the jet in mobile footage shows the jet in a steep descent. passengers praying as oxygen masks fell in the cabin and the wreckage engulfed in flames. the kremlin denies any deliberate action, instead blaming a bird strike. but azerbaijan is demanding that russian authorities admit the responsibility. 451 migrants crossed the english channel illegally on christmas day, according to official figures from the home office. six more small boats carrying at least 250 migrants have also reached uk waters today. the latest arrivals have been brought to the border force processing centre in dover and with calm weather conditions expected to continue, border force says it is on heightened alert for potential surges in further crossings. reform uk's membership has overtaken the conservatives today, just months after nigel farage's return as party leader. their tracker shows more than 135,000 members. a 300% surge since farage's

comeback in june. younger supporters, cheaper fees and frustrations with the tories are all driving that growth, and farage claims reform is now the future of british politics. meanwhile, the conservatives last reported around 120,000 members and have since faced criticism for a lack of direction under leader kemi badenoch, while the reform leader, nigel farage, has been speaking to us here on gb news about those figures. >> incredible. over 15,000 people have joined us and given us their 25 quids over the last four days. this is an historic moment when the newest party in british politics overtakes the oldest existing political party in the world, something is happening. so of course i'm delighted. >> and boxing day shoppers are avoiding the high street today, with footfall down reportedly over 12% compared to figures last year. retail parks did fare slightly better, but overall activity across the uk is more than 10% lower than in 2023.

analysts blame the shift to onune analysts blame the shift to online shopping, rising costs for physical stores and changing habhs for physical stores and changing habits driven by year round promotions. but barclays still estimates that we will have spent £4.6 billion today, although most of it, as in previous years, will be online. those are the latest headlines for now. plenty more still to come. i'll be back with you in an hour for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code or go to gbnews.com/alerts. >> what a year it's been! but can you remember everything that happened over two episodes? i'll take you back down memory lane to events that seem like a lifetime ago in the world of

westminster with kevin maguire, the daily mirror's associate edhon the daily mirror's associate editor, and quentin letts, the parliamentary sketchwriter of the daily mail. but first, let's look at what happened on the general election night. july brought a change in government, a change that the labour party had been waiting for 14 years. election night will linger in memory of starmer supporters for a while, and it will be one in which the tories will want to forget the poll result. >> now let's reveal it. >> now let's reveal it. >> the labour party won by a landslide, winning 411 seats. >> change begins now. >> change begins now. >> the conservatives held on to 121 seats. >> the british people have delivered a sobering verdict. tonight there is much to learn and reflect on, and i take responsibility for the loss. >> the night was filled with winners from the labour party and the lib dems, and losers,

mainly from the tory party. with so many household names losing their seats, including former prime minister liz truss, leader of the house of commons penny mordaunt, defence secretary grant shapps and former business secretary sir jacob rees—mogg. labour lost two prominent frontbenchers such as shadow paymaster general jonathan ashworth and shadow culture secretary thangam debbonaire. wes streeting, who later became health secretary, held onto his seat by a very close margin , but seat by a very close margin, but not as close as the conservative party chairman, richard holden, who had two recounts and only won his seat by 20 votes. the clear winners of the night were the labour party, but we can't forget the historic 72 seats won by the liberal democrats, the best result in the party's history. >> they will be your local

champions and i want to thank people for trusting us again. we will not let you down. >> and of course, reform uk, led by nigel farage, securing five mps. and finally farage became a member of parliament and the musical chair started. unlike other countries in the uk, this happensin other countries in the uk, this happens in less than a day. >> rishi sunak resigned to the country. i would like to say first and foremost, i am sorry i have given this job my all, but you have sent a clear signal that the government of the united kingdom must change , and united kingdom must change, and yours is the only judgement that matters. >> sir keir starmer then went to see the king, and then headed straight to downing street to speak to the nation as the new prime minister for the united kingdom. >> but now our country has voted decisively for change, for

national renewal and a return of politics to public service. >> and then it was straight into naming his cabinet. he broadly kept those who had been in his shadow cabinet in the same roles, and rachel reeves became the first ever female chancellor of the exchequer. it was straight to business with the conservatives hated rwanda scheme scrapped. at his first press conference. >> look, the rwanda scheme was dead and buried before it started. it had the complete opposite effect and i am not prepared to continue with gimmicks that do not act as deterrent. >> the state opening of parliament took place. >> securing economic growth will be a fundamental mission, and the chancellor accused the previous tory government of covering up a £22 billion black hole. >> and that led to the unpopular announcement of cutting the winter fuel allowance for millions of pensioners. >> but today i am making the difficult decision that those not in receipt of pension credit or certain other means tested

benefits will no longer receive the winter fuel payment from this year onwards. >> but that wouldn't be the first and only difficult situation the new government had to face as riots erupted across the country after the southport attack, a mindless minority of thugs. >> i will not listen to those who exploit grieving families and disrespect local communities. >> after a not so quiet august, parliament was back in september with the conservative leadership contest dominating much of the conversation in westminster, with six candidates throwing their hats in the ring. but we'll deal with that later. september equals party conference season in the world of politics. the liberal democrats headed to a sunny brighton leader. sir ed davey gave us more of his fun stunts for all to enjoy. reform uk also held its biggest ever conference and had some fun in birmingham. >> this weekend is when reform

uk comes of age. >> labour had a wet welcome in liverpool and the mood felt not as joyful as you might have expected from a party that had been out of power for 14 years. but the conference went along without incident. well, nearly. >> i call again for an immediate ceasefire in gaza. the return of the sausages, the hostages. >> and finally, it was the turn of the conservative party. but we'll leave that there for now. we're now at the general election results. the campaign has happened. were you surprised by the election landslide, kevin maguire? >> the scale of it, yeah. it was quite clear labour were going to win and labour were going to win healthily. but i didn't think they'd unseat liz truss when a lot of the rural seats and they were helped. they run a very strategic campaign that paid results, but they were helped massively by that split on the right between the conservatives and farage's reform uk. >> it's a very, very shallow

number of win for labour. 1 in 3 voters who voted voted labour, 1 in 2 or 1 in 5 of voters who voted voted labour, 1 in20r1in50fall voters who voted voted labour, 1 in 2 or 1 in 5 of all adults in 2 or1 in 5 of all adults voted for labour. i mean, that's true. >> it doesn't matter, though, does it? that's our system. the thing that surprised me was the large number of seats for the liberal democrats, and that might mean this could be a, this could be a quite, quite a brittle majority at the next election. >> possibly. oh, no. >> possibly. oh, no. >> absolutely. you've got to look at that labour. it's kind of a look. the commons majority is, is as wide as a sea but it's as deep as a pond. well is that 34% of the vote didn't matter that only 1 in 3 of those who voted backed labour. >> i think it does matter. >> i think it does matter. >> i think it does matter. >> i think it may matter in a large philosophical way. >> next time might matter. >> next time might matter. >> election. i think it matters. >> election. i think it matters. >> it's not a deep. i think it matters because. >> because labour at 34% is the lowest winning total. and yet they got a thumping majority. now i could go at the next election. >> you seem nervous 1535 00:09:59,072 --