the race is on — candidates to succeed liz truss as prime minister have until monday to gather the support of 100 mps. there's speculation about who may run — though no conservative mp has as yet formally declared. the party needs to find a leader to unite behind. thank you. whoever wins the contest faces the task of bringing the party together. they will be the third prime minister injust two they will be the third prime minister in just two months. they will be the third prime minister injust two months. the minister in “ust two months. the defence minister injust two months. tue: defence secretary minister injust two months. tte: defence secretary ben wallace has ruled himself out. he says he is leaning to support borisjohnson. rishi sunak and penny mordaunt are drawing mps' support too. opposition parties are saying it's time for a general election. we'll have the latest. also this lunchtime...

new figures paint a gloomy picture for the uk economy — people are shopping less and government borrowing has hit its highest september figure on record. there's gridlock in the health and social care system in england, says the regulator — as it warns about the impact of staff shortages. i'v e i've been doing 60 hours. time off is a sleep day. i've been doing 60 hours. time off is a sleep day-— is a sleep day. how long can you keep doing _ is a sleep day. how long can you keep doing that? _ is a sleep day. how long can you keep doing that? not _ is a sleep day. how long can you keep doing that? not long. - and we meet the first wild bison to be born in the uk for thousands of years. coming up in the sport later in the hour on the bbc news channel, can scotland take the final spot in the super 12s? we'll have the very latest from the t20 world cup in australia.

good afternoon and welcome to the bbc�*s news at one. senior conservatives hoping to become prime minister have begun seeking support from their fellow tory mps. they need to gain the backing of at least 100 colleagues in order to stand in the leadership race. liz truss resigned yesterday, though remains in downing street until a successor is appointed. that new leader will be named by next friday at the latest — becoming the third prime minister injust two months. in the last hour, the defence secretary, ben wallace, has ruled himself out of the contest. borisjohnson, who was forced out of number ten just six weeks ago, could attempt a comeback. liz truss's former leadership rival, rishi sunak, is the bookmakers�* favourite. the leader of the house of commons, penny mordaunt, is also likely to stand, as is suella braverman, who resigned as home secretary earlier this week. and the international trade secretary kemi

badenoch could also run. 0pposition parties are arguing that there should now be a general election. 0ur political correspondent helen catt reports. this report contains some flash photography. i will remain as prime minister until a successor has been chosen. thank you. and with that liz truss was out. as she headed off for a jog, the race to fill her shoes had already begun. would—be successors are rushing to get enough support before the deadline of 2pm on monday. in the last hour the defence secretary ben wallace, once touted as a possible unity candidate, has ruled himself out, and said he would lean toward supporting a bid by the former prime minister boris johnson. he was legitimately sent into parliament as the prime minister based on the votes of the whole electorate, notjust on tory members, notjust of members of parliament, he got a mandate, and i think that's an important thing for all of us to bear in mind.

we will see what happens. of course unity is also important. i'll be looking for how the candidates are prepared to bring the party together because without unity we can't govern either. mrjohnson resigned earlier this year after losing the support of a significant chunk of conservative mps. some have suggested they would quit the party if he returned. to go from the kamikaze budget under liz truss back to a man that his own party has declared unfit for office is the most powerful argument you could possibly have for a general election so that we can put the alternative case to the country, which is stability, growth, an economy that works for everyone, rather than this chaos. to enter the leadership contest each candidate needs the support of 100 conservative mps, so a maximum of three candidates. if there are more than two candidates there is an mps' vote and the candidate with the least number of votes is eliminated. when two candidates remain at one of them doesn't decide to drop out, tory party members vote online. the winner becomes prime minister.

morning, mr sunak! the former chancellor rishi sunak had over 100 mps backing him over the summer. he is expected to run again this time but hasn't yet confirmed. likewise, the leader of the commons penny mordaunt. i'll be making a statement in due course. still no decisions from the former home secretary suella braverman. 0r another possible candidate from the right of the party, the international trade secretary kemi badenoch. my answer is still the same as it was yesterday. the party needs to find a leader to unite behind. thank you very much. as it stands, no candidate has said publicly that they will stand. work is happening behind—the—scenes to gather support. time, though, is short. helen catt, bbc news, westminster. let's get more from westminster and our political correspondent damian grammaticas. give us a sense of where it's all that this lunchtime and what happens now? ~ �* , . ,

that this lunchtime and what happens now? ~ �* , ., , . , now? well, it's all very much up in the air at the _ now? well, it's all very much up in the air at the minute, _ now? well, it's all very much up in the air at the minute, but - now? well, it's all very much up in the air at the minute, but we - now? well, it's all very much up in the air at the minute, but we waitl the air at the minute, but we wait for these candidates to put themselves forward are so non—doing that so far, and they, behind—the—scenes, their teams or their supporters, canvassing, trying to work out where the numbers lie, that very high bar, 100 mps that you have to get to nominate you, that i think his concentrating minds, so you see on the right of the party, as helen was saying there, looking at whether there will be a candidate coming from there, or a couple of candidates possibly, and then you have this intervention by ben wallace today, which is very interesting because remember back in the summer ben wallace, touted as a potential leadership candidate himself as a possible unifying figure, he did not stand in the summer stop he was one of the last cabinet ministers to declare his support for liz truss back in the summer. this time he is out of the blocks early indicating he would have a preference for borisjohnson, but that possibility is causing real

disquiet amongst a lot of tory mps. remember the situation they were backin remember the situation they were back in a few months ago, to give you an example, a flavour there, jesse norman, who was a minister in the foreign office said choosing boris now, he says i say this advisedly, and absolutely catastrophic decision. jacob rees—mogg has already come out and said he is backing boris. nobody get throwing their hat officially in the ring but all of this positioning happening over this weekend. damian grammaticas. — happening over this weekend. damian grammaticas, thank— happening over this weekend. damian grammaticas, thank you _ happening over this weekend. damian grammaticas, thank you for _ happening over this weekend. damian grammaticas, thank you for now. - well, as the public come to terms with the prospect of a new prime minister, our correspondent phil mackie has been guaging the reaction in the town of bridgnorth, in the conservative—held constituency of ludlow. so it will be weird if boris does come back. there's only one thing they're talking about in bridgnorth today. i'd take boris back. we certainly don't need a general election. it's not easy for ordinary voters,

so imagine what it's like if you're a conservative councillor. we've been through every emotion, let's be honest, | over the last few weeks. you go from anger to frustration to despair, and then— i think yesterday there was a sense of relief. i and relief becausel this can't continue. you know, for every hard—working conservative councillor— it was embarrassing, i and we are now relieved that we have a reset chance and we have to take that. and get it right. but the membership got it wrong last time. yeah, but we have got to reflect i on the mess of the last two weeks. people are in crisis. we are facing a really difficult winter. - you know, their friendships - and politics aside, the need to come together and unite now and get behind the party and get - on with the policies _ and what they need to deliver. it's the main point of talk in the pub. at the crown on the high street the price of a point has had to go up by 20p and staff are working reduced hours. what do you think? you're somebody who has voted conservative in the last couple of elections. you used to be a labour voter. where are you now? floating is the best way to describe it.

completely undecided. i just think we need some form of unity. with boris he has been tainted with partygate, etc. so i'm not sure whether we need someone fresh. thank you. i spent most of last night trying to think, would i have boris back? wouldn't i? and i really can't say whether i've decided or not. bridgnorth, like the constituency that is in ludlow, has been conservative—held for generations. but two weeks ago there was a county council by—election here which was won by labour. so that's a worry for the conservative party. it's a sign, maybe, that it needs to reconnect with its core voters. next door, butcher mike pierce remains a party loyalist, but even he is not happy. they've got to buck their ideas up, because one will say one thing and mean something else. it doesn't happen, because everybody now is fed up to the high teeth with the conservatives. would you vote labour? no. still wouldn't vote labour?

i'd still vote conservative. they're playing for high stakes in westminster. the conservatives need to calm an increasingly frustrated middle england. phil mackie, bbc news, bridgnorth. so what has been the reaction around the uk to liz truss's downfall and the contest to find her replacement? in a moment we'll hear from hywel griffith in cardiff and alexandra mackenzie in glasgow, but first, let's go to our ireland correspondent chris page, who's in belfast. well, there are now two questions hanging over politics in northern ireland. number one, who will be the prime minister by next friday, and number two, will northern ireland be heading into an election next friday? not a general election, at least not yet, but on election to the devolved assembly. to go back a little bit, northern ireland hasn't had a fully functioning devolved government since february and the democratic unionist party says it will continue to block the formation

of a power—sharing coalition until the brexit trade border with the rest of the uk is removed. the legal deadline for the formation of a devolved government is next friday and the current northern ireland secretary chris heaton—harris has said if there is no breakthrough lapped by them and that seems unlikely, he will be calling another election, just seven months after northern ireland last went to the polls. 0f northern ireland last went to the polls. of course events in london have added a huge great deal of uncertainty, for example will there be another cabinet reshuffle next week, could there be a general change of tack on the government's part? for now the parties are assuming they'll be going back to the voters on probably the 15th of december but stormont feels like it's on an even greater state of limbo. bill it's on an even greater state of limbo. �* ., , ., , limbo. all of the party leaders here in scotland — limbo. all of the party leaders here in scotland say _ limbo. all of the party leaders here in scotland say liz _ limbo. all of the party leaders here in scotland say liz truss _ limbo. all of the party leaders here in scotland say liz truss made - limbo. all of the party leaders here in scotland say liz truss made thel in scotland say liz truss made the right decision to resign. the leader of the scottish conservative party, douglas ross, he said, we must now move forward quickly and the new leader and prime minister will need

to restore stability for the good of the country. nicola sturgeon, scotland's first minister, described this as an almighty mess. she said a general election is a democratic necessity, but she also said that an election doesn't solve the problem here in scotland. she said the democratic case for independence is growing by the hour of liz truss, she said she would at most be a footnote in history. now, we understand there was no formal communication between liz truss and nicola sturgeon. nicola sturgeon has said she will now wait until whoever is the fifth prime minister since she became first minister, she said of borisjohnson it would be ludicrous to think that he could come back to number ten. welsh tory mps have come back to their constituencies to take the temperature and probably feel a bit of heat _ temperature and probably feel a bit of heat. there is some public anger,

when _ of heat. there is some public anger, when they— of heat. there is some public anger, when they speak to their constituents they will hear that call for — constituents they will hear that call for a — constituents they will hear that call for a general election being echoed — call for a general election being echoed back to them but of course if that were _ echoed back to them but of course if that were to — echoed back to them but of course if that were to happen, when you look at the _ that were to happen, when you look at the polls— that were to happen, when you look at the polls at the moment, all 14 welsh _ at the polls at the moment, all 14 welsh tory— at the polls at the moment, all 14 welsh tory general election seats could _ welsh tory general election seats could he — welsh tory general election seats could be wiped off the map so who do those _ could be wiped off the map so who do those mps _ could be wiped off the map so who do those mps want as their next leader and ultimately the next prime minister? fewerthan half and ultimately the next prime minister? fewer than half of the 14 have publicly declared, but so far they seem — have publicly declared, but so far they seem to be going in favour of rishi _ they seem to be going in favour of rishi sunak. simon hart, the man who was welsh _ rishi sunak. simon hart, the man who was welsh secretary under boris johnson — was welsh secretary under boris johnson and played a part in his downfall— johnson and played a part in his downfall in the final 48 hours, he is backing — downfall in the final 48 hours, he is backing rishi sunak. the current welsh _ is backing rishi sunak. the current welsh secretary, doesn't have a constituency in wales, robert buckland, also backing rishi sunak, but don't _ buckland, also backing rishi sunak, but don't underestimate them support for boris _ but don't underestimate them support for borisjohnson here. some mps in the north— for borisjohnson here. some mps in the north of— for borisjohnson here. some mps in the north of wales can thank him for their seats _ the north of wales can thank him for their seats because he helped turn several— their seats because he helped turn several of— their seats because he helped turn several of their seats blue during 2019 _ several of their seats blue during 2019. , ., ~ ,., several of their seats blue during 2019. , ., ~ y., , several of their seats blue during 2019. , ., ~ y . as the leadership contest gets under way, the state of the economy

continues to impact lives. new figures show government borrowing rose in september. borrowing — the difference between spending and tax income — was £20 billion last month, up £2.2 billion from a year earlier. it's the second highest september borrowing since monthly records began in 1993. and retail sales figures experienced a bigger than expected monthly fall, of1.4%. meanwhile, the uk's financial services regulator has estimated that nearly eight million people are finding their bills "a heavy burden". the survey by the financial conduct authority was carried out between february and june. with consumer confidence now closer to a 50—year low, the crowds at shopping centres are thinner. in september retail sales were down by more than expected, 3.2% below where they were before coronavirus. normally the value and volume of retail sales move together but because of much higher prices the amount shoppers are spending rose

12% but the goods that money bought was down. each customer, they are still buying, but instead of buying that much they are buying that much. and you hear tales of woe from some businesses which have had the bills in of massive, massive increases which are simply unsustainable. so that is the one thing we are concerned about business wise. while some corporations are banking record profits, 40% of small businesses, like those here at birmingham indoor market, don't expect to make any profit this year. we try and absorb the impact as much as we possibly can. you play the long game, so there's 52 weeks in a year and you have to look after your customers. figures from the financial watchdog suggest it's not the government's deficit but those of households that are getting unmanageable, with 4.2 million people missing bills or loan payments in the first half of this— year. government borrowing, by contrast, has dropped rapidly since the pandemic without any tax rises or spending cuts as the economy

bounced back. but that's before the government starts to spend tens of billions subsidising energy bills. in the current financial year, - i think it's understandable that the government needs to step in and help people with their energy bills. - at considerable cost to the exchequer. . l what really matters is that over i the medium term we get the public finances back on track so that once | these energy schemes expire andi they're no longer needed, we have | appropriate decisions over tax and j on spending to givei markets confidence. 0n the markets the pound has dropped again and shares in uk companies are down on reports that the new fiscal plan might get pushed back to november. all because of the new tory leadership race. andy verity, bbc news. and you can keep up to date with all the latest news from westminster and about the economy on the live

page on our website. that's at bbc.co.uk/news. i promise i gave you the correct address! our top story this lunchtime. senior conservatives are deciding whether to enter the race to become the next prime minister, after the resignation of liz truss. any contender will need the support of 100 conservative mps in order to qualify. commentator: there it is, the victo in commentator: there it is, the victory in fine — commentator: there it is, the victory in fine style! _ and ireland take a nine—wicket victory over the west indies to advance in the t20 world cup in hobart, australia. coming up in the sport in the next 15 minutes on the bbc news channel: there's been a fourth premier league sacking of the season, defeat at fulham marking the end of steven gerrard's 11 months at aston villa. the health and social care system in england is gridlocked — that's the warning from

the care quality commission. the regulator says it's seen a significant rise in the last year in the number of people stuck in hospital because there isn't any social care provision for them when they leave, either at home or in the community. the cqc says staff shortages is one of the main reasons — although the government says it is investing money in recruitment and training. here's our social affairs editor, alison holt. whitby in rural north yorkshire is one of many places feeling the impact of what the regulator describes as a gridlocked health and care system in england. this is one ofjust two nursing homes in the area. there is constant demand for them to take patients ready to be discharged from local hospitals to free up beds there. but the home's manager says theyjust can't find enough staff. i think this afternoon we will have 16 residents, we can have up to 24, so we have a lot of empty rooms, but we are heavily reliant at the moment on agency staff,

which have been fantastic, but i would be quite nervous about taking on any extra residents because we wouldn't probably be able about taking on any extra residents because we wouldn't properly be able to meet their needs. the home was facing closure earlier this year but the local council persuaded the current provider to take it on with some restrictions. without this place there would have been worryingly few nursing beds locally, and joan, who has lived here for 12 years, would have had to find a new home. i'm very disturbed. i wasn't cross because there wasn't anything i could do except protest to whoever was listening. and that was nobody. today's report by the care quality commission warns of alarmingly high staff vacancies in health and care in england, with 300,000 unfilled jobs, more than half of them in social care. it says 500,000 people are waiting

for council care services and three in five patients end up stuck in hospitals waiting for support in the community. we recently brought together 250 leaders across health and social care who are currently operating out there in the system, they described it as a system in crisis. how are you? - ready to hand over? it is existing staff who have to fill in the gaps. ken is one of four nurses at the whitby home. they really need six. in terms of the last four weeks - we have had people on annual leave so i've been doing 60 hours. and you think i'm doing four night | shifts and two day shifts, my onlyj my only time off is actually a sleep day. _ how long can you keep doing that? not long. the government says its own plans for health and care address the priorities highlighted by the cqc, and that it's putting extra money into the recruitment and training of staff. alison holt, bbc news, whitby. let's talk more about this

with our health editor, hugh pym. another with our health editor, hugh pym. example of a bi facing another example of a big issue facing another new prime minister. that's right, a familiar public reminder of what's really going on and it is right across the system at alison has been explaining. health and social care. if it is difficult to find rehabilitation options for people in the community, or home care, then they will be stuck in hospital beds. that means new patients coming in, it is hard to find them beds in hospitals, hospitals are pretty nearly full in england. that's the picture from the data we are getting. a&e units then get crowded with some patients on trolleys and ambulances have to queue up because they can't hand over patients because there is no where to put them. it is a really big problem with winter approaching. there are no quick fixes for whoever the new prime minister is. there has been some foreign recruitment to try and bring in more social care staff, there has been more attempt to

coordinate hospitals working together so if one is very busy others can take on patients, but it is a really, really big challenge. you talk about winter coming, we shouldn't forget about covid either. yes, we have covid and flew adding to the pressures on the nhs, the latest figures for the office for national statistics fix for the uk show the number of infections in the week up to october the 10th, 2 million, up 14.7% on the previous week, a slight slowing of the rate of increase, but obviously a high figure. when you look at hospital admissions with covid the latest figures we have are for england, it is a slightly different picture. they are a bit more up—to—date, as it happens, they show there were 7800, orjust overcome hospital admissions with covid in the last seven days, down on the previous seven days, down on the previous seven days, down on the previous seven days with double by 4.7%. the hope is covid isn't proving quite as much of an issue as some had predicted. though clearly it hasn't gone away. flu, officials are

concerned, though, showing an increase early in the season than they would expect, more hospital admissions, particularly amongst young children and the elderly. and officials are urging parents to take up officials are urging parents to take up the offer of vaccinations for their children were eligible and appropriate, and certainly others who are vulnerable ahead of flu getting even higher.— who are vulnerable ahead of flu getting even higher. hugh pym, thank ou ve getting even higher. hugh pym, thank you very much- _ the labour mp for chester, christian matheson, has resigned, after an independent panel found he had carried out "serious sexual misconduct" while in office. the panel upheld two allegations against him made by a former member of his staff. he denies the allegations. the police have said human remains found in the loft of a house in milton keynes have been identified as the missing teenager louis croucher. a postmortem examination carried out last week has been inconclusive as to the cause of her

death —— leah croucher. investigations are continuing. plaid cymru begin their party conference in llandudno today. the leader, adam price, will outline what he's calling his "people's plan" — to cut energy prices, freeze private rents, and make public transport cheaper — though the party hasn't yet outlined to the bbc how it would fund the proposals. plaid are in a cooperation agreement with welsh labour in the senedd and came third in last year's welsh parliament election. the united states says iran has sent military experts to russian—occupied crimea, to help launch drone attacks on ukraine. kyiv was struck by a wave of so—called kamikaze drones on monday. tehran denies supplying the weapons to russia. it comes as ukraine's president accuses russia of planning to destroy a dam in the kherson region. 0ur ukraine correspondent james waterhouse is nearby in the southern city of kryvyi rih. he sent this report about how moscow is targeting key infrastructure.

a new kind of patrol for the police officers of kryvyi rih on the lookout not for criminals or russians, but people using outside lighting. a sushi restaurant gets a surprise visit and a photo before a switch is flicked. translation: the aggressor wants to damage our- energy system. that's why the city is doing its best to provide a sufficient level of energy supply for people's daily lives. 70 properties were cut off for not following the rules. it's only 7:30 and it feels like the curfew has already started. there are some street lights on but the city is gradually falling dark. and this is what escalation looks like now. through targeting ukraine's infrastructure, the russians are taking away more freedoms from people, making life that bit more

difficult, especially with winter approaching. kryvyi rih, along with the whole of ukraine, is being forced to either ration energy or shut it down. translation: we have cut off street lights by 6096. _ 50% of electric transport isn't operating. we have cut power for all sports and cultural buildings. now we're finishing switching off any outside banners. and we also ask people to cut their electricity consumption. iran is helping russia with its invasion, according to the us, providing training as well as these attack drones made by tehran, deployed by moscow. both countries deny it. where russia is going backwards in the southern kherson region, kyiv has accused of planting explosives on this key dam. ukraine still has momentum but progress isn't simple. james waterhouse,

bbc news, kryvyi rih. in cricket, ireland willjoin the hosts australia, as well as england, india and pakistan, in the super 12 stage it wasn't good news for scotland. andy swiss was watching. commentator: there it is! the victory in fine style. - for ireland's travelling fan club the world cup journey rolls on after a day and a win to remember. to reach the next stage they had to beat the west indies. two—time champions, remember, but how ireland seized their chance. commentator: that's a good catch! first their bowlers restricted the west indies to 146 before their batters blazed away. cue some nifty handiwork from one spectator. commentator: outstanding catch! but if he was happy, well, ireland were even happier, as paul stirling's inventive 66 turned their run chase into more of a stroll. the result means that while the west indies go out,

ireland go through to the main 12 team stage where they will be hoping more upsets lie in store. it was win or bust for scotland, too. they had to beat zimbabwe, but scotland's batters were still struggling. were soon struggling. commentator: taken! wonderfully taken! - wesley madhevere getting zimbabwe off to a flyer as scotland made just 132. could their bowlers turn things round? well, briefly it seemed they might. commentator: bowled! three quick wickets, and the comeback was on. but not for long, as zimbabwe held their nerve and held on for victory. their world cup continues while scotland's is over on a day of contrasting cricketing emotions. andy swiss, bbc news. the first wild bison for thousands of years has been born in the uk. three bison were released back injuly as part of a rewilding project in kent — but, unknown to the rangers,

one of them had a secret passenger on board. jonah fisher has been to see the new arrival. she's like a ray of sunshine on a dark, cloudy day. it's thousands of years since a bison was born in the wild in britain. so this is quite a moment in kent's blean woods. europe's largest mammal, once hunted almost to extinction, taking her first steps. she's a little ball of energy and when she sees rain, when we get a little bit of rain she starts sprinting around and she's like, what's this stuff falling out of the sky? she's fantastic. she's doing so, so well. donovan oversaw the arrival of the first three bison in july. as part of the settling in process he brings them some extra food every morning. it's basically a little treat, but that is the menu, what you see out there. these bison are not free to roam.

under uk law they have rather unfairly been classed as dangerous animals, which means they have to be surrounded by this rather big fence. but inside the enclosure they forage, they graze, they look for food. and in the next few months the enclosure is going to be massively expanded, leaving the bison to effectively live as wild animals inside. the role of the bison is to act as nature's bulldozer, trampling corridors through the forest and killing trees by eating their bark. in the clearings, light can come through, and there are spaces for other wildlife to thrive. they are, in effect, an animal that will coppice trees, will do all of that sort of work that we do manually with chainsaws or with brush cutters or whatever, they will do all of this naturally through their behaviour. where would you like to see this project go? in time, the greatest aspiration would be to drop the fences,

leave the fencing alone and let the bison move through