses in the local elections, it's about continuing to fight for the best brexit deal. labour has a tough time after it loses more than 380 seats and seven authorities, including glasgow city council, which they've held since 1980. we have had very difficult results, yes. we have got to get a message out of the kind of country we could be. mixed fortunes for the liberal democrats — the party is down by 42 council seats, but party leader tim farron said the results were good news.

increasing our vote share by 7%, our best share for seven years, double the increase the tories have seen in terms of vote share around the country. the results have been disappointing for ukip, with the party only managing to win one of the seats it has contested, losing 136 previously held council seats. the snp has finished as the biggest party in the scottish council elections, with tories replacing labour as the second biggest. there is no way that this result can be spinned as anything other than a clear and very emphatic win for the snp. in other news this evening: diesel scrappage schemes and clean air zones. the government publishes its draft plan to tackle dirty air, but critics say it's toothless. two men are charged with the murder of billionaire businessman guy hedger, who was shot at his home in dorset last weekend. marine le pen is heckled at a campaign event, while emmanuel macron poses

with supporters as the french presidential candidates embark on a last push for votes ahead of sunday's election. good evening and welcome to bbc news. the conservatives have made big gains in the local elections, winning seats all across the country

from every other party — it's their best result since 2008. as well as taking control of five councils in england and wales they've made significant gains in scotland. labour has suffered significant losses, including in its former stronghold of glasgow. ukip's vote has collapsed, and the liberal democrats had varied fortunes. let's see how that breaks down into figures. the conservatives have gained more than 560 councillors, taking seats from labour and ukip. labour are down by more than 380 seats, while ukip have been virtually wiped out, losing every seat it was defending bar one. the liberal democrats have lost over a0 seats, while plaid cymru are up by 33. the snp are down by seven seats, but remain the biggest party in scotland. let's see how this translates in terms of councils across the uk. the conservatives have gained overall control of 11 councils, taking derbyshire from labour and gaining others including in warwickshire, lincolnshire and norfolk. labour have lost control of seven councils, including glasgow, which it has previously held for over three decades. the snp has cemented its position as the biggest party in scotland, but lost overall control of dundee and angus councils — the only two areas where it had won majorities in 2012, meaning there is no council under

overall control in scotland. it's been more of a mixed picture for labour in wales. it was hit with major blows after losing control of blaenau gwent and bridgend, but held seven councils including cardiff, swansea and newport. there's been no polling in northern ireland. with all the latest, here's our political editor, laura kuenssberg. duly elected as councillor for the said division. blue was the colour. in essex, teesside, derbyshire, lancashire, south, east, west and north. even in glasgow where, in some parts, the tories went out with the ark. the conservative party candidate is elected as mayor. and in the marginal midlands, a big win, the area's first ever metro mayor, wearing a tory rosette. this is may's day.

this is not about who wins and loses in the local elections. it is about continuing to fight for the best brexit deal for families and businesses across the uk. are you still seriously maintaining today that you are not looking at a victory and sweeping back into number ten, potentially with a very large majority? i am 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. and it is labour that is suffering. a bad night for labour. thank you for coming. mr corbyn needs more than a brave face. 0ld faces, but new labour mayors in manchester and of a pool give them something to cheer.

0ne senior party figure told me the results were catastrophic. the leader will hardly admit that. we had very disappointing results in other parts of the country. yes, we have to go out in the next four weeks and get a message out. but with weeks until the general election, candidates who want to stay on as labour mps are already pointing the finger. it is a pretty disastrous picture. it is simply not good enough for a party that has been in opposition for seven years, that is heading to a general election in five weeks, to not be picking up seats and not be making forward progress. a symbol of the party's decline, labour lost control of glasgow city labour lost control of glasgow city chambers to the snp. they failed to win there outright, but they are the biggest party by far. yet the emerging pattern in scotland, a tory comeback. this is an emphatic victory for the snp.

it means we have councillors and council groups across the country able to protect local services. it is also a great launch pad for the general election. in wales, labour lost over 100 seats but held cardiff, and held back some of the worst, with the tories and plaid cymru nibbling away some of their support. defending wales is what plaid cymru are about. labourare in no position to do that. they have had a majority of mps in wales the decades and they failed to put wales on the map. but it was ukip that had the worst crash from their heights, their scorecard nearly zero, brexit seeming to challenge their very reason for being. we have won the war but we have not won the peace. i would say we need ukip to be there, to be strong. ukip is the insurance policy in case brexit doesn't get delivered. yes, this is sometimes how seats are decided. the vote so close that candidates draw straws.

here, a lib dem had the lucky choice in what that party described overall as a patchy performance. political speak for not much to be proud of, but no disaster. the liberal democrats are your best route to prevent our country and communities being taken for granted by a conservative landslide. not much sign of the greens becoming a significant force, gaining some small footholds but losing others along the way. yet in a patchwork of results there was one big winner. on her party's first big day out with her in charge. of course, this is not the general election. today's results may not translate directly into what happens next month, but after today, theresa may has plenty to be confident about. yet there will be no letup. she and the rest will be straight back out on the trail. joining me now is tony travers.

he's a professor at the department of government at the london school of economics and an expert in local government. give us your reading of these results. normally party leaders tried to play our pal election results, but the reason they is almost trying to play them down and not appear to be complacent. she is desperate to ensure that conservative activist and go back this evening and think, well, that is it, we can sit back. equally, the labour party has been trying to make the best of their results. for a party that has not been in opposition for seven years, it is really not good to be losing seats like this just before a general election. very bad indeed for them. they would need to be gobbling up council seats today, wouldn't they? they would need to be winning today

in getting a much bigger share of the vote. they would have needed to be doing far better than this. labour people are saying privately that these are abysmal results and you have to see them as the worst end of what was expected. bad for labour, disastrous for ukip. almost a wipe—out. as douglas carswell has opined, it is almost that the electorate things that ukip's job is done. whether that is true, only time will tell. winning only one seat today counts right at the bottom end of anybody‘s expectations within ukip, i expect. we should be cautious about extrapolating from these results to the general election. there are factors like a much lower turnout in council elections. turnout is probably have what it will be in the general election. people do vote differently

in general elections and local elections. the book shares that you can extrapolate out of these results show and now gap between conservatives and labour and indeed the lib dems doing better than the national polls are showing at the moment. i think we will have to see these as a backdrop to the general election, but not telling us exactly high that electoral turnout. what about the elections of the metro mayers, as they are called, what is the significance of that in terms of devolution of power in england?m is george osborne and tony blair indirectly, it is their legacy to the reason made. andy burnham winning in greater manchester. steve rotherham in liverpool. they are the best results labour has had in any of this. if you look elsewhere, in the west midlands, and the street the west midlands, and the street the conservative just managed to win. that was a close race. and

third tees valley, the conservatives 1—dayer, and that wasn't much predicted. if you stand back from these mayoral contest, perhaps from these mayoral contest, perhaps from these cities in the north we will see a new kind of politics for the labour party and even for the conservatives, who knows. tony, thank you very much, as ever. tony, thank you very much, as ever. well, as we've heard, labour have suffered poor results in the elections. they have lost a number of key strongholds, including lancashire, derbyshire and bridgend. but they have taken two of the metro mayoral contests in manchester and liverpool, from where our deputy political editor, john pienaar, reports. are you fit to lead the labour party? he does not look happy, even a bit tense, defeats and setbacks in the north and the midlands hard to take. and then, you would almost believe that labour was having a good day. almost. we have had some difficult results overnight. some have been very good.

labour liverpool picked a labour mayor, a moment of comfort for steve rotherham, former mp, just now, jeremy corbyn could use a little comfort. in light of the results we are seeing, do you accept you need to raise your game before the general election, or is your campaign now as good as it gets? obviously we need to gain support. compared to two—year ‘s ago we are doing our best, doing well. we have further to go, everybody understands that, but there are a large number of people who did not vote in local elections and a very large number who have still yet to register to vote, and i hope they will register by may the 22nd. labour loyalty runs deep on merseyside, reliable as the mersey ferry, the city goes with labour each time. but now some of that support is going adrift. in the city, doubts are creeping in. in some places, labour is in danger, for all the faith of those who want jeremy corbyn to steer the party and their country. liverpool is labour.

you are labour. isjeremy corbyn good for labour? definitely. it is the change the country needs. we have put up with too many people without integrity who only care about themselves. he cares about people. he is dead, he has no personality, no presence. he doesn't look strong. he looks weak. even though you agree with what he is saying? i love the guy, i do. but we are never going to win, never in a million years. britain is choosing its course yield the eu, and its captain, and who leads britain after brexit is a big issue, for some, the decider. you are a labour man? i was, but i don't trust them to get us out of europe. i think corbyn would get ripped to bits in the negotiations so i will switch to the tories. jeremy corbyn came here after a bad night and the worst day,

to show and tell reasons to be cheerful. liverpool is a labour fortress but if you talk to people, it is clear as day that that support is crumbling. labour mps who won with voting majorities of up to 5,000 or more are telling me privately they have abandoned hope of holding their seats in parliament. that is another vote lost, and not the only one, but no one told jeremy corbyn that leading would be easy. he has learned just how hard it can be. joining me now is 0liver dowden, who has been a conservative mp since the last election. prior to that he worked as a special adviser in david cameron's office. thanks for being with us. after these results, do you have it in the bag for the general election? certainly not. they are encouraging. they are our award for the hard work

of the conservative county ground to lures, but also that people genuinely like and respect to reason made and see that she has the values to lead the country. there is a long way between a set of local election results on a low turnout and the general election. if we have learned anything in the past two years, look at the expectation that ed miliband would be the next prime minister, that donald trump was ridiculous candidate. that's been proven wrong. does every vote really counts, the projections from this are an 11% tory lead over labour. the opinion polls show something like a 20% lead. it is really not that close. yes, every vote counts because it strengthens her mandate so when she goes to brussels to the go see it the withdrawal from the european union she has the strongest possible mandate and can deliver a back here and the westminster parliament.“

one of the reasons that the tories have done so well is the collapse of the ukip vote? it is notjust ukip supporters who are supporting theresa may because they she says capable of delivering unwatchable to do voted for in brexit, but the conservatives are getting support of labour, that fantastic result in the west midlands, but also of the snp in places like glasgow. it shows that the conservative party has no no—go areas and theresa may is reaching out to all parts of the united kingdom. it is unusualto have council elections in the middle of the general election campaign. why have the general election when theresa may said you wouldn't have a snap election, saying that she was for strong and able leadership, she did indeed turn. theresa may cares about the national interest. a lot of people would say she cares about

the tory party. she needs a strong mandate to deliver the will of the british people and get brexit through. and she didn't know that a few months ago? know, if you look at article 51 through parliament... she never lost a vote. if you look at what the liberal democrats have been saying, they said when you bring forward the great repeal bill noble jammer top forward the great repeal bill noble jammertop in forward the great repeal bill noble jammer top in the house of lords. she needs that strong mandate to say to the house of lords that the british people want this to be done so you have to do it. many labour and snp mps are saying that they wa nt to and snp mps are saying that they want to frustrate the process of brideshead. i can't be alive. having a clear mandate for theresa may to deliver for brexit is what will ensure that happens. thank you very much. good to talk to you. this lincolnshire market town has been right ukip turf. boston has seen a surge in migration from eastern europe. more people here backed brexit than anywhere in britain, but last night voters abandoned ukip.

they were there for a purpose, they got us a referendum. they were getting us out. i think they did what they set out to do. they are a spent force. i don't think they will do much now. most of ukip's support here and almost all of its county council seats went to the tories. it is not a local issue, but some say they are the party to deliver brexit. i don't think ukip had any idea how to do it. who do you think can do it? we have to rely on the conservative party. at the moment the conservatives are the only viable party. theresa may is the right person to lead the country. she is strong enough. in recent years, ukip were a force to be reckoned with, playing a key part in getting the eu referendum, in which the country backed brexit. but in these elections, support has collapsed in places like this, where they were once so popular, prompting some to ask if this is the start of the end for ukip. despite the result here,

this is where the party leader will stand in the general election. paul nuttall says that ukip has been a victim of its own success, and if the price of britain leaving the eu is a tory advance, it is a price that ukip is prepared to pay, insisting the party still has a bright future. sue ransom agrees. she lost her council seat last night. her husband failed to win, but they say that ukip will fight on, despite theresa may encroaching on their territory. has she stolen ukip's policies? yes. does that mean she has stolen ukip's vote? possibly. so ukip's role now is what, if theresa may is saying what you want to hear? we are the guardians of the brexit referendum. we are here to make sure that what17 million people wanted is going to happen and there will be no backsliding. but having suffered such losses, even in its heartlands,

it is hard to see where ukip goes from here. joining me now is matthew goodwin. he's a professor of politics and international relations at the university of kent and has written widely on the rise in support for ukip. also with me is stephen bush from the new statesman. is ukip finished? there was once a saying that new parties in great britain rise like a rocket, then crashing to a muddy field. that is what has happened to ukip after a disastrous night. a large chunk of that ukip race, 30% up to 50%, are sprinting to the conservatives. that will have huge application for the

labour party. lots of labour mps on blue majorities will be worrying about the collapse of ukip, whereas the use to worry about the rise of ukip. nigel farage was saying today that ukip is the insurance policy to make sure the brexit happens. it seems that the voters don't buy that. if you speak to senior members of ukip, their plan is to stay on the pitch of british politics. they wa nt to the pitch of british politics. they want to 6% vote of the election, perhaps pull off a few surprises. i think their view is that theresa may will backslide on brexit, free movement, european court, a hefty brexit bill and that will perhaps allow them back into the landscape of british politics. stephen bush, where did these results leave labour and jeremy corbyn in particular this chamakh they have two problems. the swallowing up of the ukip vote by the conservatives means they are being beaten in places even when

they are holding onto their vote in those places, and it is leaving them an impossible task of the general election. they are gearing up for a knife fight over the wreckage. just to look ahead for a moment, how will you see that knife fight ending?m depends on who jeremy corbyn's opposition is. labour members will be reluctant to have a tougher line on immigration, but he ever runs against him, if they can show that they aren't after a counterrevolution, i would put them is favourite. it is hard to extrapolate from these results to the general election, but do you see it being completely inevitable that theresa may will win a landslide? it being completely inevitable that theresa may will win a landslide7m depends what we mean by a landslide. she will win by a commanding majority. this is a party that used to wonder openly in the early to thousands of them had ever seen 40%

again, now they are knocking 40% in the polls like it is nothing. they have to get to grips with this issue of migration and identity. it is co nsta ntly of migration and identity. it is constantly hitting them in the northern heartlands of the east coast. lots of people who went to ukip had also come from the labour camp. they weren't die—hard conservatives. some of these working class struggling voters are exactly the kind of orders that labour should be competitive with. stephen kinnock was saying earlier today that one of the problems he found on the doorstep was a negative response tojeremy the doorstep was a negative response to jeremy corbyn‘s the doorstep was a negative response tojeremy corbyn‘s leadership. is that richard lee labour's problem? was it in these council elections? was it in these council elections? was just about the leadership or is it wider than that. it is wider than that. his leadership is obvious the

problem. throughout europe the centre—left is dying. that to be what is happening to labour as well. are we seeing shifts in british politics or shifts back to work politics where, in a sense? we are where the canadians were in the 19905. where the canadians were in the 1990s. in canada there was a renegade radical right reform party that went up against a more liberal conservative party and they competed for a while and there was havoc on the right wing. the liberals triumphed as a consequence. then the game back together and dominate canadian politics for ten years. i think we are there. the ukip tradition is being reabsorbed into the conservative party tent, facing a week labour party that isn't sure how the foundation to politics are changing, high issues like migration are very important to voters, and as are very important to voters, and as a consequence i think the

conservative party are likely to do incredibly well at the general election and set labour back perhaps not just one election and set labour back perhaps notjust one election but possibly to. good to talk to both of you. labour also suffered some bruising losses in wales, although its vote held up better than in other parts of the uk. elections took place in all 22 welsh councils. from cardiff, here's our wales correspondent sian lloyd. labour is showing resilience here in wales, they perform far better than across the border. it is still the biggest party here and that has kept control of the big cities here in cardiff, in swansea, in newport, although it has made some losses in traditional labour heartlands in the valleys, particularly to independent candidates. 0ne valleys, particularly to independent candidates. one of the theories being put forward as to why labour performed better than expected here in wales is due to the brand of welsh labour under car arwyn jones.

the conservatives made to mcginty in wales but nothing to the degree that they did in england. they gained overall majority and control in monmouthshire and came very close in the vale of glamorgan. plaid cymru had been hoping to gain overall control in ceredigion, carmarthenshire. they didn't manage to do that. although li yan would set you thought it was a good night for the party here in wales. the welsh liberal democrat feel to make any sort of a comeback and there are no ukip councillors here. let's talk about wales now. we can cross to bangor in north wales and talk to rhun ap iowerth. he's plaid cymru's health spokesman. give us your view on the results. pretty solid and good. i see labour losing over a hundred seats, conservatives in third place behind us, ukip obliterated, lib dems with lots of thinking to do and they see

plaid cymru with 33 games, within four seeds of a record high. i see momentum there. i'll stab a look pa rt momentum there. i'll stab a look part of wales when i think, yes, we could've done a bit better, overall ita could've done a bit better, overall it a very good solid result for plaid cymru, that we can take that momentum on written a few weeks. you we re momentum on written a few weeks. you were looking for overall control in some areas, which you didn't manage to achieve. why not? i have been scratching my head a bit centre was asked in a radio interview earlier why we have done so badly in the isle of anglesey when we had best ever result on anglesey, coming within a whisker of overall control, when we had just three councillors four years ago. we can always look to see where we can turn those very near misses two wins next time round. look at areas of cardiff we have gone from a few hundred votes

toa have gone from a few hundred votes to a thousand votes in some areas. i would have liked to win those wards, but what it does is it changes the context as we move ahead to the next election, creating marginals worry went in contention before. these are all politics —— positives. we all wa nt to all politics —— positives. we all want to do better. plaid cymru has made gains while other parties are scratching your about how they can halt the slide in wales. a lot of people saying that labour did not do as badly wheels as was by some. they say there is a special factor about welsh labour that they did better than labour in the rest of the uk. they lost a hefty number of votes and they will be pointing to those places where they held on to power in local authorities in strong labour heartlands but it won its art

—— authority for example, labour gained overall control, or retained overall control, but in the rhondda constituency, plaid cymru is now the biggest council. these are all positive is that we build on whilst a lwa ys positive is that we build on whilst always looking for ways to turn those near misses in two games in the next council elections, but also in the uk general election, which is upon us very shortly. looking ahead to the general election, being billed as the brexit election, being billed as the brexit election, what is your pitch in what is essentially then a brexit election? very, very easy for me. it looks that there's a direction of travel that we're going in. i didn't wa nt to travel that we're going in. i didn't want to leave the european union, but that's where we're going. we have on the table, at the moment, what i see as a bad brexit for wales thatis what i see as a bad brexit for wales that is being brewed by theresa may and the conservatives. i tell you why it's bad. the situation in wales is different. wales is a net exporter to the european union, unlike england for example. hundreds of thousands of jobs unlike england for example. hundreds

of thousands ofjobs in wales are dependent on it. the port of holyhead is dependent on an open border with ireland. all these things need a party in wales standing up and defending it. labour seems to me to be impotent, lost its way, has waved the white flag in terms of defending wales against theresa may's bad brexit. we know what the conservatives want to do. their policies are vicious for wales and the economic situation and the situation with public service that's we have in wales. we need plaid cymru standing up with the strongest representation possible in westminster to simply defend wales against this pinscher movement. thank you for being with us, the health spokesman for plaid cymru in bangor. we will now talk to representatives from two parties from ukip councillor peter reeve the local government spokesman and the green party's coleader local government spokesman and the green pa rty‘s coleader jonathan ba rtley. let's talk

green pa rty‘s coleader jonathan bartley. let's talk about ukip, as we've been talking about it all day. wipeout is what people are saying. at the end of the day, ukip stands for a different cause to that of old school parties. we see success in terms of making a change in this country. we continue to do that. yes, we're never happy when we're not winning seats, that's a fact. today hasn't been good on that front. the reality is we are still leading the national agenda. the conservative party have painted themselves in ukip colours, flying a ukip flag themselves in ukip colours, flying a ukipflag and themselves in ukip colours, flying a ukip flag and the danger is that they won't fulfil the promises and they won't fulfil the promises and the pledges that are made. ukip is now as important as it's ever been. douglas carswell doesn't agree, he says your role is done, job done.|j love douglas. he was a great mp whilst he was there, with us or without us. the reality is that's not true. brexit hasn't happened yet. without ukip i doubt it will. theresa may's brilliant at giving the spin, giving the political speeches. she did it in the hosts, she's —— home office. she is now

doing it as pm. she rarely delivers, however. that's why ukip will have a resurgence when the promises unravel. just tell us how do you see these election results from your point of view from the green's point of view? we're the only progressive party that's made gains nationally right from the top of the country right from the top of the country right to the bottom, to the isle of wight, from yeah, from scotland down - why do you think wight, from yeah, from scotland down — why do you think that is? yoo because we're providing something unique to voters. there's a local element. we've been building over the years. when you get a green council you get someone who cares about the environment. local authorities are about the environment. they get that we are offering something that the other parties aren't. not just offering something that the other parties aren't. notjust a chance to stay in the eu but a way to transitioning what is a hollowed out economy and the environmental protections, urging a new environmental protection act. that is very attractive to a lot much people offering the —— a lot of people offering the —— a lot of people offering the whole package. unlike ukip, we have been building for many years. we predate ukip and

i dare say, we will succeed ukip for yea rs i dare say, we will succeed ukip for years to come. still on the greens though, you speak of a progressive alliance. that's not really happening. hands un, it's been very disappointing. my coleader caroline andl disappointing. my coleader caroline and i wrote to the leader of the labour party and the liberal democrat leader and said let's talk, because i think the only way, if we're being brutally honest of avoiding a big conservative majority is to stop the progressive vote being split. we're under a first—past—the—post, where mps being split. we're under a first—past—the—post, where mp5 get elected on 35% of the vote because the other side are split. we needed that conversation. it didn't happen. what is happening on the ground and is very interesting is local parties are deifying their leaders. subversive rule for people power. great to see that in certain areas. i wish it could happen in more. and outside the westminster bubble, when there's common ground why not work together? in other areas of life, business, charity sector, you would walk together for a common cause. back to ukip and peter, as i said a

wipeout really, let's be honest in the council elections, is that going to be repeated in the general election? we still have more than 300 council seats that ukip has across the country. it's by no means the end of ukip in local government. we will come back bigger and stronger. the general election based on the same principle of this myth that theresa may has that, that they are the custodians of brexit, people will quickly realise that her talk isn't the reality of what she's going to deliver. what basis do you have for saying that? just look at theresa may's track record. she said she would deliver as home office, in the home office a reduction in mass migration into the uk, below hundreds of thousands. she said they would get it down to tens of thousands and they didn't deliver it. again on brexit, she is promising a ukip—style brexit. that doesn't include, in our book, giving billions of pounds to the eu in a golden hand shake on exit. it

doesn't include mass migration continuing into the uk. it doesn't include the european courts still having jurisdiction. include the european courts still having jurisdictionlj include the european courts still having jurisdiction. i think ukip needs to take the credit and retire gracefully before it gets dirtier and youingler. they said jump, and the government said how high. they have sacrificed everything on the altar for freedom of movement. i hate it, a lot of people hate it. but those are the facts. ukip have got what they wanted. they've got nothing left to give. it's looking at the kind of britain we want to create, not inward looking, outward looking that will build bridges and not walls. good to talk to you both. thanks for being with us. the prm spoke to journalists this afternoon during a visit to west london. let's ta ke during a visit to west london. let's take a listen. it is encouraging that we have won support across the whole of the united kingdom, but i will not take anything for granted and neither will the team i lead,

because there is too much at stake. this is not about who wins and who loses in the local elections, it is about continuing to fight for the best brexit dealfor about continuing to fight for the best brexit deal for families and businesses across the united kingdom, to lock in the economic progress we've made and get on with thejob of progress we've made and get on with the job of making progress we've made and get on with thejob of making a progress we've made and get on with the job of making a success of the yea rs the job of making a success of the years ahead. it is the, 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. and the reality is that only a general election vote for the conservatives in 3a days will strengthen my hand to get the best dealfor britain from strengthen my hand to get the best deal for britain from brexit. that's the prime minister speaking in west london this afternoon. jeremy corbyn travelled to liverpool at the same time to congratulate the new mayor of the region. despite serious

losses for the parties elsewhere in the uk. we have got councils elected all over the country. everyone predicted we were going to lose in cardiff. we won. everyone said the same with swansea, we increased our majority. we came within 5,000 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 a message out of the kind of country we could be. that was jeremy corbyn speaking earlier on today. for the liberal democrats, mixed results really. the party leader, tim farron, insisted the results were good news. increasing our vote share by 7%, our best vote share in any election nationally for seven years. 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 0pposition party in recent memory. but there's another lesson to learn from last

night, that is apart from the liberal democrats revival and success around the country, we still see britain headed for a conservative land slide. tim farron there. let's get more analysis now. kevin maguire is with us, associate editor at the mirror and katie balls, the political correspondent at the spectator. tim farron saying there's going to be a tory land slide in the general election, on the basis of these council results — is that how you see it?|j the basis of these council results — is that how you see it? i think he's right. i think there will be a thumping conservative majority on the results. labour's mountain has got bigger. it slid down a bit further. jeremy corbyn is describing the results as mixed. redefine mixed, when you lose the two big metro mayors in the tees valley and we st metro mayors in the tees valley and west midlands, traditionally labour areas. they're not closing the gap on the conservatives as he claims. they've fallen further behind. why have labour done so badly do you think? is itjeremy corbyn's leadership? is it widerfactors,

deeperfactors? leadership? is it widerfactors, deeper factors? i think brexit is a big issue that can't be underestimated. we saw in 2015 labour voters go to ukip. these voters, as ukip's voter base has collapsed, they seem to have gone to the conservatives not back to labour. is that how you see it? the ukip vote collapsing and going to the tories? it's a realignment on the tories? it's a realignment on the british political right, all those purple tories have gone back to the conservatives. that's a boost for theresa may. she's played the brexit card. she was a remainor. now she sounds like nigel farage, as we saw when she invented that fight with europe and the great conspiracy about some interference in the british election, which isn't there. it's working for her rather a treat. all labour's problems are going to be magnified in the campaign. it's notjustjeremy corbyn, be magnified in the campaign. it's not just jeremy corbyn, the be magnified in the campaign. it's notjustjeremy corbyn, the party's been very split. it's been bickering with itself. in fact it's possible can you hear me? do better in the local elections, where it's done

poorly, because people might vote for a local councillor, if they're good at getting the bins emptied. in a general election, the focus is relentlessly on the leaders. there will be lots of smears. that could be very difficult for labour. katie, normally after these election results, party leaders are playing up results, party leaders are playing up what they've achieved. whereas theresa may seems to be playing it all down, doesn't she, because she doesn't want anyone to be complacent. yeah, she says she's not taking anything for granted. it's ha rd to taking anything for granted. it's hard to completely believe her there when you see how well they're doing, especially in places like teesside and the west midlands because those are labour areas. you can't really see how they can go that wrong. though, you know, you can't always extrapolate from local elections, can you? for example, there's a smaller turnout almost certainly than the general election. smaller turnout almost certainly than the general electionlj smaller turnout almost certainly than the general election. i think that's right. you always have to have a note of caution. the conservatives have been in the lead

in the other polls for so long. then you get real votes, they're in the lead. labour slipping back in some of its areas. there's been all day a coalition of nonsense between the conservative and labour leaderships, both trying to pretend it doesn't matter for different reasons much the conservatives because they don't wa nt the conservatives because they don't want complacency to come in, which might meana want complacency to come in, which might mean a low turnout. there may be some terror of a large conservative land slide and labour because they want to appear still in the game. labour, it's allabout defending the seats they have now, it's not about winning any conservative seats. there's no real talk in labour of forming a government and getting a majority. and we were talking to a ukip representative saying they will bounce back as a party. do you think they're finished? i think they're on they're finished? i think they're on the verge of extinction. they've struggled since brexit to define themselves. voters really trust theresa may to deliver brexit. ukip have been trying to find a purpose. we saw them saying they want to ban the burkha. that doesn't seem the

same party that lots of people went to over the eu. though nigel farage has been saying they're the insurance policy for brexit. do the voters buy that? i don't think nigel farage does, which is why he's not standing and denying us a pleasure ofan eighth standing and denying us a pleasure of an eighth defeat trying to get into westminster. the brexit elite from ukip, mainly formertories, they're almost like entryist in reverse. they left the conservative party, got this steam roller going for a refer dumb. get party, got this steam roller going fora refer dumb. get brexit party, got this steam roller going for a refer dumb. get brexit and now they go back into the conservative party. it's astonishing. i don't think it's happened before. good talk to both of you. many thanks for being with us. we're going to go to scotland now. we're going to go to scotland now. we will go to glasgow actually and speak to the snp group leader on the city council. give us your views on the results as you see them, especially with glasgow and labour losing control there in glasgow for the first time in decades. yes. well

we in the snp have had an historic victory here in today in glasgow. we're the biggest party on glasgow city council. we will go forward and form the first ever snp administration here. labour have beenin administration here. labour have been in powerfor a0 years and administration here. labour have been in power for a0 years and the people of glasgow have decided it's time for a change and a fresh start in the city chambers. that is what the snp will deliver for them. although the snp have done well, some people, some analysts and commentators saying not as well as they would have liked, perhaps losing a bit of momentum, are you worried about that? well, we have - we are the largest party, i think 17 of scotland's councils now. we have the largest share of the vote. we have the largest number of councillors elected across scotland. this has been a comprehensive victory for the snp in these council elections. we were the only party focussing on local issues in the

local elections in scotland. the other parties, both the conservatives and labour, focussed almost exclusively on the constitution. so the snp were the ones who were actually going to people in communities across scotla nd people in communities across scotland and talking to them about the local issues that mattered whether that was the cleanliness of their streets or education of their children. the conservatives have done pretty well. some of the projections suggest that the conservatives on the face of these results in the general election could win some seats, some constituencies in the general election from the snp. ewell the conservatives have made an advance at the expense of labour. that's absolutely clear. what is clearer is that the dividing line in scottish politics now is between a progressive snp, which stands up for scotland's communities and scotland's communities and scotland's vulnerable people and an

increasingly confidently right—wing tory party which is attacking communities and ordinary people, ordinary working families across scotland. that is the clear dividing line. that is the choice that people will have to make in the general election in four weeks' time. here in glasgow, the victory we've had today will put a spring in the step of our activists. we'll set out on the campaign to retain our mps in the campaign to retain our mps in the city with renewed vigour. but nicola sturgeon, your leader, keeps denouncing the conservatives and theresa may and denouncing the idea ofa theresa may and denouncing the idea of a hard brexit and so on, but why the conservatives doing so well in scotland? well, the conservatives are doing well at the expense of a labour party which has become incredibly weak, which is not offering any real opposition — incredibly weak, which is not offering any real opposition - but why are peopling voting for them?

well, i think that there are obviously people who don't support the snp. that's to be expected in a democracy. we are a multiparty democracy. we are a multiparty democracy here in scotland. there are people who see perhaps in the past whose choice would have been the labour party, who see the labour party as having nothing to offer. perhaps they're turning to the conservatives for that reason. good to talk to you. thank you very much for being with us. much more throughout the evening, as we continue to digest all these local election results and some of them still coming in. we go back to them still coming in. we go back to the studio. ben brown in westminster. france goes to the polls on sunday to pick a new president. the two candidates, the centrist, emmanuel macron, and

the centrist, emmanuel macron, and the right—wing marine le pen are on the right—wing marine le pen are on the campaign trail for the last time today. my colleague is in paris, where else would he be? we canjoin him now. yes, where else on a beautiful evening like this. we are just at the top of the champs elysees. we have just over three hours of the campaign left. in fact, tonight emmanuel macron is making his final pitch to the voters. no complacency on his part and hoping to pull in one in five french voters who are still undecided. it's been a hostile day for marine le pen. she's been at a beautiful cathedral, where they used to crown the old kings of france. so hostile was the crowd outside, in the end, she was forced to go out through a robing room at the back of the cathedral to a waiting car, just to get out of the cathedral. with all the news of the day, here is james reynolds. the front runner emmanuel macron began this, the final day of his

campaign, in the southern french city. he's leading in the polls and he asks voters to make their choice. translation: in the first round, the french people choose a candidate and in the second round, they eliminate one. you have to position yourself between the two. these students protesting in paris aren't happy with either candidate. those old enough to vote feel little reason to pick a side. for many in this election deciding which way to vote is difficult, even agonising. these young protesters will abstain. and many others in the country will vote relu cta ntly many others in the country will vote reluctantly for emmanuel macron, in order to stop marine le pen. but the front national‘s candidate presses on regardless. 0n front national‘s candidate presses on regardless. on this final campaign day, she insisted that her plans were still on track. translation: i think victory is within reach and the media pretend not to hear the social anger in our country. this morning, visiting a

cathedral, she found some of this angen cathedral, she found some of this anger. but on this occasion, it was directed against her and her officials. the campaign is now almost done. emmanuel macron and his supporters feel that they have the advantage. france's voters will soon tell them whether or not they were right. there are a good many voters here in france who don't see anything in either candidate to vote for this weekend. those that are voting for emmanuel macron, of course, there will be a good portion of them that believe in his platform. but there are also a good many of them who see him as the not marine le pen candidate. really that's not a platform that excites lots of people here. let's get an example of that. david is from the youth party win of

the party which took 20% of the vote in the first round. is that how you feel, you don't see anything with these two candidates. i'm so angry about it. it's freezing my burns and burning my stomach on the idea of what we have to vote for, one of them. of course, i'm not planning to vote for marine le pen. but all the young people, all of the young people that see, it's so hard. 0ur lives are hard. we are making great studies. we are working hard. hard. we get nothing because this system is not allowing us to express and to work. we will have to work for someone work. we will have to work for someone that says it will be the same forfive someone that says it will be the same for five years. i say that, we don't even really know what he plans to do. that's the thing. if you go out and talk to people on the street. he's been so vague in the platform that he's set out. this was one of the problems in the american election with hillary clinton.

nobody really knew what her purpose was. it failed on the doorstep. how is emmanuel macron been so popular with the message that he's trying to sell? he's catching everything again. he's catching all the losers. he's catching all the losers first. then he's trying to say nothing so people can come. because it's a black hole. but black holes, it appeals to people. physics, you know, if makes people feel. does it not matter that he's young. he's 39 yea rs not matter that he's young. he's 39 years old. not matter that he's young. he's 39 yea rs old. two not matter that he's young. he's 39 years old. two years younger than the average age of people in france. is that not the kind of president you want? he's older in his head. he's older. he did the same thing as hollande. hollande is 65. he's older. just look all his campaign stuff, look at them. all are old quys

stuff, look at them. all are old guys doing old politics since so many times. 50 years of politics in the right side, when you see, i don't know, the leader of the socialist party, who is appealing him and wants to do something with him. it's a0 years of political campaign, of political old stuff. this is all old stuff. the thing is there is a wrong too. the wrong is there is a wrong too. the wrong is the election of the deputy. that is going to be interesting. you can't do anything without a party. he started just a year ago. he has no politicians in the parliament. if he's going to get a platform through, whatever that may be, he is going to need either a majority or a very cohesive coalition. people that i've had up here over the last two weeks, they're i've had up here over the last two weeks, they‘ re rubbing i've had up here over the last two weeks, they're rubbing their hands, saying we can pull him in our direction. that's going to be part of the problem this is so funny, because actually my movement is already, we have a programme. we have candidates. for us, it's ok. we go there for winning. but him, the

programme is people don't know and the right, the left, what is the meaning of all this? is itjust about taking power? 0k, he will have the power. but he'll have not, he will have a vague programme and he have no social majority. it means people will not support him in the street. because when he will come and say, he say recently that he will not even pass through the parliament to do laws. where is the democracy. i will go in the street and people will go in the street, who will defend him? it's only an olding goodison parke that will. —— oligarchy that will. how can we go through democracy. it will be a brute liesation. —— brutalisation. to finish, what are you going to do on sunday, and what will most of your youth members in the movement do? actually we voted. we organised

the vote. 0ne do? actually we voted. we organised the vote. one side of us will vote for macron. 0ne the vote. one side of us will vote for macron. one side of us will not vote and one side will put a blank vote. you're not worried that might let marine le pen in? no-one will vote for marine le pen in our movement. if people abstain, she might get in. would it be awful? because the funny thing is where was the people telling us, it will be yourfault if the people telling us, it will be your fault if you don't vote for marine. i didn't see them when a young quy marine. i didn't see them when a young guy got killed by fascists actually, four years ago. where were they? when our comrades, ourfriends from the communist party, for instance, got harassed on social media, got beaten up by fascists and people from the front national. where were they? they were not here. now it's our fault. that's blackmail. you see how it's easy to blackmail. you see how it's easy to blackmail people, but ijust say

this — if you humiliate people, if you force them to vote for macron, in five years, le pen will be back. we will be back too. but le pen will be back. she will say, look, you forced people to vote for something that didn't vote. it's a long game for le pen. yeah. very interesting. a lot of people in france feel that way of a lot of people from his movement who don't know who to vote for. emmanuel macron is finishing his campaign tonight with an online channel, they're his campaign tonight with an online channel, they‘ re one his campaign tonight with an online channel, they're one of the online news agencies. he's giving, well, trying to set out what his thoughts are. interestingly on the evening bulletins tonight i was looking at the strap line. it was "how is he going to bring if he is the president on sunday, how is he going to bring everybody together? not many are sure how. because the country at the moment is very divided. christian, thank you very much. in thea christian, thank you very much. in the a great deal for me to do

this evening. i'm merely the pivot between paris and westminster. we're backin between paris and westminster. we're back in westminster after 8pm with ben brown. now to look at the weather. hello there. good evening, it was a lovely day for swathes of the uk with plenty of sunshine. this is the view from one of our weather watchers in the highlands of scotla nd watchers in the highlands of scotland this afternoon. pretty much blue sky all the way. it wasn't like that for all. we saw this lovely cloud in clacton—on—sea in essex. where we saw the cloud in the southern most counties it tended to break up at times. even here, there was a bit of sunshine to be had. further north, it was a lovely day with unbroken sunshine for many. there has been a bit of a breeze blowing in across many parts of the uk that. continues overnight. it's dragging in thicker cloud. that cloud is likely to bring a bit of rain, just spots of light rain, drizzle, parts of the midlands, wales, into northern england as well. more cloud than last night and rain creeping into the far south—west. clearer skies in northern scotland will allow a touch of frost to develop in rural spots.

we have this weather front in the south—west. to go with that, there's a breeze. this weatherfront south—west. to go with that, there's a breeze. this weather front is really only going to affect the far south—west of the uk, cornwall, maybe devon will see rain from that. further north it's a largely dry day. a spot or two of rain in the midlands, parts of wales, but generally speaking fine and dry weather. into the afternoon, across northern scotland, may be a bit on the cloudy side. low cloud here, pegging back the temperatures a bit. in the western side, light winds, sunshine, temperatures into the upper teens begun e 1a, 15 degrees northern ireland, sunny spells here. more in the way of cloud in northern england. coolest down the north sea coast. brighter through the afternoon developing across the south—eastern corner. for brighton and for london 15 degrees. in the south—west, we have thicker cloud and outbreaks of rain. even that doesn't last too long. through the evening, that rain begins to move away to the south and east. then, most of us dry through saturday night. into sunday, a bit of a

breeze down the eastern side of the uk. low cloud and drizzle with that. quite grai and on the cool side, further west we have lighter winds, brea ks further west we have lighter winds, breaks in the cloud, sunshine getting through and it will be quite warm once again. along the north sea coast, on the cool side nine or ten degrees. further west and we're in the middle to upper teens widely. 19 or so is the top temperature in the south—west. it's dry over the next few days and into the early part of next week it stays dry, might see rain later next week. this is bbc news. i'm ben brown, live at westminster after results from the local elections came in from all over the uk today. big wins for the conservatives — they've taken control of 11 councils and gained more than 500 seats. i will not take anything for granted and neither will the team i lead, because there is too much at stake. this is not about who wins and who

loses a local elections, it is about continuing to fight for the best brexit deal. labour has a tough time after it loses more than 380 seats and seven authorities, including glasgow city council, which they've held since 1980. we have had very disappointing results in parts of the country. yes, we have to go