good afternoon. welcome back to the bbc election centre. we've had more than half the results in for the local elections, and so far they make grim reading for both labour and the conservatives, who've faced a brexit backlash in the polls. the liberal democrats have been the main beneficiaries of this. look at this. a liberal democrat majority! they look quite pleased.

they have gained around 400 councillors so far. they won overall control of places like winchester, bath and north norfolk. i should also mention chelmsford, because thatis also mention chelmsford, because that is where party leader, sir vince cable, went this morning in a rush to congratulate his supporters. he said it had been a brilliant result for his party. the conservatives are suffering. they are already down 640 seats. still a long way to go. they've gained walsall, but lost places like worcester, peterborough and st albans. the prime minister, in mid wales talking to the spring conference of the welsh conservatives, said voters had sent the simple message that her party and the labour party had to get on with delivering brexit. people had not expected labour to be

losing seats. they thought they might have been gaining. jeremy corbyn was in trafford this morning because they gained trafford from the tories. they have lost bolsover and in the past hour, darlington. they are down more than 90 seats. reeta chakra barti will they are down more than 90 seats. reeta chakrabarti will be at the screen with the latest results and analysis. we will also talk to our chief political correspondent, vicki young, who is ready with her take on what is going on in the broader political picture, not least with brexit. stay with us throughout the afternoon. 148 councils already declared. 100 to go. plenty of results to come. we have had more than 4000 councillors elected. we are still waiting for

the individual results of more than 4000 council seats. plenty to talk about. what i would like to do now, given that the counting is still going on, lots of counting overnight, but lots decided to count today, and they include thanet. this was ukip's on the council until the ukip group fell was ukip's on the council until the ukip groupfellapart was ukip's on the council until the ukip group fell apart in a shambolic way with lots of defections, the party struggled to find candidates. the tories will be hoping to seize majority control in thanet. that is in kent. this is your work. —— yorker. i think we are in newcastle there. let's look at york micra. currently run by conservative lib dem minority administration. labour hoping to make gains. maybe we should keep a sharp eye on the lib dems. just a few of the counters going on. i am pleased to welcome my

latest panel. following a distinguished series of panels overnight. lib dems home affairs spokesman ed davey. shadow foreign secretary for labour, emily thornberry free. ——. and helen whatley from the conservative party. whatley from the conservative party. what i would like to do at this point is remind people of what the gains and losses are for the actual council seats. not the councils, but the number of councillors. 652 losses for the tories, 91 for labour, 402 gains for the lib dems. it has been a good night for them. substantial gains for the greens. 87 so substantial gains for the greens. 87 so far. and for the independents, around 300 gains. you can see where lots of people have been turning overnight, especially those disgruntled with the tories and with labour. we will talk about that with

the panel and with vicki in a moment. before that, let's catch up with the day's news. hello. a summary of the bbc news. the conservatives and labour have faced a backlash at the local elections, with voters apparently punishing them for the brexit deadlock. both parties have suffered significant losses while the main winners have been smaller parties like the liberal democrats and the greens, as well as independents. the prime minister said voters were showing that they wanted politicians to get on and deliver brexit micro. with more on the results and the implications, here is chris mason. just look at those faces. the conservatives held at swindon and gained north east lincolnshire. but they lost control in st albans, southend, broxtowe, peterborough, worcester, basildon and elsewhere. these were always going to be difficult elections. and there were some challenging results. but it was

a bad night for labour, too. ithink people were sending a clear message, a simple message, to both main parties, to us and the labour party, get on and deliver brexit. not all of her colleagues at the welsh conservative conference are altogether supportive though. thank you, everybody. why don't you resign? the national convention doesn't want you, we don't want you. mrs may told to her face she should go. out! out! tradition dictates the day after elections party leaders head to where they won. here isjeremy corbyn in trafford in greater manchester. but labour lost control in hartlepool, the world and bolsover. we have won trafford into an overall majority. we have swings to labour

ina number of majority. we have swings to labour in a number of borrowers across the counties across the country. that gives us the basis on which... i am looking forward to an election. gives us the basis on which... i am looking forward to an electionm is not exactly been a laugh a minute for the liberal democrats in recent yea rs. for the liberal democrats in recent years. but they are upbeat today.|j am just celebrating a really great result here. chelmsford, essex. the story across the country, you know, the lib dems written off at one point but we are coming back very, very strongly. we are the big winners of the night. the lib dems w011 winners of the night. the lib dems won control of councils in bath, winchester, north norfolk and the cotswolds. independents have done well so far, as has the green party. 16 new councils, cementing our place as the fourth party in england and

local, command real going into the local, command real going into the local elections. we are the biggest representation of any remain party at the moment. it has been tough so farfor ukip. at the moment. it has been tough so far for ukip. they have gone backwards. yes, we have lost some seats but we have made some gains, in sandwell. when you look at the results in areas like sunderland, we got a lot of second places. good and bad across the board. there are plenty more results to come, with the party is watching closely, peering into what it might mean for their widerfortunes peering into what it might mean for their wider fortunes and doing so through the giant prism of brexit. and here, at daft o'clock in the morning, was this some cross—party collaboration? 0r collaboration? or perhaps commiseration? counting is under way in northern ireland. a total of 462 seats are up for grabs

across 11 councils. the first few results have started to trickle in but most results are expected later today or tomorrow morning. meanwhile, the turnout for these local elections has held at similar levels to those in 2018 and 2016. early indications show the brexit impasse hasn't driven voters from the polls in significant numbers. that is our summary. for more results and analysis, back to election 2019. yes indeed. a night and day of some surprises, because as mentioned in the bulletin, lots of people thought that heavy in these elections be catastrophically low, as people simply didn't want to vote because they were so disgruntled. but as we heard, and as john they were so disgruntled. but as we heard, and asjohn curtice was telling us and will no doubt tell us again, the turnout is pretty much in

line with previous local elections. that tells us something again about people's willingness to engage with the democratic process. even if they are angry and frustrated. they want to turn up. one or two cases spoiling the ballot papers. that has happened in more numbers than usual. but more to the point, people turning up and wanting to vote to register a protest and register a different kind of choice. that really is one of the important elements of this landscape, isn't it, vicki? the fact that we are talking about local elections, which have been heavily coloured by national issues and that has fed very strongly into how people have behaved? yes, i think a lot of people were worried about apathy. i think it is really interesting that people are still coming out to vote. i think it shows these results, and appetite for something different,

something other than the main two parties. that is why you see the clear winners of today are the liberal democrats. of course, they are coming from an incredibly low base. they have had a torrid time since the coalition, wiped out in the south—west in the general election, councillors losing their seats for years. they had to be showing some progress. i think the progress they are showing will be much more than maybe they were expecting. i think if you are a conservative mp in the south—west you will be looking at these results and feeling slightly concerned. now, the tories, no getting away from it, a devastating night for them. they will argue, of course, that they have been in powerfor nine years. it is pretty normal for a have been in powerfor nine years. it is pretty normalfor a government to be punished at the polls when it comes to local elections. there is no doubt there is anger from their own grassroots about what has been going on at westminster. it is a lwa ys going on at westminster. it is always ha rd to going on at westminster. it is always hard to translate how people are voting in local elections and say it is about national issues, but brexit is dominating so much in recent yea rs, brexit is dominating so much in recent years, and we have heard from

councillors who have lost in the tory seats were councils have been lost, and they are blaming their political masters at westminster for not delivering on something. i think in some ways more interesting is the labour story. this is a party that once a general election and wants to be in power and wants to govern. and yet they are losing seats. they are losing seats and losing councils. i don't think many labour mps were expecting that. that would be a cause for concern. brexit doesn't just seem to be harming the conservatives, it does seem that the slightly ambiguous policy that labour have had on brexit is now proving to be a bit of a problem, where it is not doing well for anyone, both sides are punishing them. it is harder to explain for an opposition party that has been up against a pretty chaotic tory government. i think that narrative is one we need to explain quite carefully because the conservatives could end up because the conservatives could end up in because the conservatives could end upina because the conservatives could end up in a position where they have one of their worst performances for 20

yea rs. of their worst performances for 20 years. you have to go back tojohn major's time when they lost 2000 councillors in one session, which was obviously a melt down. we are not in that place but we could end up not in that place but we could end up in not in that place but we could end upina not in that place but we could end up in a bad place. yet what you are saying, what are you saying? that you are pricing that into turbulence around brexit? but that the labour loss, even though it is much smaller, much smaller, is more telling? is that what we are saying? it is about where they are coming from, not just the it is about where they are coming from, notjust the numbers now. it is where they are coming from four yea rs is where they are coming from four years ago. people want to compare those set of elections with those from four years ago. labour are not making progress. if you are a party that wants to win the next general election, you need to be making progress. the conservatives had a very good run four years ago and they would expect to lose. i'm not downplaying the devastating loss the tories have here. they will be extremely upset about this,

particularly councillors and councils they have lost because they know it is a judgment on their record in power. but i think if you area labour record in power. but i think if you are a labour councillor, a labour activist, you will be really concerned about this. i think people sometimes underestimate how far labour have to come in a general election to get power. they didn't do well in getting a 42% of the share of the vote in the last general election but labour have to win 60 seats. they have to win 60 seats from somewhere at a general election to get close to pires —— power. it is hard to see where that is coming from. let me put some of those points to my guest. but before we do that, let's remind viewers of some of the latest results. it is now a quarter past two on friday afternoon. the cou nters past two on friday afternoon. the counters in many areas started last night after ten o'clock. the results are still coming in. results being declared as we speak. we are just

following some of those. reeta chakrabarti following some of those. reeta chakra barti can bring following some of those. reeta chakrabarti can bring us up to date. the result here on the screen illustrate the churn there has been during this election in terms of control of councils. just to remind viewers how to read these screens, pretty self evident. amber valley is labour. you can see the little blue flash at the end. that means it was conservative. this is a labour gain. burnley, which is in grey, that means that is now a hung council. it was a labour council. it has now become a hung council. i want to compare a couple of the councils in the north of england. calderdale and darlington. these two have been straightforward labour conservative fights. but with two very different results. in calderdale, labour has gained that council from no overall control. a big metropolitan borough council there. they will be pleased

with that. in darlington, i will just go into it, a different story. the conservatives have pushed ahead with 22 seats compared to labour's 20. ifi with 22 seats compared to labour's 20. if i canjust show with 22 seats compared to labour's 20. if i can just show you the way in which the seats have changed. this is the change since the last election in 2015. conservatives have put on five, labour have lost nine. a very interesting result. if i go back to the main screen, one of the other themes of the election has been the increase in green —— in the green party vote. this is very interesting and mid suffolk. look at that. the greens gaining 12 councillors in mid suffolk, meaning that the conservatives has lost this council. and one more result i want to go into. south 0xfordshire. this was conservative. as you can see that has now become a hung council.

this is part of the familiar story we have gotten out of the election. the liberal democrats winning 12 seats. the seat change will show you what has happened. conservatives losing 23 seats on this council. the liberal democrats gaining 11. and the greens gaining five. layla moran, the lib dem mp on the programme earlier, said that in this council there was an agreement between the liberal democrats and the greens do not contest certain wards. they would not compete with each other in certain wards. that is what it has produced. thank you very much. as rita was taking us through those results, just in the last few seconds another result in. they key? yes, another loss for the conservatives. a gain for the conservatives. a gain for the conservatives. mould valley. that is heartland conservative territory,

leatherhead and dorking. it has gone very strongly to the liberal democrats. that is the story of the night. my concern is the way the prime minister is interpreting this. she is saying it means that labour and the conservatives have to deliver brexit michael together. i don't think that is what the people of britain are saying. i think they are saying, stop brexit. the liberal democrats won last night very clearly. nobody is disputing that. we stood in the thicket of stopping brexit, very, very clearly. we have been clear from the start for a long time. and so i think the prime minister should think again, should drop brexit and actually should listen to the british people. i think the british people are saying they have had enough of this. it has gone on too long. they wasted too much money. it is not what they thought was going to happen. i think the case for a people's vote, the case for giving the people the final say is strengthened by the liberal democrats gained last night. surely there will be a raft of reasons why people voted lib dem? of course.

travelling around the country as i did, and! travelling around the country as i did, and i went to 15 or 16 councils, the cuts to the police was a big issue. people worried about anti—social behaviour and crime. that was a big issue. there are public services issues. there was one big issue on the doorsteps, let's be clear. a lot of conservative voters who have been voting conservative all their lives we re voting conservative all their lives were coming to the liberal democrats because they are either remainers or they think the conservatives are believe most incompetent share we have ever seen. we have seen lifelong labour supporter is coming to us because they are shocked that labour is now a conservative —— brexit party. i think the british people are saying, stop brexit michael, not as the prime minister is trying to suggest, get on with brexit. i would say, wouldn't i, if that were the case you could claim that were the case you could claim that if you are doing either better than you are doing? it is all relative? these are the best local election results in our history. how

do you translate it in a general election? yes, you have a broad base at council level, you run councils, you win some seats, but how do you translate that into a general election? it is not guaranteed that would happen? it is not guaranteed at all but i think we could win a huge number of seats across the country. take sheffield hallam, nick clegg's old seat, which we lost to labour two years ago, we beat labour two to one. i could take you through a lot of positions we used to hold and some we have never held. send all bonds. we won sent all guns of the tories on the popular vote. smashed them. if you want to extrapolate, and i know you have to be careful about that, we would be backin be careful about that, we would be back in big numbers in westminster on the back of this. that is responding to what vince cable and tim fern before him consistently said since the referendum, we are against brexit. we have led the

campaign for the people's vote. i think the people last night. we will certainly askjohn curtice for a westminster readout. then we will see where we are. emily, what do you make of the assertion that this lib dem performance is a very clear message, to stop brexit micro? yeah. i don't think it's quite like that. i think that we are comparing this result with one that took place on the night of the general election. so the two main parties did well, and frankly there was an absolute bloodbath for the lib dems. so one would expect there to be some life breathed back into the lib dems in this election and that is what we have seen. we have seen the tories doing very badly and we have seen the mixed picture for labour. i would like us to have done better. when i think about some of the people that i know in some of the local authorities like darlington, it's sad. but on the other hand, we

won amber valley, calderdale. a mixed picture. ithink won amber valley, calderdale. a mixed picture. i think the lesson to ta ke mixed picture. i think the lesson to take away is this. i think people are fed up with the impasse on brexit. i have heard messages from people on both sides. i have heard people on both sides. i have heard people say, just get on with it. evenif people say, just get on with it. even if it is with no deal, just get on with it. i have heard other people say, i am just fed up with it, could we just say —— stay? i think the other message, and also we are fed up with just hearing about brexit and there are other things we need to talk about. what i take from thatis need to talk about. what i take from that is we need to have movement on brexit and i am quite happy to talk about that later. the other thing is, if you look at the last general election, when we were able to talk about core issues for labour, we did very well. if we can move on from brexit and talk about austerity, public services, i am happy to take on the lib dems on issues like that, andi on the lib dems on issues like that, and i would take on the greens and

the tories, because those core m essa g es the tories, because those core messages are very popular with the public on how we can change people's lives. that is what i take from it. i would like to move on and talk about other things as well. yes, it was an election which has been held through the lens of brexit. it is inevitable. we are looking at the results in that way. i don't have the same readout as ed davey. it's a message that people are saying, we wa nt message that people are saying, we want to stay. the message continues to be that the country is still very divided on brexit. what i heard significantly often on the doorstep was this huge frustration with brexit and with the lack of progress. parliament overall not making progress. yes, government are expected to get the blame. but

all... also, really strong message coming through from those who voted leave, they have not been listened to. why haven't we left yet? that was the strongest thing that came through. people saying they were so frustrated and why haven't we left yet? that is what they voted for in 2016. what do you say to people when they say that to you? as an mp who voted for the withdrawal agreement i am frustrated, to. i originally voted to remain. this is a referendum result. i voted to remain. this is a referendum result. lam voted to remain. this is a referendum result. i am feeling frustrated that we are stuck in it. icame into frustrated that we are stuck in it. i came into politics to do other things, not to talk about our relationship with the eu. i share some of that frustration. we are stuck where parliament is divided. the country is divided. quite a few of your colleagues have refused to back the prime minister on this, and thatis back the prime minister on this, and that is why the 29th of march passed

without any exit taking place? that is why the 29th of march passed without any exit taking place ?|j recognise without any exit taking place?” recognise the picture. we are in a minority government. we don't have a majority. you are meant to have the dup on site, aren't you? it is not meant to be a minority. yes, i acknowledge that as part of the challenge. both of the major parties had in our manifestos in the last general election that we would see through the referendum result. we share some of the responsibility.” make objection to that big time!” don't think there is any ambiguity in what helen and emily said about these results. the pro—brexit micro parties made significant losses. the pro remained parties have made significant gains. what is ambiguous about that, i think it is a clear message. i do agree there is an impasse in parliament because the conservatives are divided. there are people out there among the voters who are saying, get on with it. i

agree with you. but i don't think thatis agree with you. but i don't think that is the overall message. the liberal democrats have been arguing for a people's vote. we can't get it through parliament because the tories are so divided and labour won't help them. if we can't get it through in parliament, we have to go back to the people. let's bring in another contributor. mark foster has been waiting patiently to talk to us. been waiting patiently to talk to us. what is your reading of your pa rty‘s us. what is your reading of your party's performance us. what is your reading of your pa rty‘s performance in us. what is your reading of your party's performance in these local elections? firstly, i am very sorry that it seems because of frustrations with our failure to deliver brexit, some 700 hard—working conservative councillors may have lost their seats. i deeply regret that has happened. it wasn't their fault. people have taken out on them in a sense. but this, i am afraid, is just the beginning. i am not a scientist but i understand that before a tsunami, the sea goes out

three minutes or so and then it comes crashing back in. this is the sea comes crashing back in. this is the sea going out. the 23rd of may will be an absolute tsunami. you mean european elections? yes. why do you say that? there is clearly widespread frustration across the british electorate that we haven't left the european union despite the prime minister promising 108 times we would leave by the 29th of march. but i think that people have still discriminated to some extent. they have partly ta ken discriminated to some extent. they have partly taken it out on us last night but they are really by and large saving it up for the 23rd of may. i personally think this whole thing has morphed. what do i mean? i think it has changed from just leave versus remain. it is now the people who want to leave, who voted to

leave, and the establishment, including senior members of the civil service and a lot of mps in the house of commons, who never accepted the result of the referendum and you have done everything they can for two and i have used to stop it. i will absolutely have used to stop it. i will a bsolutely vote have used to stop it. i will absolutely vote conservative on the 23rd of may, always have, always will do. but i feel a lot of people want. 0n the 23rd of may the people get their own back on the establishment. and it will be a sue nami. lots of people watching will think this is a guy who has persistently refused to back his own prime minister and the deal she has tried to put together over two yea rs. tried to put together over two years. you are part of the reason brexit has not happened? so is the labour party. with respect, when it came before the house of commons, the labour party voted against it. yes, —— the snp, the dup, the liberals all voted against it. what

is now effectively change uk voted against it and so did a number of tory mps. that is why it didn't go through. it was overwhelmingly rejected by the house of commons. the first time around it was the biggest defeat in the entire history of parliament for any government on any thing ever at all. it wasn't just tory mps. it was the overwhelming weight of the house of commons because mps had read the withdrawal agreement. they know it means we don't actually leave. we remain half in and half out. we betray the referendum decision. that is why overwhelmingly mps from all parties in the house of commons have decisively rejected it three times. we are talking in this context about your party's we are talking in this context about your pa rty‘s performance. we are talking in this context about your party's performance. time and again overnight we have had conservatives, colleagues of yours, saying that voters are angry, frustrated and fed up at the failure to deliver brexit. i am putting it to deliver brexit. i am putting it to you politely you are part of that? well, no. there was a yougov of paul a few weeks ago where they

asked the public if they thought the prime minister's deal represented leaving the european union. 14% yes. 54% no. the public, because i and others and others in other parties have done our best for two years to explain what is in the agreement, the public now know it means we don't leave the european union. i did a lot of doorknocking with my councillors. i am sure helen did the same. and mps from all parties. we support our councillors in the local elections. we all do that. but in a month or so of door knocking, slightly longer, not one constituent, not worn on a doorstep said to me, what we really need is a customs union. not a single constituent. but time and again constituents said to me, just get out. the withdrawal agreement doesn't take us out. it keeps us in. that is why a third of the cabinet

and the senior civil servants who drafted the blooming thing are so in favour of it. because they know it keeps us in the european union. the problem for the british establishment is that the public have twigged, have seen through it and the tidal wave is coming. will change of change that? my position on this... the prime minister voted remain. she is surrounded by senior civil servants and others who have never accepted the result of the referendum and have done everything they can for two and a half years to frustrated. so i have come to the relu cta nt frustrated. so i have come to the reluctant conclusion that we will never leave the european union while theresa may is prime minister. the only way we will leave is if my party elects a brexiteer, someone who actually voted to leave and who has got their heart in it and will help to take us out of the eu. who is your money on?”

who is your money on? i actually haven't chosen who i'm going to vote for. iam not haven't chosen who i'm going to vote for. i am not being coy with you. i generally have not decided who to vote for, but i do believe it will have to be a brexit here, and the tory party sort of fanzine website have a panel of tory candidates that they pull regularly,, and when they have polled that panel over the last couple of months or so, overwhelmingly, couple of months or so, overwhelmingly. tofy couple of months or so, overwhelmingly, tory members want a leader who is a brexit here, and i'm afraid that is bad news for anyone who voted remain. helen, what you make of that? i mean, for me, i guess the frustration is what i heard from voters, is they want us to move on, and they want us to leave the european union. they did not talk on the doorstep about the

withdrawal agreement. my reading of the withdrawal agreement is it is getting us out of the european union. but clearly, it recognises the other side of the argument, which is the importance of having an ongoing close relationship with the european union, recognises that we are a divided country on that, and we need to come to a compromise agreement that can bring everybody together, and then after all of this period of great division. also, we talk about polling, my opinion is that for people who voted leave, it was a choice between remaining with the deal, they would much rather have the deal. if people recognise that there is going to have to be a compromise, in general, they would much rather have the deal. so that is where it might not be anybody's first choice, but coming together,

it's a way forward. with respect, we had an opinion poll last night. we have lost 700 hard—working counsellors, and the result is still coming in, that number is going up not down. at what point are my colleagues going to wake up and smell the coffee? are you not smelling the coffee?” smell the coffee? are you not smelling the coffee? i am also really upset that councillors in my constituency, have lost their seats, andl constituency, have lost their seats, and i know they are hard working people. i know they are really unhappy that they have been caught up unhappy that they have been caught up in this division. but people want us up in this division. but people want us to get on, to not be stuck in this impasse. it is a different read of it from mark. you see the conservative vision there. mark and had not being able to agree. we saw the prime minister —— mike reid you saw the prime minister being heckled by conservative activist. people

talk about national division, but the biggest division is in the conservative party. i think people wa nt conservative party. i think people want to stop brexit, and if that division continues, it is hurting our country, it is hurting our economy, and the conservative party, if it cannot get itself together, it should just go. if it cannot get itself together, it shouldjust go. it is if it cannot get itself together, it should just go. it is an eternal truth, and you will know it better than anyone, divided parties do not appeal to the electorate.” than anyone, divided parties do not appeal to the electorate. i am not denying that, and i'm not attempting to pretend on your programme this afternoon that the conservative party at the moment is a hotbed of love and harmony. clearly the viewers know that, and you saw that partly reflected last night. but on the 23rd of may, in the european elections, people won'tjust be voting on a mixture of local and european issues, which i think is what happened last night. they will be voting very clearly on the european issue, and i think, in that

election, they will in effect pass a verdict on the prime minister's failure to take us out of the european union. where i think many mps go wrong is, you know, we are in the westminster, the babble in the bubble, as somebody once said, and i think a lot of mps have forgotten who the bosses. the boss is the british people. we reported them. they don't report to us. they voted in the referendum to leave, however much it might upset ed davey, who i have always got on well with, we had a referendum, they voted to leave. the reason why they're so angry as we have not kept our word. we sent a booklet to every household in britain in the uk before the vote, and famously said, this is your decision. the government will implement what you decide. they haven't implemented it. that's why people are so angry, haven't implemented it. that's why people are so angry. and haven't implemented it. that's why people are so angry, and if you are think they are angry now, wait for

the 23rd of may. just one question from vicky before i let you go. mark, i'm just wondering from vicky before i let you go. mark, i'mjust wondering how from vicky before i let you go. mark, i'm just wondering how you explain how in lots of parts of the country, conservative councillors are losing to liberal democrats and greens, who are obviously per remain, but actually it is the liberal democrats who are skipping up liberal democrats who are skipping upa lot liberal democrats who are skipping up a lot of your votes. well, i think a lot of conservative voters sat on their hands. we obviously need to go through all the details. but where we have unfortunately lost councillors, which i very much regret, i think you'll find in a lot of places, that's because a lot of traditional conservative supporters have stayed because they were unhappy. but on the 23rd of may, there is nowhere to hide for anybody. that is a vote, that absolutely specifically on the european issue. and the public, i think, well past their verdict on

the establishment in all parties, and the establishment aren't going to like it. you can only fool the people for so long. the people have woken up to the fact that the british establishment are determined not to let them leave the european union, and on the 23rd of may, they will take their revenge. marks, good of you tojoin will take their revenge. marks, good of you to join us. will take their revenge. marks, good of you tojoin us. thank will take their revenge. marks, good of you to join us. thank you very much. lots of focus there on the 23rd of may. the european elections, meant to take place on that day, of course. lots of politicians want to avoid it, but we are heading that way. and of course, there will be far more parties taking part than their way yesterday. and of course, we include then the scottish national party, let's go to dundee, because stephen has been waiting patiently to talk to us. thank you very much. your perspective, looking ahead, what would you tell viewers? well, what seems to be clear, and to be fair this is something that has been touched on is having that clear

position on where we are with brexit. i think conservatives are being seen as making an absolute mess of it. a labour party aren't bringing out a clear position. this is the biggest crisis facing the united kingdom since the war, and it is no great surprise that both of those two biggest parties, at uk level a re those two biggest parties, at uk level are being punished. i don't think this is about being in government. the snp has been in government. the snp has been in government for 12 years, and although there is always stuff you can do better, we have a clear lie on brexit. —— clear line. can do better, we have a clear lie on brexit. -- clear line. what's your strategy for the european elections? it's very clear. scotland voted to remain in the european union, and we should remain. we know that there is no better deal than the one that we had at the moment, but one thing that is clear is we need to work together across the party divides. we have seen the greens do well, the liberals do well, our colleagues with whom we are working very closely at

westminster along with plate camera, and even some members of the conservative party and labour party who get it, that this is damaging. plaid cymru. thank you forjoining us. plaid cymru. thank you forjoining us. thank you forjoining us. at the top of the programme, i said that i thought there were two things that we should take away, the first being that people are fed up with the way that people are fed up with the way that parliament is not, and the government have not been able to deliver on brexit. the second being that there are other pressing issues, and we want to hear us talk about them. i said that i would go back to what i thought in relation to what we should do on brexit, and how we have, i agree, got into an

impasse. the first thing we have got to say, as we had a referendum, the country was divided, the labour party with's view was that we should be democrats above all else. we have had a government that frankly, i think have stumbled around for years now, and not been able to deliver something in the way that a government should be able to. we have been trying to keep them honest. i think that we have ended up honest. i think that we have ended up in such an impasse, that whereby, we are in negotiations with the government, we have always made it clear what we want. we are the party that tries to look after working people, and we feel that looking after the economy and jobs is our biggest party. we have parties in terms of... at ten past 12, after we are supposed to have left, then we get invited to see theresa may. we have been clear what we want, and we have been clear what we want, and we have negotiated. theresa may is not very good at compromising, but if she were to wake up tomorrow morning, and not be theresa may, but be somewhere else instead, she might

say, do you know what, i am going to accept labour's deal. some people have said it would work, experts have said it would work, experts have said it would work, experts have said it would work. our problem is going to be that she is not going to be the one delivering it, and it will be another tory leader, and it looks like it will be a hard brexit here, or a no—dealer. looks like it will be a hard brexit here, ora no—dealer. ithink looks like it will be a hard brexit here, or a no—dealer. ithink the other problem is, no matter what deal is finally come to in parliament, when the music stops, it will be really controversial, and our problem will be — are we delivering what the british public voted for? i think this is the question, we are going to need to go back to the people and we are going to have to say to them, did you vote for this? because it seems to us to be quite a long way from what you thought you were going to get. there

we re thought you were going to get. there were all sorts of promises made, and now this is the only viable deal that this tory government can come up that this tory government can come up with. there is a lot of compromise in this, probably a lot of people are not happy. just tell us— of people are not happy. just tell us— do you want us to live like this or shall we remain? and frankly, if you want us to live like this, then we will get on with it, but now we look at reality, and it is so far away from three and £50 million on a bass, and all the other things that we re bass, and all the other things that were being promised, the you can —— ona bus, were being promised, the you can —— on a bus, and all the other things that you are promised, the unicorns and rainbows, and what have you. just confirm for us, if this is what you want. that is the only way we are going to break the impasse. that is hugely good news. i know that you have supported this. it has taken me a while to get persuaded.” have supported this. it has taken me a while to get persuaded. i am welcoming your conversion, and being friendly. i'm just telling you the

truth. iamjust truth. i am just i am truth. i am just i am just truth. i am just i am just saying that the labour manifesto does not support what you are saying. what it says is if necessary will go back to the people. if necessary. yes. ithought you were saying you support a referendum in all circumstances. now you are saying the labour manifesto says it may do. there's a big difference. listen, we might end up wait. listen to what i'm saying. if theresa may decides that she is going to deliver labour's brexit, and or rather, we get the quick cast—iron guarantees that we are going to need, if we get that, then,

you know, but let's say we don't. which i think it's quite likely. then we would need to go back to the public, because we will end up with a bad dealfrom the tories, or no deal. and we need to have that confirmed by the public. and our ma nifesto confirmed by the public. and our manifesto commits us to that. and thatis manifesto commits us to that. and that is in line with what i'm saying today. would you like to know, the three of you, we have had a bit of an exchange there, would you like to know what the projected national share of the vote is, because this is quite an interesting moment for us. is quite an interesting moment for us. the projected national share of the vote that the bbc has produced, and john curtis and his experts have produced, this is a national share which assumes that there was an election across britain yesterday, not just election across britain yesterday, notjust in election across britain yesterday, not just in england. election across britain yesterday, notjust in england. and in northern ireland, but across britain. so, it shows 28% a piece to the cuff tories and labour, and the lib dems on 19%, and labour, and the lib dems on 19%, and the others and 25%. let's keep this figure is up there, because i

wa nt to this figure is up there, because i want to bring john into explaining a how we got this figure, john, and what it means. let's take care of the first question. what we have been doing is collecting the details ward by ward. in 40 local authority areas. we have been comparing the result, politically with what happened in 2015, which of course, the vote to replace in the same date of the general election, but also with what happened in 2016 and 2018, and in the basis of that, the estimated the extent to which party votes have changed, and from that, we can calculate what we think the outcome of a general election would have been, assuming that voters behaved in the way that voters participate in the local election actually did. this is something that we have been doing for almost 40 yea rs, we have been doing for almost 40 years, and that does therefore mean we can give you some idea as to how these figures compare with many

previous local election. headline number one, this is only the second time that both the conservatives and the labour have been below 30%. one other previous occasion was on 2013, where if you remember, this was the local election were all of a sad and we discovered that you kept had become a serious —— where all of a sudden we discovered that ukip had become a biggerforce. you can now understand why we have been talking, frankly repeatedly in recent hours, that this is a rejection of both the two largest parties, because now we are ina two largest parties, because now we are in a situation where the combined share of the vote stands as a pale imitation of the 82% that we had just two years ago in the

general election. headline number two. i know ed davey has been desperate to convince us that this is the best liberal democrat performance ever, but of course, what he is trying to do is to try and suggest to us that we can learn something about the level of liberal democrat force by looking at the change between two points, ie between 2015 and 2018. if one of those time points, for example 2015 was a bad year for you, those time points, for example 2015 was a bad yearfor you, then it is not necessarily the case that even though you have made a nontrivial recovery that you have necessarily but in your best ever performance. good news for ed davey, this does look like the best liberal democrat local election performance since his party went into the coalition with the conservatives in 2010, but it is still well short of the kind of performance that the party routinely registered from the early 19905 all

the way until 2010, when we weren't actually never put them below 24%. so partial recovery, i'm sure they might want to open a bottle of press echo, but i still think that the be5t champagne 5till echo, but i still think that the be5t champagne still needs to remain on ice. and is alleging that there are some good pre55 echo around, i will let viewers form their own judgment on that. they quick response judgment on that. they quick re5pon5e there, given the possible overgenerous reading on the figures? i was reading it as councils gained. 0n the figures i was presenting, i think the case stands. i still think to get 19% is a dramatic improvement on what people thought of us just a few days ago. i don't disagree with... compared few days ago. i don't disagree with. .. compared to few days ago. i don't disagree with... compared to some of the

years on the past, but this is a remarkable turnaround, let's remember, liberal democrat performance at general elections are based on really good local election results. i would based on really good local election results. iwould not based on really good local election results. i would not have won my seat in 1997, if we had not taken control of kingston council in 1994. you can say that about a lot of liberal democrat seats. it sets us ina liberal democrat seats. it sets us in a really good stead for the future. plus, our positioning, positioning on the key issue of the day. we are an anti—brexit party. we wa nt day. we are an anti—brexit party. we want to stop brexit. and on things like climate change, where we are leading the debate, and on whole areas on crime, where we have been arguing for more police, there is bread and butter issues, i think we have got very strong positions. john, can you say something about labour's performance, and then i will bring emily n. sound like this

i5a will bring emily n. sound like this is a bitterly disappointing for labour. -- this is disappointing for labour. -- this is disappointing for labour. they have not fell away as badly as the conservatives, but viewers might remember last year we had labour and the conservatives neck and neck, back then it was 35 a piece, rather than 28 apiece. labour have fallen back in the last 12 months, during the period where the brexit impasse has evolved and continued, just as much as the conservatives, and to that extent, at least, i think the labour party has to ask itself whether or not its response to the brexit deal, and the brexit impasse has been adequate or not, and certainly there is plenty of opinion polling out there that whatever people think of how well or badly theresa may has handled brexit, and the truth is, they don't think very much of it, they don't

think very much of it, they don't think thatjeremy think very much of it, they don't think that jeremy corbyn was necessarily have done a betterjob. and you can therefore imagine why when voters are indeed rather frustrated, or i entirely accept some are frustrated because we haven't left, and others because we haven't left, and others because we haven't had another second referendum, but when voters are frustrated, if they don't have confidence in the ability of your position to deliver on the policies, then they turn to other parties in order take stress —— in order to express that frustration. including, being quite ready in a way that we are frankly not seeing in local government elections for a very long time, to vote for none of the above, ie for independent candidates.”

couldn't actually hear what he was 5aying. couldn't actually hear what he was saying. i'm sorry, you couldn't actually hear what he was saying. would you like to summarise in a louder voice. basically, iwas suggesting that labour's vote has falle n suggesting that labour's vote has fallen over the last 12 months by exactly the same amount as the conservative vote, because 12 months ago, we had the two parties in 35%. you are now both on 28%, and this raises questions that although indeed voters might be unhappy about brexit, and above all the government's handle of brexit, the opposition have not exactly persuade the electorate that they would be able to do a betterjob. the apparent willingness of voters to go elsewhere, including perhaps most interestingly for what is a bit of an element of none of the above, ie for independent, nonparty candidates. to that extent at least

the operation is —— opposition is in no way at all demonstrating a ability to profit from the government's misfortune. every word there. thank you very much. emily, your response. i understand what you are saying. that's why i think we need to move on. really the reason we need to move on is because it's in the interest of the country, but a5 in the interest of the country, but as the labour party, we need to keep pushing. the difficulty has always been, i5 pushing. the difficulty has always been, is that we have to respond to what the government does. it's very difficult for us to take the initiative. that is the essence of the way our political system works. the executive takes the initiative, and we have to respond. we have been trying to keep them by saying we will agree if you will do this, but it's very hard from the sidelines of being the opposition, which is a miserable place to be, to be, to try to keep sort of pushing the government in the right direction. soi government in the right direction. so i fully understand why people may feel that we aren't leading brexit

in the right way, but we are not in the position to be able to do that. there is the issue of leadership, theissue there is the issue of leadership, the issue of anti—semitism, tony robinson hasjust left the issue of anti—semitism, tony robinson has just left the the issue of anti—semitism, tony robinson hasjust left the labour party is citing those things as the reason he is doing so. it might not be that it isjust about brexit for your party. i think that we need to get the issue of brexit clear. i think that we need to continue to move it. i think that we have been doing the right thing in terms of being frankly the only party that has been, has approached it in a proper states person like wei, of trying to keep the country together, and represent believers and remainers in a democratic way. we have been trying to get the country going, e55entially measuring everything we do against what would be good on the economy.”

everything we do against what would be good on the economy. i have... i have been a member of the labour party for a very long time, and the name of the leader has always come up name of the leader has always come up saying, unle55 name of the leader has always come up saying, unless you get rid of that person, i will note vote labour. it's always a ongoing thing. in the end, the point is this, when it comes to bread and butter politics, what the labour party can face down our offer, fighting austerity, all of it, we have a really exciting promise to the people, as to what we could do as an alternative, but i appreciate, we need to get round the issue of brexit, we need to move on, because ido brexit, we need to move on, because i do think there is another way to this. i came this morning from a new shelter that we have just opened in my constituency for the homeless. people 5ee my constituency for the homeless. people see it, people 5leep

my constituency for the homeless. people see it, people sleep on the 5treet5, people see it, people sleep on the streets, and they feel we are just dealing with brexit, and there are all these other pressing issues, and there is no bandwidth for dealing with it. we are the alternative, and we could be a good alternative government when we get a chance to talk about this. then i think people will listen and go, yes. can ijust very quickly say that the conservatives have lost 13 seats in surrey heath. two more lo5er5 than the council, and this is that michael gove's area. 18 seats have been lost so far. we were expecting to get bad re5ult5 been lost so far. we were expecting to get bad results in the south. it was going to be very difficult for us was going to be very difficult for us and some of these areas. it fits with what we have always predicted, that today was going to give us some difficult re5ult5 that today was going to give us some difficult results for the conservatives. but in a place like surrey, what would the factors be there? what would that be about? would that be about the national

picture? i think it might well be. clearly it would be good to know exactly how that area ever did in the referendum, and i5 exactly how that area ever did in the referendum, and is this again a reflection of leave ver5u5 remain votes. is it a question of some conservative voters 5taying votes. is it a question of some conservative voters staying at home because we haven't left yet. that would be the things that i would expect. i just would be the things that i would expect. ijust point out to viewers that you will be leaving us quite soon, so i'm sorry to say, let's have a final contribution from you now. taking in the surrey heath picture... emily, behave your5elf! laughter i hadn't read for any press echo! ian, no press echo for you, it will be —— pro5ecco.

ian, no press echo for you, it will be -- prosecco. they were hoping to make six gains. they have made 13 games. that suggests just about local issues. some of those people have chosen to vote for the liberal democrats for other issues. given that you want me to leave, i want to make the point that the prime minister is trying to interpret last night, asa minister is trying to interpret last night, as a message to get on with brexit, as we said before, i think thatis brexit, as we said before, i think that is they wrong interpretation. i think we need to think about the way forward. i think the british people said stop brexit last night. it is clear on the parties that gained, they were the ones who were against brexit, the brexit parties, labour and the tories. ukip lost. they all lost. you can do lots of different analysis, but i think the basic

message is that. it was a fantastic night for the liberal democrats. john curtis is trying to say that it was not quite as good, but actually, in seats gained, council seats gained across the country, it may be one of our best nights ever, and we have got a smile on our face. when we come to the european elections, which we will do, we will get some sleep between now and then i hope, when we come to this european elections, we will see what happens. but limerick rep —— liberal democrats are clearly a remain party. there were obviously people in parts of the country who did not have local elections last night. i am pleased that we are going to give them the opportunity in london, and in scotland and other places that did not have local elections, they will be able to send a message saying we want to stop brexit. thank you very much. we will see again. ed davey for the lib dems.

gemma dylan i5 gemma dylan is in york. what is going on? a different council but are very similar picture. a5 elsewhere in the country, we have got conservatives looking glum. labour likewise. lib dems and the green party fairly confident. york i5 green party fairly confident. york is different in that in 2015 it was a three—way tie really between the labour party, the conservatives and the liberal democrats. the liberal democrat5 vote held up in 2015. although there was no overall control for the authority as a whole, the liberal democrats have been running the authority with the conservatives since 2015. so talk of votes going to them as a protest vote, here in york they don't see that. they have always seen them5elve5 that. they have always seen themselves as a credible alternative to the two other parties, to labour and the conservatives. looking

around, ican and the conservatives. looking around, i can see labour councillor5 have been telling me that on the campaign trail they face real abuse, angen campaign trail they face real abuse, anger. the conservatives likewise. what is like —— what is interesting again in york is that it was one of the places in yorkshire that voted to remain. 58% in the referendum voted to remain in the city. so perhap5 voted to remain in the city. so perha p5 another indication voted to remain in the city. so perhap5 another indication of why the liberal democrats, with their clear message on brexit, that they wa nt to clear message on brexit, that they want to remain in europe, have been able to pick up some of those votes. conservatives so far have lost two 5eat5. conservatives so far have lost two seats. the liberal democrats have gained three. the conservatives are being pushed close in several wards. i believe their deputy leader is in trouble in his ward. he currently

5it5 trouble in his ward. he currently sits with two other conservative councillors. there are rumours washing around the floor that all three conservative councillor5 could lo5e three conservative councillor5 could lose their seats. likewise, three conservative councillor5 could lo5e their5eats. likewise, if three conservative councillor5 could lose their seats. likewise, if you look to the labour leadership in this city, her seat is under threat from the green party. that is the leader of both the conservative group, deputy leader, 5orry, of the conservative group in york under threat, and the leader of the labour group under threat. meanwhile, the leader of the liberal democrat group has been returned as a liberal democrat councillor five times. he has got quite a comfortable majority in his seat. what will be interesting at the end of the day is how those numbers 5tack interesting at the end of the day is how those numbers stack up. will the liberal democrats have been able to make enough ground up to get overall control of the council? 0r make enough ground up to get overall control of the council? or will they have to fall back on —— and form a coalition with someone? will they turn to the conservative councillor5

that remain and form a similar coalition again? or will the labour group be in a position to be forming a coalition, perha p5 group be in a position to be forming a coalition, perhap5 looking to the green party? the green party are hopeful to capitalise on the climate change i55ue. hopeful to capitalise on the climate change issue. we have seen a lot of that nationally. extinction rebellion and so forth. if that means they will break through, we don't know. the voter turnout in the city has been around 40%. higher than we were expecting. i think the la5t than we were expecting. i think the last election, where it was just local elections rather than the general election as well, turnout was 30. turnout held up. but conservatives looking very glum. thank you for that update, gemma. let's go to kent and thanet. that is where ukip had its only council until there were lots of defection5

and it was a conservative minority administration. ali price is there. what is going on? whew, as you say, this was a tory minority lead council. it was the halcyon days of ukip micro that we all remember. we have only had three or four wards declared so far. you don't need a crystal ball to tell you that it has been about the collapse of ukip. cast your memory back to 2015, tho5e heady days of ukip power when nigel farage wa5 heady days of ukip power when nigel farage was down and thanet almost every week, campaigning for the parliamentary 5eat. every week, campaigning for the parliamentary seat. in fact, the party even held their conference right here in the winter garden5. we know nigel farage did not win that parliamentary seat what ukip did very well. they 5wept parliamentary seat what ukip did very well. they swept to power here on the council by a comfortable margin. and took control. fast forward to the last year and after a number of defection5 and a big row about the future of manston airport and what should happen to it, we saw 12 councillor5 from ukip defect and

the leader step down. and of course the leader step down. and of course the conservatives then took control of it. the question is not about the margins by which ukip are losing support. the question is, where does the vote go can ——? we hear labour have picked up five 5eat5. and it is true to say i think that the conservatives are hardly confident about their chances. i have spoken toa about their chances. i have spoken to a couple of senior tories who say they are quite pleased that neither ukip no nigel for as bus brexit party got their act together. they would have haemorrhaged votes micro to both of those parties. they are happy about that. they are also very concerned about what might happen in the european elections and a couple of weeks. 0ne tory told me conservative members here in south thanet, a number of them won't even campaignfor thanet, a number of them won't even campaign for the conservatives nationally in those elections. they will, in fact, support the brexit

party. the leader of the conservative group here held onto his seat. in his speech he felt this was one of the strangest elections he had ever seen. given what has been happening to the conservatives in the south—east, bear in mind the conservatives have lost control in folke5tone and the leader of canterbury city council has just lost his seat, i think that could be putting it mildly. certainly. thank you for the update. i am pleased to 5ay you for the update. i am pleased to say that jonathan ba rtley you for the update. i am pleased to say thatjonathan bartley of the green party has say thatjonathan bartley of the green party ha5joined u5. say thatjonathan bartley of the green party ha5joined us. welcome. we will get some comments from you on your performance in a second. i would like reeta to take us through some of the latest results. these re5ult5 some of the latest results. these results are all examples of councils where the main parity, either labour or the conservatives, have lost control of the council and give an indication of what has happened in this election and why it is that of the two main party's 5hare

this election and why it is that of the two main party's share of the vote has gone down quite so dramatically. labour in suffolk, malvern hills in worcestershire, warwick and mendip, the5e malvern hills in worcestershire, warwick and mendip, these were all conservative councils that have now become hung councils. no overall control. they are in grave. i want to go into mendip. a5 control. they are in grave. i want to go into mendip. as you can see, familiar tale. liberal democrats have 5urged against the conservatives. this is a hung council. the liberal democrats were short by two so they didn't take the council entirely. let me show you the seat change. the conservatives lost 22 seats. the liberal democrats picking up 11. and the greens and independents doing well. this was a council where the conservatives had a majority of 17. now they have lost control of that council. a similar tale for labour in darlington and

stockton—on—tee5. the5e tale for labour in darlington and stockton—on—tee5. these were labour controlled councils. they have now gone into no overall control. they are still counting in surrey heath. a5 are still counting in surrey heath. as you can see, it's white, so that means they are still counting. this was a conservative council. but look at what has happened. the winning po5t at what has happened. the winning post is 18. 17 at what has happened. the winning po5t i518. 17 to declare. and so for the conservatives are on three. it is possible the conservatives could lose control of surrey heath. we will be watching this one. surrey heath the house of commons seat is held by michael gove. his majority i5 held by michael gove. his majority is rock solid. 0ver held by michael gove. his majority is rock solid. over 20,000. but still is rock solid. over 20,000. but 5till this is very interesting, the conservatives losing 13 seats here, the liberal democrats putting on nine and the independents and the greens a5 nine and the independents and the greens as well. just one more to show you on this screen. mole valley in dorking. this is a liberal democrat gain from the

conservatives. the liberal democrats on 22 seats, the conservatives on 12, independents on seven. a quick look at these seat change. you can 5ee look at these seat change. you can see what has happened. ten conservative 5eat5 have just been divided up largely against the liberal democrats and one to an independent. reeta, thank you. you have to pinch yourself a bit, haven't you, vicki? surrey heath. it has been tory since 1973. that is a bit ofan has been tory since 1973. that is a bit of an earthquake, surely?” think the results for the conservatives will end up being worse than they expected. there was a lot of expectation management going on around westminster with people talking about losing 600 seats, 700 seats. we are up to 795 at the moment. it could be higher. it could be worse. it is happening in those kind of places which i think maybe people hadn't realised. i think the interesting thing about the liberal democrat revival, if it is one, and if it is translated into

a general election, remember that the conservatives won in 2017. that was party by destroying the liberal democrats, taking them out. and so, if there is some kind of clawing back by that party, particularly in the south—west of england, that makes it very hard for the conservatives to win any kind of majority. that is why it is significant where the liberal democrats are winning and where the conservative losing. the greens on 121 gains, jonathan, so far. that is pretty spectacular. what are the factors behind that? it is phenomenal. it exceeds our expectations. i think we have phenomenal. it exceeds our expectations. ithink we have been targeting very hard. we knew where the games were going to come from. we we re the games were going to come from. we were expecting a lot of them. we have had uplift as well. first of all because of what has happened in the last few weeks in terms of the prominence of climate change, extinction rebellion, the david attenborough documentary. people

realising there is a climate emergency and our councillors have been working up and down the country to get climate emergency motions passed on councils over the last six months. we are up to 60 to 70 councils now. and of course being a remain party, one of the lessons, i think of this election is that if you forge, you lose. that has come across very cleanly. we have gained an uplift from that. we are pro—remain. we are pro a people's vote. we have three times as many mps in the european parliament as the liberal democrats do. i would challenge the claim made earlier that the lib dems are the main party. we are a stock brexit party. we have benefited from that. it is the hard work of councillors in the town halls. when you get greens elected, the first past the post syste m elected, the first past the post system has been a barrier for a long time, but when we have got greens elected people have seen that greens do make a difference. they bring a completely fresh perspective. 0ne ——

right now it is one of the most powerful bowls you can cast. your reference to the forge was for labour? both! this phrase, a plague and allare labour? both! this phrase, a plague and all are houses, labour? both! this phrase, a plague and allare houses, has labour? both! this phrase, a plague and all are houses, has been going on for 24 hours. somehow this is a message, by voting for remain parties, voters are sending a message that you need to get on with brexit. that is naive. you don't vote for remain party is to get on with brexit. there is a real anger. with the breakdown, as we just heard from john curtice, with the vote share of the two main parties going down to 58%, this is part of a long—term trend and we need to put it in perspective. the 19505, 90% of people were voting for the two main parties. that has gone down and down. even in 1997, the tony blair landslide, was with a majority of more than 100. what about the 2017

general election? it is astonishing that that majority in 1997 was only from one in five people. 2017 everyone said it was changing. the downward trend is changing. it was a snap election. it was clearly a blip. those people that said, suddenly we are going back to a two party system, that is not the case. i think the issue is brexit. i think theissueis i think the issue is brexit. i think the issue is brexit and the need that people have to for it to be resolved. that is why we need to have a bit of foresight and be able to think through how we are going to get through this. because at the moment the only deal that is on the table is one that we think is going to cause economic uncertainty and is going to result in people losing theirjobs. that is why we are against it. but we want to be able to try to resolve it in some way and we need to move on. we cannot continue like this. we cannot continue like this. we cannot continue to be laughed at by the

world. and we cannot continue to be doing the damage we are doing to our society and to our economy. there must be movement and we must find a way of breaking the logjam. it isn't theresa may's deal. we have to stop that fantasy and work out another way of getting through it. then we can go back to the big issues, the other big issues that really affect people's lives. frankly, that is what we were talking about in 2017. that is why labour were so close to winning the general election. helen, i will bring you in in a second, i promise. there is obviously a useful green theme because there is counting going on in brighton. there is a lot of interest in the green vault in brighton. i would like to bring in john, our correspondent. john young. what is your reading of things there at the moment? are you getting any signals from party workers? yes. and

of the signals are... 0r! that's a bit annoying. of the signals are... or! that's a bit annoying. can we talk about kent instead? john has been waiting patiently for a long time to talk to us and brighton is an interesting place for us to keep ta bs an interesting place for us to keep tabs on. as soon asjohn comes back we will be with him. can we talk about kent? yeah. it's funny sitting beside you here, emily. i do feel there is quite a lot of common ground in where we are as both you speaking for labour and me speaking for the conservatives, wanting us to move on through brexit. and both of our party is trying to represent whole country and having voters who in the past voted for us but who have voted leave or remain. and wanting us to honour the referendum result but also with an agreement that looks after the economy. that

is certainly what i want to see us do. i do sincerely hope that in the weeks ahead that we will be able to come to a compromise agreement.” hear you, helen. but come to a compromise agreement.” hearyou, helen. but the come to a compromise agreement.” hear you, helen. but the difficulty is, remember that speeds theresa may to the tory party conference when she was first elected? she put down so she was first elected? she put down so many red lines that were contrary to the interest of the british economy and to jobs. she to the interest of the british economy and tojobs. she may to the interest of the british economy and to jobs. she may have been trying to move back from that but she is not a woman who compromises and the deal that you have on the table is not one that we could ever agree to and you know that, and you are not prepared to move, you are not prepared to compromise. so what do we do? even if they do thrash out a deal in some miraculous way, there is no way it will get to the house of commons. you will lose the right wing of the conservative party. you have to take the labour backbenchers with you as well. there is only one way out of this mess. i think everyone is realising it. you have to have more democracy. you have to take it back to the people. give it to the

people. take the deal that has been agreed back to the people with an option to remain if they don't want it. but if you do that, to me, the whole question about another referendum, people's vote, however you describe it, the big question is, what is the question? do you just for those two options? what about people who voted to leave and to think that no deal is their model of leaving? i have heard huge anger from leave voters. i think we will need to have, we end up in this whole debate about what the question is, which isn't easy. we would all probably agree, i hope we will, that the political system is in a terrible state at the moment. it is broken. we have this winners takes all sense of democracy, this first past the post system, which is not fit for purpose in the modern world. let's talk about the referendum. exactly that. the idea was that you voted. even though it was a very close margin. what do you want to do

with the new referendum? this has been the attitude of the government. leave it in our hands, we will negotiate the deal... then we will sort it out. the whole approach has been to try to come up with an agreement which recognises the 48% as well as the 52%. hence, for instance, the attempt to build ourselves a close future relationship with the european union which has frictionless free trade as much as we can. just to have a referendum and say, wright, 48% can suck it up. you keep saying that. that is not the attitude. where was the engagement with the population asa the engagement with the population as a whole? leave it to us, we will come back with a deal. that is why i wa nt come back with a deal. that is why i want to put it in the wider context. what is happening in europe is a

fragmented system, massive political realignment. you see these massive rises of the green party in places like germany against the far right parties. the old political fault lines are breaking down and we are clamped, we don't see it, because we are obsessed with brexit. what does the green party think should be, if you think there should be a second referendum, what do you guys say should be on the ballot paper? you say they should be theresa may's deal and you don't think there should be no deal? no, i don't. it would be an absolute disaster to contemplate having that on the ballot paper. you will get people incredibly angry about that option. there is an argument to say the country has already voted to leave so country has already voted to leave so remain should not be on the ballot paper at all. the deal has been put together and now it is a choice, do you want the deal? we we re choice, do you want the deal? we were not given a prospectus for the referendum. we were given a blank sheet of paper. no one described what it was going to mean. nobody we nt what it was going to mean. nobody

went into the difference between the customs union and the single market, the irish backstop. some of my family voted leave. we shouldn't be afraid to ask people if this is what they want. before we do this, can we haveit they want. before we do this, can we have it confirmed? let's pause for a second we havejohn in brighton. sorry, we were cut off. you are telling us about the count. you are telling us about the count. you are telling us about the count. you are telling us about the green party but also the other parties in brighton. what does it look like? the rumour is the optimism is all with the greens here at the moment. very early days. we have only had one actual result out of 21 wards. with the greens are optimistic. they think they could possibly even be leading the council again as of next week. i say again because back in 2011 they became the first council in the country to have a green light authority. that would obviously be a headline and would encourage your green guest in the studio. it is back to national issues. there is a

sense from labour and the conservatives that brexit issue has damaged the conservative, and the anti—semitism row has damaged labour. a green party vote in the south—east is not new. green policies are often popular in lewes. and we have the only green mp in caroline lucas in brighton. final thought, interestingly, if the greens do to control or at least leave the council —— lead the council in future, suddenly the issues we will be debating may be local. because the green party got into all sorts of trouble when they ran the council over recycling and waste disposal issues, and suddenly the focus was on local issues in local elections rather than the national ones we have been hearing about. what clues have they given already about how they would do things differently to the last time? there were some difficulties, as you say? i think they are taking

soundings and they don't want to commit to anything. i had a chat before we came on camera with the green leader. he was keeping his cards close to his chest and said, we will have to do things differently, we will have to learn from the past will stop we have to find a flag for green success. it caused all sorts of tension and awkwardness. you had caroline lucas, the only green mp in westminster, and yet a green authority. she was frustrated. we will be watching that closely if and when it happens. john, thank you. john young in brighton. we are going to have a look at the weather in just a couple of minutes. before that, vicki, your thoughts about where we stand and what else has been happening in the last few minutes? we have just heard that labour has lost middlesbrough. that is another council loss therefore at labour. and that point really, very disappointing set of results for the labour party. they have lost darlington, middlesbrough, cannock chase. they would want to be

making gains, not going backwards at this point, if they are to have a serious chance of becoming the government. not as bad as the conservative results. pretty appalling for them. it looks like it might be even worse. losing hundreds and hundreds of seats. the example we talked aboutjust now, in surrey heath it has been conservative since 1973, they are losing a lot of seats in places like that. the lib dems, the main beneficiaries. an excellent set of results, albeit from a low base. they have had a terrible time in recent years. they are building on that local councillor base. the big question for them as ever, can they translate that into parliamentary seats? that at the moment is what we don't know. interestingly, ternet has not fallen through the floor as some people thought. this idea they would be apathy, it doesn't seem to be that way. there is an appetite for something different than the main parties, it seems. worth reminding ourselves as well that there have been six mayoral contest is taking place. in mansfield, a battle royal

between an independent called kate allsop and andy abrahams of labour. that has gone to a secondary count. it has been —— there has been a lot of tense political fighting it has been —— there has been a lot of tense politicalfighting going on in mansfield. it is very close. and a secondary count between the independent kate allsop and the labour candidate andy abrahams. we will bring you the latest on that as we get it. let's look at the scoreboard once again before we have a look at the weather. the day after local election day. this is where we are right now. the conservatives looking at losses of 842 and counting. labour looking at losses of 91. the lib dems now looking at 491. i think i am right in saying thatis 491. i think i am right in saying that is their best ever gain in a local election, local council election. the greens have put on

124. the independents have put on the 380. that is the picture. let's join starve for the weather. hello. as you probably heard it will be pretty cool for this may day bank holiday. not a wash—out but certainly not a hot and sunny one like we saw last year with record breaking highs of 29 celsius in north west london. this may day is looking much cooler. 12 to 13 degrees will be the high with quite a bit of clout around. it will be a record—brea ker a bit of clout around. it will be a record—breaker for a bit of clout around. it will be a record—brea ker for the wrong reasons, perhaps. we have got a cold front sinking south. that is introducing the cooler air as we head through the courts of today. the arctic air pouring out south right across scotland, northern ireland and in two parts of northern england, meaning temperatures by the end of the day will be struggling to much above 70 —— seven to nine

celsius. as the cold front continues to move south, it will take its cloud and showers with it. by the end of the night we should hold onto some cloud. 0vernight low macro macro of five to 7 degrees. watch out for some early ice. it is going to bea out for some early ice. it is going to be a cold start to saturday morning. plenty of sunshine around. it will be windy. those winds touching gale force across exposed coasts and hills of north—east scotland, feeding showers into central and eastern areas. a few getting into western england as well. they will have a wintry flavour. soft hail and sleet at lower levels, too. it will be cold and roll along the east coast. top temperatures across western areas, maybe 13 to 14 degrees. high pressure builds in as we head into sunday. that will kill off the showers and also the winds will ease down. it will stay quite windy and showery across the northern isles and the far north—east of scotland.

we start with the sunshine on sunday. it is looking likely we will see cloud built in the afternoon. quite a cool and great afternoon. temperatures ten to 13 degrees. that is well below the seasonal average. as we head into the bank holiday monday, we see this front spread southwards. by monday, it will be in central areas and produce thicker cloud. some showery outbursts of rain. rather cloudy skies for england and wales. and colder with sunshine and showers.

why all good afternoon, welcome to viewers on bbc one to the bbc election centre, our coverage of the local elections in england and northern ireland, we've had almost three quarters of the results are in for the local elections. they made rather painful meeting it must be

said for conservatives and labour but the lib dems have been the main beneficiaries so far, look at this. pa rt beneficiaries so far, look at this. part of a liberal democrat majority! cheering they have made gains of almost 500 seats so far and they say that they have won overall controls of places like winchester and north norfolk. not forgetting chelmsford where the lib dems leader sir vince cable was this morning congratulating his party supporters. he said it had been a brilliant result for his party. but the conservatives are feeling the pinch, they are already down 850 or so seats and there is still a way to go, they have gained while solid must be said but lost control of more than 30 councils including peterborough and st albans. and including peterborough and st alba ns. and the including peterborough and st albans. and the prime minister theresa may is in wales talking to the welsh conservatives at the spring conference. she said voters had sent a clear message in her view to go on and deliver brexit. labour

no doubt will be disappointed not to have done better than they have done, jeremy corbyn in trafford this morning which was again from the conservatives, but its loss to darlington and overall are down by 90 seats. there are about 60 councils are still counting this afternoon and i will be here by the giant touch—screen analysing the results as they come in. we are also joined by vicki young our chief political correspondent with her expert analysis and take on what is going on especially in the wider political picture with the brexit stalemate at westminster so stay with us for election 2019. 182 councils declared, just 66 to 90. 182 councils declared, just 66 to go, the picture now is pretty clear and we are just following that narrative. there are some five and a half thousand council seats already

declared, some 2700 to go, still a chunk to go. counts still going on around the country. this is thanet in kent, we will talk about this in a moment, this was a you kept win —— a moment, this was a you kept win —— a ukip win previously but has since slipped into independence. we will also look at york which is currently run bya also look at york which is currently run by a conservative lib dem minority administration, our reporter has been telling us the conservatives are looking rather fea rful of conservatives are looking rather fearful of the result in york so we will see what happens in the city of york as that goes on. let me introduce my guests because we have jonathan bartley the co—leader of the green party, the shadow foreign secretary labour's emily thornberry and the conservative party deputy chair helen whatley. let's have a

quick look at the scoreboard so we know exactly where we stand. at 333 in the afternoon. here we are, the conservatives currently on 848 losses, labour on 90, the lib dems record gain of 495. the greens having put on 124 and the independents having gained 383. those are the headline figures for you and with that we willjoin carrie for the days news. here is a summary of the news, the conservative and labour parties have suffered a backlash in the local elections with voters apparently punishing them for the brexit deadlock. both have seen significant losses and the main winners are smaller parties like the lib dems and the greens as well as independent candidates. the prime minister says voters are showing they want politicians to get on and deliver brexit. here is our

political correspondent nick ea rdley. political correspondent nick eardley. glum faces all around, this has not been a good result for the two biggest parties, counting continues but the tories have lost more than 750 councillors so far giving up control in st albans, southend, peterborough and elsewhere. as the prime minister turned up to address members in wales some were less than impressed. thank you everybody. hey why don't you resign? booing we don't want you. with tory losses mounting up to these may have this assessment. there was a simple message from yesterday's elections to both us and the labour party. just get on and deliver brexit. but something the prime minister herself is the problem. many constituents have said we need a change of leadership. tradition dictates the day after elections and party

leaders head to anyone four, jeremy corbyn in trafford in greater manchester but his party lost control in hartlepool, and the world. we have won trafford to an overall majority and swings to labour ina overall majority and swings to labour in a number of bottas and councils across the country and that gives us a basis on which we can win marginal seats such as swindon and thurrock and i am looking forward to an election that will do that. as things stand at labour are facing a clear strategy on brexit. my prediction is we need to go back to the people and we need to say to them did you vote for this? on the basis of detailed voting figures in some wards if the results are replicated across the uk the conservatives and labour would be tied on 28%. the lib dems on 19 and others on 25. that will be music to the years of liberals, more than 400

councillors upped so far taking control of councils in bath, winchester and the cotswolds. just celebrating a really great result here. this is the story across the country, the lib dems were written off at one point but we are coming back very strongly, we are the big winners of the night. independence have done well as have the green party. we have broken through on 16 new councils re—cementing our place as the fourth party in england in local government and momentum going into the european elections, we are the biggest representation of any main party in the european parliament at the moment. it has been tough for ukip, they have gone backwards. we have lost seats but we need gains, when you look at the results of areas like sunderland where we did not win we had a lot of second place so good and bad across the board. plenty more results to

come including in northern ireland we re come including in northern ireland were counting began this morning. across the uk parties are watching closely trying to figure out what it might mean for their wider fortunes. for labour and the tories commiserations to cher, problem is to solve. counting is also under way in wales and meanwhile in the last few minutes labour leaderjeremy corbyn has been speaking in telford so let's listen to what he's had to say. we had an incredible result a here in telford, i am here to thank them and congratulate them. i have just come from trafford where they are also celebrating and i have been in touch with people in calderdale where we have gained. across the country the conservatives lost about 600 councils already and we've lost about 90. i am sorry about that and i thank them for their services. there are mixed results across the country but in many of the marginal

constituencies that we have to gain in the general election we've had some promising results at a ward level and so i recognise that brexit has been something that has been much dominated this campaign which is essentially issues of local government. but we have to bring people together and labour is the only party that appeals to people who have devoted in 2016. we don't believe anyone who voted leave voted to lose theirjob. we want to bring people together hence we put forward the idea of a customs union, and a protection of rights we have got from the european union. theresa may and her government have fiddled around and did not even invite me for a meeting until after the original date had passed by. it has to come back to parliament and be resolved quickly. jeremy corbyn. counting is also under way in northern ireland, a total of 462 seats up for grabs across 11 councils. the first few results have been trickling in but most are

expected later today or tomorrow morning. there are no elections in scotla nd morning. there are no elections in scotland and none in wales. that's it from the summary, back to election 2019. we will be back with carrie a little later but back here in the studio, let's just later but back here in the studio, let'sjust consider later but back here in the studio, let's just consider what is coming up let's just consider what is coming up because we have that interesting result coming up in thanet previously a very big eucalypt stronghold, —— ukip stronghold but no longer. we will also be talking to the conservative party chair brandon lewis in the next few minutes. vicki young, what are the themes which are marriage and just thinking about, we have talked about performance, talking about coming to the end of the day, theresa may has had a torrid day at the tory conference in wales, what will be the principal questions people will be confronting? is a good place to

start is surrey heath, a conservative council since 1973. at the moment they've lost 14 seats and it looks like they might well lose overall control of the council which is something i do not think any mp or party manager would have predicted. it's an appalling set of results for the conservatives, no getting away from that. they will say they might have expected it, being in powerfor nine years it's usualfor being in powerfor nine years it's usual for the party in being in powerfor nine years it's usualfor the party in power to being in powerfor nine years it's usual for the party in power to get a bit ofa usual for the party in power to get a bit of a kicking but this is a difficult set of results for them and they will have to look at why it happened. in the places where the lib dems are challenging from second place there are some big swings towards the lib dems. the argument that people want brexit to be delivered is an argument which will be challenged by the lib dems and the greens who are very much the anti brexit party is and they will say that's not what this is saying. it's difficult to guess, people will be voting for local issues but there

is no doubt with brexit dominating the agenda that that has definitely had an impact and we've heard from labour councils who have lost their seats, tories two, they are saying they have been let down by their political masters in westminster. the deadlock over brexit having an impact but what's interesting is it's not just harming impact but what's interesting is it's notjust harming the conservatives it's also been a disappointing set of results for labour. they have lost seats like darlington, middlesbrough, they have beenin darlington, middlesbrough, they have been in opposition for nine years and they are pushing for a general election, they say that the main thing they want and yet based on these kind of results they are not in the place where they are about to seize power. they are still a long way behind in terms of winning seats, winning mp5 and these results will not help, they should be a long way ahead of the conservatives. the clear winners are the lib dems with excellent results but from a low base, as we know since the coalition they have been in a terrible state. they have lost hundreds of

councillors, so they are clawing their way back and they are obviously pleased with these results but for them as ever the challenge is whether they can translate local results, local councillors running local councils, can they translate that into winning seats at a general election. they have now topped 500 games, 503 for the lib dems and the greens have had a good night as well. just another yardstick which might be useful before we talk to brandon lewis, let's look at what we call the projected national share of the vote. this is the figure we have produced, based on the assumption that yesterday's elections would have taken place across britain. that's the kind of, that's the usefulness of this project international share. 28% apiece to the conservatives and labour. unusual to have the two big parties under 30% the lib dems on 19%, the

others on 25 reflecting the fact that there has been a big boost to the independents and the greens in these elections. that's the projected national share so with that in mind let's go to walsall and bring in the conservative chairman brandon lewis. thank you very much for talking to us, i know it's been a busy night and day for you, could we have your take on the way that your party has performed in these local elections? sure, good evening. we always said this was going to be a tough set of elections for us, coming from that high water mark of the back of the 2015 general election will be exceeded expectations up against a labour party in opposition looking to make gains and the lip dame is coming from a 40 year low as was outlined. —— the from a 40 year low as was outlined. -- the lib from a 40 year low as was outlined. —— the lib dems coming from a 30 year low. but within that there are results like we have seen in walsall and derbyshire where labour are

moving backwards and in those areas good conservative councils, good local campaigns winning and gaining votes for the conservative party. when you look at places like surrey heath and the losses you have suffered, what is your reading of that and why do you think that has happened? well, a couple of things i would say to that, first of all, as isaid would say to that, first of all, as i said earlier on, the liberal democrats in 2015 had come from about 3100 down to 1800 seats, they we re about 3100 down to 1800 seats, they were at a 40 year low. predictions we re were at a 40 year low. predictions were that they would gain over 500 seats, and that is what they are doing, it is what was predicted for them. but also we are seeing i think around the country people showing their frustration with us that in parliament we have reached this kind of impasse and i think it is a very clear message to both us and labour that we have got to make sure that we go forward and deliver what people voted for back in 2016. were

you really expecting losses to be heading up towards 900 at this point? i have outlined for some time that i thought this would be a difficult set of elections for us. we were defending roughly two thirds of the 8500 councillors up for election. these are seats which we won at a point where we exceeded expectations in 2015. i am very proud of the fact that as a party, we fought 96.5% of seats around the country, labour only bothered to field 77% of candidates. 0bviously we have had disappointing results, we've lost some very hard—working councillors and i and sad to see them go and we've got to work hard to give them a chance to come back because conservative councils do deliver more for less, they do it for less council tax, they recycle more, they deliver more frontline services for people. you know that some of your colleagues in local government who have spoken to us overnight had some very harsh things

to say about the government, about the prime minister in one or two cases, and about the way that you have handled this entire brexit process , have handled this entire brexit process, and they were making the point that their efforts to deliver the services that you just described have been badly undermined by the way that you've run things at a national level. so, is that something that you recognise and is it something that you apologise to them for? absolutely i recognise it, it has been a huge frustration around the country, with activists and the general public, the fact that parliament has found itself in this impasse. we as parliamentarians have got to find a way through it, we have got to deliver on the referendum and then move forward to start getting onto those domestic issues and talking about the issues that are affecting people, investment in the nhs, improving education, record job levels. that is what people want us to focus on, having delivered on the referendum,

absolutely recognising that, yes. but surely moving forward involves compromise, and time and again, those people dealing with the prime minister say that she is not in the mood to compromise in any way, shape orform. so where mood to compromise in any way, shape or form. so where do you move forward if the will to compromise is not there? i think if we look back, i would contradict the comment from the leader of the opposition on your program, actually, when we originally said about talking with labour, they did not want to come to meetings, they walked out of another meeting. fortunately we have now got labour having those conversations at the table, i cannot prejudge where thatis the table, i cannot prejudge where that is going to go but i think it isa that is going to go but i think it is a clear message to both parties to come together and find a way through to deliver on brexit. after all in 2017 it was in the manifesto of both parties to respect that referendum and to leave the european union. if labour mp5 in leave constituencies had voted with the prime minister over the last couple of months, we would already have

left by now. how would you describe the prime minister's standing with your party workers up and down the country? as i said a few minutes ago, i recognise this huge frustration at the impasse in parliament, that it has not been able to get the deal done to leave the european union. that focuses through the government and the prime minister, i recognise that but i can assure you that both we as a government and i know the prime minister is absolutely determined to deliver on what people voted for.” accept what you're saying, clearly, there is a great satisfaction with parliament and the political process , parliament and the political process, but you're representing the conservative party and you know party workers very well, how would you describe the attitude of the party workers towards the prime minister, your party leader? well, i've been all over the country over the last few weeks, i was a party activist and worker for longer than i have been a member of parliament and actually i am very lucky to be chairman of a party with such great

members, volunteers, activists, councillors and candidates all over the country, who have been working hard. people want to see us as parliamentarians coming together and supporting the prime minister to get this deal done. but i do recognise there are colleagues who have strong views about where we are as a government, what the prime minister is trying to do, and they have strong feelings on the eu. it is no secret that in the conservative party we have been having a debate about our position in the eu for some decades now but we have got to find a way through that so that we can deliver that. as we don't have an outright majority in parliament, it falls upon all of us as mp5, especially when both parties did have that in their manifesto.” especially when both parties did have that in their manifesto. i am going to get a quick comment from emily thornberry on this, what is your response? well, i think he is talking a lot of nonsense, really. i think the idea that there is equivalence between the conservative loss and the labour losses is obviously nonsense. you can see it in the numbers, up to 900, versus

90, is obviously not equivalent. when he makes the point that 77% of the seats were not contested —— were contested and the others won't, he knows that we are talking about a lot of the deepest, most conservative shires which we would not necessarily be expecting to... and we just have not had any labour councillors there, nor i am afraid would we necessarily expect it. and i think the truth is that it has beena i think the truth is that it has been a mixed night for us, we've had some good results, but we've had some good results, but we've had some disappointments. and i think the other thing that has to be said is that the labour vote, where we have lost labour votes, like for example in sunderland, we have lost some to ukip but we have also had a swing to the greens and to the liberal democrats, which brings me back to the point that i have made throughout this, which is that we need move on from brexit, which does mean that we need to be about this, we need to be prepared to compromise and we need to have some proper

guarantees, and whatever deal it is that the conservatives in the end are able to get through parliament, if they are able to, should go to a confirmatory ballot so that we can find out from the people, is this really what you want? vicki young, you have a question for brandon lewis? i'm just thinking as chairman of the party, it is looking almost certain that the european elections are going to go ahead and i wonder what your strategy will be, given these terrible results, and that is without nigel farage's party, who could well do even more damage to you? look, on both of those points, i would say, bari, once we get the final accounts out of the way, obviously then we are looking to the european elections, with every day that goes past it looks more likely that goes past it looks more likely that we are going to have to fight, we've got our candidates pocket a proud, we've got a really strong set of candidates. but i want to make sure we can do everything we can to give everybody the opportunity to

vote conservative. we have had 96% coverage, as i said, and we want to give everybody the chance to vote conservative across the country. john mcdonnelljust earlier, at the start of last night, was saying he expected labour to make a net gain of over 400. they're actually going backwards, i think that is a dreadful place to be when you are in opposition. i am focused on making sure that we are giving everybody the opportunity for to vote for good representation, and i would argue that that is conservatives, in local government it is conservatives who get more potholes fixed and do more recycling and better things for local people. thank you very much for joining local people. thank you very much forjoining us today on bbc news. at this point, why don't we look at some of the latest results, with reeta? yes, indeed, these results in a way summarise the kind of things which vicki young was talking about, a very disappointing set of results

for the conservatives, some difficult news also for labour and advances being made by the liberal democrats and also the greens and independents. so, just to remind you of how to read these screens, any name in grey is now a hung council, so, malvern hills used to be conservative, you can see by the blue flash at the side, that has now gone into no overall control. staffordshi re gone into no overall control. staffordshire moorlands, similarly used to be conservative, is now a hung council. mendip in somerset, now a hung council, it used to be conservative. now, look at this figure, it is a conservative loss, the liberal democrats were short by two seats here. the conservatives used to have a majority of 17 here. let's just take a look at how the seats have changed. the conservatives lost 22 seats, that would have been very painful for them, and those seats were divided up them, and those seats were divided up largely between the lib dems and the greens but the independent driver also picking up they're

seats. if we go back to the main screen, take a look at the councils that were labour and have now gone into no overall control, including stockton—on—tees, darlington and middlesbrough. i would like to take you into middlesbrough, to have a look at what has happened there. so, middlesbrough, solid labour territory, this is a council that they held by a majority of 17 before. they've been overtaken as the largest party by independents. and if we have a look at the seat change, it tells the story very starkly. labour and the conservatives, seats all going to independent councillors. going back to the main screen, the other part of the election story is the advances made by the liberal democrats. mole valley, that was conservative before, that is a—level

democrat again, and teignbridge in the west country, which was previously no overall control, it is now liberal democrat. a liberal democrat gain with a majority of five. and look how far ahead they are in terms of seats. the conservatives' loss is a gain for the liberal democrats and for the they're independents, very soon, i am very sorry to see, there will be other people sitting in these three chairs, soi other people sitting in these three chairs, so i think it is right to have a closing thought from each of you, jonathan, what for you is the prime thing that we are taking away from these elections? phenomenal results for the greens, it has been great to see climate change coming onto the agenda, it is clear that there is an anger at the two big parties and that has gone to the remain parties. if you fudge things,

you lose, that's the big message that i think the two big parties have to take away. it is all well and good to talk about moving on but if you don't learn the lessons of an election, then we are going to move on very, very quickly. and of course for us it has been a vindication, i think we have now had nine local elections, eight out of nine, we've made gains. it has been a constant growth, we've established ourselves as the fourth party in local government in england. and i would say, watch this space, we've got more results to come, it's been a record—breaking night for us and we are looking forward to the european elections, we are the biggest remain party in the european parliament in terms of the uk seats, we have three times as many meps as the liberal democrats. and we will be asking voters to back us in the european elections, we are unequivocally stop brexit, remain. and we want a people's vote. we heard brandon lewis saying the right things into trams of trying to encourage his own

party members, which you would expect, but what is your take on this, because it is a difficult day for theresa may and the party?l really tough day for us. yes, we knew in advance it was going to be difficult, but this is the reality, councillors in my own constituency losing their seats, and across the country, and i really feel for those hard—working country, and i really feel for those ha rd—working councillors who country, and i really feel for those hard—working councillors who are in that situation. i think stepping back, it is so hard when the country is so divided and brexit has coloured so much of this election. the take away from that is how important it is for us to try and move on, to heal some of those divisions. i think we have to do what the 52% voted for and deliver brexit but doing so in a way that is clearly listening to the 48% as well. we have to move on and make sure that people know that they are listened to. we're listening but we have got to make sure that is seen and felt in practice. emily, your thoughts? it is a mixed result and i

do regret when we have lost control of councils. but if you look at it in terms of some of our key marginal constituencies, we can be encouraged that on the results of this, we would win plymouth more view, swindon, thurrock, we would hold onto peterborough, and an area that i know well, which is in east kent, some interesting things going on there, canterbury as you know has got a labour there, canterbury as you know has gota labourmp there, canterbury as you know has got a labour mp for the first time ever. but we've got a six councillors in folkestone, which means we've got the largest labour group on the medway council for 20 years and also i think we are going to be winning some seats in thanet. that isjust a snippet but things are moving. we have not done as well as we would have liked but let's not exaggerate, this is nothing like the bloodbath which the tories are facing tonight. we will discuss that with your colleagues when they come in but thank you very much the three of you for your company. we were

talking about male role contests, and a very interesting one is the new combined authority of north of tyne. this is a different form of voting which we have for these mayoral contests. if we look at the percentage share of the vote, somebody has to get to 50% to avoid a second round. it means we went on to eliminate other than the top two and that is what happened. labour winning. other than the top two and that is what happened. labourwinning. 0n other than the top two and that is what happened. labour winning. on a turnout of 32%. this is the new north of tyne elected mayor. winning

in the second round after the run—off against the conservative candidate. i am run—off against the conservative candidate. iam pleased run—off against the conservative candidate. i am pleased to say that hejoins us now. many congratulations first of all, thank you forjoining us. thank you. what was the nature of the campaign you thought? we thought our campaign on the policies. making sure peoples housing was right, keeping money in the local economy. the things people we re the local economy. the things people were telling me on the doorstep were bread—and—butter issues. were telling me on the doorstep were bread-and-butter issues. what were theissues bread-and-butter issues. what were the issues around jeremy corbyn's leadership because that must have come up in some form? describe the exchanges on that. actually, by and

large people are more interested in the policies. it was not a big issue on the doorstep. no, i mean, because mr corbyn is associated with the policies, did not come up at all? well, in the sense that people are happy that labour is an anti—austerity party and i think that more than anything is what the result shows. what about on brexit policy for example? what are you telling people in the area about labour's brexit policy, how were you explaining that? there was a fairly mixed response, some people asking why we are not left, some people wanting to stay, but overwhelmingly i would guess around 80% of the people i spoke to on brexit were asking can we notjust get on with this, can we notjust focus on things like the nhs, things like the housing problem we are facing? so i

understand it's a big issue in the media but people are more bothered about their everyday life, the fact that so many people are working multiplejobs to try that so many people are working multiple jobs to try to make ends meet. of course that is important and brexit is notjust a big issue in the media, we understand that, we are not debating that, the issues you have mentioned are hugely important. but brexit as you know full well will potentially affect lots of those issues in any case. what were you telling people locally about the prospect for example of a second referendum on brexit? what are your perspectives on that? my personal view on it is that a no—deal brexit would be really bad for the north—east. we would see factories closing. that's not what anybody wants. certainly not what anyone voted for. we have to take seriously the brexit process and

it's really important to actually talk to people both in europe about what sort of a serious deal can we get, about negotiating now obviously the labour party and the government are negotiating what sort of brexit deal is possible. i think the responsible thing to do is to actually take these negotiations seriously, i'm not involved in them but i understand what is happening. then and only then, when we know the actual facts of the case, that's the time to be talking about extra votes, peoples referendum, whatever it might be. but we are not at that stage. people want a nice clear mean, nice clear lead the line, but i think the responsible thing to discuss this properly. once again many congratulations, thank you for joining us. the newly elected mayor for the north of tyne combined authority, thank you forjoining us.

it looks a bit blustery on the green outside parliament, we willjoin you anita, thank you for waiting patiently. no problem, hopefully the rain holds up, i will get more opinion and reaction and interpretation. joining me on couege interpretation. joining me on college green are femi and tom, we heard the message from the votes we are seeing here today and how they have gone, not well for the conservatives, clearly that things should be getting on and just deliver brexit. but is that the message do you think which is being delivered to the conservative party? i think there is a deeper message more express to the words of the heckler rather than the prime minister. there has been a tsunami of animosity between the conservative party across the country. in the seats the tories

have picked up, even in places like the north—east, it is where their vote has fallen but slightly less than labour party. it's an incredible election where the whole british public has put two fingers up british public has put two fingers up at both major parties and you can see why with the absolute prevarication we've been stuck in, this stasis we find ourselves in, it's an absolute degrees that three yea rs it's an absolute degrees that three years ago people voted to leave the european union and that decision has not been enacted yet. it should come as no surprise the two main parties that committed to enacting that decision in the election two years ago failed to deliver on their commitments. it's no surprise they are being punished. and what is your interpretation? if you look at the board the lib dems and the greens are board the lib dems and the greens a re two board the lib dems and the greens are two parties that support a referendum on the brexit deal and we nt referendum on the brexit deal and went up by about 600 councillors whereas the tories and labour have

lost about 1000 between them. you can see it quite clearly, one thing uniting the country is we have seen the majority of politicians spent the majority of politicians spent the last three years ignoring all the last three years ignoring all the peoples relate talk about, investing in areas which have been forgotten, none of that is being addressed because of brexit and the two parties have spent the last three years focusing on something undeliverable. does it reflect an ongoing split in the country, an ongoing split in the country, an ongoing split in the country, an ongoing split amongst mp5? ongoing split in the country, an ongoing split amongst mps? we have parties saying we need a referendum but there is no brexit that people get behind because the deal they have negotiated is so terrible that nobody wants it. you are shaking your head? that is not true, parliament voted for a deal, they voted for basically the withdrawal agreement but with alternative arrangements to deal with the northern ireland border issue. let's

try and focus more closely on today, what does today mean for how brexit proceeds from here with the european elections coming up?” proceeds from here with the european elections coming up? i think today puts down a marker. we saw there we re puts down a marker. we saw there were no change uk, whatever you want to call them, candidates standing. and no brexit party candidates standing yesterday and also across great swathes of the country there we re great swathes of the country there were not even ukip candidates standing so there are not many places that voters could express theiranger. in many places that voters could express their anger. in many places brexit supporters have opted for parties that ostensibly are remain parties just to vent their anger at the main parties. we've seen it in the north—east, returning lib dems who voted on local issues. is itjust a protest vote ? voted on local issues. is itjust a protest vote? local issues do come into play in local elections but this has been very much about the national issue of brexit as well.

femi do you think it's been a protest vote, with the lib dems and greens and others have done so well? they have done well because they have been clear where neither of the two main parties have been, you have got the tories are standing behind a deal which most brexit voters do not wa nt deal which most brexit voters do not want meaning we follow the rules of the eu but give up our position in setting those rules and you have labour trying to do a fudge which they tried in 2017 and that sort of worked and they got a relative victory. now people are saying hang on, we were supposed to leave in march, labour is not coming down properly on either side, we need a peoples vote. it's a very westminster interpretation to see the people of sunderland voted for the people of sunderland voted for the lib dems for a second referendum. they were talking about local issues, waste from labour councillors, expenses, not europe. people want to get on with the real stuff. leave so we can sort it out.

we are out of time, we could continue this conversation off the air but we are out of town for the moment. back to you. thank you very much, for the lively debate on the green. i will introduce my new panel, kindlyjoining green. i will introduce my new panel, kindly joining us, green. i will introduce my new panel, kindlyjoining us, alex phillips from the brexit party, the shadow trade secretary labour's barry gardiner who for reasons i cannot quite work out has come back for a second goal. nice to see you. and the employment minister alok sharma as well, great to have you with us. vicki young is still with me as well, we are keeping an eye on the counting still going on. we are currently in a position where we have 197 councils declared with 51 to go and we have 6200 councillors already elected but some 2000 yet to be felt. we are well down the path

but there is still quite a big chunk to go. i suppose alex, given that you arejoining us and we are looking ahead also to what might happen at the end of this month because a lot of people are talking about the 23rd of may and european elections i am wondering what your perspective is as you look at these results which you are not taking pa rt results which you are not taking part in, what do you think now in terms of your own potential?” part in, what do you think now in terms of your own potential? i think when you look at the commentary people are saying it could be the brexit party will end up being the big winners despite not fielding any candidates. what is interesting about the results we are seeing is that we are not actually a vehicle for a brexit protest vote in these elections other than ukip who fielded about a quarter of constituencies but they are rather imploding on themselves. but for those people who are adamant we need to leave the eu, properly, there is not anyone out there in these elections to give their vote to. we

are seeing a huge peak in the number of independence, success there, and smaller parties getting the fallout from the establishment parties imploding. but this is not the forum to have a protest vote about brexit. that will be coming up in three weeks' time in the european elections. what is so tragic and fa ct elections. what is so tragic and fact is that hard—working councillors in both of these gentlemen is parties are losing theirjobs. they gentlemen is parties are losing their jobs. they have gentlemen is parties are losing theirjobs. they have been working ha rd theirjobs. they have been working hard for their communities and are losing theirjobs because of the applicants and the vanity of the national parties in westminster. that is quite a big statement, what do you mean? i think the general public at the moment are completely disconnected with politics. what we are looking at and healing in the media is a self—preservation exercise for the main parties, how do you get seats and retain votes and how do we dupe people into continuing to back us? not doing the realjob of representing the people

and delivering on a democratic vote. i think people feel why should i bother? the feel disenfranchised because they feel underrepresented. which people? the 52% of the 48%? you would say, you want to deliver on the referendum result, quite understandably, that is democratic. which side you represent as labour? 0n the one hand we have parties saying i am only for remain and on the other hand parties that are only for leave and what the labour party are trying to see is we are for the population going forward together in a way that means we can live with each other without fighting all the time. that is all very well and i think in many respects what has created this mess in the first place is theresa may's strategy from the beginning trying to build a compromised cabinet. if england was playing the czech republic in a football match you would not have half your team beat czech republic

footballers and i think rather than delivering on the result of the referendum we've had the debate. there was a majority, we were told it was a once—in—a—lifetime vote and the result was clear. it's worth saying we should bring the country together but the more you try to give bits and bobs to one side or the other and try to please both its not actually delivering on the democratic mandate and a compromise is never going to suit anyone. it's prevaricating. what that doesn't ta ke prevaricating. what that doesn't take account of is that the referendum as the supreme court said decided that we should leave the european union. it then went on to say, the supreme court said it is for parliament to decide how we leave and that's been the difficulty. the problem is the referendum campaign said we would be leaving the eu and its institutions. everyone on both side of the campaign said we would be leaving the single market and the customs union. they did, it is repeated in the annals of history. a lot of

things were said but among stain was look at norway, they are outside of the eu and yet they are ok. look at turkey, it's got a customs union arrangement with the eu. it's possible to be outside of the eu and still have a customs union. you are looking at countries which did not join in the first place so perhaps therefore the logical sense would be to leave completely? leave the institutions and agencies and from a position of independence we negotiate an agreement, we negotiate a relationship with the eu where we can collaborate and be allies?” understand that it is your view of it but our point is our fellow citizens are almost equally split on this. and unless we as politicians try and act responsibly and graciously to say to people, look, we are not going to be able to please the extremists on either side but we can try... i don't think you

should see extremists i think that's unhelpful language. what i should say is the people who only want to remain and those people who only wa nt remain and those people who only want to leave on a no deal. what we need to do is try to bring 80% of the people together in a compromise they can all see do you know what, it might not be exactly...” they can all see do you know what, it might not be exactly... i will bring in alec the first thing i would say is that lam incredibly the first thing i would say is that i am incredibly sorry and disappointed that we have lost some really hard—working disappointed that we have lost some really ha rd—working councillors across the country and i can understand why they are incredibly frustrated. there is absolutely no doubt that brexit has loomed large over these elections, it has had a huge impact in terms of results. it is the case that these elections are being held in a cycle where last time around, in 2015, it was a high point for us, we won a general election with a majority, so it is not surprising that in that context we asked ian losses. in fact some of

the projections we had were of more than 1000, and we will see where we end up. of course i am disappointed. what i would say in terms of brexit, i think the message for the two main parties is that we have to work together, we have to compromise and come forward with a deal that is going to get through parliament. i would say to alex that i don't think it is about people being venal, it is about people trying to do the right thing across parliament. we had no overall majority as a government so had no overall majority as a government so we had no overall majority as a government so we have to work together. that is what the two main parties are doing. what i would like is, if we possibly can, to reach a compromise over the next couple of weeks so that we don't have to have these european elections.” weeks so that we don't have to have these european elections. i would like to ask reeta for some of the latest results, which are just coming in? there are two which i would like to show you, both in the same county but starkly different. these two councils are both

straightforward labour— conservative contest. first of all, let me show you this card in derbyshire. this is a labourgainfrom you this card in derbyshire. this is a labour gain from the conservatives, they have gained it bya conservatives, they have gained it by a slender majority, ofjust one. but as we have discovered, what is so but as we have discovered, what is so interesting in councils like this is the seat change, the conservatives down by seven seats, milk down by one, and those seats have been divided up by labour, the liberal democrats and the greens. hold that in your heads while you look at this, north—east derbyshire. here, there is the opposite story going on. this is a conservative gain from labour, going on. this is a conservative gainfrom labour, and going on. this is a conservative gain from labour, and they have a majority of seven. this council has been labour since the 19705. let's have a look at the seat change here, labour losing 17 seats, the conservatives gaining 13, the

liberal democrats, three and the independents, one. what we might be seeing here is what professorjohn curtice has been talking about, which is, while this has been a disappointing night, to different degrees, for both the conservatives and labour, it feels as if voters are punishing the incumbent party.” would like to go to leeds now, because the senior labour mp hilary benn is waiting to talk to us, the chair of the brexit select committee. thank you very much for joining us. what is your reading of these results? look, ithink it is joining us. what is your reading of these results? look, i think it is a mixed picture, as john these results? look, i think it is a mixed picture, asjohn curtice has been saying, when he has appeared on your program. iam been saying, when he has appeared on your program. i am pleased obviously about the result we just heard in high peak, the fact we gained told dale, amber valley and trafford, but we have lost control of other councils. and i sorry for the labour

councillors who have lost their seats, i think it is just over 80 at the moment, but the tory losses are running at about 900, and we have seen running at about 900, and we have seen gains for the lib dems and the greens. so it is a mixture but one issue i think dominates, apart from local factors, and one issue i think dominates, apart from localfactors, and one always has issue i think dominates, apart from local factors, and one always has to ta ke local factors, and one always has to take into account local factors in local elections, but there is no doubt that brexit hangs like a spectre over british politics at the moment. and that includes the results that we've seen emerging since the early hours of the morning. and i think the message is, people want this resolved. but as barry gardiner was just saying, the nation is split down the middle, and we have to find a way through this. and bluntly, there is only two ways it can happen, either parliament agrees a deal, the prime minister has been rejected three times, or we go back to the british people and say, this is the deal which has been agreed, that is the confirmatory

vote, which was put forward a couple of months ago, and say, you make the decision. the great virtue of going back to the british people is, you will get a final decision. and then we can get on with addressing all of the other questions, including those that affect local government and councillors who work very hard up and down the country, because we can't carry on like this, politically, and we can't carry on like this economically, because it is doing damage to our economic future. but would it be a final decision? this goes to the core of it, where people are simply refusing, as other people see it, to accept a democratic verdict. so when you say there would be a final decision, if that didn't suit some people, they would then question it and you are in a vicious circle? decisions will always be contested, thatis decisions will always be contested, that is true for local elections and general elections, as soon general election is over, the parties which didn't do so well are hoping they are going to do better next time and are going to do better next time and are urging people to kick out the

government of the day and replace it. i think in the case of a confirmatory referendum, which i have come to belatedly and in some respects reluctantly because i thought we had an obligation to try to give effect to the referendum result, the problem has been that what was offered by the leave campaign, you can keep all of the economic benefits, and you can have all of your sovereignty, was never, ever deliverable, it was never, ever true. and so the deal that the prime minister has done, which is for of vagueness about our future relationship, does throw into sharp relief the fact that there are choices to be made and compromises that we have to on and i think the leavers are angry about that because in effect it exposes that they never had a plan and what they put forward , had a plan and what they put forward, you can have your cake and it, wasn't true. but we have to make a choice. and the confirmatory referendum, i could see parliament saying, if we got to that, look, we allow the prime minister's deal to

go through, we have legislation ready to say that if that is what the british people vote for in the confirmatory referendum, then that will immediately be enacted, in other words there is not going to be a third go. and i would see that as the first option, because that's what leave looks like. there is no other leave deal, and for those who argue for a no deal brexit, remember, huw, the leave campaign never, ever, ever argued remember, huw, the leave campaign never, ever, everargued fora no deal brexit during the referendum, and therefore no deal would not respect the outcome of the referendum. and if the british people have changed their mind, we remain, and if they haven't, we leave on the basis of the prime minister's deal. the confirmatory referendum is not saying to people, you have to change your mind from last time. it is saying, this is difficult, it's tricky, parliament is stuck, and many people would wish parliament wasn't stuck but it is a fat, and we have to have a resolution. and that is why i have come to the conclusion that that is the way to do it. i notice with interest that eric pickles was

reported as saying earlier that if parliament can't resolve this, then may be a confirmatory referendum is the only way out, and the chancellor has described it also as a credible proposition, which it certainly is. hilary benn, good to talk to you again. in mansfield, i have spoken about the mayoral contest, and it has turned out that andy abrahams has turned out that andy abrahams has won it, after a secondary count. it went to a secondary count and it was won by two votes, just two votes, in the second round! so, the incumbent, the independent in mansfield, of the independent group, kate allsop, has been beaten by two votes, by labour's andy abrahams. so thatis votes, by labour's andy abrahams. so that is a pretty dramatic outcome. there are 11 local authority contests in northern ireland, let's go to belfast now and talk to emma vardy. what does it look like there, not least in the context of brexit

and the role of the dup for example with the conservative government? well, you always have to remember, huw, that northern ireland politics is defined by the big divide between unionist and nationalist parties, with the biggest parties being designated as one or the other. when it comes to looking for any sort of brexit effect, will voters punish the big parties at the ballot box, there is a dampening effect on that here because the enduring pattern in northern ireland is that there was external, bigger picture factors, don't always seem to have an effect when it comes to the ballot box, because there is this reluctance within communities to change their voting pattern from the traditional nationalist and unionist parties. so, what we've seen is that the two largest, sinn fein and the dup, taking seats in their strongholds, their vote holding up, if you like. the other factor is that the voting results mask the frustration which is felt on the streets over the fact

that stormont hasn't been running here, no devolved government, for over two years. that is what you get when you talk to people but they still go out and vote for the two biggest parties at the ballot box, as has been shown in the results today. aside from that, one centrist party, alliance, with some younger candidates, which is neither designated unionist 0 nationalist, they have picked up three notable seats here in belfast. and also huge cheers going up for a green party candidate picking up a seat in another area of belfast, a younger, cosmopolitan area of the city, a candidate who has done a lot of groundwork over the last few months and is seeing the results of that today. there are also a lot of people watching to see how the dup's first openly gay candidate polled today, notable because the dup are traditionally seen as very socially conservative on lg bt traditionally seen as very socially conservative on lgbt issues, a party which has opposed gay marriage in the past. but ellington bennington,

their first openly gay candidate, polled very well although falling just short of the numbers she needed to get elected. counting is continuing here, the full picture will not be known until saturday. thanks very much for that. just before we end this section on bbc 0ne, vicki young, some thoughts on where we are, given the latest results which reeta gave us just now? i think the interesting question, given that so many of the candidates who lost their seats have said that brexit has been an issue in all of this, is what impact that may or may not have in the talks which have been going on in westminster, although totally not successfully so far. i have sat here many times, and we have had people from all the parties are saying we need to compromise, we've got to get this sorted, how serious are the parties about that? and the fact that it looks as if labour might

also be being punished for the impasse, will that mean that there could be some kind of compromise? because you can could be some kind of compromise? because you can see could be some kind of compromise? because you can see for both parties, how it could be rather an attractive proposition before those european elections, to come up with some kind of deal that could get through parliament so that they can say that they have delivered. because it does sound from people who have been looking on the doors for weeks that brexit is proving to be an issue which has driven a lot of these results, vicki young, you're staying with us, as is reeta as well, to take us through some results, and our friends here on the panel, we're not letting them go anywhere! and we can have a look at the scoreboard just at the end of this part of the program, just to let you know where we are with results still coming in, the tories at the moment heading for 1000 losses. labour on 110 losses. the lib dems, their best recovery in a local election ever. and the greens

making very big gains as well. we will be back on the news channel in about ten minutes, but for now, goodbye. hello. here is a summary of the news. both have seen significant losses, and the main winners are smaller parties like the liberal democrats, and the greens, as well as independent candidates. the prime minister says voters are showing what they want politicians to do, which is to get on and deliver brexit. glum faces all around. this has not been a good result for the two biggest parties. counting continues, but the tories have lost more than 900 councillors

so have lost more than 900 councillors so far. as the prime minister turned up so far. as the prime minister turned up to address members in wales, some we re up to address members in wales, some were less than impressed. thank you everybody. why won't he resign. with tory losses are mounting up, mrs may had this assessment.” tory losses are mounting up, mrs may had this assessment. i think there was a simple message and yesterday's elections. to us, and the labour party, just get on and deliver brexit. my constituents have said this to me, we need a change of leadership. party leaders had to where they won. here isjeremy corbyn in trafford in greater manchester, but his party lost control, to hartlepool, and wirral. it calls for a clearer policy in

brexit. i think it remains a huge impetus on every mp, and they have all got that message. a deal has to be done. and parliament has resolved this issue. my prediction is, we are going to need to go back and we are going to need to go back and we are going to need to go back and we are going to need to say to them, did you vote for this? on the basis of detailed voting figures in some wards, if the result were replicated across the uk, the conservatives and labour would be to hide on 28%. the lib dems would be a 19%. others would be on 25%. that will be music to the liberals. we are just celebrating a really great result here. chelmsford, essex. but it is a story across the country. the lib

dems were written off at one point, but we are coming back very strongly, we are the big winners of the night. independents have done well, as have the green party. real momentum going into european elections, we are the biggest representation at the moment. if you look at results in areas like sunderland, good and bad across the board. we're the biggest representation of any remain party in the european parliament at the moment. it's been tough so far for ukip. they've gone backwards. yes, we've lost some seats, but also we've made some gains. in sunderland, we've made a few gains there.

and actually, when you look at the results of areas like sunderland, where we didn't win, we got a lot of second places, so there's good and bad across the board. there are plenty more results to come with the parties watching closely, peering into what it might mean for their wider fortunes and doing so through the giant prism of brexit. oh, and here, at daft o'clock in the morning, was this some cross—party collaboration? or perhaps commiseration? chris mason, bbc news. robinson is quitting the labour party. in tweets, tony robinson said he had made the decision partly because of the labour party's continuous duplicity on brexit, and partly because of anti—semitism. counting is under way in northern ireland, as well, of course, a total of... the first few results have started to trickle in, but most are expected later today or tomorrow morning, and there are no elections in scotland or in wales. a devastating cyclone has hit the east coast of india. more than a million of people are in shelters. it has uprooted trees and brought down electricity and phone lines. cyclone fani is the most powerful to hit

india in years. this is the fury of nature in one of india's poorest states. the cyclone hit this area at around 8am local time, and over the last hour we've seen the wind speeds increase dramatically. in puri, where the cyclone came in, wind speeds are up to 210 kilometres an hour. on thursday one of the largest evacuations that this area has ever seen took place. the authorities used tractors, boats, cars, any form of transport they could find, to get people into safety, into those temporary shelters. the first part of that work has been done. but when this cyclone passes by, many people will have seen their lives destroyed. their land will have been destroyed by the cyclone and the boats they go fishing on will also be devastated. a huge operation taking place, now the government asking

people to stay indoors. many people in those shelters though will be worried. what will they go back to when this cyclone moves on? new research has found that people receiving effective treatment for hiv cannot pass on the virus to their sexual partners. the study looked at more than a thousand gay male couples, and found no cases of transmission of the virus of eight yea rs. transmission of the virus of eight years. it is said this is a powerful message that everybody should be aware of. prince harry has cancelled pa rt aware of. prince harry has cancelled part of his planned trips to the netherlands next week. prince charles cancelled his trip to amsterdam on wednesday, but his trip to the hague on thursday for the 2020 in victor's to still plan to ta ke 2020 in victor's to still plan to take place. thousands of celtic fans have gathered at the club's stadium

in glasgow to pay respects to billy mcneill. he was the first british man to lift the european cup, and died last week. tributes from people —— people like sir alex ferguson and kenny dalglish attended his funeral in glasgow today. now, a full round—up from the sports centre. good afternoon to you carry. first, england's bowler have been trying to wina game england's bowler have been trying to win a game and a place in the squad. jeffrey archer has been making his debut. there was a 90 mph you will get one—day match, being reduced to 45 overs a side, but the bowlers could be threatened after residency rules were changed. ireland were bowled out for 198. england have

started their reply and they are six without loss. liverpool's naveed kato will be out. it starts onjune 20,000 in egypt. liverpool will travel to newcastle tomorrow in their penultimate premier league game. david de gea will keep his place in goal against sunderland. solskjaer might have been considering promoting united's reserve keeper, but he is injured anyway. he has been in the headlines for the wrong reasons, but as i have said semi—timed, he has got to deal with they are a fantastic group together. they have been such a tight knitted group. they have experience better times of the sea than just now with the but, he is

ready for sunday. the postponed champions match will not take place between bolton and bedford. it was originally delayed after bolton refused to pay our play over unpaid wages. the club say that his ta keover wages. the club say that his takeover was off. the senior made the comments of various news outlets today. the club is yet to comment. the afl say that they are remaining in contact with contacts from both parties. it will be just 48 hours since the petitioners sport dismissed her challenge. there is speculation it could be so many —— semenya's last race, after she

posted that knowing when to walk away is wisdom. they beat the australian foot seed, in straight sets. johanna konta has not won a tournament for two years now. she was dropped to 47 in the world. david gilbert has a ten frame to six lead overjohn higgins at the crucible. that match resumes at seven this evening. with 16 the target for the players. the semifinal betweenjudge target for the players. the semifinal between judge trump target for the players. the semifinal betweenjudge trump and gary wilson is continuing. these are live pictures. trump won the first frame and it is 7— trump, currently the favourite to the title. britain's lizzie dayna was racing in britain's lizzie dayna was racing in britain for the first time since the birth of her daughter in september. no one came close to the dutch rider who stormed clear of the rest in the

finished print. meanwhile you can keep track of the men's race in the toady auction. had there now, but thatis toady auction. had there now, but that is all the sport, and right now, —— in the told the yorkshire. back to election coverage of the election 2019. we are approaching the end of this electoral race. we have 40 councils that are not declared yet. we have 1700 councillors to go. very much in the final stretch. the conservatives now are within ten losses of 8000. i think if this pattern continues, they will have lost more than a thousand councillors in this

contest, which i have to say, given what people are saying to us before today and yesterday is very much at the upper end if not beyond the upper the upper end if not beyond the upper end. labour have also made losses, but there are big questions that around that performance. and whether it is the performance of a party that is in the kind of condition that it should be. i am sure that barry gardiner will have a view on that. the lib dems, well, it has been a great performance from them, having gained 555 so far. they key is with me again, and we will have a word about some of the results. but vicki, so far, the tories are heading for more than a thousand losses. we spoke last night, and we were saying, well, you know 800—1000 would be very bad. i am paraphrasing. so we are heading

there. yes, it is a particularly appalling set of results for the conservatives. i think the worry for them is that it will be seen as a judgment on their competence. whether that is competence on delivering brexit or something else, or is ita delivering brexit or something else, or is it a judgment on leadership, and then either of those have come out positive here. we know there is a problem of course with brexit. they have failed to come up with something that can be delivered. there councillors who have lost councils, who have lost their seats are blaming brexit, but they are also blaming theresa may. there has been some chatter around leadership, we saw her being heckled from someone we saw her being heckled from someone in the audience at the conservative spring conference, and those questions are being raised by some mp5, but actually does she need to give a much tighter timetable on when she might stand down. it does not get away from the fact that the brexit issue must be such that in some way, and all the politicians are saying it's got to be sorted out. the question is how will it be

sorted out. there are those talks going on at westminster in the stalemate. could it be the fact that labour is seen to be being punished too. looking at those numbers, anyone watching that will say it's not been that bad for labour. you've got to be clear about where the parties are coming from. the conservatives four years ago when the same lot of elections happened they had a really good night. labour we re they had a really good night. labour were already not doing very well, so to go backwards, from a position thatis to go backwards, from a position that is pretty weak in the fast pace, it's really, i would say quite worrying for the labour party. they will look at this and say there might be surprised that it has been as bad for them. they were talking about having a general election, it has been the main thrust of their policy. 0n has been the main thrust of their policy. on these kind of figures, they would get nowhere near being able to form a government. they were able to form a government. they were a long way behind at the last general election, even though their share of the vote was pretty good. they need to win six seats from somewhere. there are some pockets

where they have done 0k, they might wina marginal where they have done 0k, they might win a marginal seat, but it would not be anywhere near enough. the clear winners of the evening of the liberal democrats. there is no question about that, but again, coming from a pretty appalling position. they have been wiped out vitally in the south—west of england, in terms of their councillors, so this shows them building up that space again. we know that's how they operate. they build up councillors, they went councils, and they sometimes win the parliamentary seat sometimes, but the big question for them, of course, and a new leader, can they translate that local campaigning into parliamentary seats. they would say that these results are saying that people do not want brexit delivers, because the winners, them and the green parties who want to stop brexit happening at all. that is going to confuse the picture for parliament. let's about performance. we talk about relative performance,

start with the conservatives. i wa nted start with the conservatives. i wanted to delve in a bit deeper into conservative results. we have talked about conservative councils going into no overall control, or taken by the liberal democrats. we have some councils here that have been held by the conservatives. they were conservative before conservatives have held them. wokingham in berkshire, west 0xfordshire, and tunbridge wells in kent. as we can see, the conservatives by far and away the highest numbers of seats in each of those councils. but let's ta ke each of those councils. but let's take a slightly closer look at what has happened in this election. so this shows you the seat change as compared to the last time this councils were up for election. and look at how many seats the conservatives have lost. ten in wokingham, seven in west 0xfordshire, 13 in tunbridge wells. if we keep going on to the next page, this shows you the share of

the vote, in wokingham, the conservatives were actually beaten by the liberal democrats in terms of the share of the vote. different picture in west 0xfordshire, but in tunbridge wells, they are practically level pegging with the liberal democrats. this shows you the shy change that —— change compared to last time these seats we re compared to last time these seats were up for election four years ago. that is very stock. look at those figures in tunbridge wells for the conservatives. —23%. this is true blue territory we are talking about, and it gives you a very different gloss in a way to the headline, which is that the conservatives have retained these councils. and this is the final screen, showing you the swing from conservative to liberal democrats. a lot of charm going on evenin democrats. a lot of charm going on even in these councils where the conservatives held on. thank you

very much. if you're justjoining us, let me reintroduce my three guests in the studio, who have kindly joined guests in the studio, who have kindlyjoined us this afternoon. we have alex phillips from the new brexit party. we have barry gardiner who is labour's shadow trade secretary, and we have the employment minister, alok sharma. thank you so much for coming in, and as we head towards the finishing line. do you question vicki's analysis about what has gone wrong for the conservatives in this election? it is, as hilary benn said, the spectre of brexit. there isa said, the spectre of brexit. there is a discussion about this, is it about incompetence? i don't think it is. if you put brexit to one side, the economy in itself is performing pretty well, we have record levels of employment, more people that worked forever before, and we have given tax cuts to people. i think there is a very clear distinction

that people have focused on brexit as an issue, and that is clearly impacted upon us. one other point i would say, is that yes, it is not a good night for us. that is obvious, but it is interesting the labour position here, where yesterday, john mcdonald was talking about gains of around 400, and at this point in the electoral cycle, if labour had any hopes of forming a government, if you look back to 2012, they had big gains, they have gone backwards. i think this is also a question of the labour party, question of their competence, as well, notjust about brexit, but more fundamentally about their leadership and their policies. well, barry, would you like to answer. all i well, barry, would you like to answer. alli can well, barry, would you like to answer. all i can say is call a general election, and we will see. i actually want to focus on something that look at the results. i want to focus on something that, in fact, we

haven't really delved into. as to go away from brexit. look at these as local elections. i want to look at something that was said by rita. about punishing the incumbent. i think in the major cities and towns where labour has been in control for a very long periods in some cases, in sunderland in places like that, over the past ten years, the council has had to implement 61% cuts, and that has come straight from government, it is 80% of the 80% of local government spending provided by federal government. it is 61% cuts that have gone across the country. a local service provision, people have said, why are the potholes on my road, why is the rubbish not being collected properly, why are children's services being cut, why are schools not getting enough funding, and they have then said, well, who is in

charge of the local council, in those big places it has been the labour party, so i think that people have not made the real connection, and said well, it's because the conservatives have cut the money to local authorities, which means that our services now are very local authorities, which means that our services now are very much poorer. i think we have our services now are very much poorer. ithink we have paid our services now are very much poorer. i think we have paid the price for being incumbent in those areas, so price for being incumbent in those areas, so! price for being incumbent in those areas, so i think that's why it's interesting when people talk about punishing the incumbent, but actually in the south, where we haven't had that same dominance in some of those towns and cities, it's been the incumbent again that has been the incumbent again that has been punished, because they have seen as been punished, because they have seen as local services depleted. and thatis seen as local services depleted. and that is why i would very happily ta ke that is why i would very happily take on that challenge about a general election. because i believe that by focusing on all the things that by focusing on all the things that labour have focused on in its manifesto in 2017, these are the local issues and these are the

things that people feel impact on their lives, and that is where i think we really will score. so, i just wanted to focus back on the local, and see that as a lens to view things from. barry, thank you. there is a milestone. if you look at the figures, the conservative tally, it is now passed the 1000 mark their 1000 losses. labour are on —1 or two. the greens are on 146 games. it is still going up, look, 1012 losses now, and it won't end either, because there are 36 councils late joe yet to come. let's talk about incumbency, and how oppositions deal with that. rito would you like to ta ke with that. rito would you like to take us through some of those courts and give us some context go back to the 905? —— some of those thoughts.

i think it is useful to bear in mind that we had a project of national share of the vote today of the conservatives and labour both being on 28%. so this is based on analysis done of the results that suggests how the country would vote as a whole if everyone were voting today. now, i wanted to bear that in mind, while we look at the opposition leader in mid—term, in previous yea rs. we started leader in mid—term, in previous years. we started here in 1994, so this is... all these dates are taken two years after a general election, and at this point, labour'sjohn smith had a lead in 1994, in terms of the government, a 15%. in 1999, william hague was trailing the government by 3%, but iain duncan smith, a lead of 5%, david cameron,

of 13%, and ed miliband, a lead of 7%. now, look at those figures, of those five leaders, only tony blair took over from those five leaders, only tony blair took overfrom john those five leaders, only tony blair took over from john smith after his death, went on to win a large majority. david cameron, although he had a 13% lead then, he in fact failed to get a majority in 2010, although he did go on and form a government of causing coalition with the liberal democrats. and i think it's worth bearing all of this in mind, becausejeremy corbyn's lead on the basis of the national share at the moment is precisely zero. that suggests labour have a great deal of work to do. interesting that at the close of play, almost today, what would that projected national share mean if it were translated into house of commons seats? this is just an exercise which will illustrate that. we will bring john curtis in, who is responsible for

the production. that is it for you. this is all based on that national share projection that we were talking about earlier. and the other is up14 on talking about earlier. and the other is up 14 on 72. just focus around these figures, john. of course, this is the moment after a long night and a long day, when ourformer esteemed colleague would say, here's a bit of fun. i think the truth is that they should not be taken too seriously, but there is a serious point behind it. what we have done is taken the projected national share. we have taken into projected national share. we have ta ken into account projected national share. we have taken into account the fact that there tends to be a system that might be different before how parties do things in elections. crucial point number one — the idea

that an early general election might get it out on the brexit impasse, on the evidence of what we've seen today, i would not count on it, because we would have a parliament that was even more hung than the current one. but also something to note, some that should be clear from your screen, note, some that should be clear from your screen, if we assume the snp would retain their of the border, that's what depositing are doing, we would end up with 50 snp mp5, which means that in this scenario, the only way of forming a government would be by the labour party coming to some sort of deal with the snp, the price of which might be one of rather than two things, one, a second eu referendum, the other being a scottish independence referendum again. insofar as no

change uk or the brexit party... but having more parties fighting in an election is hardly likely to make it less likely than we would end up with a hung parliament. well, that isa with a hung parliament. well, that is a fascinating prospect, and i was just wondering, john, if you could recap for those viewers joining us, when we talk about 28% apiece on the projected national share, what exactly that looks like in the context that's at the last 30 years. the honest truth is, only once before have we had a set of local election where we have done this calculation, and ended up saying that both the conservatives and labour party were below 30%. that occasion 2013, when you kept —— ukip surprised everyone and became serious election players. and both conservatives and the labour party suffered. and of course, though that was the beginning of a story that

eventually led to the referendum, as the brexit impasse that we have all been talking about and wondering about what the consequences will be for the last 12 hours. but certainly, what one has to say, a crucial feature of the 2017 general election, apparently the restoration of the traditional 2—party system, conservative and labour combine, winning over 80% of the vote for the first time since the 19705, or two year sense, the 2—party system in the elections at least, has never looked any weaker, and who knows what will come on may the 23rd. red you knows indeed, john? and it's my turn —— you knows indeed, john? and it's my turn -- who knows indeed, and it's my tent is a big thank you. thank you very much for being with us. sure we will see you another other outlets very shortly. i think the politicians will ensure that happens. john, thank you very much. so, alex, you are leaving us soon,

as well. let's leave a thought, what is your thought that you want to leave with viewers after an election which he did not take part, but clearly, you a re which he did not take part, but clearly, you are looking forward to a contest in which he will play a prominent part? i think, a contest in which he will play a prominent part? ithink, like i said earlier, these elections have not actually had a vehicle for the brexit protest votes. really over the last six months, they haven't really been talking about brexit, but talking about socially conservative issues, and completely different topics. i think what we are going to see in the european elections is a massive breakthrough for the brexit party. yes of course proportional representation favours and creates, and the problem with the 2—party and creates, and the problem with the 2— party system and creates, and the problem with the 2—party system we have been first past the post is this stagnant cnes tribal politics. what we see as the lib dems picking up votes, because you don't often have people going from tories to labour and labour tojoys. going from tories to labour and labour to joys. you constantly

going from tories to labour and labour tojoys. you constantly end up labour tojoys. you constantly end up in labour tojoys. you constantly end upina labour tojoys. you constantly end up in a struggle. i think it needs a political complacency. we are entering a new era of politics, multiparty politics, not three party politics, as vince cable said earlier, and we are long overdue a big change in politics, and the brexit party are going to represent a change for good. are you terrified, barry? no. lets reword it and make it slightly less over stated. are you not concerned about it? i don't think we should be concerned about our electors having a choice. i think we should set out our stall to them, and yes, of course, in politics, people have different views. but if you are confident that your manifesto is meeting the aspirations and actually solving the problems that people have, then you should be proud to put that to them, and confident that you should come out the other end.

for you, when you talk about a party led by nigel faraj, when the fact that so many of your constituency workers, have enormous sympathy for the kinds of things that you've been saying, you must have some concerns about what those european elections could bring for you in terms of results. barry talked about manifesto, and we said we would deliver only brexit referendum result. we have not been able to do that by the date that we said, and! able to do that by the date that we said, and i think that is the outcome that we are seeing overnight and today. so, what is incumbent on us and today. so, what is incumbent on us is to make sure that we work collectively in parliament to get this over the line. i think what you have seen it today is very much a protest from people who, on all sides, have said, we have had enough, we want this done, and they wa nt enough, we want this done, and they want to move on and discuss all the other issues that are important stops and over that protest who could persist on the 23rd of may, very much to your cost. ifi

very much to your cost. if i may, we haven't got this sorted out, over the next few weeks, it is important that we work hard and diligently. can you get this through, realistically? i'm not involved in the discussions that are taking place, i know that they are being conducted in good faith. we just need to make sure that we resolve this. i agree with you, that getting to the european elections will be challenging. ifi getting to the european elections will be challenging. if i may, getting to the european elections will be challenging. ifi may, i think one of the issues we are seeing at the moment is both establishment parties have their fingers in theirears establishment parties have their fingers in their ears and are singing theirown tune. fingers in their ears and are singing their own tune. the eu has said, this isn't theresa may's deal, this is the eu's deal. this is the only deal in town, no cherry picking out we will not reopen it, it is this or nothing. parliament has taken no—deal of the table, so if they won't vote through the eu's deal, and they can have the discussions and to try and reach a compromise, then you have to go through ratification processes. the idea that you can do that before

meps take theirseats, idea that you can do that before meps take their seats, it seems pie in the sky. i know you have to say that and give the general public that and give the general public that spin. identikit is a question of giving spin, it is possible to get legislation through quickly in parliament if there is a desire to do that. i don't think that is the issue here. i think what will be important for us is to also recognise that the country is split. icanfor recognise that the country is split. i can for remain and voted for remain, buti i can for remain and voted for remain, but i have accepted the result. 48% voted for remain and 52 wa nted result. 48% voted for remain and 52 wanted to leave. so we have to find a compromise that works for the country as a whole. and it needs to work in parliament, barry. a final comment, barry. in that case, do you not regret, as i do, that it took beyond the date that we were supposed to have left the eu before the prime minister actually reached out across the divide and said to

the leader of the opposition, right, lam now the leader of the opposition, right, i am now prepared to take your proposal seriously. for 18 months, we had been talking about a customs union, protecting workers' rights and environment of standards, and you told us it was pie in the sky, you told us it was pie in the sky, you told us it was pie in the sky, you told us it couldn't be achieved, unicorns and impossible. and then, because you couldn't get your proposal through the house of commons on the third time of asking, you had to come to us and say, ok, please, maybe you're right after all. and now, we are in these negotiations, the protracted negotiations, the protracted negotiations, and still, no it's not prepared to move that red line of the customs union. she should have done it before, and she now must move a lot faster. the reality is that your viewers will be watching this and they will be in a certain

amount of dismay. what we need to do is look forward, not back, and try and find a way forward. let's focus on some of the results that we are still interested in at this point. we will be saying goodbye to alex and we will see you later on. dudley in the west midlands has remained a hung council. very brexit voting pa rt hung council. very brexit voting part of the uk, and a reporter has been talking to voters there. has been a busy day at dudley market and they are packing up now. it was very close, the two main parties are finished level pegging last night with 36 conservatives and labour councillors. it is probably likely that the conservatives will control the council using the maier‘s casting vote for the next year. election battle ground here in dudley, and i have one of the market traders here who has had a good day. did you vote? no, i didn't. why? i

don't really vote in local elections anyway, but i have been so disappointed with the politics in the last 12 months. the because? well, i voted for our ownjustice, i voted leave. on sovereignty? our own destiny. the mp5 have not delivered. at the end of the day, they are paid to do at the end of the day, they are paid todoa at the end of the day, they are paid to do a job and it looks to me they don't want the job. or they'd wants the job, but not the responsibility. even though it was local, it was a national issue that made you choose not to vote. 0k, national issue that made you choose not to vote. ok, i'll let you pack up. we have two other voters here. tony and gary, tony, you voted labour last night and you voted remain in the referendum, so you are probably unhappy with the election result here in dudley, because you would have liked labour to take

control. i think unhappy is an understatement, after what the conservatives have done to us over the last few years. we have been fighting for 18 months now and managed to get it delayed,... so it for you it was about a local issue? in the past, you voted for other parties, but you wanted labour.m the past, ivoted parties, but you wanted labour.m the past, i voted for who i thought we did the bestjob. this time, i voted for labour just we did the bestjob. this time, i voted for labourjust to give the conservatives out. and gary, you have voted or your life, you didn't vote. first time in 20 years i didn't vote. why? disillusioned. not local issues, just disillusioned over brexit, mainly. you voted to leave ? over brexit, mainly. you voted to leave? i did, it's a fiasco. we are not going to get it, basically. carrots, basically, scared to go out

on their own. let the people down. so even though it is a local election, you register your protest by not voting? yes, by not voting. sorry to keep you waiting in a miserable, grey afternoon in dudley. it has been funny in the west midlands, the lib dems have made gains in some seats where they used to do quite well. not any inroads anywhere else, the greens have the balance of power in worcester, but labour have lost and gained, the conservatives have lost and gained, andi conservatives have lost and gained, and i would say in these key west midlands election battle grounds, there has been no clear winner today. gosh, there were some very strong and clear voices in dudley. if anybody is doubting whether brexit was an issue for people, there is the proof for you. another dramatic result in from surrey heath. this is basically camberley in surrey, this is michael gove's backyard. look at this result, this

is... in the past, absolutely rock solid conservative territory. 18 needed for a majority, the tories are on 18, lib dems on ten... the changes what we need to look at, look at what has happened. the tories have lost 14 seats in surrey heath, the lib dems added nine and independence added three foot of the greens have also added two. that result means that the tories have held onto it, but with a majority of one, ina held onto it, but with a majority of one, in a council where in the past, it would not have been questioned for one second. that tells you something about the state of play after the election. we are estimating, a big estimate given that the tories are running at the moment of lots is of 1065, as you can see, there are losses could reach possibly 1300 at this rate of loss, this may be less than that,

but that gives you the sense of the order of loss they are facing, which is clearly much more significant than anyone had been predicting yesterday. they are still counting in kent, which was the ukip stronghold last time round. ellie is there for us, what is the latest there? they are still counting, the rumour is that it needs to be done by 5pm because there is bingo in this hall tonight. but most of them have come in now, and this is to be a ukip stronghold back when the elections were last held in 2015. it became the first council in a country that ukip took control of. fast forward a few years, a number of defections over the local issue of defections over the local issue of the future as manson airport, and suddenly, ukip have only fielded three candidates in this set of elections, and it would seem so far that none of them have held onto any of those seats. the big question was a lwa ys of those seats. the big question was always going to be, what would

happen to those votes? it seemed to bea happen to those votes? it seemed to be a good day for labour, improving on their expectations of the day. so far, they seem to have picked up an extra 12 council seats. they had five before, they seem to be on 17 now. the conservatives on 18 as we speak, although i think one hasjust been announced now. they were on 22, so been announced now. they were on 22, so they have lost, we need to work that out. the big question will be, where do you ukip voters go? it seems labour had picked up a number of the seats at the ukip candidates had the last time round. also, the greens, for the first time, have been elected. three greens have been elected on this council, the greens have never been elected onto the council before. as well as one independent and four fan it independence, those who you used to be ukip independence. interesting picture here. if we look at the possibility of a snap general

election, historically, this area was a target seat for labour, and certainly back in 2015 when nigel farage stood here, the conservatives took the seat, but it was focused on a three—way marginal. no doubt, there will be some interest here, and conservatives conceding very early on that they would have a bad day. there are also some senior conservatives who said that they felt it was lucky that ukip were not fielding any candidates here, and already that nigel farage's brexit party had got their act together and feel that any candidates in this election. certainly, they think it'll be a very different picture come those european elections in a few weeks' time. one senior conservative said to me that they think that they will receive a walloping. a number of south thanet members of conservative party would not be out campaigning and would indeed be supporting nigel farage's brexit party. thank you, ellie, for

the update there. we heard a voices in the background, i couldn't work out whether it was the returning officer or the bingo caller warming up. anyway, good to get the update there thanet, because that is a significant contest as well. can i say a warm welcome to a member from change uk. welcome. thank you. you are not taking part in this, but you will be in the european elections. we will talk about that. so, and outside take, if you like, on this set of results, what do you make of it? it is quite weird being back in the studio, because the last time i was doing a programme like this was on the night of the eu referendum result when david dimbleby was sitting where you are and declare the result there is actually no doubt about this that there is huge discontent with our political system. we share it in change uk,

which is why we left the main established parties. i haven't been able to watch the whole of the show, but i'm sure you have talked about where independents are standing, on average they are getting 25% of the vote. we are seeing a huge number of spoiled papers, and that is before you consider that onjohn curtis's projections, you are looking at a voucher for main parties are below 13%. so, huge discontent with the system. we are glad that parties that unequivocally support having a people's vote and referring the issue of brexit back to the british people, and who want to campaign to remain have done well here. we recommended that supporters of hours vote for them at the local elections yesterday. but either you wake up and take stock of the fact that this isa and take stock of the fact that this is a broken political system and brexit is, do you keep putting your head in the sand? and denying it is

a problem? what is your answer to somebody who is watching and saying, given what the lib dems did yesterday and the greens, and some independence, what is the point of change uk in that context? these parties are offering a choice and these parties are offering an avenue to people? why would you come into existence? as i think you quoted vince cable saying earlier, i think we are seeing a big change historically in british politics. i think we are gradually moving from a 2—party think we are gradually moving from a 2— party system to think we are gradually moving from a 2—party system to a multiparty syste m 2—party system to a multiparty system system. on each side of the brexit argument you have a set of choices. we have a distinct offer, we are notjust choices. we have a distinct offer, we are not just about choices. we have a distinct offer, we are notjust about brexit, otherwise we would have been called the remain party. people in change uk are drawn from progressive politics, coming from three different political traditions. we figure that if we are able to reach a consensus on policy positions on evidence—based way a consensus on policy positions on evidence— based way forward a consensus on policy positions on evidence—based way forward for our country, then we have a good chance of uniting the country. we don't agree on everything and we haven't

all come from the same political traditions. there is quite a distinct offer, there are others on the table. i think from a european union brexit policy perspective, people will be looking at what is in the aggregate tally of votes on each side of the argument. if you are a leave voter, you have a choice of ukip, brexit party and conservative party, some might say the labour party, some might say the labour party as well, who say they want to facilitate brexit, or, on the other side of the argument, you have a range of different choices, too. that is as it should be. i don't think... son try the system for general elections, first past the post, european elections are a bit easier because they are proportional. but much harder in a general election. you will have to look at doing deals with the greens and lib dems? we will see where we are ata and lib dems? we will see where we are at a general election. i think backroom deals and stitch ups is one of the features that turns people off politics. the system for the

election of meps is by no means perfect. i don't think it is a very good system myself. but first past the post, if you don't like the place we are at at the moment, which isa place we are at at the moment, which is a rigged system that generally favours two main parties, then at the next general election, if you don't want any change, you vote for one of those two options, and that will never change the electoral system, because it is against their interest. if you genuinely want to see change and you want a multiparty system, you are going to have to vote for something different. our challenge at the time of the next general election is to put forward a compelling agenda, which credibly can change the country and people wa nt can change the country and people want to vote for. we are three weeks old, so give us a bit of time. we have a clear position on brexit, we are against brexit, we want a people's vote and we will campaign to remain in the european union. but if we slap down a manifesto... that

sounds like the lib dems. , you could say the green party and others as well. but those aren't the only things that you stand for as a party. are you standing under every constituency in the euro elections? yes, we have a full slate of candidates and will be an option on the paper for people to vote for. and at a general election that could ta ke and at a general election that could take place, will there be a candidate in every constituency? that is our intention. and three weeks on, how confident are you that you have the framework and resource and strategy to deliver that? we are and strategy to deliver that? we are a start—up, so we are building quickly. i can't pretend that we have an infrastructure to fight 650 seats in a general election now, but we are far bigger now than we were only two weeks ago. because of the syste m only two weeks ago. because of the system with the european elections on the way it operates on a regional basis, we have been able to stand in these. the whole point of forming change uk was to build an alternative in the radical centre ground of british politics. what we

know is that people are fed up with the existing choices, and we are trying to provide people with an alternative. i was asking about the brexit party earlier and what extent they will believe that it might constitute a threat. i will ask barry the same questions, a you share many of the same ideas full stop people not following politics amended in detail, these guys were in the same party, the difference? how do you differ in terms of brexit stance? in terms of brexit stance, i think the key difference is this. chuka umunna is someone who is ambitious in british politics for a very long time. the party that has coalesced there are people who are highly ambitious in their party, but

in that sense, it is a group of ambitious malcontents. i don't believe for a moment that there is a central guiding philosophy that is steering this party... i am saying that i don't believe there is a central guiding philosophy. people have been disillusioned with their position in their own party and therefore have decided to form a different one. but opposing brexit isa different one. but opposing brexit is a stance, isn't it? yes, but you just heard chuka say that they are much more than opposing brexit. brexit, one way or another, will be over and done with in a matter of, pray god, months. you are an optimist. probably years. and then, a party has to have a vision for the future. it isn't good enough to say we want to change, it's not good enoughjust we want to change, it's not good enough just to say, it we want to change, it's not good enoughjust to say, it is a broken system. you have to be able to labour for the british people a

detail programme and manifesto that says, here is where we feel your life needs improving at the moment. these are our remedies and policies, this is how we are going to do this. that is what systematically the labour party has done. that is why at the last general election, people actually found that our manifesto and chuka stood on that manifesto, that it resonated with people. that is what i will continue to do and thatis is what i will continue to do and that is what my party will continue to do. same question to you, alok, you are fellow colleagues as well, if there are enthusiastic remain conservatives around thinking, what ami conservatives around thinking, what am i going to do, how will i vote, i don't like theresa may and i don't like how things are going. surely, that option is there for them, they could go lib dems or whatever, but that option is a new option and it includes people who were formally conservatives, some very

long—standing conservatives. do you recognise that there is the potential threat there, to you as well as labour? firstly, i am not interested in personal insults and trying to question why people have decided to do a certain thing like barry has done. i don't want to do that, but i will say that i think the public looking at this will see change uk as a protest party on brexit, not wanting brexit at all. where i do agree with barry is that there is any? about what happens with a party like that in terms of, what else do you have to offer the british public, other than the fact that you don't want brexit? just some more bad news for the conservatives, down six in guildford, but heading possibly towards losing that council as well. we are now, if we look at our tally, on over 1100 losses for the conservatives and it is still going up. 102 losses for labour, 598 games

for the lib dems, that'll be 600 shortly, a remarkable result for them. you could have lost 102 and them. you could have lost 102 and the independents are up significantly. so some key results. it has been a night of real turbulence, and there have been some remarkable results. we have put together a few of the council is just to give you a flavour of what has happened. the liberal democrats have scored some spectacular victories. chelmsford possibly chief among them. let's see if i can get into the results there. chelmsford isa lib into the results there. chelmsford is a lib dem gain from the conservatives. conservatives had a majority of 47, liberal democrats had gained that, so they will be delighted with that. same with bath and north east somerset, that is a gain from the conservatives, and that is the sort of area where the liberal democrats traditionally have been a strong, fell back after the coalition, but

they would look at that result and say they are coming back. another conservative loss here in folkestone and highs. this time, in fact, the way in which the seat changes worked was that the conservatives lost and it went to the greens and labour. so there are wider beneficiaries, if you like, not just there are wider beneficiaries, if you like, notjust the lib dems, but labour and the greens there. let me show you one or two more results that were striking. north east lincolnshire, that was a gain for the conservatives, they will be happy with that. ashfield in nottinghamshire, this was a council that was labour in 2015, there were defections and it had no overall control. this election, you will see it is in pink, that means it is an independent counsel, said the independence got about 30 councillors in ashfield. that is a striking result for them. let's look

at one or two labour results tonight, darlington, very disappointing for them, that was labour, and in fact, disappointing for them, that was labour, and infact, it disappointing for them, that was labour, and in fact, it has only ever been labour until today, when labour lost control of the council. in the wirral, similarly, a labour council and they have lost control of that, and ijust want council and they have lost control of that, and i just want to go council and they have lost control of that, and ijust want to go into the results so that i can show you the results so that i can show you the shared change. this makes it very stark, and you can see labour lost 13% of the vote compared to last time, the seats are up for election. the beneficiaries where the greens, to the extent, on a 12%, but also the conservatives and lib dems. i willjust show the but also the conservatives and lib dems. i will just show the final council that we have here, which was good news for labour, they gained trafford council from no good news for labour, they gained trafford councilfrom no overall control. trafford has been seen as the conservatives for a long time, there are big foothold in the north—west. labour will be very happy to have gained that. rita,

thank you. it seems like ten years ago, trafford was like that. we only have a few minutes left, so you will wa nt to a nswer have a few minutes left, so you will want to answer some of these points, chuka. this idea that leaving one of the established parties to start up a new party is a careerist move, i think it is rather absurd. historically, it is certainly not a careerist move to leave one of the established parties, but the people in ourgroup did established parties, but the people in our group did it because we, in the end, put our political career is on the line and said, look, we need to do what is best. but you didn't. the second point is the issue about not standing for anything. on the biggest issue, we have set up in detail what our values are and where we needed to come out with decisions in respect of moving things that are happening, we have announced policies. the key issue of the day, the biggest issue since the second

world war, is where are you on brexit? do you want a people's vote and do you want to remain in the eu? we have a clear position on that, whereas i think part of the reason the labour party has done badly, and the labour party has done badly, and the shadow chancellor said a 10p la st the shadow chancellor said a 10p last night that he thought labour would be seeing 400 gains, and you can see the figure on the screens, the problem is that in one part of the problem is that in one part of the country, the labour party is facing one direction, with barry's message that we must facilitate brexit, get on with it, no people's vote. and in another part of the country, they are saying some thing different. there is no clarity whatsoever. we have a clear position, we don't want to see this happen, we want to give you a people's vote and we want to remain. it isa people's vote and we want to remain. it is a clear position, and it is the same in the brexit party. but it isn't with labour. the biggest issue of the day, we have a clear position that the labour party hasn't. barry, we have 30 seconds. where are we at the end of this? i will congratulate

the end of this? i will congratulate the lib dems on what has been a spectacular night for them, i will congratulate the green party on what has been a good night for them. what we have seen is the conservatives has suffered from the incompetence that they had in managing or failing to manage brexit. i think what has happened is that that vote bank, if you like, has expressed its disaffection with the conservative party by going to independent or other parties. but in conservative areas, you would expect them, not necessary to transfer straight over to labour. in labour areas, where we have lost ground, i think it is in the north and the midlands, that has been on the issue of brexit, because people feel that there has been... they wanted brexit delivered, and we have tried to do that compromise that i spoke of earlier. they feel that i spoke of earlier. they feel that that is not clear enough.” think objectively, the message of the two main parties is, get on,

work together, come up with a compromise, get brexit over the line. i think it is that message that you hear from all voters. rita, thanks for all your work overnight and today full stop what was the best bit? working with you, hugh! that was right but wrong. what was the most notable result?” that was right but wrong. what was the most notable result? i think it has to be chelmsford. it was extraordinary to see a 47 majority overturned by the liberal democrats. thank you, rita. and vicky, your thoughts? i think it's interesting that mps are returning to westminster. they will be looking at some of the results and feeling a little bit nervous and we didn't think at the beginning of the day that we will be talking about the conservatives only just that we will be talking about the conservatives onlyjust clinging on by one in the surrey heath. equally, for labour, a lot to think about. it is clear that people are not

convinced by their message in all of this. the lib dems in the clear winners of the evening, back in the game, they hope, but without the challenge from some other parties they will have in the euros. looking ahead to the european elections, you would have some trepidation in whatever party, because there will be other parties taking part in it. i think the overall thing, is this going to change the dynamic in the brexit talks that are going on? will it mean that labour and conservatives finally think, actually, we might have to compromise. vicky, thank you for joining us again. gentlemen, thank you very much. and barry, you will return. and thank you to everyone behind the scenes, last night and today, for terrific work. it has been a pleasure working with everyone. a quick look at the scoreboard at the end, why not? one last time. the tories now on over 1100 losses. labour losing 99 at the lib dems are up 595. big gains for

the greens and independents. thank you very much for watching and it is goodbye from us. hello. more now on our top story. the conservatives have lost more than 1,000 seats in the local elections in england, with around 20 councils still to declare. labour have lost around a hundred seats and overall both main parties have suffered a backlash — with voters apparently punishing them for the brexit deadlock. the main winners are smaller parties like the liberal democrats and the greens, as well as independent candidates. the prime minister says voters are showing that they want politicians to "get on and deliver brexit". here's our political correspondent nick eardley. glum faces all around. this is not been a good result for the two

biggest parties. the tories have lost more than a thousand counsellors so far, giving up control in st albans, south end, interboro and elsewhere. as the prime minister turned up to address members in wales, some were less than impressed. thank you, everybody! why don't you resign? we don't want you. with tory losses mounting up, mrs may had this assessment. i think there was a simple message from yesterday's collections, to both us and the labour party. just get on and deliver brexit. but something the pm herself is part of the problem something my constituents have said this to be full so we need change. we need a change of leadership. party leaders had to where they want, jeremy corbyn in trafford in greater manchester. but his party failed to make the gains and hoped for. labour lost in places like hartlepool, and is facing a net

loss, with many blaming a lack of clarity on brexit. i think it means there is a huge impetus on every mp, and they all got that message, whether they themselves are leave or remain, thatan whether they themselves are leave or remain, that an arrangement has to be made, a deal has to be done. parliament has to resolve this issue. but other think the result shows the need for labour to back another referendum stop we made for diction is we're goading to go back to the people and we are going to need to say to them, did you vote for this? if the results are replicated across the uk, the conservatives and labour would be tied on 28%. lib dems will be on 19. others would be on 25%. that will be music to the ears of liberals. taking control of councils in bath, winchester and cotswold. celebrating a really great result here.

chelmsford, essex, this story across the country. the lib dems, they will become back very strongly. we are the big winners of the night. independents have done well so far, as has the green party. 16 new councils, cementing our place as the fourth party in england in local governments, and the momentum going into the european elections. we are the biggest representation of any remain party in european parliament. it's been tough so far for you keppra. they have gone backwards. yes, we've blossom seats but also, we have made some gains —— yes, we have lost some seats. we did not win, gota have lost some seats. we did not win, got a lot of second places. good and bad across the board. there are plenty more results to come, including in northern ireland, where accounting began this morning. across the uk, parties are watching closely, try to figure out what it might mean for their wider fortunes.

for labour in the tories, commiseration is to share, problems to solve. we will get more on that shortly. sport now. england's batsman or a spot of bother. all dismissed with out 50 on the board. they lost two more in the last few minutes as well. jeffrey archer making his debut, and he took his first international wicket. but the boulders were also among the wickets. just a few moments ago, england were 66—5 in the 14th over.

liverpool's keita will be out for at least three months with a thigh injury picked up in that semifinal against barcelona. it means he will miss the rest of the season and is done forfor the africa miss the rest of the season and is done for for the africa cup of nations, which starts injune in egypt. liverpool will travel to newcastle in their penultimate premier league game. a win would ta ke premier league game. a win would take them above manchester city again before the match against leicester on monday night. david the hair -- leicester on monday night. david the hair —— david de gea will keep his place in manchester united goal. his manager ole gunnar solskjaer might have been considering promoting united's reserve goalkeeper, sergio romero, but he is injured anyway. he may have been in the headlines for bad reasons. he has to deal with that. the goalkeeping department come in they are a fantastic group together with sergio and emilio and

david. such a tight route. they have experienced better times obviously, and just now with. .. experienced better times obviously, and just now with... he is ready for sunday. the postponed champion czech match between fulton and brentford won't take place, giving brentford a 1-0 won't take place, giving brentford a 1—0 win and three points —— between fulton and brentford. the efl says they are aware of the claims the chair is in control of bulletin besides claims his takeover was all. the club is yet to comment... the efl says they do remain in contact with representatives from both parties. semenya is set to run in delhi tonight. 48 hours since the court of arbitration for sport dismissed her challenge against the i-aa f's dismissed her challenge against the i—aa f's new roles which restrict...

there could be speculation it is semenya's last race as a professional after she posted that knowing when to walk away is wisdom. the tennis, johan 0conto has reached the first clay—court final of her career at the morocco open —— johanna konta. she has beaten the fourth seed in straight sets. johanna konta has not wanted term and for two years and drops to number 47 and for two years and drops to number47 in the and for two years and drops to number 47 in the world —— has not won a tournament in two years. at the world snicker chevyjim... the match resumes at 7pm tonight. in the other semifinal, the session has just finished in the last few minutes, withjohn just finished in the last few minutes, with john trump just finished in the last few minutes, withjohn trump leading gary wilson 9—7. britain's lizzie degnan finished in the pact on micro she was racing in britain for the

first time since the birth of her daughter in september. no one came close to the dutch rival, who stormed clear of the rest in the finish prince. and that is all your support for now. you can find more on all the stories under bbc sport website. i will have a full round up on sportsday at half past six. see you then. thanks, holly. i promised you more on the election results. welcome back to westminster, where i am by roland maddox, and the academic and author professor matthew goodwin. thank you so professor matthew goodwin. thank you so much for your time today. what is your interpretation of the results so your interpretation of the results so far? it looks a gay powerful expression of their feelings about brexit skim the two main parties. ——

it does feel like a powerful expression. there is ambivalence about what their position is. you've seen about what their position is. you've seen both of them lose seats that they would've expected to get, councils they would've expected to keep control of, and in some of their heartlands. labour, some of their heartlands. labour, some of the more painful losses will be in the more painful losses will be in the north, in bolton and so on. the conservatives, less of a surprise, knowing of the feeling of the government at the moment. again, a setback. you've got all that going on. and then you've got very strong local feeling about some things, housing, for example. there's a lot of strength for independent parties and candidates. is this meant mainstream room that mac —— is this mainstream room that mac —— is this mainstream room that mac —— is this mainstream room permanent or is party politics as we know it even

more fractured? either one of the interesting thing from the result is we see the two main parties together actually only get about 56% of the vote, which is way down from 80% that they got at the 2017 general election. one of the ironies so far, of the brexit moment, is it is making british politics more european. it is allowing other parties, populist parties, the greens, lib dems had a good night, allowing other parties to do better at the extent of the main streams. there are others saying, italians, germans, what is happening in britain is happening here too. the only differences we have a electoral system. should we be thinking about a more personal system? does this put pressure on jeremy a more personal system? does this put pressure onjeremy corbyn and theresa may respectively to come to some agreement over brexit, or will

the divisions within their respective parties just make that impossible? it is a warning to them of what they could face in the general election if they really have not come on the conservative side, got a handle on... and on the labour side, coming to a position. there is a lot of disincentive on either side to do that. we have the european elections coming up. jane's uk will be looking with great interest at how the lib dems have done so well in these local elections. the brexit party, there has not been a really natural place for those voters, those leave voters to go to in this election, so they may be running in their hands with glee with the prospects of those elections coming up prospects of those elections coming up soon. i think that is right. if i was in change uk, i would be worried by the liberal democrat of performance. it allows the greens to

come out and say, we are the main remain parties. a strong result for this independence, those independent local counsellors. really quite visible anti—mainstream feeling we can now see in these results, and if i was can now see in these results, and if iwas in can now see in these results, and if i was in nigel farage's... it also raises questions for the conservatives and labour. however labour going to get into the traditional working class art land? how are the conservatives going to rebuild their coalition? they did very poorly in university educated areas last night. how do they hold onto their new working—class brexit vote rs onto their new working—class brexit voters? thank you very much. expert opinion there. a female labour mp is calling for action following the release of video footage showing a ukip

candidate speaking about raping her. labour mp jess phillips said she is "normally very tough", but was "really upset" by the footage in which ukip candidate carl benjamin says he might rape her "with enough pressure". it comes after he previously posted on social media, a message saying he "wouldn't even rape" the mp. a ukip spokesperson said carl benjamin will remain as their candidate for the south—west in this month's european elections. a devastating cyclone has hit the east coast of india. more than a million people are sheltering in relief centres, amid 120 mile an hour winds which have uprooted trees and brought down electricity and phone lines. cyclone fonny is the most powerful to hit india for years. rahul tandon reports. this is the fury of nature in one of india's poorest states.

the cyclone hit this area at around 8am local time, and over the last hour we've seen the wind speeds increase dramatically. in puri, where the cyclone came in, wind speeds are up to 210 kilometres an hour. on thursday, one of the largest evacuations that this area has ever seen took place. the authorities used tractors, boats, cars, any form of transport they could find, to get people into safety, into those temporary shelters. the first part of that work has been done. but when this cyclone passes by, many people will have seen their lives destroyed. their land will have been destroyed by the cyclone and the boats they go fishing on will also be devastated. a huge operation taking place, now the government asking people to stay indoors. many people in those shelters, though, will be worried. what will they go back to when this cyclone moves on? new research has found that people receiving effective treatment

for hiv cannot pass on the virus to their sexual partners. a study, published in the lancet medicaljournal, looked at nearly 1,000 gay male couples and discovered no cases of hiv transmission over eight years. the researchers say it's a "powerful message", which everyone should be aware of. a second man has been charged with the murder of 14—year—old jaden moodie, who was knocked off a moped and stabbed in east london. jaden was found injured on a road in leyton, following reports of a crash in january this year. 21—year—old yousuf dubbad from east london appeared at thames magistrates court earlier today. expected to appear at the old bailey on tuesday. prince harry has cancelled the first day of his planned trip to the netherlands next week, because of logistical difficulties for the travelling press. the duke and duchess of sussex are currently

expecting their first child. prince harry has cancelled his trip to amsterdam next wednesday. but his trip to the hague on thursday for the 2020 invictus games is still planned to take place. thousands of celtic fans have gathered at the club's stadium in glasgow, to pay theirfinal respects to billy mcneill. the former celtic captain and manager, who was the first british man to lift the european cup, died last week aged 79. football stars, including sir alex ferguson and sir kenny dalglish, attended his funeral in glasgow today. actor peter mayhew, who played chewbacca in the star wars films, has died at the age of 74. the 7—foot—2 actor played the wookiee warrior in the original star wars trilogy in the late 19705 and early ‘805, as well as some laterfilms. harrison ford, who played han solo, said he was kind and gentle and possessed of great dignity. that is our news this evening.

it's time for the film review with mark kermode and ben brown. hello and welcome to the film review here on bbc news, taking us through this week's cinema releases, we've got mark kermode. what a surprise! what is your selection this week? we have long shot, a comedy starling seth rogan and shirley's throne full to we have talking —— tolkien. and we have extremely wicked, shockingly evil and vile, in which ted bundy is played by zac efron. long shot, this is an american romantic comedy. it's

got the comedy like there is something about mary. seth rogen is a kind of slightly this repetitive —— distro rep symboljournalists. she wants to be more funny, grab the public‘s attention. it turns out ages and ages ago, she used to babysit for him and he had a huge crush on. the question is, is his anarchic streak going to help and hinder her career —— help or hinder her career chris make issue going to be put in touch in the ideas that fired her in her youth? are they going to be more than workmates? the a nswe rs going to be more than workmates? the answers those questions are particular surprising but what lovely, the way in which they play out because on the one hand, he is kind of schlep b, all over the place for six she is totally the opposite. here's a clip.

hey. i had some jokes i was going to run by you may be if you have a second? what are you two are what you looking at? jesus! 5-wood you just barge in here while i was sleeping? you were sleeping with —— you “ you were —— you were sleeping? i had some jokes i was gonna run by you. that was actually good nap. seemed really rest. white napping! this comes down to whether the chemistry is good or whether you like the characters. it is no surprise that seth rogen can play this role. this is a version of earl he's played many times.

charlize theron, i don't think people think of comedy, and she is really fu n ny people think of comedy, and she is really funny of in this. you believe in her career publish and care to but you also leave that character goes on an arc which involves reconnecting with the things that really matter. there is a fair amount of knock—about, gross out comedy. when the movie wants to be vulgar, it does not shy away from that. it works because it's got some great political satire, the fact the president in the movie is a tv actor who has gone into the white house but actually is not interested in politics, just in his ratings. which seems like such an absurd idea! i like the idea of the two central characters... charlize theron be quite as funny as she is is really rewarding. i left although it's a couple of times, i left knowing i was embarrassed... was anybody else

laughing orjust was embarrassed... was anybody else laughing or just you? was embarrassed... was anybody else laughing orjust you? it is a real crowd pleaser. tolkien? if somebody writes works... it is bad if the writings on expiring. it leads you through the idea that this is all the ideas we would see in the hobbit and the lord of the rings. he has a group of friends, a fellowship. he moves from rural, industrial landscape to semi reared beautiful, like the shire, and the film kind of plays out on the battlefield committee transitive europe, where our central character sees terrible men which is meant to inspire divisions of mordor and hells —— helms deep. it is not bad kim is really perfunctory. it seems really

odd to jesse really perfunctory. it seems really odd tojesse something which is just joining the dots. this led to this, this led to this. i don't doubt for one minute the author buys my personal experience didn't inspire his work. ijust don't personal experience didn't inspire his work. i just don't think they played out in such a logically television all fashion. presumably, tolkien fans want to see it.” actually think not. the tolkien estate have not interested. i don't think it will have anything like the audience like lord of the rings has. i audience like lord of the rings has. ,itis audience like lord of the rings has. , it is the story of the serial killer ted bundy, possibly the longest film title of the week, maybe the year. extremely wicked, shockingly evil and vile. which is the phrase thejudge shockingly evil and vile. which is the phrase the judge used at the end of the trial. the judge here the phrase the judge used at the end of the trial. thejudge here played byjohn markovich. ted bundy is zac

efron. lily collins... she plays edith bracken in tolkien. what the film is not about is the crimes, which are utterly horrific. what it is about is the people around ted bundy who don't see him for what he is. here's a clip —— here's a clip. -- here's a clip. i'm sorry, i have to pull an all—nighter tonight. all—nighter? to pull an all—nighter tonight. all-nighter? i need to make sure i am the most prepared attorney in the courtroom once my trial starts suffering —— courtroom once my trial starts suffering — — once courtroom once my trial starts suffering —— once my trial starts. . my lawyer found out... twice. that's not even the worst part. what happened in utah wasn'tjust dumb luck. the police already had my name. someone gave the it. someone

gave your name to the authorities in utah? do you have any idea who would do that to you. do you see that car out there? it's been following me since i got back. either i'm going crazy, or i'm being set up. what did you make of zac efron cosmic performance? i think exec effort is terrific. this is directed by the director of the document tree series. it's really kind of a dramatic companion piece to that documentary series. as i said before, thankfully, it doesn't concentrate on the crimes. but it concentrate on the crimes. but it concentrate on the crimes. but it concentrate on is everything around it, people inveigled into his world. it became this huge media circus.

young mitch as the judge for tithing efron is the film's strongest suit. ido efron is the film's strongest suit. i do think he's a really talented actor. what he does get here is the narcissism, the deceptiveness, that... what the film is really about is how is it this character could have convince people he was anything other than, as the title says, extremely wicked, shockingly evil and vile? i am not sure the film gets much beyond that. i don't think really tells us much else about him but i do think zac efron's performance is terrific. best out this week? eighth-grade. bo burnham's directorial debut. a generation called south obsessed but really self—conscious. really good performance by elsie fisher. have you seen performance by elsie fisher. have you seen it yet? i have not seen it yet. i guarantee you it's one of the films of the year. it is absolutely wonderful. i love it and it's got so

much empathy for its central character. i thought it was just wonderful. best dvd? this is piercing, a really twisted psycho thriller. there are some kronenberg in there, some lynch in there, it is... it isa in there, some lynch in there, it is... it is a particularly brilliant performance. but is not for the faint of heart. i use to introduce extreme cinema on the television. even i went, really? it's genuinely alarming, often quite funny. really when he needs to turn, it really turns. and to be approach with extreme caution. just to conclude, which would you recommend if you had to pick one? i would go for long shot. it may be left all the way through and there are so many comedies that did not do that. i

left... it made you left six times. at least in the first ten minutes! fantastic. thank you very much indeed. that is it for both of us. thank you so much for watching. goodbye. good evening. there's been quite a lot of cloud around today and there's also been some showery outbreaks of rain. one for a weather front that's been sitting its way southwards across england and wales. behind it, brighter skies and a rush of showers, and some of these showers falling within when three flavour across high ground of scotland. all because this cold arctic air is now starting to flood across the uk. it will take his time in doing so. still ahead of that conference, in the milder air. that front will continue to go steadily

southwards overnight. as it does so, cleaver skies to the north of that. we still keep a few showers up in the far northeast of scotland, where elsewhere, we could see a light frost first thing on saturday morning as those temperatures of her around the freezing mark. a chilly start to saturday, perhaps some early morning sunshine but it won't be long before the shower clouds sta rts be long before the shower clouds starts to develop. and that brisk northerly wind really is quite a future. that's going to drive in some showers along that east coast, with gusts of winds of 45, 50 mph, going to exacerbate that cold feel and it will drive some of those showers further inland as we go through the afternoon. the further west you go, perhaps lighter winds here. and as a consequence, fewer showers. certainly it will feel colder on that east coast, particularly with any significant exposure. high pressure will start to push its way certainly eastwards overnight, saturn ended into sunday.

asa overnight, saturn ended into sunday. as a consequent, it means fewer showers are largely on sunday. there will be a fairmont of cloud around. rather a grey heavy sky on sunday. it should stay dry, lecture winds with the exception of far north of scotland. highs again of ten to 13 celsius. almost the case of spot the difference, bank holiday monday, really. there is the potentialfor a few showers into northern england and east anglia. we will need to keep a close eye on that. those cha pters keep a close eye on that. those chapters only sitting around 8—13d. there is a change as we move into the majority of the week, but it changed to some wet and windy weather, and it will still feel cool at times.

voters tell the two main parties at westminster "end the brexit deadlock" — as the conservatives and labour suffer big losses in local elections. the tories lost more than a thousand seats with activists blaming the deadlock over brexit. these were always going to be difficult elections for us, and there was some challenging results for us last night. labour suffered losses at a time when they should have been making bigger gains. some of them were local factors, and some of them were people probably disagreeing with both parties on attitudes towards the european union. the winners included the liberal democrats and some other smaller parties, now celebrating at the expense of the tories and