today at six — a stunning result for the brexit party in the european elections, as conservatives and labour are heavily punished by voters. nigel farage and his new party emerged with more than 30% of the vote — he's now saying he's ready to take on a general election. if we don't leave on october the 31st, then the scores you've seen for the brexit party today will be repeated in a general election, and we are getting ready for it. but it was also a great night for the liberal democrats — they say it gives hope to all people who want to stop brexit. it was the worst—ever result for the conservatives — they came in fifth place, giving new urgency to the search for a new leader. and labour is also nursing heavy losses —

the leadership is now under intense pressure to back a new brexit referendum. i both westminster‘s traditional main parties hammered over their sta nce main parties hammered over their stance on brexit. we'll have the latest from around the uk, with the stories from scotland and wales, where the results also broke new ground. and — a contest of a different kind... in the play—off final, aston villa have beaten derby, to win a very lucrative place in the premiership next season. and coming up on bbc news... british number one johanna konta breaks her french openjinx, reaching the second round for the very first time.

good evening. the european elections have delivered punishing defeats for both conservatives and labour. in a night of remarkable results, the brexit party, led by nigel farage, and the liberal democrats, took full advantage of the deep disaffection among voters throughout britain. the foreign secretaryjeremy hunt said the very existence of the conservative party was "under threat" unless it delievered brexit. and labour'sjeremy corbyn is now under intense pressure to back another referendum. let's look at the numbers in more detail. the brexit party won over 31% share of the vote, just a few months after being formed — it wasn't around in 2014. the liberal democrats took 20% of the vote — up 13 percentage points. both labour and the conservatives had a gruelling time. and ukip‘s share of the vote collapsed from five years ago. in terms of seats, the brexit party has 29 meps, the liberal democrats 16, labour io

and the conservatives just 4. the greens made some significant gains, while ukip lost all its seats. our first report tonight is from our political editor laura kuenssberg. a warning — it may contain some flashing images. to the winner, the spoils. it was his victory. nigel farage‘s brexit party may be the brightest and boldest but where the biggest last night, demanding we leave the eu as soon as is humanly possible. are you worried about the divisions you saw in the voters? in a democratic society, we accept that and you live to fight another day. what we have had is a rapidly loss of consent from some very significant people. but parties with precisely the opposite message or winners too. the

lib dems want to stop brexit and where the next biggest party. the country's results a contradiction. we are clearly now a major national force again, and our next big task is to work with other people and other parties who are like—minded, initially to stop britain crashing out of the european union by accident. it is the smaller groups with reasons to be cheerful. celebrating however they saw fit. just as in 2014 when ukip topped the polls, nigel farage's eurosceptic group hoovered up. cocky enough to boo a labour candidate on stage, and to cause major misery to the tories, who had a historically awful performance. for the party hunting for a new leader, a new prime

minister, many mps think the search should be for who can stop the brexit party. i'm deeply saddened by the fact that so many candidates and activists worked so hard and we didn't get the result we wanted. 0ne message is clear from these results, we absolutely need to deliver brexit. they will not be short of candidates. the home secretary sajid jerryjoined the race today. but the choice may be short of a way to get brexit done. —— sajid javid. bottles cracked open for parties who want to stop it altogether. instead of leaving now. the lib dems gobbled votes up in towns and cities. so too the greens. providing a home for those who want to stay in the eu, turned off perhaps by westminster strife. this country is split in half. and labour went backwards,

trying to keep its two natural territories together. for months, many party members have been unhappy at the plan to hold an eu referendum. 0nly at the plan to hold an eu referendum. only if there isn't a general election. is it clear? you judge. we have a responsibility to listen to what everyone has to say and ensure that there is an agreement made and that is put to a public vote. even his closest labour collea g u es public vote. even his closest labour colleagues are tiptoeing towards clearer backing for another vote. of course we want a general election but realistically there are not many tory mps who will vote for that so our best way of doing that is going back to the people with a referendum, i think that's what our members want. the snp were rewarded for a clear position in scotland to try to stop brexit. labour pushed to fifth place, unimaginable a few yea rs fifth place, unimaginable a few years ago. what we saw in these

elections was yet another emphatic rejection by the people of scotland brexit, the message from scotland couldn't be clearer, we don't want brexit, we want to stay at the heart of europe. in wales, plus comrie, who want another vote on europe, each labour too. —— plied comrie. but change uk will not be changing much any time soon. but how far could he go? certainly never on ambition. this melee might not last. remember european elections do not necessarily translate into what happens at the next general election. but the success of parties with a clear message on brexit is enough to give the tories and labour a lot to worry about. nigel farage and the other smaller parties have humiliated the established groups, perplexed by brexit. voters rewarding politicians who have been willing to pick a side. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. the brexit party have topped polls in every country or region, apart from scotland,

where the snp was dominant, and london, where the liberal democrats topped the polls. northern ireland has yet to declare its results in full. but where did the brexit party make its biggest gains? and where did its votes come from? 0ur deputy political editor john pienaar has been taking a look at the results. well, depending on where you stand, and these elections were mostly about who wants brexit, and on the other side, who would sooner remain, or at least get another referendum, the results were every bit as dramatic as everyone expected, only more. just look at how things changed. this was how it looked before, based on what happened in 2014. ukip ruling the roost, a big signpost of eurosceptic things to come, well before the referendum. but the two big parties still in there, slugging it out. and now look, a higher turnout, and nigel farage's brexit party swept in and swept up voters sick and tired they are still waiting for brexit three years on. the conservatives hammered, tory support crashed through the floor. labour sank too, jeremy corbyn's grand strategy of trying

to please the remainers, past and present, most of his members and mps in other words, and the leavers, fell flat. ukip, minus nigel farage, just evaporated. and lib dem hearts are singing, who would have thought it? they sucked in remain side votes, mostly labour supporters by the look of it, in the same way that nigel farage's party plundered the votes of brexit britain. now the country looks dug in for what could become a kind of trench political warfare. the brexit party didn'tjust win in seats and votes, they came top everywhere, except the remain side bastions of london and scotland. they didn't stand in northern ireland. there, the alliance party are set to spring a surprise by winning a seat. the liberal democrats were the other big winners, coming second overall. labour knocked off its perch in london, including jeremy corbyn's islington constituency, by the way. just as the brexit party won in theresa may's seat in maidenhead. and we saw again younger voters and graduates more likely to vote

for remain side parties — the lib dems, the greens, who had a good election too, and change uk, who had a bad one. 0lder voters generally lean strongly towards brexit. in scotland, the snp ended up happy, and here too, and in wales, labour is licking its wounds. will the brexit crisis put more strain on the union? very likely, yes. is the country deadlocked and divided? you bet it is. by region and nation, by generation. families and friendships split in a way we've never really seen before. what now? big two party politics may be shakier than ever. the tories‘ next leader, and all of our next prime minister, will have to deal with intense pressure to deliver brexit with or without a deal. 0r convince the party members, who will elect him or her, it is time to compromise. jeremy corbyn is being pressed hard to get off the fence, as his labour critics see it, and back a new referendum quickly, no ifs and no buts. no—one can call another referendum based on these results,

still less a general election. but we mayjust end up with either or both. you want certainty? not in britain, i'm afraid. not now. john pienaar there. 0ur political editor laura kuenssberg is in westminster. let's talk about the conservatives first, this devastating result for them. what impact will it have on that party? it is a historically dreadful night for one of the most established political parties in the world. the brexit party, which didn't fall from the sky, nigel farage scooped up his inheritance from ukip, which topped the polls in 2014i maximised every step of the way in the last few weeks, and that is already having an impact on the tory leadership race, for something many mps are thinking their priority has to be to find a leader who can overtly set about being able to hold off the threat from nigel farage, rather than somebody who is able to

stitch together something that looks like a compromise in the middle. the problem with that, well, of course many mps and ministers think to take a harder line on brexit might be irresponsible, to talk about leaving the european union without a deal, the european union without a deal, the cost potentially to the economy than simply would not be worth taking. and traditionally, our big political parties have been able to hold power and win elections when they are broad churches, when they are coalitions. so many mps will be pushing the tories to take a more brexit party line, but others are worried tonight about the risk of doing so by moving to the edge, rather than trying to conquer the middle. what about labour? are we about to see a decisive change in their stance? decisive, perhaps not. but steps towards something else, absolutely. corbyn is now under very, very, very significant lobbying, not just from very, very, very significant lobbying, notjust from arch remainers in his party and activists back from the deputy leader, from

the shadow foreign secretary, and crucially tonight, as we heard in my piece, from john mcdonnell, the shadow chancellor, jeremy corbyn plus my closest friend in politics. the party has issued a statement tonight which does seem to move us an inch ortwo tonight which does seem to move us an inch or two towards labour becoming a party that is overtly campaigning for another referendum on the eu, and overtly trying to stop brexit happening altogether. you can hear from stop brexit happening altogether. you can hearfrom behind me some people have been pushing the labour party to do that for quite some time, it seems now that finally the labour leader has been listening to those kinds of calls. the problem is, though, there are dozens and dozens and dozens and dozens of labour mps who represent seats where voters chose to leave the european union, so if they shore up some bouts in places like london and bristol, they are set to lose some in other parts of the country, whether doncaster or rotherham or other places where labour needs to hold on if they have any chance of

catching power. 0ne hold on if they have any chance of catching power. one final caveat, these results do not translate directly into a general election, but goodness me, it has given our two big parties at westminster a fright. laura kuenssberg there are with the latest thoughts on westminster. the brexit party's success was exemplified by its showing in the west midlands, where the party took nearly 40% of the vote, and will now have three meps in the region, while labour, the conservatives, greens and liberal democrats each have one. 0ur political correspondent alex forsyth has been to warwickshire, to speak to a range of voters in the county. £20. or £20. 0r nearest offer! £20. or nearest offer! it seems some people feel a bit short—changed right now. there was plenty of brexit anger on offer near stratford earlier this morning. brexit anger on offer near stratford earlier this morninglj brexit anger on offer near stratford earlier this morning. i get a bit frustrated. chris and ron are traditional tory voters who turned to the brexit party in protest this time round. it was a vote that said,

do it, whatever it is. what is it for you? for us, i think it's to leave the eu. this one is quite cute. across the region, conservative support plummeted. here, most people voted to leave. bill usually backs the tories, but he has lost patience. it will make them sit up and think, we have to do something, and there isa we have to do something, and there is a deadline and they have to meet that deadline now. it was an insult to the normal voter. with its industrial towns and cities, it is not just the tories industrial towns and cities, it is notjust the tories in the west midlands who suffered. mark was once a committed labour supporter, now? because of the shambles the conservatives have been up to in parliament and the labour party, i voted for the brexit party. he does not buy into the warnings about leaving without a deal.

not buy into the warnings about leaving without a deallj not buy into the warnings about leaving without a deal. ijust think thatis leaving without a deal. ijust think that is scaremongering. i really do think it is scaremongering. and he is not the only one. brexit party. nigel, come on! frustrated brexiteers are not the only ones up in arms. at a jousting first of all at nearby warwick castle, plenty we re at nearby warwick castle, plenty were still fighting for remain. at nearby warwick castle, plenty were still fighting for remainlj think i would like to see it another referendum because the last referendum because the last referendum was based on mysteries. referendum because the last referendum was based on mysterieslj referendum was based on mysteries.” wanted to vote for a party that definitely represented brexit. warwick has been a stronghold of remain in this leave county and there was a surge in support for pro—eu parties. will was a labour voter intent of the liberal democrats. what do you think of labour's position on brexit? very wishy—washy at the moment, i am a big jeremy corbyn support at core but they have not covered themselves in glory and a lot of people have done what i have done, reaction vote against labour and the tories to

give them a nudge and say, you might be the big two but there are other viable options out there. for some, there is little hope anyone can find a solution. because of the amount of people who want things differently, it is very much torn. it is impossible for anybody. but not the political battle. if anything, brexit harmony seems out of reach. what about the picture in scotla nd of reach. what about the picture in scotland and wales? in a moment we'll be in cardiff, after a good night for the brexit party and for plaid cymru, and a terrible night for labour. and we'll be in northern ireland, where the alliance party are expected to win one of the three seats there. but first to scotland, where the ruling snp put in a very strong performance. 0ur scotland editor sarah smith is in glasgow. the snp ran an unambiguously pro—eu campaign and that was a gamble because a large number of their natural supporters are also leave

supporters, but it paid off, with a record result for the party in eu elections and they went half of the six meps in scotland. coming in second place here was the brexit party, who get one mep, which does show you scotland is not unanimously pro—eu. but the really big losers we re pro—eu. but the really big losers were labour, they were kicked into a humiliating fifth place and they lost both of their meps. now, that may be in part because the snp specifically asked remain voters to lend them their vote in the selection in order to send a strong anti—brexit message and it looks like that might have worked. 0f course, that also means the snp cannot then say this result shows a rise in support for scottish independence, but still nicola sturgeon says she is going to introduce legislation for a second independence referendum to the scottish parliament this week. well, here in wales, the brexit

party topped the poll by a long way, claiming two out of the four available seats. but the headline grabbed by the historic dropping welsh labour have received. they claim a seat, but they collapsed to third place in the poll. never have they had such a bad result in a century here in wales. and a lot of party sources are pointing the finger squarely at the uk leadership and blaming their ambivalence over brexit policy. but that is a policy that was wholeheartedly backed by the welsh labour leader mark dra keford. the welsh labour leader mark drakeford. not any more, though. today, he issued a statement calling for a public vote on any final brexit deal. for plaid cymru who came second, and they are delighted with that result and the seat it brings, the challenge for them now is to maintain that momentum going head—to—head with welsh labour over the next couple of years, head of the next couple of years, head of the assembly elections. there is no question that political mould here in wales has been cracked by this

set of results. what we don't know yet is whether it has been shattered. in northern ireland, it is the two largest parties that have topped the polls with diane dodds retaining her seat for the dup and martina anderson on the brink of retaining her seat for sinn fein. but the really striking story of the day here is that for the first time in 40 yea rs of here is that for the first time in 40 years of european elections in northern ireland, across communities, neither or nationalist party is strongly on course to take northern ireland's third seat and that would be a massive result for naomi long and the alliance party, doubling their result, the results they got back in 2014 in the last european elections. why has this happened? it is being seen as a sign of after years of unionist and nationalist politics dominating the landscape here, that there is a new centre ground coming through. and as the alliance party campaigned for

remain and strongly for a second referendum, it is also being seen as a sign of the anti—brexit vote here in northern ireland, a place which voted to remain. many thanks to you all. for the latest in glasgow, cardiff and northern ireland. across the europe union, many of the traditional parties suffered major losses, and the big centre—right and centre—left blocs lost their combined majority in the european parliament. the liberals and greens had a good night, while nationalists were notably successful in italy and france. 0ur europe editor katya adler is in brussels for us now. there is the sense everyone is taking ona there is the sense everyone is taking on a political earthquake and not because the european election results were so dramatic in themselves, some predicted before themselves, some predicted before the selection that the far—right would become a majorforce in parliament. actually, most groups inside the new european parliament will be pro—european. the earthquake

is more from a feeling that europe is more from a feeling that europe is saying goodbye for good to traditional politics. it is notjust in the uk, across europe, more and more voters are saying goodbye to those old party allegiances. and the result, then, is a vote that is far more nuanced and fragmented. cheering much about this european election is not what it first may seem. nationalist marine le pen beat president macron to top the polls in france. "this is a people's victory," said a delighted mrs le pen. "the people have taken power back into their own hands." but the people — aka europe's voters — didn't support mrs le pen's political allies as much as she'd hoped across the eu. millions of europeans cast a vote for change, but not all looked for answers in the far—right. the pro—european greens did phenomenally well, as did europe's liberals. we are witnessing

a polarised society. so, now we are going to use the leverage that the citizens gave us to try and enact change at european level. reducing social inequality, reducing our ecological footprint, improving public health. we will see whether the others are prepared for that. seemingly unprepared for this new fragmented political order are the eu's traditional power blocs, the centre—left and the centre—right. germany's government was given a very bloody nose. like in the uk, europe's voters are favouring political movements they believe better reflect their priorities. there are questions today as to how long angela merkel can, or should, stay in office. and all this could well affect the brexit process. the woes of angela merkel, the far—right breathing down the neck again of emmanuel macron, looming general elections in a number of eu countries — all of this distracts eu leaders

and makes them that much more unlikely to reopen and renegotiate the brexit deal, if they're asked to do so by the next uk prime minister. the attitude here, anyway, is that there is no better alternative. and how does the eu feel about 73 uk meps returning to the european parliament? it will be interesting to see how long they will actually be active in the european parliament. emmanuel macron has said he's worried that a reluctant uk still in the uk could cause internal trouble, are you concerned about that? well, prime minister may was very clear. she said that the uk would play a constructive role until the 31st of... she's going. well, she's going, exactly. we'll have to wait and see what this means for the next prime minister. eu leaders, including theresa may, meet here tomorrow to discuss the ‘what next?', after the european elections. 0ur prime minister may feel a bit out of place. for the rest, the horse trading as to which political groups now get

the eu's topjobs — like president of the european commission — is only just starting. katya adler, bbc news, brussels. and you can find more information on the european elections on our website. plenty of analysis. bbc.co.uk/news. let's take a look at some of today's other news. a woman has appeared in court in sheffield, charged with murdering two of her children. sarah barrass, who is 34, is accused of killing 14—year—old blake and 13—year—old tristan. she appeared before magistrates alongside 37—year—old brandon machin, who also faces two counts of murder. they were remanded in custody and are due to appear at sheffield crown court tomorrow. football, and aston villa will play in the premier league next season, after a memorable 2—1victory against derby county in the championship play—off final at wembley. the promotion is worth at least £170 million and returns the club to the top flight for the first time

since relegation in 2016. 0ur correspondent patrick gearey was watching. roll up, roll up, for wembley‘s big bank holiday giveaway. 0ne lucky winner of derby county and aston villa gets a trip to the premier league, and football's biggestjackpot. win this and you scoop £170 million over three years. if you stay up for one season, that becomes 300 million. it makes the 6.6 million going to next weekend's champions league winners look like peanuts. so, who wants to be a multi—multimillionaire? well, for most of the first half, it was 50—50. villa buzzed first, on the brink of the break. anwar el ghazi the scorer — as it turned out, with his shoulder. it's where they end up that counts. now derby's frank lampard, who won almost everything as a player, faced his biggest half as a manager. but from the sidelines, there's only so much you can affect. you can't, for example, stop your goalkeeper doing this. and it is going to go in!

villa's john mcginn celebrated, but this was kelle roos‘s own goal. beyond planning, beyond control. derby had about 20 minutes to save their season. there were less than ten of them left when jack marriott produced the lifeline. had it touched martyn waghorn on the way in? they could argue later. derby threw everything at an equaliser, but it never came. they say the play—off final is about money, it's about more than that. just ask derby's fallen players, or villa's most famous fan. an afternoon when even the prince sees these men as kings. so, one of english football's oldest and best—known names aston villa are finally back in the big time. the gap between the second—tier championship in the premiership has perhaps never been bigger but this afternoon, aston villa have leapt across the chasm. thank you for the from wembley. time for a look at the weather. progressively cooler, with showers, but there is warmth on the way with

temperatures climbing once again. rain has been coming down across some areas this afternoon. parts of northern ireland have seen really heavy showers now transferring to wales, northern england and down into the midlands, drenching downpour is here which continue to slide south east was. we keep showers for some tonight and equally clear spells, the is across scotland and it turns chilly here. further south where it remains breezy, temperatures between six and 10 degrees. tomorrow, dry weather and sunny spells, but also some showers. another sunshine and showers stay. most showers tomorrow across the eastern half of the uk. further west, more dry weather and spells of sunshine, but with the winds from the north or the north west, it is not going to feel very warm. perhaps the coolest day of the week 11 degrees in aberdeen and may be up to in cardiff. wednesday, another change, a chilly start under this high pressure, but frontal system works in from the west bringing rain

into northern ireland initially and spreading into wales, south—west england, northern england and southern scotland. breezy to the southern scotland. breezy to the south of that rain and quite cloudy as well because that is humid air waking always cooler across the northern half of scotland. for most of us, it is that humid air that winds out towards the end of the week. frontal system is that humid air that winds out towards the end of the week. frontal systems wriggling around south, we tap into the south—westerly mends, bringing warm air. by the weekend, middle 20s possible across parts of the south, not as warm further north. so want to the south, we tap into the south—westerly mends, bringing warm air. by the weekend, middle 20s possible across parts of the south, not as warm further north. so want developing in the south and rain across

hello and welcome to sportsday — i'm jane dougall.