and that david warburton had here. and that takes— that david warburton had here.ere. and that takes to four by—election wins. that takes to four by—election wins they have — that takes to four by—election wins they have racked _ that takes to four by—election wins they have racked up _ that takes to four by—election wins they have racked up during - that takes to four by—election wins they have racked up during this . they have racked up during this parliament _ they have racked up during this parliament. now— they have racked up during this parliament. now here - they have racked up during this parliament. now here in - they have racked up during this . parliament. now here in somerton they have racked up during this - parliament. now here in somerton and frome _ parliament. now here in somerton and frome what— parliament. now here in somerton and frome what the — parliament. now here in somerton and frome. what the party— parliament. now here in somerton and frome. what the party hopes - parliament. now here in somerton and frome. what the party hopes in - frome

david warburton has been — the seat in 2015. had _ since then, and at the last election he had a _ since then, and at the last election he had a huge majority, 20,000, so the liberai— he had a huge majority, 20,000, so the liberal democrats are fighting to overturn that. so the liberal democrats are fighting to overturn that.— to overturn that. so a lot of resources. _ to overturn that. so a lot of resources, a _ to overturn that. so a lot of resources, a lot _ to overturn that. so a lot of resources, a lot of- to overturn that. so a lot of| resources, a lot of attention to overturn that. so a lot of- resources, a lot of attention here. you have been out and about speaking to various people across the whole constituency, so what kinds of things are coming up? i constituency, so what kinds of things are coming up?- constituency, so what kinds of things are coming up? i went to some really interesting _ things are coming up? i went to some really interesting locations. _ things are coming up? i went to some really interesting loca

the former somerton and frome mp david warburton says allegations against him of sexual misconduct havewas suspended by the conservative party last year when the claims were made against him, and photos of him with cocaine were published by a national newspaper. he resigned last month after admitting drug—taking, but he continued to deny sexual misconduct. firefighters are continuing to tackle a fire at a hotel in brighton more than 18 hours after it broke out. high winds have hampered efforts to put out the fire at the royal albion hotel after crews were called to the scene yestereday afternoon. no one has been injured, but buildings nearby were evacuated. let's get some of the day's other news now. the last ship covered by the soon—to—expire un—brokered deal which allows ukraine to export grain has left the black sea port of 0desa. russia has not agreed to register any new ships sincejune the 27th. the agreement will run out on monday unless moscow agrees to extend it. grain prices rose sharply last year after the russian invasion hindered ukraine's exports. israel's prime minister, b

the by—election was triggered by the resignation of david warburton who had won the seat three times by parliamentary authorities into claims of sexual harassment. live now to frome and my colleague lewis vaughanjones. thank you for that, welcome to frome, in bloom here. we come to a very interesting venue here in frame. this is at the cheese and grain, and sir paul mccartney played in here last year on his way to glastonbury. there are rehearsals going on right now, not paul mccartney. just a little flavour of what is going on, that is frome college music department rehearsals and they are performing here later this evening, tickets are available i am told. we are going to get onto the politics because this is a crucial battle. with me is labour's neil guild. great to see you. the conservatives here, a huge majority, the liberal democrats in second place, labour, it is an uphill struggle. place, labour, it is an uphill struggle-— place, labour, it is an uphill strunle_ . ., ., ~' ., , , struggle. we are talking to members ofthe struggle. we are talking to members of the public — str

david warburton stood down following a drug scandal. bernard smith is live from forest, johnson's constituency of oxbridge and south y. slip, bernard, $40000.00 foot view of things here, just how bad was this for the conservatives? the serial it was for the conservatives, at least not a white washing and buyers and whitewash with prime minister risky. so nothing but clean, you know? and so what spreads was just a very sort of thing fig leaves the tories held on here because of a very specific local issue. the extension of a london scheme that imposes heavy fees on people using older vehicles that was deeply unpopular. that's why they clung on the big a worry though, is losing some a lot. the constituency in the north of england, with a $20000.00 conservative majority labor managing to over to and not a suggestion. a message to tory and peas in what would be considered very safe seats, that they may not be safe and could be vulnerable. same in the south west of england in the summer search area. the evidence that people have lent the votes to the liberal democrats to make sure the toys didn't w

the by—election was triggered by the resignation of david warburton who had won the seat three timesestigation by parliamentary authorities into claims of sexual harassment. live now to frome, and my colleague lewis vaughan—jones. hello. so, i'm sure preparations are well in place for thursday.— well in place for thursday. that's absolutely _ well in place for thursday. that's absolutely right. _ well in place for thursday. that's absolutely right. welcome - well in place for thursday. that's absolutely right. welcome to - well in place for thursday. that's - absolutely right. welcome to frome. just to tell you where we are, the main shopping streets are just over there in the distance. just here is there in the distance. just here is the river frome gently meandering through the town. the conservative party have won the last few elections here, as he said. the majority stands at 19,000, a considerable conservative majority. but now everything is up for grabs with this by—election. the liberal democrats are keenly going to fight this seat, and their candidate is here. thank you forjo

the by—election was triggered by the resignation of david warburton who had won the seat three timesket town, this constituency is made up of market towns like this but also plenty of rural areas as well, and farming. a5 rural areas as well, and farming. as you mentioned, it has been really the story of the conservatives throughout the nikola's history, at the last three elections as it has gone to the conservatives —— back the constituency�*s history. at the last election and 19,000 majority, big number in terms of a candidate majority. the candidate got 35% of the vote, its nearest rival lib dems on second just 26% or so. you can see the gap. this has been for the last few elections solidly conservative. then it was held by the lib dems before that, before that again conservatives. so that's why it's such an interesting battle, this one. if the conservatives can hold off the challenge from the liberal democrats. well, the candidate hasn't had long to settle in here and get campaigning because of the circumstances of the resignation of the previous conservative mp. but faye purbrick

we then case of david warburton., she's indicated that she will stand down before the election but is just picking her moment to do it. and now there'll fifth by—election there'll be a fifth by—election for chris pincher. now normally that pincher by—election wouldn't pose too much of a problem for the conservatives because he has a majority of 19,000. a really big 19,000. that's a really big majority . but of while majority. but of course while the conservatives are trailing so far behind in the polls, even majorities of 19,000 look a little bit dicey. and add onto it on top of that, that labour will be throwing everything they've got at this by—election. they want it to look as though labour has all the momentum. so expect to see thousands of party activists on tamworth , activists descend on tamworth, that staffordshire constituency and all sorts of shadow ministers going up there in the coming to and it would be coming weeks to and it would be a real blow for rishi sunak if he lost this by—election and at the mom

the by—election was triggered by the resignation of david warburton who had won the seat three timesd down following an investigation by parliamentary authorities into claims of sexual harassment. live now to frome and my colleague lewis vaughanjones. we lewis vaughan jones. are we lewis vaughanjones. are on the rather pretty cheé street we are on the rather pretty cheap street in the heart of frome and you will see this running water, the challenges for the camera operator to not fall in as we try to cross. we are going to speak to some of the candidates. we are going to speak to the candidate from the green party. thanks forjoining us. a few days out from polling day on thursday and you have been speaking to people, what are the kind of things they are saying? we what are the kind of things they are sa in: ? ~ . . , saying? we are getting a very ositive saying? we are getting a very positive response _ saying? we are getting a very positive response and - saying? we are getting a very positive response and we - saying? we are getting a very| positive response and we have saying? we

david warburton has been missing in action for the _ warburton has been missing in action for the lasttroduced by the former conservative mayor boris johnson and it is a conservative government that has legislated for targets to be in place to reduce levels of air pollution. so how are you going to do that without a policy like the ultra low emission zone? ~ :. . policy like the ultra low emission zone? ~ :, , :, :, zone? well, it was sadiq khan who took the decision _ zone? well, it was sadiq khan who took the decision to _ zone? well, it was sadiq khan who took the decision to expand - zone? well, it was sadiq khan who took the decision to expand ulez i took the decision to expand ulez into outer london. it's not needed and it is not going to improve our quality, we have quality already in outer london. it is hammering motorists here. this constituency is that war, hammering motorists to the tune of £4500 per year. this by—election result is the voice of the people of uxbridge and south—western he needs to listen to that voice and stop this expansion. so it was a one issue campaign f

which nick reported from last month, somerton and frome — the seat being vacated by the disgraced david warburton film if we could interview their candidates, but we had mixed results on that front. here's nick. organ music. a timeless haven, a place to reflect. a retreat in challenging times. selby abbey in the heart of a large rural constituency overlooked by an energy giant in an era of deep economic uncertainty. and voters here will soon give us a taste of the nation's mood. the rolling fields and byways of north yorkshire, a natural tory heartland, but an ill wind is blowing for the conservatives. annoyance with the mp who abruptly stood down after a peerage granted on the nod of borisjohnson failed to materialise. and then there's concern over rising prices. all of that adds up to an almighty challenge for a party that's been in powerfor 13 years and an opportunity for the opposition that would never have dreamt of having a toehold in this current constituency. and so the two big parties are slugging it out. labour is pinning its hopes on a 25—year—old oxford graduate and throwing the prove

as for the other seats, david warburton's seat in somerset in frome, which the by—election is due to got their eye on that seat. and although it's been safe conservative seat been a safe conservative seat for the last few elections before that, if you look a bit further back into history, it was lib dem stronghold. was a real lib dem stronghold. so they have the sort of campaigning infrastructure there, if you like. so that's two seats with massive majorities which the tories look really quite seriously in danger of losing. then of course, there's boris johnson's own seat of uxbridge, which has a majority of just 7000. in a way, that's not so much of a worry for rishi sunak because seems for rishi sunak because it seems almost they will almost certain that they will lose it. the only hope for them there in people there is that in uxbridge people are very against the ulez charge. it's a pretty bleak charge. so it's a pretty bleak picture for the prime minister as we head into the weekend. and he's looking at damage he's really looking at damage limitation at this stage . farage. >> ri

they're all david warburton.cross the country, they're all looking like defeats and this is a nightmare both for morale and party activist morale. >> and what about morale of the prime minister? rishi sunak , who prime minister? rishi sunak, who promised a government of integrity? and when we're talking about chris pincher, we are reminded , aren't we, of the are reminded, aren't we, of the tory sleaze time and it makes it all too easy, doesn't it, for those negative headlines and those negative headlines and those easier tack lines from from other parties . from other parties. >> so it does. it's quite a squalid affair and you know, people saying is he going to resign before the by—election? is he going to , you know, just is he going to, you know, just run off or stay for as long as he can? i don't think he's going to discover a sense of shame anytime soon. and you've got to remember, if there's a two month recall petition that's quite a lot of salary given an £80,000 annual income . but to be fair to annual in

and then chris pincher david warburton , who pincher and david warburton, who were suspended from thesconduct allegations, sexual misconduct allegations and as you say, when an mp steps down in those circum stances, it's even more likely that their constituents and the country at large will turn against their party. so this is exactly what rishi sunak does not need at this stage. >> all right, that's it . olivia >> all right, that's it. olivia utley our political reporter. you know, this echoes of john major here and his dying administration in the 90s week after week, there were scans , after week, there were scans, ulez resignations and by elections, all of which they lost. and just suggest that government that's beginning to fall apart after nearly years fall apart after nearly 14 years in power anyway, talking of the government , the home secretary government, the home secretary suella braverman, she's backing the force to deal with the use of force to deal with disruptive activists. for disruptive activists. hurrah for that. just stop oil that. after just stop oil activists storm

. >> the by—election has been prompted by the resignation of david warburton after his suspension from of drug abuse and sexual harassment . he denies the sexual harassment. he denies the harassment allegations in this idyllic corner of somerset with union jacks fluttering over stone cottages delivered a 19,000 majority to the conservatives at the last election. but bookmakers are predicting a 96% chance of that being overturned by the liberal democrats. that's major news for this tranquil community. but as with all elections, turnout is key. and judging by the reaction in somerton today , voters just in somerton today, voters just aren't in the mood . and jeff aren't in the mood. and jeff moody, gb news and the full list of candidates standing in that summer, somerton and frome parliamentary by—election is as follows. >> lorna corke for the christian people's alliance. martin demery for the green party . sara joanne for the green party. sara joanne . for the liberal democrats. bruce david evans for reform uk and neil guild for labour. >> also a rosie mitchell standing as an independen

as for david warburton, left the warburton, he obviously left the commons cloud.nd sexually harassed people in the in the parliamentary building . so it is quite building. so it is quite possible that labour or the lib dems, the lib dems are very close behind the conservatives now in the polls in somerton could could take on both of those seats, which would be a really catastrophic loss for rishi sunak there is talk that there's going to be a reshuffle , well, perhaps even as soon as this week potentially to try and distract attention from any by—election losses for the conservatives but whatever happens, rishi sunak is sounding like he is. he is fighting, but he'll be feeling pretty nervous today. >> absolutely . thank you very >> absolutely. thank you very much, olivia . actually, one much, olivia. actually, one interesting which you might interesting stat which you might not know is that if the tories do lose all three seats, rishi sunak could become the first prime minister since harold wilson in 1968 to do that. >> and the pound in your pocket. for those of y

blamed the national picture but also local circumstances that saw the former conservative mp david warburtonverturned a majority of 2a,000 from the conservative and —— in the tiverton by—election. and they are now confident they are rebuilding their stronghold in the south—west. our chief political correspondent nick eardley is in uxbridge. i think labour were pretty confident here. chatting to people yesterday. i think they thought they would win in boris johnson's old stomping ground. so in that sense, the conservative victory here is a bit of a surprise. nit i think we can maybe see it slightly differently to whatjenny and david and what they were talking about, because there was one issue that came up a lot. it was the ability to drive your car. the ulez zone in london where you have to pay every time you move your car, every day you move it, if it is not eco—friendly, that dominated the conservative campaign. they made it front and centre. the message we were getting from the new mp for uxbridge, steve tuckwell, the conservative, is that he thinks it was the ulez issue that was the one

, should say, david warburton, that had been absent for about 18 months because of the allegations ofnge. and similarly in selby ainsty , you know nigel selby and ainsty, you know nigel adams, that left parliament was very to johnson , very close to boris johnson, wasn't going the house of wasn't going into the house of lords, but constituents there felt that he hadn't delivered for them and just walked away. and that's what made people sort of vote for change. so nobody was voting for something. i don't think in any area, anybody who voting for change who was voting for hope change or direction and everybody or a new direction and everybody was voting something. was voting against something. so it negative. a set of it was quite negative. a set of by elections. and i think that's something that we need to look out but the is out for. but the reality is where are so many people where there are so many people that there that stayed at home and there was a low turnout, that was such a low turnout, that makes think that actually if makes me think that actually if you're to vote against y

just lastly, i think david warburton, of course, was the mp for that area.n a drug and sex scandal of sorts 15 months ago. i believe it was. he was suspended. how much do you think that has to do with the fact that the liberal democrats did so well ? well the fact that the liberal democrats did so well? well the main issues that we were picking up on the doorstep was the fact that people feel really abandoned by this conservative government. >> the cost of living crisis and the nhs crisis were the two issues that kept coming up time and time again. and you and time and time again. and you will know and your listeners and viewers will know that , you viewers will know that, you know, somerton and frome is know, some somerton and frome is also a very rural area. people are fed up not having any are fed up with not having any investment the they're investment in the area. they're fed up not any fed up with not having any buses. as though buses. farmers feel as though they've let down buses. farmers feel as though thethee let down buses. farmers feel as though t

from or is about to be suspended from , and nadine dorries, constituent c and in fact from where david warburton 20,000 in 1 case 24,000. these are seats that the conservatives should not be losing, but as you say, they've now been trailing labour in the polls for so long and by such a long way that it feels quite possible labour labour voters are feeling pretty optimistic that they might actually be able to overturn these big majorities. expect to see thousands of labour activists piling into these seats . expect to see keir seats. expect to see keir starmer with his sleeves rolled up and his tie off. funnily enough , the seat which actually enough, the seat which actually the conservatives are perhaps least worried about, is boris johnson's uxbridge constituency. he only has a majority of 7000. so losing the seat wouldn't look that bad. but also ulez is so incredibly unpopular in this outer london constituency. people hate sadiq khan so much that it's thought that actually the conservatives might just about hold onto that one, but that is, you know, scant comfort for rishi sunak today. >> abso

the by—election was triggered when conservative mp, david warburton, stood down after being suspendedof three by—elections taking place on the same day. earlier this week we reported from selby and ainsty, next week we'll take a look at uxbridge and south ruislip. but here's our political correspondent alex forsyth on the contest in somerset. pigs used to be the mainstay of this family farm in somerset, but over the years they've branched out and now have a bustling cafe and busy shop selling their own produce. growing and selling food is important to steve, who's farmed this land for years. he says finding workers and the climate can both be a challenge. last year we had a drought on when our potato crop was sort of like halved. the challenges that you set out, how are they making you think when it comes to voting in the by—election? i read what they're saying, but do they really understand what is happening out in the rural countryside? i don't think they do. it's really, small businesses around the countryside is a big foundation of our england. since this rural seat was created, i

david warburton has been accused of drug related offences and also of sexual misconduct. to the drug offences but he denies the sexual misconduct. but he has been forced out. but he had also really been missing in action for 18 months and that means that the lib dems really had a kick start here. they knew that the by—election was coming at some point . they didn't know some point. they didn't know when exactly, but they have had a lot of time to prepare for this now , sir ed davey is this now, sir ed davey is expected in frome later on this morning to declare this as a decisive victory . the first decisive victory. the first step, really, in reclaiming the west country , the west country. west country, the west country. traditionally, in the days of paddy ashdown and before, you know, in the 80s, in the 90s and the early 2000, it was very, very much a liberal democrat stronghold down here in the west country. but they were decimated in 2015. and so for sir ed davey, the hope now is that these two decisive results in fact, they've had four by—election results in recent ye

and in david warburton's case, allegations of drug use, inappropriate sexual behaviour.ems actually are proposing, because of course, we know in 2019 they were let's reverse brexit, let's just revoke article 50. you know , and revoke article 50. you know, and that went down, not surprisingly, very, very badly . surprisingly, very, very badly. so what do they stand for now ? so what do they stand for now? obviously they are pro europe. ed davey one thing does talk a lot about social care because he's been a carer right through his life. he recognises the importance of that and of course social care is still in crisis. this we've had successive governments not deal with it. so that's something i suspect they will latch on to. but yeah, but it's just a final thought. >> the interesting about social care and the big problem that every government has had over social care is the price , but social care is the price, but it's very, very expensive to reform all that. and what we don't know is whether we can trust any of the economics coming out of the lib dems at the moment. yea