gavin robinson has succeeded sir- with the irish sea border. <1:—.'rey donaldson as leader of the dup, his predecessor faces historical sex charges, so while gavin robinson is perhaps them will —— most liberal leader ever, the dup is a reluctant leader, and he finds himself going into this election being badgered on a daily basis by extreme unionists over poirier unionists who are opposed to the irish sea border, i know in a strategy to try to fend off that challenge, gavin robinson has what she is calling a reset of unionism, which has involved him essentially fessing up and saying that what he and his predecessor did was to oversell the command paper, the safeguarding, the union command paper that sirjeffrey donaldson agreed with the tory government, which led to the restoration of the storm and institutions. while that is maybe honesty is maybe the best policy, i am is maybe honesty is maybe the best policy, iam not is maybe honesty is maybe the best policy, i am not sure how that would be greeted on the doors when people are asking how and why the

she won in 2010, before gavin robinson reclaimed it five years later.t is also worth noting, smaller parties did not run in this seat in 2019 but they have mostly said they are going to stand this time, sol they have mostly said they are going to stand this time, so i think that makes for something of a showdown seat here in east belfast in the election night. tell seat here in east belfast in the election night.— seat here in east belfast in the election night. tell us also about the timing _ election night. tell us also about the timing of _ election night. tell us also about the timing of these _ election night. tell us also about the timing of these elections - election night. tell us also aboutj the timing of these elections and how that could affect turnout. it is hard to know _ how that could affect turnout. it 3 hard to know turnout in advance. what i would say is we have the 18 seats up for grabs in northern ireland. last time around, the dup won eight, sinn fein won seven and the sdlp two and the alliance got one seat. sinn fein have a policy

all those but his solicitor said today he will not be seeking election and the new dup leader gavin robinsont after only being in thejob defending his own seat after only being in the job for a matter of weeks. at the moment, all the political party leaders in northern ireland are unanimous in welcoming a general election but they have also been unanimous in really their fierce criticism of the conservative government. now we know an election is only a matter of weeks away, expect those battle lines to be drawn very soon.— expect those battle lines to be drawn very soon. thank you very much. there are 650 mps sitting in westminster, elected from across the uk. this is how things look right now. but of course, this picture could appear very different after polling day onjuly ath. so what has been the reaction from voters? well, bury north in greater manchester is a marginal seat, changing colour many times through the years. and our uk editor ed thomas has been to hear about the issues that matter most to voters there. it doesn't exactly feel like it right now but a summer election is just we

the alliance party naomi long, took gavin robinson close to the wire in the 2019 westminster electionn it whenever the votes were counted on 2019. it is whether naomi wants to run again and if she wins the seat she would have to give up wins the seat she would have to give up her position in the power—sharing executive as justice up her position in the power—sharing executive asjustice minister. it is a position she wants to hold onto so it is a conundrum for both parties as to who their candidate will be. all to play for, thank you very much. now, jeremy corbyn, a former labour leader has announced he will stand as an independent candidate at the general election. it is a move that is likely to cause division. he was blocked from standing for the labour party after complaints of his party's handling of anti—semitism. what does sir keir starmer make of his predecessor's trish to stand? that is a matter forjeremy, his predecessor's trish to stand? that is a matterforjeremy, he has made his mind up about that. we will have an excellent labour candidate in islington north, as we have exc

but out of those 18 seats, six of them are very, very slim majorities, including, gavin robinson, thew leader of the dup seat in east belfast. if the tuv do decide to run in there, the chances are the alliance party will take that seat. we have a three way battle shaping up in north down between the sitting mp, the only alliance mp , the, the, an alliance mp, the, the, an independent candidate and, the ulster unionist party . so it is ulster unionist party. so it is more than likely the alliance party will hold that seat. but more fascinating for me is what goes on with sinn fein at this minute in time, as you and i have spoken about the immigration problems in the repubuc immigration problems in the republic of ireland, their battling a european election that will take part or take place on the 7th of june. we'll not really know how the facts and figures shake out of that till about the 14th 15th of june, when we start to analyse it, and that may well change sinn fein's policies in northern ireland, because some of their biggest seats are held along the borders of tyrone, fermanagh a

then there is a new leader of the dup, gavin robinson, who is now facing, just weeks into his newjob,omething. of course, we are waiting for that and — something. of course, we are waiting for that and sir _ something. of course, we are waiting for that and sir keir— something. of course, we are waiting for that and sir keir starmer- something. of course, we are waiting for that and sir keir starmer has - for that and sir keir starmer has posted a video which says, give the tories five more years and things will only get worse, britain deserves better than that. the theme is change. it is a lot sunnier wherever he is than it is here. this will be a huge period of time for him. he has not led the party through a general election before. there will be scrutiny for his party and himself like never before. there will be a loss of pressure on labour to say what they will do. they want the election to be fought on the tories' record, and the tories want it to be fought on what might happen next and they want to put lots of pressure on labour about what their plans are, whether those plans a