happened with the windrush generation and they know how rotten it looks. i think there has been a big disconnect and i hope sajid javid puts it right. between ministerial direction and civil servant execution, there is an enormous gap which they should not be. and by the way, i would like to see a bit more blame going on in the civil service because ministers should take the rap, they are in charge, they should resign, there is a lot of people who should do some thinking. we have got to wrap up, henry and digby, thank you so much. that's it for this extra helping of the papers tonight — thanks for staying digby and henry. next here on bbc news, huw edwards will be bring you all the latest coverage of the results in the local elections. we will have hugh edwards with those

local election results in just a moment. does that mean we can carry on? it does. people will be concerned about the handling of the windrush in there, people have known these problems have been out there for a these problems have been out there fora numberof years, these problems have been out there fora number of years, people these problems have been out there for a number of years, people like david lambie, who had been raising this for 67 years, this is going to hammerthem at the this for 67 years, this is going to hammer them at the polls. and for thatis hammer them at the polls. and for that is a shame, i don't think this isa that is a shame, i don't think this is a tory or labour issue. i think it is incompetence in the civil service. thank you, we have run out of time. we are going to talk now. we are going to talk now. good evening. a day of local elections across

england, 150 councils being contested, more than 4000 council seats being fought, a prime test for all the parties, especially for theresa may and jeremy corbyn, both of whom have their own challenges to tackle, a year ago theresa may, riding high in the polls, strode out of downing street and called a snap general election. that decision shocked just about everybody — but her dreams of a landslide victory were dashed when the campaign went horribly wrong. tonight, we will find out what millions of voters in england are making of politics as it is now — both nationally and, in many cases, closer to home. the stakes could not be higher. given what's happening with brexit it's probably the most important period in british politics, but important. the prime minister caster board in westminster. these results might be difficult for the conservatives, there could be damaged midterm in the elections but

the tories are hoping to win control of councils in peterborough and basildon. what about labour? jeremy corbyn was out early to cast his vote in north london. his party did particularly well in the capital in the general election last year, the real test for a laboured tonight might be in other parts of england, in the north and midlands. and so vince cable, leader of the liberal democrats was out today, his party needs to rebuild its local council base which was sharply reduced during the years of the coalition government with david cameron which endedin government with david cameron which ended in 2015, a big test for the lib dems. as i said, more than 4000 council seats at stake denied. some key election battlegrounds, we are in wandsworth in south—west london, this is a high—profile conservative party since 1978, labour gained a parliamentary seat in this area last

year, labour hoping for what might bea year, labour hoping for what might be a prominent victory in london for them tonight in wandsworth. would they do it? not long to wait, we are in basildon in essex, most of the seats were won by ukip when last fought for micro years ago. nigel farage one 17% of the national vote, we are in a different world now with ukip fielding just a fraction of the candidates of 2014. one of the big questions tonight, four will be old ukip. go in these areas, more than enough to keep us going into the early hours. stay with us. and very kindlyjoining us, in our cosy little studio here at westminster for the next few hours, claire kerry, the business minister the conservatives, nice to have you with us, john mcdonnell shadow

chancellor, and for the lib dems we have the hothouse, the local government spokesperson. we will be with you in just a second. gather your thoughts, laura kuenssberg with us, and you know, let's spell it out, at the start of this, we talked about midterms, we know there are big political issues out there which are proving incredibly difficult to navigate, what are you looking for? as you suggest both of the parties have had a hard time in the last few months, it's not the case someone has been marching forward and the others falling back. both of them playing the expectations game, telling me in the last hour it's looking tough, tough than we thought. the headlines we could expect, very early, labour making advances, they expect to make advances, they expect to make advancesin advances, they expect to make advances in london, how big? the tories are hopeful of nibbling away at the edges in some of the towns around england but they are expecting the labour party to pile

up expecting the labour party to pile u p votes expecting the labour party to pile up votes in the urban centres but what they would both be looking for is whether or not they can make a difference to the dynamic we have seen difference to the dynamic we have seen since the general election, labour prospering in big cities, the tories taking boats back from ukip in towns and shires. one of the interesting thing since the general election, both parties locked in a grim embrace, level pegging at the polls through their own difficulties, struggling to move forward , difficulties, struggling to move forward, the tories want to stop the slide, labour wants the evidence they are on the march. thank you, what i'd like to do is take the temperature straight away and go to basildon in essex, andrew sinclair my colleague is there. i know this isa my colleague is there. i know this is a big test for the conservatives and for labour, can you give us a sign of what is going on? yes, it's also a big test for ukip, you rememberfour years ago, also a big test for ukip, you remember four years ago, politics was turned on its head when the party made dozens of games particularly in this part of the world. the party has always done

well in east anglia, especially this product essex for it got its earliest support and made its first electoral gains. one of the things we are electoral gains. one of the things we are watching tonight is what happens to the ukip vote. early indications, that vote has collapsed, the big question is where is it going and so far in basildon it seems to be over the place, two games to labour, one to the conservatives, and to independence, former members of ukip but have branded themselves as independence, the ukip vote collapsing, seems to be going all over the place, looks as if labour have the edge over the conservatives. just to underline, we are looking at the figures as you are looking at the figures as you are speaking, seven from 15 results declared, we saw the change in the seat you have told us so far. what is your sense of how typical that

kind of division of support will be from ukip to the conservatives and labour? it's really hard to tell. i have spoken to people from labour and the conservatives, notjust here in basildon but in other parts of the east they say we don't honestly know where that vote will go. remember ukip in the early days to quotes from the conservatives but later it took votes from labour. big question is will people go back to traditional parties of support or will they go elsewhere? in basildon and also in great yarmouth and other parts of east anglia, we saw in the general election evidence of labour supporters who moved to ukip but moved on to the conservatives because they still had concerns about things like immigration and jobs, the sort of things which made people vote to leave and remember the easterby is in was a strong

leave voting area. its really hard to say for the ukip boat will go but where it goes tonight will determine the outcome in a number of seats like in basildon which is currently in no overall control, we are watching colchester and there raqqa just down the road and also peterborough in cambridgeshire, the tories only need one seat to take control of peterborough, they need three seats to take control here need the old ukip votes to go their way, that's by no means certain. very interesting, thank you, we will talk to you later. very interesting in basildon, another fascinating talk to you later. very interesting in basildon, anotherfascinating one for us to night and we want to keep a close tabs on it in terms of the london contest, wandsworth, in south—west london, conservatives held as one of the great showpiece authorities because of the low council tax for decades. tim donovan is there, what are the signs? for so long, this place has been of the

labour radar, they haven't considered it in play and the conservatives have got on with quite a miserable confidence running this place. but things changed the debate, last year, when there was a big swing, surge of labour support, they took jane ellison's big swing, surge of labour support, they tookjane ellison's seat in battersea, came close to dislodging justine greening from pat lee and from that, it has generated momentum, —— from putney. they have ploughed resources and energy and foot soldiers into this borough, the indication perhaps they will do quite well in battersea, wards in the badger sea area, but still a very confused picture and what we have been hearing so far, the target wards which we assumed labour would have to do firmly well into take control, they need to gain 12 councillors tonight, some people saying we haven't been doing that

well in those but rather perversely, places that need a bigger swing are saying labour are suddenly doing something there and some officials watching this closely say you forget some of these pictures of london wide swings and recent london wide polling, there is something that looks like it is quite odd, a really big challenge for labour to take this and that is perhaps the one they really want most of all tonight in london. bear with us what i want to do with yours is sure a list we have of councils to watch in london, it's quite an interesting list, very different challenges to be honest, different challenges to be honest, different parties. let's look at the list. barnet, that is a test for the parties, wandsworth we have mentioned, westminster, hillingdon, whichjohn mcdonnell will mentioned, westminster, hillingdon, which john mcdonnell will maybe mentioned, westminster, hillingdon, whichjohn mcdonnell will maybe want to talk about, that is of london, kensington and chelsea, sutton, richmond, that list, iam kensington and chelsea, sutton,

richmond, that list, i am wondering, pick off for us, let's talk about arnott if you like, firstly, what for you is interesting and what should we look out for? purely anecdotal so far i need to stress, within the last 30 minutes labour officials in touch saying they don't think it is looking that good for them in barnet, or should i say parts of arnott and the code is a row over anti—semitism may have had an impact. not getting very much more than that, on paper, going into these elections, barnet was the one eve ryo ne these elections, barnet was the one everyone kind of assumed, labour side and the conservatives, were going to win it, conservatives only just held on by a seat four years ago, it has since gone into no overall control, now a battle but is going to be much closer, quite clearly. kensington and chelsea, the granite belt tragedy and the big political controversy about the handling of that and the residences

there. —— the grand cell tower tragedy. the thing about that place, labour has a strong presence, a small northern part of the borough but on paper, the rest of it is just so entrenched conservative and the numbers look so out of reach. but conservative people have said quite recently, they could not rule it out and the reason for that, one has mentioned to me, senior official, a dimensional, a guilt i mention, if you like, possibly notjust looking at the words close to four the tower is but is there a sense, a sense of guilt that could at the least persuade tory voters to stay at home. one more ifi can, early stages, sutton, let's talk about the

challenge for the lib dems especially. yes, that is the only authority that the conservatives quite openly would have said during this campaign was a target and they had several high—profile visits including the chairman brandon lewis. because there had been some very local controversies there are over plans for an incinerator, how the bins are being collected plus it was a big leave area, one of only five buhriz in london which floated to leave and the feeling has been that there might be an opportunity for the tories here, if i remember it right, the lib dems have been in sutton for 30 years, it was an opportunity. i don't think in the last week the tories are serious or feel that they are going to win it but what they are going to be doing is trying to hold on not against labour but against the lib dems in richmond and kingston and that has swung against the tories and the lib dems in the past. tim, so good to

talk to you, thank you. i would also like to bring in the resident expert and grew, and i am going to say sir john curtice, am i going to get away withjohn to john curtice, am i going to get away with john to night john curtice, am i going to get away withjohn to night or do i have to go through the hoops. you definitely don't, john will do fine. there is a consensus it has got to be served. maybe i should just say sir. but look, that is a polite smile, i have got to say. what are we comparing tonight with john? the seat were for the most part last contested as long azerbaijan four yea rs contested as long azerbaijan four years ago, an awful lot has happened politically, we have had two general elections as well as the eu referendum. more importantly perhaps what we should remember is we talk about what opposition should gain in midterm, we are comparing this result with what was already a

midterm in 2014 with the labour party in opposition and indeed in 2014, when these seatses were last contested labour were ahead in the polls and they were already narrowly ahead in our estimate of the party's performance across the piece, so we shouldn't therefore necessarily assume given the opinion polls are saying the two parties are neck and neck, there is necessarily going to bea neck, there is necessarily going to be a dramatic movement in one direction or the other. and certainly there are large gains for the labour party if they do occur, and particularly if they occur outside london, where we expect labour to do relatively well will be very good news for labour but if they don't gain much graham rowntree it will be a disappointment but won't indicate they have gone backwards. you mention outlied london, i have a list of councils to watch outside london. we discussed the london ones, a short while ago. iam going the london ones, a short while ago. i am going to share them with viewers because they have, these councils, they have trafford, and

plymouth, and swindon, and dudley, and worcester and basildon and peterborough which andrew sinclair mentioned. to pick off a couple. trafford, what is the significance there? the significance of trafford is is one of those parts outside london which voted to remain, it is one of the so—called metropolitan districts, which the conservatives currently control, and if indeed it, behaves in the way that remain voting areas tended to do in the general election the conservatives may struggle to control that. in contrast, the conservatives were hopeful in basildon notjust because it was a leave voting area but there we re it was a leave voting area but there were plenty of ukip seats to pick up. whether that is going to happen is perhaps a more debatable but what is perhaps a more debatable but what is on your list is a mixture of places like peterborough which the conservative hope to pick up but

there are places like trafford where there are places like trafford where the labour party is picking up and they might hope to pick up dudley although dudley was one of those place where the labour party struggled v strong leave voting area. laura? on trafford, it is the only patch of blue in a sea of red, in the north—west of england, and the senior tories are suggesting they think that labour will take it, in part due to switches from green voters, across to labour, over some local issues that have been at play. if that does happen, that is a significant gain for labour, their hope was to be able to move it to no overall control. if they take that thatis overall control. if they take that that is totem mick, it is a part of the country where jeremy corbyn will be keen to show where he can make inroads. earliersuggestions be keen to show where he can make inroads. earlier suggestions that is very much on the cards from senior tories. early news from nuneaton. 11 of 17 seats declared, just 18 needed for a majority, if we look at the

result, so far, it is, the tally so far that is, 15 to labour, 12 to the conservatives, and one green but the important thing is to look at the difference from last time, in nuneaton labour down six from 2014 and the tories up six, so that could mean labour losing control of nuneaton. there are nerves in the labour party about losing it. it is a symbolic seat, one of the jokes in the last election, where you up for nuneaton? it is a marginal seat that can swing either way and it is seen as an important barometer. a mixed picture, can we make anything of this early stage? we have heard the note there from trafford and now nuneaton and basildon, can you make sense of any of it so far? from campaign, it is local and we heard tonight there were lots of local issues that were influencing

particular seat, the ones we are watching. the two national question, the unwinding of brexit vote, if you like, that is still lingering on in a lot of parts and certainly in london, that is still coming through. but i think what is interesting is if you look at where we are at a government eight years m, we are at a government eight years in, tony blair's government eight years in, you know was losing thousands of seats, you know, the picture, we are dogged. we don't wa nt picture, we are dogged. we don't want to lose hard—working councillors so it could be a tough night. this is not some massive swing that would suggest certainly some of the expectationsjohn swing that would suggest certainly some of the expectations john and his team have been putting out, we can turn every corner of london red i think it was as the mayor said, are going to be brought home. trafford would be a blow. it would be. again, i want to be a party that represents all parts of the united kingdom and this is very much labour's election to lose, these are

the big metropolitan heartlands up for grabs but where we have got council and trafford council has done a good job, if you talk to the councillor, so if control is lost, it will be a shame for the residents of trafford, but again as we heard, some local vote, some local polling thatis some local vote, some local polling that is making a difference, it is john's election to lose tonight and expectations thatjohn john's election to lose tonight and expectations that john and others have put out, based on what you have been saying don't appear to be bearing fruit early on. come on john. this is going to be a boring night if we just spout what central office and head quarters have been saying. what you have been saying. it will be a more boring night if you keep on interrupting people. let me finish. the issue here is as sir john curtice said, it is a complicated election, simple as that, if the media and others have raised expectation of a labour or conservative wipe out they are wrong, it is a local election, we are agreed 0 that, local factors

come in and we will see lots of that. we don't know which way the ukip vote is split. in the general election it split two thirds of the conservative, one third to labour. we are not sure if that is going to be replicated this time. we are not sure of the leave and remain impact. i think this will be a complicated night, i have to say, sorry about this for the programme, i think it might be boring as well, because i don't think... never! we cannot allow that! that! in was not personal. this was not... outrageous slur! all i personal. this was not... outrageous slur! alll am personal. this was not... outrageous slur! all i am saying don't expect huge changes in overall control, i think it will be more about incremental gains. given, that a lwa ys incremental gains. given, that always happen, and given you are the opposition party you made advance, bigger than you expected to in the general election, how confident you you will be able to show advance to your supporters who are desperate to

show you are on the march rather than nibbling away. what was interesting last year, i was on the show last year, and i think our percentage share of the poll was 2796. percentage share of the poll was 27%. and we had a discussion about that and i said this is marginal improvement what happened, a month later we shoot up to ho %, so in the old tradition, —— 40%. you can predict, i think that has gone now because it is more complicated than that, that is the first thing. second thing, the point that sir john curtice made, i am second thing, the point that sir john curtice made, lam not second thing, the point that sir john curtice made, i am not spouting the script, i am saying these are the script, i am saying these are the highest we have been in 2014. some of the speculation, we haven't won wandsworth since 94. hillingdon, since 74. hillingdon, my patch 94. sol since 74. hillingdon, my patch 94. so i don't think there are going to be big swings, we are looking for gains that lay the found disagrees. your activists have been flooding wandsworth and they wouldn't have

been doing that if you didn't think there was a chance. they are realistic, they are flooding wandsworth because we want to make gain, ithink wandsworth because we want to make gain, i think we will pick up seats, it might be more complicated. different wards react in different ways. i don't think there will be huge changes in overall control. control. why did the mayor, can i just say... sorry he got it wrong. sad deke said that and he got it wrong. isn't this expectation management at a late stage...|j wrong. isn't this expectation management at a late stage... i have been saying this for the last couple of month, every time i come on this programme i say these are local elections. it won't be boring, we can establish that. i have been saying the same thing.|j can establish that. i have been saying the same thing. i rent a flat in wans worth. we have been working hard. —— wandsworth. lots of local people, what was fascinating the leaflet i got through my door from

the labour councillors was promising froze n the labour councillors was promising frozen council taxes and what he we know isjohn has been saying that nationally he thinks councils, people are up for rises so it is a very local election. there is a national message.|j agree. and i would have say basildon is very interesting, so people are asking where is the leave vote going? not to the liberal democrats because we are the last party and i am proud of that that ukipers would go to, because we are standing up for liberal and tolerant society so they will labour more than to the conservative, that tells us something, that the labour party is a leave party and people come to the labour party now, because it is a leave party, which is why i would be surprised to see trafford change to labour, because labour, the labour party is no longer a remain party andi

party is no longer a remain party and i think people have woken up to that. i would be surprised atrafford. i would be amazed. which whers too 5 that labour are feeling quite cheerful in portsmouth. interesting. i think it is going to be mixed through the night. we are talking about challenges for party, richmond is an interesting one and my colleague is there. any early signs in richmond? well, the liberal democrats who as you say are targeting this seat heavily are telling us they are sort of quietly confidentful. i am not sure whether to read into they they are confident, or they are trying to manage our expectation, all the boxes are in and counting well under way here. this is a story of blue versus yellow here, not much interest forjohn mcdonnell and the labour party, although we understand that labour are targeting a couple of seats in richmond, they are

heathfield and west twickenham. if they were to take those that wok remarkable. they haven't won seats since 1998. this area for a long time has flip—flopped between the liberal democrats and the conservatives. the conservatives have actually held it since 2010 and they consolidated that position in 2014 when the liberal democrats were struggling, of course, during the coalition. so tonight, a real target for the liberal democrats, they are hoping to make gains here, and hoping to make gains here, and hoping ultimately to take control of this council. of course, not far from here, is the home of the lib dem leader sir vince cable. we hope we dem leader sir vince cable. we hope we may dem leader sir vince cable. we hope we may see dem leader sir vince cable. we hope we may see him later on, if the liberal democrats do as well as they are hoping to do here. i think if they do manage to take control of this council, that would be a signal they feel they are starting to win back some of the support they lost back some of the support they lost backin back some of the support they lost back in 2014, 2015 towards the tail

end of coalition. this area a very strong remain area, it voted into the 70% of the people here voting to remain in the eu, so that is a factor and something clearly that the liberal democrats are hoping will help them here tonight. thank you elizabeth. what i would like to do take the temperature in a if the rent part is go to dudley, and talk to our colleague there patrick burns, they were two short ofa patrick burns, they were two short of a majority, with the conservatives not far behind. patrick your thoughts on dudley, first of all? i think the big question hanging over this one, and obviously it would be a major embarrassment if labour didn't get that overall majority we are talking about, no wonderjeremy corbyn and theresa may have beaten a path to the doorsteps of dudley over the past few days but the question is what happens to the ukip vote here? because this was the scene of a significant ukip stronghold in the

base year, the last time that these particular seats were contested. that was, that coincided with a really sort of big moment when ukip generally were riding high, but tonight, they are defending seven of those seats and i can tell you that ukip themselves are admitting they are braced for significant losses. now, back in 2014, it was clear that ukip drewa now, back in 2014, it was clear that ukip drew a lot of their support from former labour voters, but there is no guarantee that those votes will go back where they came from, if former ukip voters are switching away. and just look up the road in walsall away. and just look up the road in wa lsa ll for away. and just look up the road in walsall for example, throughout the black country there remains significant leave sentiment, which is really setting what i might describe as the mood music and the background to these elections if you cast your mind back to the general election that was enough for the conservatives to win walsall north off labour. now, keep that thought, because if i take you down to

nuneaton and bedworth, another of those gritty midland towns where ukip built up support during the period up to 2013/14. i can tell you that the conservatives have gained six from labour. labour arejust that the conservatives have gained six from labour. labour are just two away from losing overall control of nuneaton, and i am hearing from one of my colleagues in nuneaton and bedworth that conservatives drawing support from ukip appears to be the story behind that, so maybe if we are looking for trends, it could be this decisive question about what happens to the former ukip vote and to so far the signs are that it may be the conservatives rather than labour who are drawing the benefit of that, in an area where, as i say, leave sentiments still persists strongly here. fascinating. we will be back to you. thanks for underlining the significance of that for us, we will be back with you

later. i would like to go to swindon and paul bartrop is there. that is a key testing ground for labour and conservatives, what is going on paul? really really interesting election this, because a third of seats are up but the conservatives only had to lose two to lose their overall majority, i have to say the room at the moment, lots of decorations are going round, there are some decorations are going round, there are some happy conservative face, they have held on to every seat they have defended thus far, and what we have defended thus far, and what we have seen is that labour have not made the gains they would have wished for. they put a lot into this campaign, we reckon jeremy wished for. they put a lot into this campaign, we reckonjeremy corbyn has been down to swindon five times in the last six month, john mcdonnell and other shadow cabinet members came here, a big push was on because this is a bellwether seat. who in swindon, wins in swindon gets into the government generally.

just to underline, claire perry is with us, you were just saying that you were with us, you were just saying that you were being told on ground that... i was told that all those thousands of doors i and others have knocked on, based on what paul was saying looks like it might have a result. it looks like we are going straight to us it, but hopefully we are right. there has been a huge local effort and jeremy corbyn has been down, six, five times, momentum has been busting in people from all over has been busting in people from all over the country, it has been a massive target for labour, as it was at the general election and it will be great if we have held it. swindonen is that kind of place where these are, the kind of part of the country where voters swing either way, that is why labour has put a lot of resource in to show they can win those kind of seats outside the big urban centres but what keeps going through my mind,

how much things have change since the seats were last contested. it is no the ukip vote has disappeared. we have had the referendum, all of the major parties have changed their leader, labour is transformed. the tories are a different creature under theresa may, what must be in voter's minds? vote conservative clearly. it means it is tight. it that is a seat that the liberal democrats can win. so there is an option for an opportunity for the liberal democrats, because where we have in the past, very strong liberal democrat council and seat, people come back to us and understand we are the people, the party of local government, we deliver the front line services that people are appreciating, and people appreciate liberal democrat councillors because we work all year round and we get out there and let us wait and see what the results is, if it is tight, i tell you what we are going to do

it next time. we are positive.“ they don't what would they say about vince cable? many people would privately say they worry he hasn't although he is a well—known figure he hasn't made much of an impact since he returned to westminster and became the leader, if you are not taking the kind of council where you are strong, what do you think that will say about his leadership? first it looks very tight, so whatever... should it be? we will make process, i think this is the message that we put out there, as liberal democrats all together, we are actually growing, we have a growing membership, we are also completely different, a new and changed party and we are positive about our prospects because we are having this huge new membership and obviously brexit plays into all of this. we are the obvious remain party and i think people are more and more discovering that the two main parties are leave parties so where

are all the remainers going?|j parties are leave parties so where are all the remainers going? i am going to interrupt because we have a result in from nuneaton, this is the position that labour have lost control of nuneaton council, let us look at the figure, the results in, 17 to labour, 16 to the tory, one green, and if we look at the change, we see green, and if we look at the change, we see that labour have lost i think eight seats, that is right since last time, the tories have gained nine. the greens are down one. loss of control. it is a hung council now. of control. it is a hung council now. john, your view on that? well, same old thing. we will fall back a bit possibly and remember, this does reflect what was in the general election as well, so... the conservatives hold. the trend looks the same as the general election. this isn't a hold, is a big loss. john, i know you are a wyllie old campaigner be you have been coming in tonight saying it will be a boring night. on 23rd may you said you were on

boring night. on 23rd may you said you were on the edge of significant victory. this doesn't look victorious. if you look what is happening it is a reflection of what happened in the general election la st happened in the general election last year. there doesn't seem to be a great deal of shifts, in certain areas in london and some testify metropolitan areas it looks as if we will pick up seats but i don't think there will be huge overall control changes but this reflects what happened in the general election.“ you say that reflects what happens overall that is a significant loss. this was a council labour has 24 seats. this is a big change, you can't say this reflect... it was an all—time high when we contested this. what happens to the ukip vote, we know the channels we have got in this area, that is what we will address. let us look, harlow in essex. you know it is a test obviously for ukip as well, there, if we look at harlow, with 17 needed

for majority, labour have 20 seats with tories on 11 and ten of 11 declared. ukip on no seats at all after this. and if we look at the change from last time. there you haveit change from last time. there you have it illustrated. two up to labour, one up to the tories and three down for ukip, so you can see how that is, it is breaking different ways as john how that is, it is breaking different ways asjohn is saying, if we different ways asjohn is saying, if we look at the percentage of the vote, 39, to labour, 47 to the tories, seven to ukip, two to the lib dems and five for independence, what does that mean in terms of a change? there you have it, six up to labour, 818 up to the tory, 27 down to ukip and three up for the independents, i think we can talk to susan evan, who is at westminster, not a million miles away. thank you very much forjoining us. harlow

first of all, the way that ukip vote has broken up, does that make sense to you? yes, it does. it has always been a myth that ukip is the conservative party in exile, i think the vote probably has split, yes, exactly as you have suggested in the studio, that makes perfect sense to me. so far my understanding is that every seat you have been defending it has been lost, are you expecting that trend to be broken in any area? to be honest, i am not going to stand, sit here and said it is going to bea stand, sit here and said it is going to be a great night for ukip. it isn't. the party has been in chaos and people don't vote for divided party, so we were expecting not do very well. we are fielding only about 30% of the candidates we fielded last in 2014, but of course a huge amount has changed since then, we, that time there wasn't a promise of a referendum, let alone a referendum won, so the political

landscape has shifted and i think there is a sense people think that ukip is history, that it is over, i suggest those people are putting a lot of faith in the two big parties to deliver brexit. i don't share that optimism. i think it is not going very well. so we will see how it go, but certainly i think for this election, no. we haven't been planning for it, you might recall our previous leader henry bolton, we got rid of him, i think he held only one meeting in his short time in office. with regard to the local elections, there was no preparation for this at all. our new leader has only been in post since the end of february, you can't start a local election campaign and expect to pick up election campaign and expect to pick up many seats if you are just doing it in six short weeks. with the state of the party tempt you to go back to the conservatives?” state of the party tempt you to go back to the conservatives? i have been asked this question more times than i have had hot dinner, you know, i think ukip has a great feature and i think there is a need for a party such as ukip. and i

certainly hope it has a very healthy future, because i think it would be a great shame if we returned back to the two party sort of two party state as it were, i think the diversity that ukip brought to politics is very important, i think it is very important it continues. stay with us, claire, would there be a welcome for suzanne evans? you know, we are a party that welcomes people who believe in a great future for the country and opportunity for everyone, so suzanne, for the country and opportunity for everyone, so suzanne, you for the country and opportunity for everyone, so suzanne, you know, if thatis everyone, so suzanne, you know, if that is what you want to be focussing on, absolutely. it is great to see you have ditched ukip who are in disarray. i certainly haven't. but she was suggesting that you are not fob trusted with the brexit process, suzanne knows and i can guarantee from my seat at the baby end of the cabinet table, that we can be trusted with brexit, we will deliver the brexit that people voted for but we the brexit that people voted for but we will do it in the way ma

mac—mizes economic opportunity and prosperity for the country an not bounced into an ideological brexit from people who want to turn the clock back. you must know the only way to do the best by the country and to get that economic about to make our own way in the world is to have a full brexit, the brexit that people voted for and that means leaving the supermarket and the customs union which was made clear during the referendum campaign. that is what the prime minister has said. i hope that is right, sometimes reports suggest otherwise but i hope you are right. you mean the reports on a customs partnership of some kind? exactly. are those reports wrong? as the prime minister said we have got various options on the table. we have to square the circle as suzanne say 5 making sure that we never have a hard border between north and south ireland and making sure we can forge those vital trade deals.

no—one said this was going to be easy. 0 some people did, i think your leader did. it is tough but we will deliver it. many voters have might have expected nearly two years later the cabinet would be able to agree on a customs plan, this week, they count do that, i mean don't you think that many voters round the country will have been looking a the progress? this is the most complicated negotiation we have probably ever had in's time. it is easy for suzanne and others to make glib statements, if we are going to maximise our way forward and create no border between... but these are negotiations in your own party? we have made great progress, we will continue with this. this is, this is a national, a task of national historic importance and we should not be having noises off about it.”

am going to press the pause button on brexit. trafford is very important. my colleague is in trafford for us. just tell us what is going on there kevin, what you can tell us about the outcome there. well, lots of people, a bit nervous round here too. too early to predict how it is going to go. this is very close. this is the tory flagship in the north. that is why it is such a big target for the labour party here, jeremy corbyn launched his national campaign here. theresa may swooped in and it is very close. the conservatives have a majority, they have run this council for 14 years now, but that majority has fallen to two councillor, so if they lose two tonight and fail to regain vacant seat that they used to have, then this council will fall to no overall control. that would be a major scalp

for the labour party, huge blow for theresa may's conservatives. but, i have been speaking to people on both sides, no—one wants to predict, everyone's quietly confident, no—one's despairing, we will have to wait and see how it unfolds. so you are not able to do any body language or help us with kind of what people might be signalling? give us some piles of paper. do you hear me kevin? sorry, say that again? you are not able to help us that again? you are not able to help us with body language from people in the parties on the ground, does that give any signals at all? well, they both say they have been working very ha rd to both say they have been working very hard to get the vote out today. we have had the figure for turn out, 43% which is slightly up, on two yea rs 43% which is slightly up, on two years ago. so, the labour party particularly, they are saying they have had a big influx of support

from momentum, this isn't a traditional labour area like many places of the north—west but they have been bussing people in to get their votes out. the conservatives say they have been working the streets as well, knocking on doors and trying to get their voters to the polling station. both incredibly nervous about how this could unfold, will is a huge amount at stake and no—one wants to predict how it will unfold. we could know once we get the early signs, there is a few key council wards where both sides say these are the key ones which could switch or not. so as though results start to come through we will get an indication. kevin fitzpatrick abbotsbury important kevin fitzpatrick abbotsbury im porta nt contest kevin fitzpatrick abbotsbury important contest in trafford, he mentioned key wards, let you show you the key wards of 2018 with the change in share since 2014. i am going to askjohn curtice to tell us

what's going on. early signals are saying what? a third of the councils to night, we have collected the award by word results to see what is going on, you can see at the bottom of your screen, the conservative net gain of seats and you can see at the top the conservative vote advancing more than labour, that is partly because of the ukip collapse. even in areas outside of that, at the moment the signs are probably there is going to be a small swing from labour to conservative at least outside london and if that pattern persists i think the truth is the conservatives will be heartened and labour will be disappointed, the second thing, so far, the liberal democrats are making a modest advance, they are making some gains in seats and occasionally the odd spectacular one, this might be perhaps the most encouraging night yet for them, since the formation of

the coalition back in 2010 and as we we re the coalition back in 2010 and as we were saying earlier, above all for what they want to do is to win kingston and richmond and whether they will do that, when we get results in from london we will have to wait and see but certainly, the headline so far, probably on the early results, the conservatives are at least holding their own, maybe getting a small swing and that frankly is in line with the message of the opinion polls. to underline, john, the thesis we have at the moment about the way the ukip vote is splitting four years on. the truth is typically the ukip vote seems to be going much more to the conservatives than labour, the conservatives than labour, the conservatives in general doing better in leave voting areas switches for ukip tended to be strongest, the occasional exception you find in places that were labour before ukip won the award and in some before ukip won the award and in some of those places the boat is splitting rather less advantageously

to labour, as the result labour recapturing the ward, the broad message exactly in line with what happened at the general election, the ukip vote going disproportionately but not exclusively towards the conservatives. john, thank you, a result in from castle point in essex, one very strong leave area, the conservatives holding onto that, let's look at the result, 27 seats to the tories, 14 to the independents, an independent group which incorporated some ukip councillors and candidates, unchanged from last time, you get the picture, the tories up six, the independent stand by one, the pattern changing completely. the conservatives hanging onto castle point in an area of the country where the lead vote was exceptionally strong. laura, quick thoughts at this point. this is

going to be one of the big things, as happened in the general election, the expectation was the ukip boat would go to the tories, that is not quite what is happening, in some areas we saw labour quite what is happening, in some areas we saw labour taking the boat but overall, this narrative really that we expected, ukip almost disappearing from the map and going back to 2014, they were ahead of the lib dems who at that point were in government in 2014. listening to suzanne evans, saying it's not quite over suzanne evans, saying it's not quite over but in brackets a kind of is just about over, . .. over but in brackets a kind of is just about over,... we will come back to you in the second because what i'd like to do is pause for a second and get the latest news headlines from mike wembley. we start with a roundup of the local elections. odds are being counted,

the first significant test of public opinion since the general election last year, more than 4000 council seats are being contested in 150 injured councils. mirrors will be chosen in sheffield and watford as well as four boroughs in london. jonathan blake has the details. the race to be first is on but this election night is a marathon not a sprint. this is local democracy in action, voters across england have had their say. one by one paper by paper, the crosses are being counted. and those who set and spent council tax are awaiting the verdict of the voters. in london labour is already strong, they talked of taking once rock—solid tory councils like wandsworth, even westminster, we like wandsworth, even westminster, we will see. any government can expect a kicking in local mid—term elections but the conservatives will wa nt to elections but the conservatives will want to pick up seats from ukip who support is expected to collapse and babel hope to hang on in places outside london and voted to leave

the eu. i brought my passport, i think, i had better check, yes! here in gosport and a handful of other places voters had to bring ide as pa rt places voters had to bring ide as part of a trial scheme to cut fraud. there were claims some people were turned away but most did not seem to mind. i'm all right, i have a bus pass and a driving licence. more than 4000 seats are up for grabs in 150 councils, the first broad test of political opinion since the general election last year, a nervous night for some, for everyone, a long few hours ahead. jonathan blake, bbc news. for the latest, more from my colleagues working on the website, analysis and a guide to the local elections. or you can download the bbc news app. public health england says more than 8000 women have contacted a helpline set up to with a failure in the programme to screen

set up to with a failure in the programme to screen per set up to with a failure in the programme to screen per breast cancer. the mistake dating back nine yea rs m ea ns cancer. the mistake dating back nine years mea ns around cancer. the mistake dating back nine years means around 450,000 women could be affected, 270 may have had their lives shortened. the bbc learned that two any digest trusts raised concerns about it issues as early as march last year and were told the problems a local matter. the home office has announced that afg ha n interpreters the home office has announced that afghan interpreters who worked for the angst horses and have relocated to the uk will be able to apply for settle m e nt to the uk will be able to apply for settlement free of charge. sajid javid says the offer to abolish the 2000 plus fees will apply to family members and supporters say to 250 afg ha ns members and supporters say to 250 afghans who risked their lives working with british troops these to being sent home at the end of the five—year business. more than 100 people have been killed and many more injured in dust storms sweeping across more injured in dust storms sweeping across india. one of the most intense storms was in rajasthan which operated trees, and killed livestock, many of the dead were

killed when their houses collapsed, after being struck by high winds and intense lightning, forecasters said more stories on the web. bill cosby and the film director roman polanski have been expelled from the us academy of motion picture arts and sciences, the organisation which ru ns sciences, the organisation which runs the oscars says the decision is in accordance with its standards. bill cosby was convicted of sexual assault last month, roman landscape has previously admitted having sex with a 13—year—old. donald trump admitted he reimbursed his lawyer for by buying the silence of a pawn star. over an alleged affair. it was designed to stop stormy daniels making false accusations, donald trump denies having an affair with her and for illegally using money from campaign funds to pay her off. back now to election 2018. welcome back, we are focusing on 150

local authorities across england, dozens local authorities across england, d oze ns of local authorities across england, dozens of them in london, some of them the key contests of the night, we can them the key contests of the night, we canjoin tim donovan in wandsworth. a borough, a council which could tell us so much tonight, one that labour so dearly wants to win and they haven't been in power here since 1978, they came quite close in 86, but since then they have lost interest one could argue, lost hope and the conservatives have carried on in a quiet municipal way running this borough and it has been regarded as a really important one for the conservatives so if they we re for the conservatives so if they were to lose it tonight and it's looking close, most people say, it would have rumblings beyond this town hall in nsw 18. would have rumblings beyond this town hall in nsw18. we will go to a

couple of other battlegrounds in the moment after doing a couple of things, let's look at the picture in london. 20 councils being run by labour since 2014. nine by the conservatives. their lowest four backin conservatives. their lowest four back in 1990, some way to go before that. the liberal democrats have one council at the moment, sutton. we are hearing they are pretty optimistic, one of their targets, richmond, looking good sake sources, no more information on that. and two councils under no overall control. the other thing i want to do is introduced tony travers with me now and will be here for the morning, we will talk to you in a moment but first, the key thing, wandsworth, you are one of the people who feels labour will, up short here. it's going to be difficult for labour to ove rco m e going to be difficult for labour to overcome quite a big majority in wandsworth and it's a council with

low council tax, good local services. for labour to win it's a big exercise as it will be for labour in westminster. if they win it will be a massive shock to the conservatives, if they don't i think it would be overwhelmingly surprising is. a council, labour going into this campaign felt most confident about was born at, let's go across confident about was born at, let's go across there and talk to my colleague. —— barnet. go across there and talk to my colleague. -- barnet. the most marginal council last time, the conservatives holding on byjust a seat, you can see everyone is counting, on this side, they are counting, on this side, they are counting the polls, bad side the council agents, we hear some rumblings perhaps labour not doing as well as they might like, campaigning hard here, looting people out, campaigning on local issues. a couple of stumbling blocks, this is an area with a large jewish population and we know about the labour anti—semitism row,

jewish population and we know about the labouranti—semitism row, there are questions about whether that might impact but it's quite early on in the day, at the moment we are not seem in the day, at the moment we are not seem too many positive signs from labour, too close to call. thank you so labour, too close to call. thank you so much. at one that went on for hours and i was back in 2014, i remember it well. another council that we would never imagined we would be talking about in terms of a possible labour win, kensington and chelsea, never before a labour council but that be for this unique tragedy, the tragedy of grenfell tower in the north of the borough, could that impact? let's cross to my colleague. it's been a conservative controlled borough for many years but the big issue dominating the political agenda is the grenfell tower fire and as candidates and officials arrived this evening they we re officials arrived this evening they were greeted by a big projection

saying justice for grenfell on the side of the town hall and campaignersl side of the town hall and campaigners i spoke to said they hope whoever is elected here tonight, the issue will be kept at the heart of any decision—making. labour hoping to make strong gains here but there is a huge mountain for them to here but there is a huge mountain forthem to climb, here but there is a huge mountain for them to climb, and the tory group have a big majority on the council. thank you very much. we know, kensington and chelsea, westminster, wandsworth, what impact would that have it any one of them went to labour? kensington and chelsea, and westminster have never not been controlled by the conservatives, if either of them we re conservatives, if either of them were to be won by labour or get no overall control that would be a massive shock and of course westminster, home of the palace of westminster, home of the palace of westminster, a double shock for the conservatives. tony, more from you in an hour, we will probably know more about how this is going in an hour as well. back to you.

a very good morning and welcome back to our election studio at westminster, the local elections in england, we are covering the results which are now coming in offering a bit of a mixed picture. let me give you the early score as we have so far, the numbers of councillors declared so far, can i stress, it's very, very early, this is simply an update on where we are, labour on 163, having lost 12, the conservatives on 95, gaining 22, the lib dems on 17, gaining seven, the greens on one, down one, ukip losing 24, they are fielding a fraction of the field they put up four years ago. that is where we are at the moment, there are thousands of results to come in in terms of

individual seats. i think we have they result from swindon. which is one of the interesting contest we we re one of the interesting contest we were mentioning and it is the conservatives have held swindon, they will still be ruling the authority in swindon for the next four years, 29 conservative seats, 26 labour, a very close contest between the two big parties, the lib dems on two, ukip on nothing as well as the greens. the difference last time, to underline what has gone on... you have, a sense of how tight this has been, the conservatives down long, labour gaining one, the share of the vote, 43 each, that is the illustration of how tight swindon is. the difference from last time, just to underline... 9% up for the conservatives, 10% up for the labour

party, that's kind of telling us what has happened in terms of the percentage share. let's pause for a second, laura, your review on the result for swindon? a big relief for tory hq, two conservative mps but they have majorities under 3000, the labour party put a big effort into trying to ta ke party put a big effort into trying to take this council, jeremy corbyn visited several times, it was very tight, that will be a disappointment for labour, conversely, a disappointment likely for the tories in richmond, in the south—west of london, i've been told by three separate sources london, i've been told by three separate sources they will lose richmond and the lib dem green alliance, there has been co—opting between the lib dems and the green party, they will take that. vera, that was within the plan? very good

news, all good news, the conservatives are not really making the games although most of the ukip. goes to them, the labour party not making any progress outside london but the lib dems without any of these advantages are making progress and that is because we make good local councillors and good local government. that is a fantastic result for us and i am so proud of all my colleagues who have in fighting very hard on the ground and the mood was good. and i'm pleased this has turned out as we had hoped it would. what do you make of that, the performance of the party overall? we should say that result has not been confirmed but senior conservatives saying it looks like they will be out, the interesting thing about the lib dems is they will bejoyful if thing about the lib dems is they will be joyful if they take richmond but that we be a first step for them to make to build back in local government, that has always been

some government, that has always been some work they have done well, south—west london, ed davey, another senior lib dem. it is re—gaining. re—gaining, i think they will make some re—gaining, i think they will make some gains in hull and liverpool, not taking the councils... and sunderland, areas which have been labour for a thousand years, finally people have had enough, these are one party states, labour councils are actually making a big mess and a cynical about running local services into the ground and people want to do something and see something else and see good local councils run by councillors are serious about local government. john, swindon. let me focus on richmond, it is reverting to liberal, and has been on and off for years, not unexpected, to liberal, and has been on and off foryears, not unexpected, i to liberal, and has been on and off for years, not unexpected, i can see the lib dems breaking out anywhere else, swindon, look at the percentage share, i have been down

there, i always knew swindon would be tough, the labour party did down there, we put a lot of effort in but on the percentage share of the vote we could take those seats next time round. we have gained and advanced to the point we are laying the foundations for the parliamentary elections and i am quite pleased. owen smith said swindon was the seat that labour had to do well to demonstrate it was a government in waiting. we have just evened demonstrate it was a government in waiting. we havejust evened up demonstrate it was a government in waiting. we have just evened up the percentage share of the board, we have evened up the percentage share of the vote, that stands us in good stead. john has been around politics a lot longer than me and is quite right on the interrupting thing... it's incredibly rude. it is an electoral cycle, eight years after tony blair's government, labour had lost 40 0 0 tony blair's government, labour had lost 4000 seats, it was quite clear there was a big shift going on and four years ago ed miliband was leader, since then we have got

rebranded momentum labour, germany and john who were out, jeremy corbyn saying today you would need not to vote conservative because these yea rs of vote conservative because these years of austerity are killing children, trying to bombard these terrible scaremongering lies and it's clearly not having cut through and equally, just again, i havejust seen, not really, we would july to carry on? we have equalled the share of the vote. based on the amount you through into i don't think so, we work discussing sadiq khan has been wrong, just one second, he has put out, he's obviously had a call from thugs in head office saying i never said it would be anything other than incredibly tough to take wandsworth, last november he said we could be seriously challenging, there is a wild amount of expectation from a party who said they could turn all corners party who said they could turn all corners of london... john, i'm only

reading out what you said the 23rd of may. before you to end up having a punch—up before 1am which would be a punch—up before 1am which would be a record even on these programmes, you must be disappointed if you lose richmond? 0ne you must be disappointed if you lose richmond? one of the few corners of the capital of this country, the demographics are changing quickly, one of your colleagues said to me the worrying thing is that london is the worrying thing is that london is the future, if you were going to lose richmond and still lose other cancer she must be worried about that? having been in the 2015th taken, so many seats from the lib dems, people realising if they wa nted dems, people realising if they wanted a compassionate party on the future... we have a result... we have a result, my dear friends, let's look. we discussed this with andrew sinclair, basildon in essex, a conservative game, no war for control before, the conservatives taking control of basildon in essex. that means from last time, if we

look, the tories gaining five seats, labourgaining look, the tories gaining five seats, labour gaining three. percentage share of the vote, 51% to the conservatives, and let's look at the change from last time, the conservatives adding 16% to their share of the board, ukip down 32, you can see share of the board, ukip down 32, you can see the split going to the independent group which has some people who belonged to ukip. laura. ukip falling away come happens, a hefty chunk going to the tories but some hefty chunk going to the tories but some of that vote going to belabour party. that very much backs up the kind of trend we might see right across kind of trend we might see right across the country and that we saw in the general election. we

mentioned wandsworth, that's clearly one of the big contests, the other one of the big contests, the other one that i would like to mention at this point is the city of westminster, which has been in conservative hands since goodness knows when. there was some talk at one point of a labour surge in westminster but really, how is that to be measured ? westminster but really, how is that to be measured? carolyn quinn is there and what is the sense of things there? conservatives year i think we could say are quietly confident. one conservative councillor said to me momentum had been throwing everything at us, saying labour had been flooding this area because obviously they want to prove they can make gains in this tory flagship area like this and you know how important westminster and wandsworth are to the conservatives, they view them as the embodiment of their values, the lowest council tax in london. and for labour to make

even a in london. and for labour to make even a bit of progress here would be regarded as good news by then, playing down expectations of taking the council and to do that they would have to double the number of councillors they have, and would have to get a swing of about 9%, they are saying that is unlikely but they are saying that is unlikely but they want to chip away at this tory stronghold. there is another interesting factor at play here, this area as you know voted overwhelmingly remain at the referendum. and in this area eu nationals, non—british eu nationals have 18% of the vote, those who can turn out to vote, 18% of the population in westminster at non—british, eu residents and so, you could argue, perhaps their vote might have an impact if turnout is low in particular wards. we had a huge turnout figures are ready, they

range from the early 30s to 47% which isn't too bad considering other turnout figures that you and i have seen in the past covering local elections. laughter that is very kind of you to remind us of that! everyone is loving and looking at me as if to say, how old is this guy? but you are quite right, given your reading of that, was there any prospect at any point of labour actually challenge is seriously in your view?” of labour actually challenge is seriously in your view? i think there have been moments, happened there, westminster and wandsworth, given conservative party problems, labour thought they could make inroads. i think underneath it all, we inroads. i think underneath it all, we note publicly they have been playing down expectations and really, i think they probably hoped to make gains in numbers of councils rather than take the councils which of course would be a mammoth scoop

for them if they were to do that. remember, in the general election, actually labour did very well and increased its share of the vote in the northern part of the parliamentary constituency, westminster north, the majority was increased and mark field who holds the other part of westminster, his majority went down so labour would point to the general election and say we point to the general election and say we can point to the general election and say we can make gains, even in an incredibly affluent area like this. the thing about westminster and wandsworth, the tote and value. —— totemic value. ken baker the tory party chairman was able to hold up the fact conservatives held westminster, wandsworth, even though the tories were having a terrible night elsewhere. because he got those results out early it basically worked in a way to eclipse the

terrible night the tories were having in the rest of the country. and i think probably if the conservatives hold onto westminster, although few people thought they would lose it, they certainly won the expectation battle if not the battle ahead. great to talk to carolyn quinn. labour have just about held onto cannock chase, another of the areas, there was a strong leave vote back in 2016, i should say with the exception of places like wandsworth and westminster, places like basildon, they were areas with a very big leave vote in 2016 and you know we should see the result may be in that context as well, when we see other results from different parts of the country, creating a different kind of outcome from the referendum. let's see how that works out, cannock chase, 21 seats, 15 to the

conservatives, three to the greens, i will speak to jonathan bartley from the green party in a moment. we see from the green party in a moment. we see that labour has stood still, the tories are up four, that game for them was not enough to get hold of cannock chase, labour have just about held on, ukip down four. i think i am in a position to talk to jonathan bartley, think i am in a position to talk to jonathan ba rtley, who think i am in a position to talk to jonathan bartley, who is in our studio not far—away. thank you for joining us in waiting patiently, what should we be looking out for overnight for the green party and what are your thoughts? is it have situation for everyone but be seen some situation for everyone but be seen some exciting results in dudley, exeter and trafford, we will hopefully establish ourselves more and more as one of the four major parties that hall's seat up and down the country from south london to solihull, we are hoping to make gains overnight. undoubtedly it's a tough political environment,

polarisation around the big parties, we are polarisation around the big parties, we are being targeted hard by party machines to take away our existing seats, we are hoping to defend those that make gains across the country. we heard from the earlier, it is offering a very distinctive view on brexit, she was offering the view that was a big advantage to them in trying to rebuild, or do the greens stand in terms of that kind of offering? i think people won't be voting along those lines but it will be local issues, for example in lambeth in south london, we are making a strong challenge to a right—wing labour council over issues like state demolition, the closure of the library. in local areas, there are big localfactors coming into play and the greens challenging the 1—party state, these very big dominating councils, dominated by one big hearty, they perhaps become complacent, they haven't been listening to local

people, not representing the community. i have just people, not representing the community. i havejust been people, not representing the community. i have just been told people, not representing the community. i havejust been told by my colleagues that we have results from about 50 wars so far for the greens have been contesting, on average, at around 6% of the vote for the greens fought award 2014, the vote on average is down by roughly a percentage point, do you think that's a fair reflection of you are? we just wejust got we just got ukip at a very big rise a few years ago. they got the counsellors do a rising tide. now we are seeing a major motion because they came down. we do green party we are seeing a slow but steady increase and consulates. we are learning to be more professional as the party to target and whimsies. and to really come of age as a party. it in so much those big national issues but the local issues. which are enabling us to make the breakthroughs we will see tonight. hoping to join us a bit

later. thank you. laughterjohn mcdonnell told us it is the most boring event. we are rather excited. thank you. i was going to suggest one of the interesting things at the richmond result is confirmed what we think the tories have lost to the lib dems, the greens gave the lib dems a free pass. in 12 different words. it may well be that is what made be different. ijust wonder if when we havejonathan back later in the night, perhaps with the green party met failing to make significant gains, perhaps more of the future might be for them to really make a difference during those kinds of side deals, maybe with the lib dems or another part of the country. in order to actually try and make an impact. the only reason why probably elections are born because we have a rubbish voting system for indiana, the context of only ever seem to be between two big parties. and the

small big parties never make the same progress. we need to change our voting system. we disenfranchised so many people. if you imagine you got toa many people. if you imagine you got to a horse race, and there are four horses running and you always know which course is already winning before the race starts, what a boring contest that is. no wonder that people don't come and vote in elections and stay at home and get this a franchise. i would say electro performance wanted a big stink we do. that's a collectible form is one of the big things we can do in the future. we fit in scotland. can i make one small point? every reference now in terms of labour's campaign is about labour's swamping the area with momentum or members or whatever. we're not swapping areas. we have 550,000 members. this is the nature of ourcampaign now. 550,000 members. this is the nature of our campaign now. not piling into

one area. we have managers all over the country. it is a new type of campaign because we are a mass party on the scale now. the other parties are on the scale now. the other parties a re clearly on the scale now. the other parties are clearly very worried about it. they'll have that same kind of... if thatis they'll have that same kind of... if that is the case, why did new gain seats in the way you did in 2012 in 2014? when you have far fewer members? it is also interesting. what i think we are saying care, the reason i say... he's regretting it now. reason i say... he's regretting it now. i'm saying this is simply reflecting what we came at the general election. the breakdown in the ukip both looks like this very similarto the ukip both looks like this very similar to what happened in the general election itself. that is why we are not saying huge swings them andi we are not saying huge swings them and i think use controls and no changes in administration suffered for the liberals have come back in richmond and back in the old traditional area. i feel quite sorry for all the level counsellors who

have been out there. i thought what the labour leader of basildon said he said we are not making progress unless we take seats like basildon. these really ha rd—working unless we take seats like basildon. these really hard—working people, this is actually what makes the massive difference to people's lives ona massive difference to people's lives on a day—to—day basis. and counsellors working hard. the labour council is withstanding cabin sold because... and john, i council is withstanding cabin sold because... andjohn, i have to council is withstanding cabin sold because... and john, i have to tell you... on sink as we had all the hide and... can you stop sending me down? —— shouting made. hide and... can you stop sending me down? -- shouting made. a very important taxpayer. she's about to labels. you are moving. there is about to leave a note to say thank you forjoining us. lovely to have you. thank so much. we will have a look at sundelin. there are important region in the northeast, and we will see a lot of affairs. richard moss is there. bring us up—to—date. richard moss is there. bring us up-to-date. it was hard for labour

to get any more dominant here because even before the council was health care, labour and a ready counsel in the can lose what they did lose some seats. three to the liberal democrats, two to the conservatives and they still have 61 seats out of 75 on the council. they made one game from the independent. but it does reflect i suppose the difficulties that labour has in some parts of the city. no ukip candidate at some point. famously the city that at first declared for leave and to the other 16 referendum. the scenes to the other 16 referendum. the scenes have become symbolic of the lead boat. —— 2016. the folks who seem lead boat. —— 2016. the folks who seem to have helped opposition parties, problems for labour in some of the board chair. it has been said the conservatives wanted more, to what they have one in the past. the democrats already want to build. it is not a massive to say territory but nevertheless, the conservatives are saying you're picking up on the

doorstep some hostility to jeremy corbyn's leadership of the labour party. it reflects a little what happened in the last year election, the northeast of england was the one pa rt the northeast of england was the one part of the country where was a small swing from labour to the conservatives. the conservatives here believe that labour's tool and an eccentric and picking that up on the doorstep and that perhaps the current leadership is not reflecting all of the concerns that people have. but of course you have to say the 161 out of 75 seats, they are so massively dominant in this region. still waiting for the results. the conservatives have a seat back. what they want to know is whether they won a see they want to know is whether they won a see in new castle. when i haven't had a six and 1996. —— what they have not had a seat. thank you, richard. back later on when we get more results. richard moss there for us in sundelin. i'm just wondering at this point, what are you reading into the pattern that we seen so far? i think so far the expectation

is bearing out when we think about the ukip vote. the big change between 2014 and now that ukip is pretty much disappeared from our day—to—day politics. that vote is splitting as we would have expected largely touristy tourist but still there to labour. however if you stand back to think about the main parties, and think just stand back to think about the main parties, and thinkjust about what local elections normally are about, there are a test of polish league on there are a test of polish league on the march and who is on the side. —— they are test of who is on the mark. early days, labour party does not seem early days, labour party does not seem to be really the march. madonna keeps adjusting this is what we were in the general election. places like basildon in swindon that once upon a time to have labour mps are not places where labour is making p rog ress places where labour is making progress now. places where labour is making progress now. that could change over the night. that would be a huge gain for them. so far, the night. that would be a huge gain forthem. so far, it the night. that would be a huge gain for them. so far, it seems that ukip going mainly to the doors, labour nibbling away but not making the kinds of advances that they might

have hoped and look towards if they really wa nt have hoped and look towards if they really want to let as if they are attracted take government to the next general election. can we look at the scoreboard? again, underlining, pretty early. one o'clock in the morning. we have some result said. —— would have some results in. as we stand, the lib dems aren't interred. —— are interred. 42. building a quarter of the candidates they filled into the other 14. and they filled into the other 14. and the independents on 23 upgrade. nick hardy is with us. not to see you. good to see you. you are reading so far of how your party is doing.” good to see you. you are reading so far of how your party is doing. i am optimistic we are making some progress. and the signs that we have turned the corner after many years of successive being counted in local elections there are some promising green shoots of recovery. the biggest of which are? suddenly there

seems to be encouraging bias coming out of richmond, i think my colleagues at kingston i work very ha rd colleagues at kingston i work very hard there. i think other councils and other parts of the country, telling him, southlake, where this by having learned the limit when the years, the whole councils were up for grabs years, the whole councils were up forgrabs in years, the whole councils were up for grabs in some cases and we seem to perform well there. actually all in all, quite encouraging. my collea g u es in all, quite encouraging. my colleagues telling me that on average colleagues telling me that on average the lib dem vote is up by five points and the keyboards we been looking at declared so far, not concentrated in the remaining areas. —— in the key wards we have been looking at so far. mostly in areas where you are strong back a few yea rs where you are strong back a few years ago. does that fit in with your reading? we've had a very good runner by elections all over the country over the last 12 months. in areas where does the lib dem strict and as well. it's sunderland for example you saw tonight, some counsellors on the board there. by elections over the winter and there,

that wasn't either a ever media you read or write dem area so i think there are signs of life and a wide front. the story of the not so far is delete table you're looking at. the tories have and w is delete table you're looking at. the tories have and i few fi is delete table you're looking at. the tories have and i few weeks i is delete table you're looking at. the {’_f;j and few he iris“ 77" 77 w" 7 concluded with impossible arithmetic! actually... , , concluded with impossible arithmetic! actually. lower . lead. actually, lower and others leela; g lead. actually, lower and others 5“; commented on it. lead. actually, lower and others 15:5 commented on it. they haven't have commented on it. they haven't pulled everybody. the point we been missing is what will find it a 66 ukip seats up for grabs, the tories could basically bang three quarters of votes before they even started net trading. —— 166 weeks. i am not surprised to be looking at the table showing a net up for the tories and a net down for labour. whether was it too low like that tomorrow i don't know. we have seen this before. carolyn quinn was talking about the cajun and when they

managed to get the nation attention exclusively on westminster wandsworth with pulled off with hole and bypass the fact they been spotted and everyone else. they've been added... —— but they have been beat everywhere else. laughter where old colleagues. again, these gentlemen are... isn't it the case and perhaps in some cases showing... isn't it the case that the point in the electoral cycle went in, government, whichever it is, labour and 1997, when they lose big chunks of seats, that isn't coming through, ijust wanted of seats, that isn't coming through, i just wanted to of seats, that isn't coming through, ijust wanted to flag up, there are ukip counsellors. many are going independent. maybe that is the staging process. but they're also taking shoes off the labours in seats that labour, forgive me on the expectation management, i go back to

sadiq khan quote which is that there was no part of london that labour couldn't target, and the leader of basildon council saying we are not making progress unless we take seats like basildon. 0n the ground, labour it was clearly setting up the message and working on the message that those seats were very much up for grab. it's not happening and again, we are back down the hatches and a long way to this government, years ago, but so far, that's additional thing you would expect does not appear to be... let me rejoin. double to be accused of interrupting anyone. on the issue, let's revert back to what we said early on. look at last year. where we early on. look at last year. where we had the local government elections, 27% of the vote. a month later, 40%. i don't think you can extrapolate from local elections in two general elections any more. that might be about different demographics coming out to vote. i don't know. you can askjohn curtice

some. don't know. you can askjohn curtice some. that is the first point. we will come onto london itself. next point. the hype and of trying to make sure that we have a more realistic do. some of the hype, if there was one tory council are still standing, we would have been accused of not succeeding. where we are now isa of not succeeding. where we are now is a reflection of where we are in the general election last year, there's been some gains, we will see, but it's the ukip breakdown in the vote as we saw in the general election. almost reflected exactly because what happened in the general election is two thirds of the ukip vote went to tories. when i am interested in is the difference is in the breakdown of the ukip vote geographically and i can fully understand that. you're right. that is going to be one of the big calculations of the unit. four years ago, the conservative party chairman andi

ago, the conservative party chairman and i think grant i'm just now. nice you with us. good morning. what do you with us. good morning. what do you make of it so far? interesting. very patchy. not much to go on. but i would say that, i remember this night four years ago, after you been in powerfor a while night four years ago, after you been in power for a while you night four years ago, after you been in powerfor a while you expect night four years ago, after you been in power for a while you expect to be losing seats and so far at least tonight, and certainly so far in the last eight years, that doesn't seem to happen in the way you would expect additionally. you've been very critical of the leadership in the past few months or so, i'm wondering with this set of results persist make you recant? laughter several months ago rather than recently. after we lost a general election, we had a bit of a lackluster conference. i think things have moved on since then. not least downing street in the campaign is to have got their act together.

i'm starting to see colleagues involved in a better atmosphere from all these months later. actually that might well be coming through in the results this evening. very early days, difficult to say, but it fills as you go around the country that the party is in working together campaigning very well. it takes up up campaigning very well. it takes up up from last year's general election. and again, that might reflect itself to the results this evening. with all the caveats of the bingo earlier difficult to say. indeed. are you in the camp that is local elections in about local things or do you think that actually passionate leadership does impinge? it clearly is about local things. everybody knows in their own every out what the whites are about. whether the rubbish bins or the streets. people will have a click onto. —— what the problems are. without a doubt it does have some

regrets. if you knock on doors, you'll find people saying i am not voting for you today, because i do ori voting for you today, because i do or i don't like whoever the leaders are other party. that absolutely shows you as something to do with the national election. i remember four years ago i was looking at a conservative vote at 30% in the polls, and today, i think theresa may will be looking to a significant more than that, hard to know exactly but i imagine in the upper 30s, may their 405, that but i imagine in the upper 305, may their 405, that is something which will again change the balance of the 5eat5, will again change the balance of the seats, and that you can even looking get, the day after the election four years ago, all my interviews were about trying to explain how ukip had come through so strongly and today, my successes will be explained how ukip have virtually disappeared off the map. thank you forjoining us. the former conservative chairman derek. were drawn by the maryland i

think. -- derek. were drawn by the maryland i think. —— we arejoined by the derek. were drawn by the maryland i think. —— we are joined by the mayor of london. thank you, sadiq khan. whether that look like in one works for labour? i have lived here all my life, i never known anything but a tory council but we been working harder costs swansea the last few weeks and months and will have to wait and see what they are tonight. at one point, you were quite confident. is that fair to say? four years ago, wouldn't the best results in london we received since 1971. -- we in london we received since 1971. -- we got the best results. we kept the 15 councils and made gains across london for the time ever, winning all these different borrowers. the objective was to keep what we had and make progress. this time, we been campaigning in parts of london we re been campaigning in parts of london were having campaign before and wards and we had labour campus. that bodes well for the party. we'll have to wait and see if we made enough

p rog ress to wait and see if we made enough progress this time. i am hopeful that will once more counsellors across that will once more counsellors across london during the course of the night. you did pretty well and parliamentary terms and ones were/ are. but you don't sound terrifically confident about some of the predictions that you might take this time. why is that? the swing state/ shareware incredibly impressive. the challenges and some of the wards swinney to wind councils, the tory majority are quite big. what often happens in general election constituencies, we win some awards by date, and council election terms would pile them up, and in those wards so what do you tory counsellors would need to windows as well. the challenge this time is thinking goes wards. the infrastructure to campaign in the good news this time is that we have been campaigning in some wards in westminster, some wards and other parts of london, we never came in before because there hasn't been a

need. there's been lack the infrastructure. that bodes well going forward. but those people listening, this going to underline the point again, you are suggesting that you're going to be satisfied with more counsellors and not really looking at taking over the council. we always want to win elections. we don't enter election to lose them. i think the reality is we currently have 19 counsellors and would need 31. 1960, who never had this council. the last time was in 1974. a big mountain to climb. if we can go a big mountain to climb. if we can 9° up a big mountain to climb. if we can go up that is progress. i'm looking to see if we made progress across london. with remarkable results four years ago in terms of counsellors, and in terms of councils, and this time the objective is to win more counsellors. it is possible to win more counsellors, too. if an opposition party is losing counsellors, at this stage, what should people read into that? and 2014 and under, labour did it well.

labour made massive gains in counsellors and councils. the objective now is to keep what we have, the best result since 1971 last time, and make some progress now. last time, and make some progress now. i think it's possible. and to haveitin now. i think it's possible. and to have it in better results of the 1971. we'll have to wait and see what they bring in. 19 was the number in 2014. what they bring in. 19 was the number in 2 let's see what they bring in. 19 was the numberin2let‘5 see 5 ~ 1 ,,,,, f what they bring in. 19 was the numberin2let‘5 see 5it 1 ,,,,, f what they bring in. 19 was the number in2let‘s see itcee be~~~~~ p”, e and and see : make - ro . ress. as e if 2“?sz i» mlprogramsiii/17"fill? . fl ' if make progress. 55 you i we 5 make progress. 55 you i it the fi can make progressifiiii— mash? big test forjeremy corbyn's leadership tonight is outside of london? it is about team labour. labour is attempting to campaign in parts of the country and parts of london where we have not campaigned. which trying to turn supporters into activist and knock on doors to persuade people. wandsworth lantern

festival. a number of issues that have come up on the doorstep. —— wandsworth living that simple. people across london who traditionally haven't let given several are now limited u5 traditionally haven't let given several are now limited us that vote was me stacy several are now limited us that vote was me stacheremy corbyn and the labour party a5 a credible. —— haven't let us their votes on island kosovo. it is notable your tone sounds rather more downbeat than has. you did say things like there was no corner of london were labour cannot win. he said he would aim to capture the tory crown jewels. quite clearly here go talking about gaining counsellors. rather than councils. given that you have tens of thousands of new members and activists and campaigners, very hard, surely it would be an undershoot rather a disappointment if not a failure for labour if you don't take some new london councils tonight. we had a really good campaign. you'll remember and to the other 14 the results we had in london. we build on that and to the

other 13. we won seats in the general election. great results in a mayoral election. why would the bill with the progress. that is the sign point there was in the last election. we were hoping to build on that. let's see if we can win more counsellors this time the last time. last time were the best results. let's see if we can beat that. again, you are talking about counsellors, not just in again, you are talking about counsellors, notjust in the expectation management game here, quite clearly it was labour's goal to be taken councils from the tourist this time. if you do not, surely that will be seen as if not a disappointment. you don't enter a contest whether it's a sporting contest whether it's a sporting contest or an election without trying to win every candidate. the key thing is... i've never known anything but a tory council my whole life. here we are. tonight where we are working in mecca once which we never are working in mecca once which we never had labour candidates knocking on doors. working there where

residents have never received a labour residents have never received a la bour leaflet. residents have never received a labour leaflet. —— working and wards. can we go a bit further and when those wards scholes that will be additional counsellors and more councils in the future. thank you, sadiq khan forjoining u5. councils in the future. thank you, sadiq khan forjoining us. thank you. the mayor of london there. let's have a look at the result and amber valley. a lot of interest in this. labour won hoping they would make some inroads here. in fact, the tories have held on. they have the result. 23 seats to the conservatives, 19 to labour. if we look at the change from last time, to upfor look at the change from last time, to up for the conservatives. two losses for labour. amber valley. on the basis i think of 13 out of 15 declared. this is vote so far. 47% of the vote to the conservatives. 44% to labour. if we look at the

change from last time, we see again, this pattern, massive debt and the ukip vote from 2014. a huge block there. massive that clearly going to there. massive that clearly going to the conservatives. interesting here. a slight complication because labour to this council in 2014. the tories actually took it back a year later. a slight complication here but amber valley, the tories getting there and also in basildon a5 valley, the tories getting there and also in basildon as we have seen and also in basildon as we have seen and also in basildon as we have seen and also in swindon. amber valley basildon in swindon have in common they were seats that were taken by labour in1997, and they were seats that were taken by labour in 1997, and held for quite some labour in 1997, and held for quite some time do that. the kind of westminster seats that are marginals and in ballots were parties should be seeing progress if they are on course be seeing progress if they are on course to take significant numbers of new seats. this isn't a general election, but amber valley, that's the just right there, just like some of the others we've been talking about were labour would have wanted

to see progress and in that case, they made falling back. walsall and as well. this is control, 28 to the tories. i think five conservative gains from 2014. this is the latest result by the way. not final. 19 of 21 seats declared. five games so far into the labour but i do think that means into the labour but i do think that means there be no overall control. a hand counsel. —— at home council. let's go back to trafford. when a debate contest for us. that metro area. kevin is there for us. the latest you have for us, kevin? in terms of updates, just about to start reading some of the results. the talk on the ground here is that both the labour party and the liberal democrats same pretty confident now that they could take this to an overall control. the

conservative flagship, northern counsel, the only metal they run in the north of england. counting a5 the north of england. counting a5 the limit has come to a conclusion. —— the only counsel they run. the limit has come to a conclusion. -- the only counsel they run. are you getting any kind of mood music on the conservatives in the hall there? yes. we just had the leader of there having a quick check. he is pretty subdued. a lot more than he was early on. a few key scenes here at trafford that the attention has been focused on labour that will ta ke two been focused on labour that will take two of them, the lib dems think they will take another one. which is all it would take to drop this. the tories currently have a majority of two and a5 a tories currently have a majority of two and as a vacancy tories currently have a majority of two and a5 a vacancy that needs to be there. if they lose those two and don't regain that vacancy, then it falls to no overall control at that for ten years of the tories they get power here. the other update from here in the northwest i5 power here. the other update from here in the northwest is a bolton, where labour have onlyjust hung onto that counsel, they brenet

councils of 2008 one—day ticket for the liberal democrats, and has been growing disenchantment and the town on the outskirts around the edge of bolton a feeling that the liver run counsel is to focus on the centre of the town and i5 counsel is to focus on the centre of the town and is leaving the outskirts out. we've seen increasing numbers of independents, a new small party set up to one of the outside areas, but going into tonight's had to lose £5 to lose five counsellors stood to lose overall control and it did seem a bit of a jump in end, the held on by the skin of their teeth. they lost five seats to the smaller independents on the outskirts of the town centre. but they managed to get one back from ukip, who had a bit of a big success in the town four years ago, but really have fallen by the wayside this time. labour hank on and voted by the skin of their teeth. labour also have lost four counsellors and one of the other strong culture the northwest and wigan, that is another turn up for the vote. a quick question on trafford. there is no suggestion

there at this point that labour can actually take control of trafford. no, that would be a huge task. labour have indicated tonight they have never claimed it was a counsel they wanted to take. they always just wanted to drop it down to no overall control. it would be a huge swing and counsellors and support to ensure swing and counsellors and support to ensure they took the counsel from the conservatives, but it is apparent possible at least that it could fall to no overall control. that would be a six assessed for labour and that would be a six assessed for labourand a that would be a six assessed for labour and a huge block for the stores in the north of england. —— a huge success for labour. thank you, kevin. the question is now, where are your counsel games going to come from. we have some results where you might have had some hopes of not just increasing counsel tally, we ta ke just increasing counsel tally, we take that point, but actually

gaining control of authorities, are you kind of edging towards a position you think that will not happen. as i said, first sentence i think at the beginning of this programme, not saying there's going to bea programme, not saying there's going to be a huge dramatic night. i didn't think i'm going to be any huge shift. what we're seeing is gains of individual councils and the ukip vote broke down almost exactly the same as we saw last. interesting enough that looks like the share of the vote is reflecting what we have seenin the vote is reflecting what we have seen in the polls at the moment. both national parties in neck and neck. trafford result i find really interesting. that is a significant shift. i will like to look at the detail around the ukip vote when it is done. i'd think what we're seeing is done. i'd think what we're seeing is steady gains in some areas of individual counsellors, not massive chest and control of councils, we will see in london i think the same pattern. —— will see in london i think the same pattern. — — no will see in london i think the same pattern. —— no massive shift. gains in individuals when on no shift. i

revert to this... we had an all—time high four years ago. again, you can't read into local elections any more what will happen at a general election. what would you say to your members in the country to look at the results? and say we want to be preparing for government and be in a position where we can win. we are losing counsellors and we should be doing that at this stage. what do you say to that? if you look at what is happening on the ground the ukip vote is breaking down. if you look at the share of the vote in areas we want to target, we are doing pretty well. if you saw swindon, we are within striking distance of taking those seats. i think what we are seeing is the labour party steadying for the

general election into local elections on percentage of the vote to position ourselves for government and we did not say it would be a wipe—out. and we did not say it would be a wipe-out. but steady gains. there is so wipe-out. but steady gains. there is so much in rowing back from sadiq khan. and john. labour has lost seats to the conservatives in wa lsa ll, seats to the conservatives in walsall, nuneaton, sunderland, bolton, cannock. this is... iam interested because if this had been going the other way and labour were making gains. john would be crowing about how it was a confirmation of his party's leadership. he talks about the high point. would you like me to carry on? can ijust... no. in 2014 they had a different leader and

john and jeremy have come in. they have taken control of some councils. they have kicked out people like claire coburn who were brilliant in london. their party has been trying to ta ke london. their party has been trying to take control across the country to teat tfifltrfil anfi== fh: ifioflfrs i t.5 555 5555515552 fh: 2555??? i they... . t5 555 5555515552 fh: 2555??? i they... . you 55 5555 5555515552 fh: 2555??? i they... . you 55 55 hard .-.... . . . ~ 55 hard from ~~ é hard from g said a back so hard from what you said a couple of weeks ago when you said you think it will be a good night. do you think this is a good night?” think it is, we will see a large numberof think it is, we will see a large number of councillors elected and gains. we will see what will happen in london overall. if you look at the share of the voting constituencies we want we are seeing a good night because that will allow us to take the parliamentary constituencies. you are asking, does the labour performance look as if they are on course to win an election? if we look back to be for 97, they had 1500 more councillors than at the moment. they are not

going to be able to recover that tonight but unless they make significant headway eating into the total, you cannot say they are on a trajectory. i want to bring in john curtice. makes sense of what we have so curtice. makes sense of what we have so far, please. in a sense, all three of your party spokespeople have a rather easy night because the truth is all of them are doing better than four years ago in terms of votes won which is a reflection of votes won which is a reflection of the ukip vote being down butjohn mcdonnell‘s problem, the conservative vote, the votes we have had so farfrom conservative vote, the votes we have had so far from outside conservative vote, the votes we have had so farfrom outside london, is going up more than the labour vote which means relative to the conservatives are least common labour are conservatives are least common labourare ina conservatives are least common labour are in a somewhat weaker position than 2014. and indeed compared to 2016, when there were local elections in many of these

councils. that said it means asjohn i5 councils. that said it means asjohn is saying, it is pointing to something like conservatives and labour being equal in polling, which does mean the labour party are stronger than in 2017 general election. the truth is, insofar as the labour party would like to be able to demonstrate further progress and say we are beginning to come up with the kinds of lead in local elections that we normally associate with opposition heading for victory, john must be disappointed. the labour party, relatively, going back compared to recent performances even local election performances under jeremy corbyn's leadership. the conservatives, they need to be aware the reason why so far at least they are making net gains i5 the reason why so far at least they are making net gains is primarily because they are profiting from the

decline of ukip, and the conservatives' advantage confined to leave voting england which is why they will lose control of trafford, a remain voting area and are reminded to the conservatives a5 they concentrate on dealing with brexit, what they have behind them since the 2017 election is predominantly a pro—league—macro electorate and probably the future of the conservative party in elections rests heavily on the ability of this government to deliver a brexit that satisfies leave voters but the problem the conservatives face, the ability to deliver that might be difficult because of internal divisions in cabinet, and also the fact the conservatives do not have majority in the commons and maybe will find on issues like customs they may not get parliamentary support for the

position leave voters would prefer. it is clear what conservative voters wa nt it is clear what conservative voters want in these local elections but the question is can the conservative government deliver what those voters want. you have given us acres! we will be back withjohn in a short while. before i put those points to laura and claire perry and john and tim nick, in the studio, and we will keep tabs on results coming in. before that, let's have the latest news with mike empoli. coming up a summary news with mike empoli. coming up a summary of the main stories but we start with the latest on the local elections. first results are being declared across england and the first significant test of public opinion since last year's election. early on it seems ukip support is collapsing with the conservatives gaining seats. labour predicted a mixed night. more than 4000 council

seats are being contested in 150 english councils. with the details, jonathan blake, the report has flash photography. celebration in swindon and relief all round for the conservatives who had held onto a council that was an labour target. delighted we fended off a significant challenge from the labour party. they worked hard in 5ix seats and brought it a lot of people and spent time and money and effort in trying to take some of those seats and they have not taken one. but this election night is a marathon not a sprint. this is local democracy in action with voters in england having their say. paper by paper the crosses are being counted and those who set and spend your council tax are awaiting the voters' verdict. in london labour is already

strong and talked of taking tory councils like wandsworth, evil westminster. we will see. any government can expect a kicking in mid—term elections but there are signs the conservatives are picking up signs the conservatives are picking u p votes signs the conservatives are picking up votes from ukip whose support has collapsed. i have brought my passport. i had better check. yes it i5 passport. i had better check. yes it is my passport. in gosport and a handful of other places, voters had to bring identity as part of a trial scheme to cut fraud. there were claims some were turned away but most did not seem to mind. i am all right. more than 4000 seats, 150 councils and mayors elected, the first broad test of political opinion since last year's election. will it bring upsets? will things day the same? a nervous night for some, for everyone, a long few hours

ahead. for the latest, there is more on the website with analysis and a guide to all local elections. you can download the bbc news act. public health england says more than 8000 women have contacted a helpline to deal with a failure on breast cancer screening. to deal with a failure on breast cancer screening. it meant 450,000 women cancer screening. it meant 450,000 women could be affected and up to 270 may have had their lives shortened. the bbc learn two nhs trusts raise concerns about it issues last year. they were told the problems were local not national. the home office has announced that afg ha n interpreters the home office has announced that afghan interpreters who worked for the armed forces and relocated to the armed forces and relocated to the uk may be able to apply for resettlement free of charge. the abolition of the £2000 fee will apply to family members. up to 250

had faced being sent home at the end of their five—year visas. disgraced comedian bill cosby and roman polanski have been expelled from the us academy that runs the oscars. it said it was in accordance with the standards of conduct. bill cosby was convicted of sexual assault. roman polanski has previously admitted to having sex with a 13—year—old. donald trump has admitted that he reimbursed his lawyer for paying off a porn star. the payment of $130,000 before the election was designed to stop stormy daniels making false allegations, according to the president. the it is denied he used money from campaign funds. twitter has asked users to change passwords asa has asked users to change passwords a5 a caution because a glitch has

led some passwords to be stored in plain text on its internal system. officials say the error has been fixed and there is no indication passwords have been stolen or misused. volkswagen's former chief executive has been charged over the omissions scandal. he is accused of conspiring to mislead regulators on the emissions test cheating. vw fitted in illegal software to past pollution tests. no back to election 2018. —— now back. yes indeed, plenty to discuss because there are more results to come and some interesting results already and i will bring you up to date. a lot of the london results,

which are significant this evening and overnight, are still to come. tim donovan i5 and overnight, are still to come. tim donovan is in wandsworth. thank you. wandsworth i5 tim donovan is in wandsworth. thank you. wandsworth is one of the big hopes, wandsworth and westminster regarded as tory crown jewels but could wandsworth end up showing limitation of labour's dominance in the capital? sadiq khan, the mayor, arrived a short time ago. many would have seen him talking to you. he g a i here in wandsworth. never got near winning the council from the tories and he was careful to say he thought labour would make gains in councillors, individuals, but! labour would make gains in councillors, individuals, but i do not think he thinks they will take control. tony is here. is it significant, what he said?” control. tony is here. is it significant, what he said? i think so. significant, what he said? i think so. it shows labour are by no means confident of winning ones without

the moment. if you look across london, results looking patchy. too early to be sure about that. if they are not confident in wandsworth it has implications of borrowers like westminster. the real issue is the big swing needed in the seats they need to get? wandsworth and westminster, labour need to make a push to win awards from the conservatives and it does not sound to me as if sadiq khan thought that would happen in wandsworth and if thatis would happen in wandsworth and if that is not true, westminster becomes difficult to win. it has gone quiet, apart from the returning officer giving turnout figures. let's find out what is going on in barnet. an hour ago, not much indication, but it is looking a confused picture? yes, i spoke to the leader of the labour party and he's says the vote

i5 labour party and he's says the vote is looking more mixed compared to last time. labour came very close to taking the council from the conservatives, the conservatives holding on by one seat. today it looks like a mixed picture on wards you would expect labour to be going ahead. barry rollins said he is confident the party will do well but cannot ignore what happened with the anti—semitism row labour have gone through. he said it may have impacted on the wards more than they expected. reinforcing what tony was saying, it does look patchy for labour so far. let's go to a contest where labour are not involved, they have had little presence in south—west london because the main challenge to the tories there is the liberal democrats. mark, what's the latest? a lot of smiling faces for the lib dems anglo

faces for the conservatives. they arejust faces for the conservatives. they are just declaring the first ward. the lib dems had a mountain to climb, overturning a majority of 21, the conservatives have. but they are more than cautiously optimistic they can do that. this has flip—flopped between the two the past 20 years. it is seen as an indication elsewhere how the lib dems may perform. they may hold onto sutton. we are about to have the first decoration and find out if it is a good night for the lib dems. would it surprise you? a suggestion they will hold onto sutton, their only council, but they could get richmond back? sasson has looked a safe liberal democrat council and they would be devastated to lose it —— sutton. it would suggest they are doing better in real elections,

by—elections, than in the opinion polls which will give heart to vince cable and the lib dems if it rolls onto richmond and potentially kingston when that counts tomorrow. the big story tonight may be a disappointing one for labour.i the big story tonight may be a disappointing one for labour. a bit early to be sure but not a great night at the moment. if they do not win wandsworth, perhaps it is more difficult, westminster, it will look like they have oversold. we will have more from wandsworth in about an hour. welcome back stop we are covering all the results of the local elections coming in from 150 local authorities, all of them in england. we are looking at 4500 council seats

being contested so it is a big contest being contested so it is a big co ntest a nd being contested so it is a big contest and prime test for the parties contesting this election for all kinds of reasons given the political landscape. this is the tally at the moment. a lot still to come overnight and tomorrow morning. there are thousands yet to declare. at the moment labour have 444 and are down 12. the conservatives are up are down 12. the conservatives are up 58. lib dems up ten. the greens on seven, up up 58. lib dems up ten. the greens on seven, up to and ukip have lost 66. they result from peterborough. this is a part of the country where we we re this is a part of the country where we were looking at the balance between labour and conservative. this was a hung council and i5 between labour and conservative. this was a hung council and is now a conservative council, they have gained control of peterborough. 31

councillors to labour's 14 and the lib dems' 5ix councillors to labour's 14 and the lib dems' six and five in the independent group. these are marginal changes. that is interesting, a conservative gain. in the west midlands in wa lsa ll, gain. in the west midlands in walsall, rather different, a hung council. i think matt is the final results. what has happened in walsall i5 what has happened in walsall is that the conservatives made several gains, five, and two losses to labour and gains, five, and two losses to labourand ukip i5 gains, five, and two losses to labour and ukip is down three. looking at that break where the old ukip vote went.

peterborough, some thoughts. that is the kind of place that will be worrying for the labour party to have these moves. they took it at the general election and i5 have these moves. they took it at the general election and is a seat where they had to make progress but to lose support on the council will be worrying and the kind of place the tories will be cheered by. in dudley, it sounds like the tories have taken dudley, a marginal seat. the westminster mp there has a tiny majority, a labour mp. we are seeing at this stage a lot of reasons for the conservatives to be cheerful and the conservatives to be cheerful and the labour party to be nervous but there are still a lot of results to come. i am told rugby is a conservative hold. the tories putting on one. labour and lib dems holding their ground

and lib dems holding their ground and the independentdown one. claire perry? it sounds great but it i5 claire perry? it sounds great but it is early days with thousands more to come. a5 laura said, what is interesting is how one seat can make such a difference in a council. it makes me feel proud of the thousands of activists. we are bussing people around the country, people working the doorsteps, showing this story about if you want well—run councils and your council tax to be reasonable and quality services, vote conservative. john? we do not need to bus members around the country we have members spread across the country. this is a reflection of where the ukip vote collapsed outside london, two thirds going to the tories and one third to labour. we will see the rest of the

results as london comes in and i think we will gain councillors. no dramatic shifts for either party overall. steady progress. 0n the percentage share, as we are saying, ina numberof percentage share, as we are saying, in a number of seats, we will come within striking distance of winning the parliamentary. look at what happened last year, local government results had no reflection in the general election campaign. 27 percentage points on the local council results and share of votes, then within weeks we are at 40%. are you pleased with the results so far? we would want to be doing better. i think it is steady progress and as we go into london, we will pick up seats. all—time high four years ago and on that basis we will see steady progress. you have lost a

significant number of labour council seats to the conservatives. do you see seats to the conservatives. do you see that is progress or deeply disappointing for those people who have worked hard and been supported by your activists who are claiming you are the government in waiting. this reflects we are the government in waiting because it looks like the percentage share of the vote will be what we are in the polls. with regard to activists, they were realistic about what could be achieved and what they took into account was with the collapse of the ukip vote outside london, or what has happened is two thirds has gone to the tories as predicted. we are talking about labour who lost their seats... can i finish? let john speak. what has happened, again the ukip vote outside london has fallen

to the tories. that is exactly what we predicted and what is reflected in the polls. it means in some areas we will lose some council seats but in others we will pick up. look at trafford. how different things are across the country. for the tories, going into no overall control is a shock, but when we see the london results you will see more council seats picked up by labour, a reflection of our standing in the polls. 2014 was a high watermark for ukip and coincided with european elections, held on a pr system that was the crowning for ukip. they are pretty much gone from the battlefield and the bulk of their vote has gone to the tories, who i'm

sure will take satisfaction that key marginals have come up tory tonight. ido marginals have come up tory tonight. i do not think it represents a surge forward. it is a reversal to normal trading if you like. they will be pleased to see the votes, pile but it does not suggest they are out of trouble. we have not seen any london results which might give a different complexion. broadly speaking you are seeing small gains for the tories and liberal democrats and downs for labour. john curtice said the first key ward result in london, a six—point swing to labour since 2014 and john saying perhaps the first sign labour will do better in the capital. still short of what the party needs to win wandsworth or westminster. that was waltham

forest. will we see two distinct stories, the tories may be in a position to say they are gaining ground outside london but your london story will be the one that will protect you? i thinkjohn curtice had it right, different votes outside london. still i researched to the fact it does not reflect what will happen in the general election. it looks as though, even votes outside london, the more relation to the national polls. many areas, although we are not taking control of councils, we are picking up percentage share of the vote which we can build to win a parliamentary seat. i am struck, the labour party launched the local election campaign in trafford. there i5a election campaign in trafford. there is a massive rowing back tonight. there was a view expressed by the

labour leaders in councils, they knew they had to take those seats and show clear breakthroughs in swindon, basildon, seat that show there is some form of advance. that i5 there is some form of advance. that is what they are on the record... we we re is what they are on the record... we were arguing a sensible position where we try to see steady growth but we knew the difficulties. swindon, in terms of percentage share, we are neck and neck with the tories, not the same as the general election. those parliamentary seats, if there was a reflection on the parliamentary election and i was a conservative mp in those seats, i would be worried. i would be worried asa would be worried. i would be worried a5 a labour councillor, particularly one ousted already. a lot of the campaigning and nasty party campaigning, the view that voting conservative a5 jeremy corbyn campaigning, the view that voting

conservative asjeremy corbyn said was somehow taking children's lives. the anti—semitism. the campaign is over. the anti—semitism. the campaign is over. john, you have never apologise... i am not access doing this. the campaign is over, the campaign is over. you have made that point. john? the campaign is over. look at his hand gesture. "get back in your box, woman." this is not acceptable. the campaign is over. usually this programme is where we can sit back more objectively than in the campaign itself to see the results. of course... of course there will be party political banter, but the reality is this. we

are seeing results tonight but reflect what is happening in the polls nationally. let me comment on the wharf in stone... waltham forest result. if it was a six—point swing to us it is remarkable. there might be local factors, and if we see across london,... let's talk be local factors, and if we see across london, . .. let's talk about another possible target, plymouth. martin. tell us about plymouth and what you think is happening there. plymouth unusually in the south—west tends to be a fight between the tories and labour and they went into the election neck and neck with just two seats needed to change hand for labour to take control from the preservatives and they have taken one tory seat and have been upbeat all evening. last year it was one of the dramatic results in the general election when labour took a seat

from the tories. there was one upset in this two party battle four years ago when ukip took three labour seats. labour are focusing on them, getting those seats back to regain control. we have not had those results yet. labour seem confident in at least two so we could see here a bucking of the national trend, where former ukip seats are going back to the conservatives. interesting because plymouth i5 back to the conservatives. interesting because plymouth is a heavily leave voting... cheering a massive labour results. it is a labour safe seats —— safe seat, so it does not really help. just a thought very quickly, martin, you are painting the picture of the way

the ukip vote is likely to split. what are the parties on the ground saying? what is labour telling you? labour i5 what is labour telling you? labour is extremely upbeat and they have been all evening. they feel they are ona been all evening. they feel they are on a roll after the general election, having said that, talking to the local labour mp, he must be casting an eye at other parts of the country and observing what is happening there but in plymouth and in exeter, the only other set of elections here, labour cannot mathematically lose exeter city council. they have retained three of the seats already but were saying through the ups and downs the labour party have had, in parliamentary terms with the mp ben bradshaw and the city council, they seem to be teflon coated with massive majority

in the council and a safe