explore with an interested international observer had the standoff between the spanish state and catalonia might be resolved. in many campaigns internationally starting from the anti vietnam war protests in america to current events in hong kong students have been in the vanguard of protest catalonia is no different with students from the university of barcelona can take 4 weeks in support of the imprisoned independence campaigners alex joined them to discuss their campaign. well here in the very. instead of attending to the studies the students. say the university well if you doing. well this is we're here as a reaction to a sentencing made by the. spanish supreme court which had sentenced some of our political leaders to jail for giving us a referendum so that we could terminate our future as a people. we're going to be here until you can see what our demands are the amnesty of our political prisoners of all political prisoners. a free a dignified future and the end of oppression. and tomorrow will be a week determined to stay here. are you doing your lectures at the same time are you ha

their boss alone and university square that they are very hopeful that will be a better future of catalonia i'm very the talent to stay here until the secure that future. but a former british ambassador can you explain to our viewers why despite the public sympathy for the cattle and cause which is evident across many countries they've had little or no support from individual european governments or for that matter from the institutions of the european union it really has been quite striking but there has been. very brittle support for catherine on the diplomatic front and in particular within the european union it's been extremely striking that there has been no support for from the commission over council or parliament and particularly at the time of the violent suppression of a catalan referendum all 3 of those european union institutions came out in fairly strong support of the actions of the spanish government saying it was all part of the rule of law i do think perhaps the catalans will have better prospects in the in the council of europe and strasburg i remembered back in 2017 the t

the guardian says talking about the fuss the 1st see is in catalonia it says that the program be found emotional inspirational talking to the wives of 2 of the imprisoned cattle and leaders and more i was impressed with the interview of liz castro the the american in barcelona she liked the description of liz's the lafayette to flee of the catalan revolution that we have that of a sponsor on the spanish government particularly on the issue of the terms of imprisonment of their catalan leaders b. is a reminder of what those sanchez had to say in the washington post of a top of the 14th in the social and democratic state of law compliance means full compliance this is bill a traditional process will fool god and teasin transpired and see the government of spain will walk in the coming days towards public order and protecting our democratic laws as that's always done but david mcdonald begs to differ he says the european union needs to help put pressure on the spanish government will be picking up that issue with that will that craig money later in this program and then bear for a right s

describe in catalonia we are you know spain has been. to just recognize that are so awful so that actually random and barcelona and then catalonia when we don't need to resort to to you know likes of. the year and. people being put in a position where she has switches no respect in their to the democrats in mind it will be coming discussions over the weekend and into next week. welcome back to the 1st half we heard from revenue makers from a drama to not really the worst is danny dorling now veteran labor m.p. kate hoey you decided enough was enough and enough she wouldn't be running on thursday after 30 years on the reasons labor lost kay thanks for coming on so labor paying the price for betraying the working classes of this country i think that's a fair summing up of what i think labor has after the 2017 election where they did quite well with a new leader germany corban and they promised that they would honor the referendum and then labor m.p.'s that the next 2 years delaying for stressing trying to stop it happening and they have no

illegal independence referendum in 2017 he received the longest prison sentence in 13 years and catalonia is regional president kim torah says he will appeal against a ruling by a spanish court that he's unfit to hold office for 18 months the court concluded that torah disobeyed the electoral board by refusing to remove separatist symbols from public buildings jury in the april vote the ruling will only come into effect if it's confirmed by spain supreme court which could take months while catalan separatists of also disrupted one of the world's most watched football matches by throwing inflatable balls onto the pitch there was a heavy police presence around the game between barcelona and real madrid known as . the protesters use the global t.v. audience to broadcast their calls for independence david kay to has more from barcelona. the clashes between the police and demonstrators came even before the match started and the violence and anger grew as the evening progressed the protest was coordinated by an organization calling itself democratic tsunami demanding independence for catalonia.

course a lot of time same in spain they are also trying in different areas of the country such as catalonia madrid to build more social housing and there are also plans for rental cap but these plans are still depending on if there will be a new left wing government in january. the marcus you said there that spain is considering a red cap is there discussion about how property markets might change in the long term if rents are kept. there's a lot of debate especially in spain where the country was suffering 11 years ago a crisis a crash of the real estate market that affected the whole economy so there is still a fear though the reasons no are totally different it will take a lot of time and a lot of debate and discussion and there will be fierce agreement measures against a rental car if the new government if it comes into power will put it in place. and markets briefly these are still increasingly popular policies of seams. without any doubt because there's just one figure in the last 667 years the property prices while the renting prices rose in spain in barcelona and madrid almost 50 pe

we also have tensions and problems in catalonia.ain the independent movement in catalonia, that the referendum is not a solution. it divides societies. it creates a huge fracture in societies, and it doesn't give a positive and constructive way out. i think it's much better to open a dialogue in order to restore and reveal a coexistence. >> you saw president rouhani yesterday. do think the iranians were responsible for the drone attack on saudi arabia? >> apparently, the information we get from different countries, our partners, isn't the way you are pointing out. but the opportunity that i had yesterday with president rouhani was to send him a clear message from the european union. it's not a good idea, it's not a positive idea to withdraw from the nuclear agreement. and spain is willing, with other european countries, to reinforce our commercial ties or commercial relations with iran. >> we feel confident that we can meet our obligations in 2020. we will be submitting our budget within the next couple of weeks. we are in discussio

, catalonia is not independent which demonstrates that kind of process doesn't necessarily ta ke kind where you want to be. another four or five years of a conservative government under mr johnson, they are not going to all ofa johnson, they are not going to all of a sudden say go on, you know that's the case. i love how contrary to all the evidence we had since he became prime minister everybody thinks borisjohnson became prime minister everybody thinks boris johnson will stick to his word on anything. let me cross that bridge if i come to it. we are in an election campaign. people in scotland had the opportunity to try to avoid us being in that situation by voting in a way that helps to ensure borisjohnson by voting in a way that helps to ensure boris johnson is by voting in a way that helps to ensure borisjohnson is not calling the shots, a week on friday, the day after the election. that's what i'm going to focus on. i'm going to do everything, not my pan in as we say in scotland, to avoid borisjohnson getting a majority and i would encourage everybody who doesn't want borisjohnso

number three was a no match to catalonia. i remember getting that result. i had heard of the book, it has risen to it has really great posthumous fame. number four was road to serfdom. george orwell's collected essays. he was two of the top five. not bad. commented the press was biased towards attacking presidential power. where were they during the obama administration? >> we are still looking. they're currently on the campaign trail with the democratic presidential candidates. quote liberals go into journalism to change the world. what motivates conservative kids to enter the field? >> not enough do. john m.r.i. he put this in a good way when we were talking about this at dinner. team, the best and brightest conservative and libertarian kids, what do they do professionally? law go into business, maybe may be engineering, medicine. that's what they do. where does their first team go? they do some of those things. they go into academia, they go into journalism and the media. first of all, not enough conservatives and libertarian kids are going into journali

. >>> our partners at the bbc report spanish riot police clashed with catalonia separatist protesterslona at a stadium. police tried to keep the protesters from disrupting night's match between barcelona and reale madrid that was being watched on tv by 650 million people worldwide. plastic trash cans were set on fire, and the smell of smoke drifted into the stadium. the match was briefly stopped when protesters threw balls on to the field with messages for the spanish government to open a dialogue with the separatists. at least 12 people were reportedly hurt in the clashes. nine people were arrested. >>> the "fresno bee" says a 17-year-old girl was arrested after trying to steal a plane at fresno yosemite international airport. grainy video shows the small private plane in motion yesterday. authorities say that the girl breached a fence, started the plane, and then crashed into the airport fence. the plane never left the ground. officers found the girl in the pilot's seat wearing a headset. no one was hurt, and officials say there's no indication of domestic terrorism. >>> and the "ha

there including a fisherman who was swept off rocks into the scene does back into the sea in the cataloniaen killed in neighbouring portugal we re been killed in neighbouring portugal were some towns have been submerged due to flash flooding and winds reaching speeds of over 100 kilometres per hour. the storms have over the —— only exacerbated the situation, they been dealing with the effects of bad weather for weeks. 12 people were stranded in this merchant ship after it hit rocks off the coast of sardinia and couldn't be rescued until conditions improve. there have been widespread power cuts in southern france and some rail services were cancelled due to the likelihood of trees falling on the lines. this was only added to —— has only added to transport chaos in france, roads have been gridlocked. the worst of the storm fabian is expected to pass overnight but warnings will remain impulsive france and the mediterranean on monday. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: another christmas in makeshift churches — we report on the plight of christians in the indonesian province of aceh. the

are thought to have died there, including a fisherman who was swept off rocks into the sea in the catalonia have also been killed in neighbouring portugal, where some towns have been submerged due to flash flooding and winds reaching speeds of over 100kph. the storms have only exacerbated the situation in italy, which has been dealing with the effects of bad weather for weeks. 12 people were stranded in this merchant ship after it hit rocks off the coast of sardinia and couldn't be rescued until conditions improved. there have been widespread power cuts in southern france and some rail services were cancelled due to the likelihood of trees falling on the lines. this has only added to transport chaos in france, due to ongoing strikes that have seen hundreds of trains and flgihts cancelled, and roads gridlocked. —— flights. the worst of the storm fabian is expected to pass by sunday night, but wind warnings will remain in place in parts of france and the mediterranean on monday, as the region takes stock of the damage. kathryn armstrong, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: anot

are thought to have died there, including a fisherman who was swept off rocks into the sea in the cataloniatwo people have also been killed in neighbouring portugal, where some towns have been submerged due to flash flooding and winds reaching speeds of over 100kph. the storms have only exacerbated the situation in italy, which has been dealing with the effects of bad weather for weeks. 12 people were stranded in this merchant ship after it hit rocks off the coast of sardinia and couldn't be rescued until conditions improved. there have been widespread power cuts in southern france and some rail services were cancelled due to the likelihood of trees falling on the lines. this has only added to transport chaos in france, due to ongoing strikes that have seen hundreds of trains and flights cancelled and roads gridlocked. the worst of the storm fabian is expected to pass by sunday night, but wind warnings will remain in place in parts of france and the mediterranean on monday, as the region takes stock of the damage. kathryn armstrong, bbc news. well, christmas is almost here, so where have co

despite being in pre trial detention in spain at the time in october the former vice president of the catalonia region was handed a thirteen year prison sentence for sedition and mis use of public funds following a twenty seventeen independence referendum that was declared illegal by madrid. thursday's decision is a boost for the cattle on separatist movement overall and could potentially set the e. u.'s top judiciary body against the spanish justice system. jen care's lawyers have appealed his conviction with the case set to move to spain supreme court. to whether to independence leaders former regional president carlosos bustamante and health minister tony coleman also one seat as me please in may's elections. they've so far been unable to take their oaths of office in spain as both have fled to belgium to avoid prosecution. france has officially deployed it's fafast armed dronenes to the s. to help region in western africa as part of the fight againstst jihadists thehey previously provided surveillance but wilill now be able to strike targets as well. meanwhile the french president emmanuel

madrid go to barcelona, for the game that was postponed in october due to fears of violence in the cataloniaid high security the game will take place. the two teams are on the same number of points at the top, only separated by barca's slightly better goal difference. to a skateboarder, with a growing following on social media. and this is why. ryusei uchi was born with perfect vision but due to a degenerative eye condition is now almost completely blind. he feels his way round the skate park using his stick. it's a new sport at next year's tokyo olympics and the japanese skateboarder hopes one day it will also feature at the paralympics. you can get all the latest sports news at our website, that's bbc.com/sport. but from me — gavin ramjaun — and the rest of the sport team, that's your wednesday sport briefing. now, learning to play a musical instrument is a great thing for a child to do growing up, especially if they're keen to learn. but it can be expensive, putting it beyond the reach of some families. well, when 11—year—old andrew garrido's mother said they simply couldn't afford a pian

competition happening, as you might in other places, for instance, if you take for instance, say, cataloniat. brexit has deepened rifts and hardened attitudes. most people in northern ireland voted to remain in the european union. nationalists oppose brexit. the biggest unionist party supports it. for people who have moved back home after years away, the bitterness of the tone is striking. victoria lived in the us until recently. there is definitely some things where politics are the same everywhere, i think there has been a real shift in the language that politics have used, no matter where you are. i remember being home for a visit when the brexit boat was happening, and hearing their results and just knowing, at that moment, but donald trump was going to become the next president of the united states, just because of the way discourse in politics was going generally. but even people who have lived here all their lives don‘t a lwa ys lived here all their lives don‘t always fit into the tribal politics. for nationalists, there are only left—wing parties. for those from the unionist traditi

to just recognize that are so awful that i should rein them in and barcelona and catalonia what do we do need to resort to you know likes of surveillance or. you know. people being put a position where she has switches no respect in the democrats in mind we'll be having discussions over the weekend and into next week. welcome back to the 1st half we heard from revenue makers from man john mchugh or not to do with these danny dorling now veteran labor m.p. kate hoey who decided enough was enough and then out she wouldn't be running on thursday after 30 years on the reasons labor lost kate thanks for coming on so labor paying the price for betraying the working class of this country i think has a fairer summing up of what i think labor has after the 2017 election where they did quite well with a new leader jeremy called one and they promised that they would honor the referendum and then labor m.p.'s spent the next 2 years delaying frustration trying to stop it happening and they have not paid the price and unfortunately they paid the price for some very good labor m.p.'s who've who wher

seat in the european parliament oriole don't care us is serving 13 years in prison for his role in catalonia has failed bid for independence his sentencing came 5 months after his election as an m.e.p. the european court heard earlier ruled that he had parliamentary immunity. spain says that it will expel 3 bolivian diplomats as part of a tit for tat move that sought to bolivia's interim president to spanish diplomats on the mexican ambassador to leave the country relations became tense when mexico granted asylum to former bolivian president evo morales home on reports from mexico city. libya's caretaker president jimmy 9 years says she's had enough she's kicking out not just the. but also to spanish diplomats she accuses him of meddling in her country's affairs not all in most of what we cannot tolerate is the abuse and arrogance of rulers who are clearly trying to cover up and protect criminals that have committed crimes of sedition armed uprisings and terrorism her anger is directed at 9 bolivians including allies of ousted president ever more as who've been given asylum inside the mets c

too much sponsored by catalonia is. almost the last. are you out on the streets protesting whether on line you feel the weight of the system going to walk through each and every love or layer further and further into the jail or if you join us on sad retention has to start from day one whether again you and attention or your participants this is a dialogue everyone has a voice over there are studies that support was called the it will be varying accounts but i want to give people the reason for joining the global conversation on out is iraq. this is al jazeera a quick reminder of the headlines for you this hour mexico's homicide rates hits historic levels with 127 deaths reported on sunday that's the highest number in a single day since records began in 1997 it comes as president under a smuggler lopez obrador complete says 1st year in office police in the democratic republic of congo say 4 people have been killed during protests in ben on monday demonstrators are upset about what they say is a lack of u.n. protection from armed rebel g

subject to detention or legal proceedings in a separate ruling in a spanish court the leader of cataloniais regional government has been found guilty of disobedience and sentenced to an 18 month ban from holding public office when tara has vowed to appeal his conviction which is over his refusal to remove procession ist flags from public buildings during campaigning for elections u.k.'s prime minister burress johnson has put bricks it the heart of his new government's agenda as is custom britain's queen elizabeth read out a raft of proposed new laws in a ceremonial opening of parliament a speech also outline plans to guarantee funding for the national health service and introduce a new immigration system paul brennan reports. black rod banging on the door of the commons boris johnson knocking on the door of his destiny the prime minister looked visibly excited next to a stony faced opposition leader jeremy corbyn as the 2 men made their way through to the upper house to hear the queen read out johnson's program of reforms among a raft of new legislation there is a singular priority my gov

was coordinated by an organization calling itself democratic tsunami demanding independence but catalonia. they estimated 25000 demonstrators answered their call on social media to stage a rally at the el classico match the original game was cancelled in october following violent clashes on the jailing of catalan leaders. barricades have now been set alight around the stadium as the match and its final few minutes at least been trying to avoid confrontations but the the pace of the rot the pace of the trouble is now picking up. the game between barcelona and real madrid was watched by a worldwide audience was an audience that demonstrators were also trying to reach to publicize their call. the catalan question is still causing turmoil in spanish politics the socialist prime minister petro sanchez is talking to the m.p.'s in the new parliament hoping to gain their support to form a coalition government but the way these clashes played out around the stadium overnight shows the crisis is still stubbornly refusing to be defused and casualties a growing. david chase to al-jazeera barcelona. 2

freedom of political prisoners spain socialist prime minister pedro sanchez is already talking to catalonia 13 m.p.'s in the new parliament hoping to gain their support in forming a new coalition government it seems every attempt is now being made to avoid the violent clashes seen in october when the leaders of the jailed. but the deadlock is proving stubbornly difficult to defuse. for a cigarette firms have been banned from promoting their products on public instagram pages by the u.k. advertising watchdog the companies are accused of promoting the nicotine containing products in a way that would appeal to people under the age of 18 the firms are also accused of using models who appear to be under the age of $25.00 which is banned under advertising regulations by one of the companies facing the ban says they only use social media platforms to interact with uses. a said for me the team or number of the south today are. well let's take you back to capitol hill now the is a live pictures from the house of representatives where the final debate is underway over whether to impeach the president

about to start watching the sporting spirit is also strong on the icy expanses of lake on a guy in cataloniathe local event agency is hosting a fishing competition there are prizes for catching the smallest the largest and the 1st fish. and the great popcorn is up for the challenge of which though in the middle of winter is a tricky time for the highest. the water is extremely cold and the fish are very lethargic they're not in the mood to bite my book or clue of where the more let's buy the best time is early in the morning and in the evening before still yellow watching their year. but not before the experts have checked that the ice will hold . lately. but you want to preserve the ice is 50 centimeters thick because nothing's going to happen it only gets dodgy when the ice is 7 centimeters i mean that the ice rescue service we don't have much work in winter it was useless they didn't work we get busy in spring march april may my me says with a look back because we've raised awareness there are now fewer accidents new used to be with those who were with all of. the information fly a woman'

a seat in the european parliament or you'll get us is serving 13 years in prison for his role in catalonia has failed bid for independence the sentencing came 5 months after his election as an m.e.p. in a european court of the earlier ruled that he had parliamentary immunity rory chalons is following the story from london and says the state's attorney isn't calling for oil john there has to be absolved of any wrongdoing. what's going on here is an interesting mix of european justice spanish justice party politics in spain and also that nation's experience with separatist sentiment the state attorney is certainly not recommending that the supremum court in spain releases oriel keris forever that is now absolved of all wrongdoing but it is saying that he should be let out of prison to go to brussels to take up his position as an m p it's also asking that the european union essentially remove his diplomatic immunity is that is immunity as an m.e.p. . is doing all of this because the top court in the european union the court of justice for the e.u. said the. that is what should happen but it's

minister be there or tell you why because we could spin off into a conversation about independence for catalonia which automatically want to do but when you talk about independence you're talking about an independent scotland going back into the e.u. you can't do that because your deficit has got to come below 3 percent at the moment the scottish deficit is running at 7.17.2 percent so that's a nonstarter anyway. it's a nonstarter the your opposition process is a process that you go through now for a start i think the scottish economy needs to change radically and of course i want to to cause that deficit but i want to green you do for scotland there same piece version of independence is all about extracting more oil and gas in the north sea that's a dead end it's an economic dead end and so dead end for the planet what i want is a transformation in our economy based on queen renewable energy restarting our manufacturing base bringing back heavy industry to the region of scotland i represent that hasn't had it since the ended under margaret thatcher in the 1980 s. that's the kind of economy we c

spain's state attorney has called for the release of catalonia has jailed a separatist leader.who serving a 30 year sentence for sedition and misuse of public funds the gesture is widely seen as an active political goodwill because the socialist party is trying to persuade who cares as a party to help it form a government. was elected as a member of the european parliament in may and the state attorney has asked for him to be able to go to brussels to take his seat if not the top court so he's entitled to in unity as an elite politician or a challenge as far in the story from london as the state attorney isn't calling for only a who cares to be absolved of wrongdoing and. what's going on here is an interesting mix of european justice spanish justice party politics in spain and also that nation's experience with separatist sentiment the state attorney is certainly not recommending that the supremes court in spain releases oriel keris forever that he is now absolved of all wrongdoing but it is saying that he should be let out of prison to go to brussels to take up his position as

will lose it however what the government is got my do is just organize their own referendum another catalonia situation are caught see boris johnson sending in the you know the troops and the police in the way which we saw in spain so i do believe that the likelihood of an independent scotland is a significant step closer now you know what do you think peter how would a traditional tory deal with the scottish situation i will blow this johnson deal with let's just look at it from a scottish point of view for a little while i mean there are so many issues about. scott the leaving its largest customs union britain is leaving the customs union that's going to cause a lot of trouble of scotland lives that cost and its own customs union is because a good market that's going to be very difficult the issue of the currency your familiar as a great economist your you know but all of these issues is not as simple as all of that for scotland dependence and i must say as a unionist i sincerely and from the bottom of my heart they were of course one of the very few things we disagree on but i'm going to a

spain's state attorney is called for the release of catalonia is jailed separatist leader oriel homecare us who serving a 13 year sentence for sedition and misuse of public funds the gesture is widely seen as an act of political goodwill because the socialist party is trying to persuade a comparison party to help it form a government who got us was elected as a member of the european parliament in may and the state attorney has asked for him to be able to go to brussels to take a seat. there has attained haring new testimony from people who were detained in internment camps in china activists say more than 2000000 people have been held in jang province most of them weak and muslims but there are also other minority groups such as ethnic kazakhs some image of a met some of them. stands largest city. or in mixes the guards tortured him for fun he is one of thousands of ethnic cause it's who've been held in china's internment camps in the northwestern singeing region he claims he was forced to take medicines and injections that have damaged him physically and mentally and he says he lost so

the situation in spain and catalonia is far, far down the line, but look at where it goes if a country case of scotland, and is told no, you just can't do it. they gets you into very toxic waters. the other big thing, of course, is northern ireland. and there is no question, i think, northern ireland. and there is no question, ithink, died boris johnson's withdrawal deal, as it stands, if we were to see a body down the irish sea that rides roughshod over the runcible of cross community concern in northern ireland was doubly good, over the long—term, to a situation where you might be more likely to see irish reunification —— roughshod.|j might be more likely to see irish reunification -- roughshod. ithink you borisjohnson leads into the concept of the union, which i think there is a good chance he will, there is a good chance he will, there is a good chance he will, there is the opportunity to quit a new settlement and keep the uk together. what it requires... the scottish question changes, fundamentally, once the country has left the eu, which will happen in six weeks' time, that is a

the weather sponsored by catalonia has.talked to al jazeera wieners more targeted that military operation has this been addressed by took a listen what is the proposal of spain for a couple on yes we meet with global news makers and talk about the stories that matter on the ground 0. one of the really special things about working for al-jazeera is that even as a camera woman i get to have so much empathy and contribution to a story a feel we cover this region better than anyone else would be what it is you know that it transcends the body but to be there because you have a lot of people that are divided on political issues we are we the people we live to tell the real stories are just men being used to do the work in depth journalism we don't feel inferior to the audience across the globe. with its leaders in jail a greek neo nazi party we're nice on the lives mothers and daughters of the imprisoned leaders to represent them. the women are behind the fearsome right wing nationalist party going to do now when you say and i'm

between all the ration has this been addressed by turkey we listen what is the proposal of spain for catalonia we meet with global news makers and talk about the stories that matter how does iraq. one of the really special things about working for al-jazeera is that even as a camera woman i get to have so much empathy and contribution to a story i feel we cover this region better than anyone else working for it is you know it's very challenging liberally particularly because you have a lot of people that are divided on political issues we are with the people believed to tell the real story so i'll just mandate is to deliver in-depth journalism we don't feel inferior to the audience across the globe. a deep divide over how to tackle climate change the u.n. talks drag on in madrid as countries struggle for a deal. looking doha when i'm come all santa maria this is the world news from al-jazeera after days of violent protests india's home minister says he is open to discussions on the controversial citizenship law also you haven't heard the rebels call for international help after a deserted tank

the winds are sponsored by catalonia. a city defined by military occupation there's never been an arab state here with the capital of jerusalem everyone is welcome but this depôt structure that maintains because on a project that's what we diffuse it was one of the sounders self a settlement with this and the story of jerusalem through the eyes of its own people segregation occupation discrimination injustice this is apartheid in the 21st century jerusalem a rock and a hard place on al-jazeera. al-jazeera . where every. this is the news and these are our top stories at least 12 people killed after an airliner crashed shortly after takeoff back jet smashed through a wall before hitting a house. $98.00 passengers and crew in total. more anti-government protests planned in iraq after president. to resign over. the prime minister. nominated by iraq's biggest parliament which is backed by iran. and israel's leader benjamin netanyahu is the could party members and promise to lead them to election victory after fending off a lea