this is bbc news, the headlines at 4pm... the former chancellor rishi sunak has secured more than 100 pledges of support from tory mps, meaning he can enter the conservative leadership contest. rivals of borisjohnson have dismissed claims by his allies that he has also reached 100 backers. the leader of the commons, penny mordaunt, is the only person to formally announce that she's running, but she has fewer supporters than the two men. in other news — two mayors are calling for more funding for train operators in the north of england — it's after passengers face disruption to services you just can't keep up with all of the cancellations, and even when your train isn't cancelled, you are often a really, really packed service. ukrainian officials say around

a million and a half households are without power following a new wave of russian attacks. and england's lionesses will face china and denmark at next year's women's world cup in australia and new zealand. good afternoon. rishi sunak has become the first leadership contender to secure 100 public declarations of support from mps. the former chancellor has yet to announce whether he will launch a fresh bid for the top job after losing to liz truss over the summer. rivals of boris johnson rivals of borisjohnson have dismissed claims that he has also secured the backing of 100 mps. mr johnson has flown home from holiday in a caribbean overnight.

so far, penny mordaunt is the only contender to have officially launched a campaign, but she is lagging behind the two men. hopefuls have until monday afternoon to find 100 backers. 0ur political correspondent helen catt has more. are you running for leadership? he's got the numbers to get on the ballot paper. and rishi sunak is expected to declare his candidacy soon. the former chancellor now has more than 100 mps publicly backing him to be the prime minister. the big question in westminster is now if his former boss will try tojoin him. borisjohnson, returning from a holiday, is up for running again, according to one ally. the wheels of his plane may barely have touched down, but he's likely to be under pressure to decide quickly. we've seen in the last few days, is some of the mps who resigned, some of the mps who called for boris to go at the start of the summer have now said that they would like to see him put himself forward. they've admitted that they were wrong and i know that there are many others waiting to hear on if he makes a decision to run before they go public. others don't agree. the return of mrjohnson could, the former conservative leader

william hague suggested, send the party into a death spiral. there does seem to be a real mix between those who are really enthusiastic about the idea of return for borisjohnson and those who are frankly appalled at the prospect. but some are saying there is a practical challenge to any bid by him to become prime minister again, and that is that in the next few months he's going to face an investigation by parliament's privileges committee into whether he misled the house of commons in what he said about parties at downing street. i think the country needs a prime minister that is focused 100% on them, and ijust don't see as a practical matter that that can be boris, if he's then dealing with all of those issues. and i say that as someone who would love to see boris returned to front line politics, i think he can, but i don't think he can until he's addressed those issues. penny mordaunt is the only candidate to so far have actually confirmed she's running. her public backers are still far short of 100 at this stage. well, i'm backing penny because she's the candidate.

i think that cannot onlyjust bring the conservative party and parliament together, but actually the whole country. she's got a proven track record working across eight departments in her 12 years in parliament, and i think her background really makes her well placed to connect with people. by this time next week, barring any major surprises, one of these three people will be the prime minister. until then, the race to gain support continues. helen catt, bbc news. currently the bbc estimates 168 out of 357 tory mps have gone public with their support. as you've heard, rishi sunak has passed the key threshold of 114 backers, borisjohnson has 50 and penny mordaunt 22. it's worth pointing out that these are the numbers the bbc can verify — others may have different information. 0ur political corrspondent

rajdeep sandhu is in westminster. so, the only candidate to have for many and as she is running is the one who we hear hasn't had the numbers yet, if rumours about boris johnson but that numbers are to be believed? , , , , believed? yes, it seems penny mordaunt _ believed? yes, it seems penny mordaunt is — believed? yes, it seems penny mordaunt is the _ believed? yes, it seems penny mordaunt is the anyone - believed? yes, it seems penny mordaunt is the anyone who i believed? yes, it seems pennyl mordaunt is the anyone who has announced her candidacy but according to those numbers we just showed viewers there, she's not doing so well, she didn't quite have the momentum she had in the last campaign. instead, all of the focus is on rishi sunak and borisjohnson. rishi sunak the favourite and in the lead. that is not so surprising because he was the favourite throughout the mps part of the last leadership election, but he wasn't the favourite when it went to the party membership, so it is not very surprisingly still the favourite within mps, gaining those 114 votes, which means he would make it to the ballot on monday. and we are expecting him to declare shortly. left sure of the numbers, boris johnson, that is because his

campaign sources are saying that they have made 100 supporters. at they have made 100 supporters. at the moment, publicly, we are only seeing around 50 people publicly vouch for him, saying that they will back him. he doesn't seem to have made his mind up yet if he is running or not and hasn't officially confirmed if he is either way. we have had supporters saying that privately some people are waiting for him to say that he will stand before coming out to back him. of course, you will remember boris johnson was ousted as prime minister not that long ago because of partygate scandal, and she is also facing a privileges pulmonary committee into whether he misled parliament, —— parliamentary committee. so those will be part of the key positions —— decisions mps will be weighing up as to whether or not back him. supporters say he has a mandate, he won the 2019 general

election, and that he has made the big choices, he has taken the big choices and got them right, for instance, on covid and the war in ukraine, that is what his latest high—profile backer priti patel, the home secretary, has been saying. but, of course, this seems to all be about momentum and at the moment, in terms of the numbers, the public numbers that we have, the momentum seems to be behind rishi sunak, and on those claims that borisjohnson has reached 100 already, rivals seem to be quite sceptical of them, actually. 0ne to be quite sceptical of them, actually. one person saying it was hogwash, another saying it was clearly nonsense, and of course it is hard to believe things when people are privately briefing because you never quite know if they are just putting a kind of positive spin on the campaign or not. thank ou for spin on the campaign or not. thank you for that — spin on the campaign or not. thank you for that analysis, _ spin on the campaign or not. thank you for that analysis, that - spin on the campaign or not. thank you for that analysis, that is - spin on the campaign or not. thank you for that analysis, that is our . you for that analysis, that is our political correspondent there. henry zeffman is now with us, he is the associate political

editor of the times. thanks forjoining us. do you think any of those candidates could bring unity to the conservative party and bring the economic stability that the rest of the country needs? it is a little hard _ the rest of the country needs? it is a little hard to _ the rest of the country needs? it 3 a little hard to see, i have to be honest, the conservative party is deeply, deeply divided. and the particular reason that the winner, i think, is going to find it hard to unify the conservative party is that, well, look, let's be clear, at this point it looks like it is overwhelmingly likely to be rishi sunak or borisjohnson. if it is borisjohnson, it willalmost boris johnson, it will almost certainly borisjohnson, it willalmost certainly be boris johnson, it will almost certainly be with a minority of consulate mps supporting him so the majority of conservative mps will feel aggrieved that he has been imposed on them in that scenario by conservative party members. if it is rishi sunak, borisjohnson black long—standing supporters who feel annoyed with him, to say the least, for his role in borisjohnson�*s

downfall early this year, will feel even more annoyed that they didn't get their revenge by having boris johnson back as prime minister and may equally feel reluctant to support rishi sunak mac government, so it is hard to see the positive party coming back to get any time soon. ., ., , �* ~ . soon. that doesn't sound like much of a mandate _ soon. that doesn't sound like much of a mandate for _ soon. that doesn't sound like much of a mandate for a _ soon. that doesn't sound like much of a mandate for a conservative - of a mandate for a conservative party leader, let alone a banister. look, it is difficult. i think particularly for borisjohnson, the particularly for boris johnson, the big particularly for borisjohnson, the big difficulty he will particularly for boris johnson, the big difficulty he will have particularly for borisjohnson, the big difficulty he will have in exerting his authority over the conservative party is what your corresponding just mentioned there, which is the privileges midi investigation. that happens to be getting under way in earnest next month, so if borisjohnson were to return to downing street, his first month and perhaps longer in office would bring the thing which brought about in large part his removal right back to the centre, that is the downing street party saga. and a

lot of conservative mps, the ones backing rishi sunak, would feel very frustrated by that, that is a recipe for disharmony, for sure. but equally if it were rishi sunak, there are conservative mps who feel there are conservative mps who feel the inverse of that. that is the great argument for penny mordaunt, by the way, not that she seems to be getting much traction, which is she would move on completely from that sort of psychodrama as people are calling it in westminster between borisjohnson and rishi sunak. and boris johnson and rishi sunak. and what ou borisjohnson and rishi sunak. and what you think this makes the conservative party orjust the party leadership election process look like for members of the seeing this? we had an incredibly long process over the summer and now we've got this kind of process, and from what you are saying, doesn't sound like there is any clear candidate to bring unity, so that —— does that mean the whole process of choosing a leader is broken? i mean the whole process of choosing a leader is broken?— leader is broken? i don't think you can fault the _ leader is broken? i don't think you can fault the conservative - leader is broken? i don't think you can fault the conservative party i leader is broken? i don't think you | can fault the conservative party for speed this time around. the last process to take a long time, this one is going to be very quick. i

think it is still possible, probably not likely, but possible that rishi sunak will be prime minister on monday night or tuesday morning, i an extremely sceptical about the briefing from thejohnson campaign about 100 mps. the simplest way fame to prove that would be for 100 mps to prove that would be for 100 mps to publicly say they are supporting him, as they have rishi sunak. so, if borisjohnson does end up with 100 mp5, if borisjohnson does end up with 100 mps, and it is possible that he will, and then goes up against rishi sunak and one of them whence, for sure the consulate party will be divided, but it is just about possible, given the relatively public —— sad —— sluggish pace of public —— sad —— sluggish pace of public support for boris johnson. thank you so much for your thoughts on that, henry, and for taking the time to speak to us, that was the associate political director of the times. emma norris is a

director of research at the institute for government. what are your thoughts on which of these potential candidates could bring union the party and sterility for the country? i bring union the party and sterility for the country?— bring union the party and sterility for the country? i am not sure any of them will _ for the country? i am not sure any of them will bring _ for the country? i am not sure any of them will bring stability - for the country? i am not sure any of them will bring stability or - of them will bring stability or unity. 0ne of them will bring stability or unity. one of the real challenges around johnson is if he wins it will be with the support of the conservative party membership but probably not with the support of mps. that is unlikely to get worse if he ends up in the office of prime minister again. we've got the privileges committee running, we've also got the covid inquiry running, thatis also got the covid inquiry running, that is likely to also have tricky questions forjohnson. and there is the question of how the markets will react. i think there is also a question about whetherjohnson and his supporters have really appreciated what went wrong last time, given the overwhelming need for stable government now and the huge task facing the next prime minister of making difficult decisions with a fractured party.

johnson mach two would have to govern completely differently and it is not clear that he is yet going to do that. ., ., do that. the front runner or the onl one do that. the front runner or the only one who — do that. the front runner or the only one who has _ do that. the front runner or the only one who has publicly - do that. the front runner or the i only one who has publicly received the number of mps backing him as needed is rishi sunak. what effect do you think his potential successor could make, what difference could it make to the economy and to the stability of the country?- stability of the country? well, i mean, stability of the country? well, i mean. he's _ stability of the country? well, i mean. he's a — stability of the country? well, i mean, he's a candidate - stability of the country? well, i mean, he's a candidate that. stability of the country? well, i mean, he's a candidate that is| mean, he's a candidate that is likely to be welcomed, i think, by the markets, at least more so than johnson. the same challenges face rishi sunak. we have an economic environment in which spending cuts are going to need to be made, tax rises are inedible, so the candidate needs the confidence of both mps and the cabinet to get things done. the consulate party is incredibly divided, whether it is sued it —— three of them. the difficulty is can they get their cut of decisions through? can they be the unity

candidate, and if not, how quickly do we end up in a general election? and how democratic, really, is this process? because if one candidate gets 100 mps backing them by the others don't manage to come and as we can see there, from the numbers, borisjohnson and penny mordaunt are still quite a way away from that figure, then what you have got is a handful of people, around 100 people choosing the next prime minister. i think the question of whether or not is democratic is really important. 0ur constitution says that this is legitimate, that winning the 2019 general election, because every party has the mandate to run the country and we give parties to mandate rather than by ministers, but if we selected prime minister that cannot command the —— majority in the house of commons, the situation is untenable, that is the big risk here, particularly if you go to the consulate party membership, they pick another candidate that doesn't have the proper backing of mps and as a result can't get anything done, and,

you know committee really is important to spell out the consequences of that. the country is facing economic crises, energy crises, a crisis in the nhs, and then there is the everyday business of government that is not getting done. yesterday, the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse reported and it has received almost no attention because of the political stability that is occurring, and so we need a try minister that is capable of leading a functioning government and i don't think it is at all clear that is what we are going to end up with. emma norris from the institute of government. the mayors of greater manchester and the liverpool city region are calling on the government to give an immediate funding injection for train operators in the north of england. andy burnham and steve rotheram say that

delays and cancellations on transpennine express and northern services are damaging the economy of the region. transpennine express has apologised following a large number of rail cancellations. passengers say they've been left frustrated by the problems. i woke iwoke up i woke up basically to find that there was a six hour gap until the next train. there was a six hour gap until the next train-— next train. the experience of 'ust one trans next train. the experience of 'ust trans and fi next train. the experience of 'ust one trans and customer�* next train. the experience of 'ust one trans and customer last h next train. the experience ofjustl one trans and customer last week, the operator services between hell and manchester and cleethorpes —— one trans can customer last week. —— one trans pennine customer last week. both services have been cancelled so if you want to catch the trans pennine to magister, you will have to wait until three o'clock until you can catch the next

train. ~ , ., o'clock until you can catch the next train. g . .,, , o'clock until you can catch the next train. g . , . train. my train has been cancelled on the way _ train. my train has been cancelled on the way back— train. my train has been cancelled on the way back today. _ train. my train has been cancelled on the way back today. i - train. my train has been cancelled on the way back today. i cannot . on the way back today. i cannot switch from one train to the next to the next. it switch from one train to the next to the next. , ., , switch from one train to the next to the next. , . , ., , the next. it is appalling, really, it is the heartbeat _ the next. it is appalling, really, it is the heartbeat of _ the next. it is appalling, really, it is the heartbeat of the - the next. it is appalling, really, | it is the heartbeat of the nation, the m _ it is the heartbeat of the nation, the m 62— it is the heartbeat of the nation, the m 62 corridor, essentially for the m 62 corridor, essentially for the northern powerhouse. gn the m 62 corridor, essentially for the northern powerhouse. on tuesday, eve train the northern powerhouse. on tuesday, every train from — the northern powerhouse. on tuesday, every train from manchester _ the northern powerhouse. on tuesday, every train from manchester from - every train from manchester from five o'clock to nine o'clock was cancelled so i don't know how people are excited to get home at this point. are excited to get home at this oint. are excited to get home at this oint, _, , are excited to get home at this oint. _, , .,, are excited to get home at this oint. , ., , are excited to get home at this oint, , ., ., , ., point. the company has apologised to customers. there _ point. the company has apologised to customers. there is _ point. the company has apologised to customers. there is a _ point. the company has apologised to customers. there is a range _ point. the company has apologised to customers. there is a range of - customers. there is a range of reasons for— customers. there is a range of reasons for the _ customers. there is a range of reasons for the spike - customers. there is a range of reasons for the spike in - reasons for the spike in cancellations, predominantly sustained levels of sickness, so high _ sustained levels of sickness, so high levels of sickness, alongside a bil high levels of sickness, alongside a big training programme that is ongoing — big training programme that is ongoing for our drivers. transpennine says it will work towards providing a more consistent service that customers are already losing their patients.

avanti west coast rail services will be cut throughout the day, because of strike action by train managers. services from cities including liverpool and manchester are affected. a 12—year—old boy has died after a wall collapsed at a house in essex. emergency services were called to the property in clacton last night after a garage attached to the house collapsed. a man in his 30s was pulled from the rubble with an arm injury. the uk's economic outlook has been lowered from stable to negative by the ratings agency moody's. the group said political uncertainty and last month's mini—budget had contributed to its decision. the rating is a marker of the strength of a country's economy and its stability. sport now, let's get a full roundup from the bbc sport centre. good afternoon. let's start with a shock result in the premier league — as nottingham forrest beat liverpool 1—0 in the day's early game. a second half goal from taiwo awoniyi proved the winner

and moved forrest off the foot of the table. two games underway right now — and a big clash later today between chelsea and manchester united. and we know after he walked down the tunnel early in midweek, cristiano ronaldo will not feature. in the women's super league, everton held on to secure a narrow 1—0 victory at aston villa, inflicting back to back home defeats on the hosts. elsewhere, two goals from khadija shaw helped manchester city earn a second successive wsl victory at tottenham hotspur, with lauren hemp rounding things off

to make it 3—0. in the scottish premiership, leaders celtic eventually triumphed over hearts in a gripping enoucnter at tynecastle. the game swung one way and another before it was decided by greg taylor's winner, making it 4—3 to celtic. earlier, scottish football had its first on—field review for hearts' first goal from the penalty spot, as video assistant referee's are being introduced this weekend. beating afghanistan by five wickets in perth... sam curran was the star of the show with the ball for england taking 5 wickets for 10 runs as they bowled out afghanistan for just 112. it wasn't all smooth sailing for england in the chase but liam livingstone's unbeaten 29 got england over the line with 11 balls to spare. let's move onto the rugby league world cup now

where after scotland suffered a second defeat, losing to holders australia last night. how will england fare this evening? they face france in bolton and could all but secure a quarterfinal place with a win. 0ur reporter adam wild is in bolton for us....adam... i went for england should allbut support —— secure a spot in the knockout stages? == support -- secure a spot in the knockout stages?— support -- secure a spot in the knockout stages? -- eight win for encland. knockout stages? -- eight win for england. hopefully _ knockout stages? -- eight win for england. hopefully you _ knockout stages? -- eight win for england. hopefully you can - knockout stages? -- eight win for england. hopefully you can hear l knockout stages? -- eight win for. england. hopefully you can hear me above the noise. the atmosphere really starting to build up. just been out into the van zone and there is a great party carnival atmosphere, lots of excitement, that will come as a great relief after the criticism this week of the empty seats we have seen that many of the grounds in the first week of this rugby league world cup. a big crowd expected today, lots of excitement about england, vertically after that victory over samoa last weekend. there are a few changes from last

weekend, into the side comes the hugely experienced ryan hall, john bateman also comes back in after suspension. changes england will be desperate to keep up that momentum. kick off here in around 40 minutes' time. , ., , ' kick off here in around 40 minutes' time. ., , kick off here in around 40 minutes' time. ' time. great stuff, adam, adam will kee us time. great stuff, adam, adam will keep us undated — time. great stuff, adam, adam will keep us updated for _ time. great stuff, adam, adam will keep us updated for the _ time. great stuff, adam, adam will keep us updated for the rest - time. great stuff, adam, adam will keep us updated for the rest of - time. great stuff, adam, adam will keep us updated for the rest of the | keep us updated for the rest of the day. to another world cup now, this time, the women's football world cup, which takes place in australia and new zealand next year. the draw has been made and european champions england will face denmark and china, as well as either senegal, haiti or chile in group d. the lionesses will be based in australia, with group games in brisbane, sydney and adelaide. and the republic of ireland have a tough group for their first world cup appearence. they'll face co—hosts australia, olympic gold medalists

canada and nigeria. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. we'll be here with sportsday at 6:30pm. nearly one and a half million households across ukraine are without electricity. a ukrainian government official said russian missile strikes had continued to target its energy infrastructure. ukraine's energy distribution company said it would limit the power supply in several regions — including kyiv. 0utages have been reported across the country. 0ur correspondent, hugo bachega, is following developments from kyiv. the ukrainian presidential office said around 1.5 million households across the country are without power, following this morning's attacks. the ukrainian aforesaid russian forces had fired 33 cruise missiles but that 18 of those missiles had been intercepted by the defence systems. today's attacks

targeted energy infrastructure in regions away from the front line. places like 0desa in the south where at least three people were injured as a result of the attacks. 0fficials as a result of the attacks. officials say the damage caused by the latest air strikes might exceed the latest air strikes might exceed the consequences caused by last week's attacks that were carried out ljy week's attacks that were carried out by russia, targeting sites across the country. 0fficials by russia, targeting sites across the country. officials say mother and a third of the country per mac power stations have been damaged as a result of these attacks, reacting to the latest air strikes, the chief of staff said russia was fighting against civilian infrastructure and people and ukrainians are getting angrier by the day. he said these attacks would lead to a much stronger ukrainian response. china watchers are trying to find out what's behind extraordinary scenes at the ruling party congress in beijing. the country's former leader hu jintao was forcibly ushered out

of the closing ceremony. it's a remarkable occurence in a country where such events are usually highly choreographed. you can see it happen here. mr hu is sitting beside president xijinping in the great hall of the people when he is approached by officials who take him by the arm and lead him away. it's still not clear what was behind the move which comes at a time mr xi is extending his power in the country. the new italian government has been sworn in at a ceremony in the presidential palace in rome. giorgia meloni is italy's first ever female prime minister and the country's first far—right leader since the world war two. her party — brothers of italy — won last month's elections with just over a quarter of the vote. she'll head a right—wing coalition. ms meloni has sought to reassure western allies that italy's foreign policy won't change. what do voters make of what has been

she has plenty of matters that require urgent attention, like energy, also tackling inflation and giving italians a clear view, a clear understanding of what her government will be like, because as of now everyone has been left guessing whether she will be a far right politician or a more compromising leader. she is not. european partners, stuttering from macron and schultz, they have been questioning a bit the change of leadership in the middle of an energy crisis and with so many international situations going on, so everyone will really watch

carefully her first moves, and the appointment of the foreign minister is sending a clear message outside italy, which is a message of reassurance. even if, he is pro—european, pro—ukraine, anti—russia politician, so that is supposed to reassure international partners. what do voters make of what has been happening in westminster? jessica lane has been talking to people in the conservative constituency of penistone and stocksbridge, in south yorkshire. as mps are back in their constituencies this weekend, many will find out if what's happening in westminster is the talk of their town. i think that we've lost faith in all the politicians,

labour or conservative, and i think it's time that we need to get a bit more stance within the country again. get stability back. i've been in spain last week. on holiday, and all the spanish people and german people keep saying, what's wrong _ with your country? we've been talking nothing else. it is the backstabbing and that's the problem. this constituency has this rural market town of penistone, as well as the industrial steelworks in stocksbridge nearby. it's a red wall seat, so it only turned conservative in 2019. the local mp, miriam kates, says she has huge admiration for borisjohnson, but she's backing rishi sunak for the leader. but some business owners say they are more bothered about getting support, and soon. the main thing is energy bills at the moment. that's what crippling us. 0ur quarterly has gone up from £270 to £990 for three months. for a little shop like this, it's difficult. is it electric and gas? just electric, we've got no gas. so, it's crippling us big time, so stuff like that needs sorting out. whatever does happen

over the next few days, it's certainly giving people a topic to chew over here. jessica lane, bbc news, in penistone. now it's time for a look at the weather. through tonight and into tomorrow. the shower that we have at this afternoon across the south of the uk will push north and east was overnight, some clear skies ahead of the sand behind but also some mist and fog before more heavy thundery rain arrives in a south—west later in the night. the far north of scotland, clouding patchy rain, temperatures between ten and 14 celsius. tomorrow, another day of sunshine and showers but their showers are more likely to be heavy and thundery, especially through the morning through parts of wales, central and southern england, this band pushing north and eastward

through the day, some sunshine following on behind, sunshine as well as was the north of scotland, should state many driver much of the day here but we have sunshine and further showers to again heavy and thundery and pushing in from the south—west later in the day. hello, this is bbc news. the former chancellor rishi sunak looks is set to officially enter the conservative leadership race after securing the backing of more than 100 mps. rivals of borisjohnson dismiss claims by his allies that he's also reached 100 backers, with speculation rife he could enter the contest. the leader of the commons, penny mordaunt, is the only person to formally announce that she's running, but has fewer supporters. in other news — ukrainian officials say around a million and a half households are without power following a new wave of russian attacks.

and england's lionesses will face china and denmark at next