in the european elections, as conservatives and labour are heavily punished by voters. the new party emerged with more than 30% of the vote. their leader says he's now ready to take on a general election. if we don't leave in october the 31st, then the scores you have 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 5th 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. double disaster for the two big westminster parties, both in trouble over 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 we report on 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 sportsday on bbc news... johanna konta breaks her french open curse, making it past the first round for the 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, who want to stop brexit, took full advantage of the deep disaffection among voters throughout britain. the foreign secretary, jeremy hunt, said the very existence of the conservative party was under threat unless it delievered brexit. threat unless it delivered 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 5 years ago. in terms of seats, the brexit party has 29 meps,

the liberal democrats 16, labour 10 and the conservatives just 4. the greens made some significant gains, while ukip lost all its seats. our political editor laura kuenssberg is at westminster. small parties with big, clear m essa 9 es small parties with big, clear messages on brexit with the victors in these elections. the tories and labour may grow making history for all the wrong reasons and the biggest winner was the brexit party. my biggest winner was the brexit party. my report tonight contains some flash photography. to the winner, the spoils. it was his victory. nigel farage‘s brexit party, maybe the brightest and boldest, were the biggest last night. once you have delivered brexit... demanding we leave the eu as soon as is humanly possible. are you worried about the divisions that we saw in the voters last night? you may not like the result of the election, but in the democratic society you respect that and you live to fight another day.

what we have had since the referendum is a lack of losers' consent from some very significant people in british public life. but parties with precisely the opposite message were winners too. the lib dems want to stop brexit, and were the next biggest party. the country's result is a contradiction. we are clearly now a major national force again and our next 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. # bye—bye eu...# it's the smaller groups with reasons to be cheerful, celebrating however they saw fit. just as in 2014, when ukip topped the poll, nigel farage‘s eurosceptic group hoovered up. cock—a—hoop. ..

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 and 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 so many activists worked so hard and we didn't get the result we wanted. the message is clear from these results. we absolutely need to deliver brexit. they won't be short of candidates. the home secretary, sajid javid, joined the race today. how would you deal with the brexit party? the tories might be short of a way to get brexit done... bottles were 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‘s strife. this country is split in half. let's have a proper discussion... 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 a eu referendum. only if there isn't a general election. is it clear? you judge. the responsibility to listen to what everyone has to say, and ensure that there is an agreement made and that is then put to a public vote. even his closest labour colleagues, though, are tiptoeing towards clearer backing for another vote. of course we want a general election, but realistically, after last night, there aren't many tory mps that are going to vote for a general election. it would be like turkeys voting for christmas. so our best way of doing that i think is going back to the people with a referendum, and 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 years ago. what we saw in these elections was yet another emphatic rejection by the people of scotland of brexit. the message of scotland couldn't be clearer. we don't want brexit. we want to stay in the heart of europe. in wales, plaid cymru, who want another vote on europe, beat labour too. in northern ireland, the cross—community alliance party that also opposes brexit won a seat for the first time. but the party that was set up just to push for another referendum didn't get far. change uk won't be changing much any time soon. but how far could he go? certainly never short on ambition. this melee might not last. remember, european elections don't 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. turnout in the elections was just below 37%, that's the second—highest in any european election in the uk. our deputy political editor john pienaar has been analysing the results. well, depending on where you stand, these elections were mostly about who wants brexit and, on the other side, who would sooner remain or at least get another the 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're 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 leavers fell flat. ukip minus nigel farage just evaporated. and lib dems hearts are singing, who'd 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 sprung 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 with remain side parties. the lib dems, the greens who had a good election, too, and change uk, who had a bad one. older 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 crisis put more strain on the union? very likely, yes. is the country deadlocked and divided? you bet it is — by region, by 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, or convince the party members — who will elect him or her —

it's 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, 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. our political editor laura kuenssberg is in westminster. can we talk about the state of the conservative party after these results ? conservative party after these results? yes, first off the european elections are an important part of the political backdrop but we need to ta ke the political backdrop but we need to take a breath before suggesting direct reader crosses in what will u nfold direct reader crosses in what will unfold in the next couple of years. that said, this was a truly woeful set of results for the governing party, historically awful. it is ha rd to party, historically awful. it is hard to find any comparisons, may be

not surprising when they have been so chaotic and divided and have just forced out the prime minister who has been struggling to control things for a long time. it means the conservative party is more likely in the leadership contest to be looking for who they believe could beat nigel farage and that means at this early stage of the race to be the next prime minister harder brexiteers are more likely to find currency with the tory membership. because of course it is the grass roots that will choose the next tory leader and the next prime minister and these results will feed into that. what about labour? are we likely to see some decisive policy change? we are already seeing tonight signals from the labour leader's office that they are moving towards a more overt backing for another referendum with the option of staying inside the european union on the table. for many months our viewers will have heard us talking about this. labour had this

ambiguous position, trying to keep on board their remaining voters but also without upsetting the leave voters around the country. after these results and significant pressure from the deputy leader tom watson who said tonight the party had made a big mistake and were looking at electoral catastrophe, it 110w looking at electoral catastrophe, it now seems jeremy corbyn is looking at electoral catastrophe, it now seemsjeremy corbyn is making a more decisive move towards backing another referendum. but just more decisive move towards backing another referendum. butjust as the tories will make decisions in the wa ke tories will make decisions in the wake of these results, there is nothing about that that is straightforward. traditionally our big political parties do well when they are a broad coalition trying to appeal to everyone, but they are both finding when it comes to brexit thatis both finding when it comes to brexit that is nigh on impossible. laura kuenssberg with her latest thoughts in 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. our political correspondent alex forsyth has been to warwickshire to speak to a range of voters in the county. £20, or nearest offer. they're 50p each, or three for £1. it seems some people feel a bit short—changed right now. there was plenty of brexit anger on offer near stratford earlier this morning. i get a bit frustrated, and i despair at them. 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. and what is it for you? for us i think it is leave the eu. this one's quite cute. across the region, conservative support plummeted. here, most people voted to leave. boot sale organiser bill usually backs the tories, but he's lost patience. i think the people voting for brexit will make them

all sit up and think, well, we've got to do something. and there's a deadline, and i think they've just got to meet that deadline now. they've already passed one, and it was an insult to the normal voter. with its industrial towns and cities, it's notjust the tories in the west midlands who suffered. mark was once a committed labour supporter, but now? because of the shambles what the conservatives have been up to in parliament and the labour party, i voted for the brexit party. he doesn't buy the warnings about leaving without a deal. i just think that's scaremongering. i really do think it's scaremongering. and he's not the only one. the brexit party's brilliant. nigel, come on! frustrated brexiteers aren't the only ones up in arms. at a jousting event at nearby warwick castle, plenty were still fighting for remain. i think i would like to see another referendum, because i think the last referendum was based on some mistruths. i know i didn't want to vote

for a party that definitely represented brexit. warwick has been a stronghold of remain in this leave county. here there was a surge in support for pro—eu parties. willis a labour voter who turned to the lib dems. what do you think of labour's position on brexit? it's very wishy—washy at the moment. ithink, i mean, i'm a big corbyn supporter at core, but i don't think they've covered themselves in glory, and i think a lot of people would have done what i've done which is a reactionary vote against labour and the tories as welljust to give them a bit of a nudge and say, you might be the big two, but there are other viable options out there. for some, there's little hope anyone can find a solution. because of the amount of people who want things different, it's very much torn. it is impossible for anybody. opposing views in this heated debate are, it seems, still entrenched. the time for war is over. but the political battle goes on. alex forsyth, bbc news, warwickshire.

for the picture across the uk, we'll be in cardiff after a good night for the brexit party and for plaid cymru and a terrible night for labour. we'll be in northern ireland, where the cross—community alliance party took one of the three seats available. but first to scotland, where the ruling snp put in a very strong performance. our scotland editor sarah smith is in glasgow. the snp ran an unambiguously pro—eu campaign, and that was actually a bit of a gamble, because many of their natural supporters are also leavers, but it paid off and they w011 leavers, but it paid off and they won half of the six seats in scotland. coming in second place, though, the brexit party, so that shows you this is not a unanimously pro—eu country here. the really big losers, though, that was cut like labour, kicked into a humiliating fifth place, and they lost both of

their meps. in part may be because their meps. in part may be because the snp asked all remain voters to lend their votes to the snp to send a strong anti brexit message. it may have worked, but that also makes it really ha rd have worked, but that also makes it really hard for the snp to say that they great result shows a surge in support for independence. yet, despite that, nicola sturgeon says she is going to this week introduced legislation for another referendum on scottish independence into the scottish parliament on wednesday. here in wales, the brexit party topped the poll by a long way, taking two of the available four seats, but it is welsh labour's performance that has grabbed the headlines, and historic drubbing for them. they took a seat, but they came third in the poll. never in a hundred years has labour performed so hundred years has labour performed so badly in a welsh election. party sources pointing the finger at the uk leadership and their ambivalence over brexit policy. but the welsh leader mark reckford chose to adhere to that policy, and ignore the calls

from within welsh labour for him to come out and call for another referendum. he has done that today. for plaid cymru, who came second and took a seat, beating labour into third place, the challenge is to maintain that momentum going forward. and as to the future, well, certainly the political mould in wales has been cracked. as for the future and whether or not it's been shattered, we will have to wait and see. after 40 yea rs of after 40 years of european elections in northern ireland being dominated by the so—called orange and green divide between unionist and nationalist parties, today for the very first time, alliance party, a cross community party aligned to neither side took one of northern ireland's three seats. as for the other two, is very much expected, they were retained by the two largest parties, the dup and sinn fein, but it was that big win for

naomi long's alliance party that is the big story of the day, and it is being seen as a marker of a new emerging centre ground in a change in northern ireland. that win came at the expense of the ulster unionist party losing a seat, that they had held since the 1970s, but alliance's success is also being seen as a mark of the strength of the anti brexit vote here in northern ireland, because alliance campaign very clearly for remain and for a second referendum. emma, thank you very much, and thank you to felicity and sarah as well. across the european union, many of the traditional parties suffered major losses, while nationalists were notably successful in italy and france. in the last elections in 2014, the european parliament's main centre—left group, the socialists and democrats, and the main centre—right group, the european people's party, secured more than 50% of the seats. support for those traditional parties has shrunk, they now only have 43% of the seats.

that's been caused by a surge in support for the liberals, greens and right—leaning conservatives, as well as right—wing nationalist parties. our europe editor katya adler has this report. 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 the 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 had 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 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 are 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 a reluctant uk still in the eu could cause internal trouble, are you worried about that? prime minister may was really clear that she said the uk would play a constructive role until the 31st... she's going. well, she's going, exactly. we will 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. our 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 top jobs, like president of the european

commission, is onlyjust starting. let's go live to brussels, and katya is there. you mention at the summit taking place tomorrow with theresa may attending. what kind of hearing will she get in the wake of these election results? i think on a number of accounts, huw, it is going to be an awkward meeting for the prime minister coming here to brussels to meet the eu leaders. awkward on two fronts. all the eu leaders know that she will soon be leaving herjob, leaders know that she will soon be leaving her job, and leaders know that she will soon be leaving herjob, and that clouds her departure, and whereas for theresa may right now it is all about brexit, brexit, brexit, eu leaders do not want to hear that word. they are fed up of it. and at the end of oui’ are fed up of it. and at the end of our brexit extension which comes on the 31st of october, for them, seems co mforta bly the 31st of october, for them, seems comfortably far away enough in political terms, so on their official discussion agenda at tomorrow's summit, brexit does not feature. for these leaders, after

the european parliamentary elections, a number of them are much more concerned with saving their own political skins and all of them wa nts to political skins and all of them wants to keep influence in the new allotting of these important eu jobs that come after the elections, so who will be the next president of the european commission, who will be next head of the european central bank. so that is very much what they will be focusing on tomorrow. the last time theresa may saw these leaders was back in april when they granted the brexit extension. at the time, the european council president, donald tusk, had words of advice for mps. he said use this time wisely. our european parliamentary results show that the country is as divided as ever over brexit. theresa may has another one—to—one meeting with donald tusk tomorrow. i can't help thinking what they will be talking about together 110w. they will be talking about together now. katya, thanks again. katya adler with the latest there for us in brussels. and you can find more information on the european

elections on our website, that's at 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's 34, is accused of killing 14—year—old blake barrass and 13—year—old tristan barrass. she appeared before magistrates alongside 37—year—old brandon, who also faces two counts of murder. they were remanded in custody and are due to appear at sheffield crown court tomorrow. newcastle united owner mike ashley is in talks to sell the club to dubai—based billionaire sheikh khaled in a deal reported to be worth £350 million. ashley, who bought the club in 2007, put it up for sale in 2017. the us president, donald trump, has been the first foreign leader to meetjapan‘s new emperor. president trump met emperor naruhito and empress masako at the imperial palace in tokyo. it's part of his four—day

state visit to japan. today's football news is that 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. our correspondent patrick gearey was watching. roll up, roll up, for wembley‘s big bank holiday giveaway. one lucky winner of derby county and aston villa gets a trip to the premier league, and with it at least £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 multimillionaire? villa buzzed first. on the brink of the break, anwar el ghazi the scorer with his shoulder. it's where it ends up that counts.

derby's boss, frank lampard, won almost everything as a player, but the touchline could be a helpless place. he could only watch his goalkeeper kelle roos do this. own goal. beyond anyone's plan. beyond anyone's control. derby had 20 minutes to save their season. they gave it all they had. jack marriott's shot touched in by martyn waghorn took this to the wire. villa lost this match last season. it was written on the face of even their most famous fan. but the equaliser never came. for all the talk of money, the play—off final is about so much more than that. for a few moments, even a prince saw these men as kings. so aston villa, one of the best—known names in english football, are back in the big time. the gap between the football league and the premier league has perhaps never been bigger, but villa have leapt across the chasm. patrick geary, bbc news, at wembley. that's it. now on bbc one, it's time for the news where you are.

aston villa are back in the aston villa are back in the premier aston villa are back in the premier league, defeating derby county in the play—off final. johanne at konta gets a victory in the first round. —— johanna konta.

hello and welcome to sportsday — i'm gavin ramjaun. aston villa are back in the premier league — beating derby in the championship playoff final. aston villa are back in the premier league after three seasons away in the second—tier championship. they will benefit by at least £170 million across three years. that could go up to 300 million if they manage to stay out for one season. there was a pretty entertaining player final we had here there was a pretty entertaining playerfinal we had here at there was a pretty entertaining player final we had here at wembley stadium, the deadlock was broken when the ball was shouldered in just before the break. a key time to score of course. villa went 2—0 up when the ball was dropped under

pressure from john mcginn of aston