the west midlands. 0n— result of poll for the west midlands.f may 2024. i, julie newman, _ midlands. on thursday the 2nd of may 2024. i, julie newman, being- midlands. on thursday the 2nd of may 2024. i, julie newman, being the i 2024. i, julie newman, being the combined — 2024. i, julie newman, being the combined authority— 2024. i, julie newman, being the combined authority returning i 2024. i, julie newman, being the i combined authority returning officer at the _ combined authority returning officer at the above — combined authority returning officer at the above election, _ combined authority returning officer at the above election, do— combined authority returning officer at the above election, do hereby- at the above election, do hereby -ive at the above election, do hereby give notice — at the above election, do hereby give notice that _ at the above election, do hereby give notice that the _ at the above election, do hereby give notice that the number- at the above election, do hereby give notice that the number of. at the above electi

mi made that point in the west midlands-— made that point in the west midlands. �* ., , ., , midlands and i do want to add one little update for our viewers, and that is from my colleague nick eardley. he says that he is told sir keir starmer was in the east midlands watching the football in a pub, and then headed to the west midlands to celebrate the result. priorities! of course, there is so so much more for you on our bbc news website and app. we do have a live page with updates from my colleague nick eardley, from rajini in birmingham and analysis from sir john curtice who has been across this all day since 7.35 this morning, i am told, but let's move on now. let's move on to the israel gaza war, as efforts to secure a deal for the release of hostages and a ceasefire in gaza are intensifying. the head of the us�*s cia, william burns, is in cairo to help try to mediate a ceasefire deal between israel and hamas. hamas negotiators have also arrived in egypt for talks. and this is where things stand. foreign mediators have been waiting for a response from the group to an israeli propo

and that is that the west midlands.nd that is that the council declared itself bankrupt not too long ago. council tax bills went through the roof for people here. it is a labour run authority. and many conservatives including andy street so that that was an example of bad management by the labour party. labour said it was an example of the conservative government not funding properly local government. another issue of course was also the conflict in gaza. we had an independent candidate here in birmingham who basically ran on a platform just about gaza, and he won around 42,000 votes here, and really, many people say that he impacted that vote. we are waiting for the result now. it could be any moment now. we will come back to this as and when it happens, but this has been a very closely fought race, and we are hearing that labour are calling it for themselves. all right, rajini, we will come back to you when you have more on that, because as you have been stressing there, these are labour sources who are claiming victo

that west midlands result _ west midlands. nick. that west midlands result sounds - west midlands.ands result sounds like it i west midlands. nick. that west midlands result sounds like it isj west midlands. nick. that west i midlands result sounds like it is on a knife edge. we don't actually have enough data to show you how we think it is going, but speaking to people on the ground, it sounds like it's extremely close. it could go either way at the moment. we are going to keep very close eyes on that one. let me just remind you of the big story so far that we have confirmed. london mayor, sadiq khan has won it comfortably. a majority there of about 270,000. all the talk that it could be close was wrong. this is exactly how it's panned out. what is interesting is that sadiq khan's vote has actually improved. i told you earlier that the lib dems and the greens were close. the greens actually came third last time, so thatis actually came third last time, so that is a slight reversal of fortune, but there is only 70 votes in it. i will correct myself there. this is the story i want t

i would expect claire ward as the east midlands mayor to absolutely put the east midlands first.ngle person who didn't vote for her in the east midlands. if we are able to form a labour government, that is actually a massive advantage for the east midlands because it means we will have a government under mayor able to work together, but do i expect her to fight for the east midlands, absolutely. that is what she would do and i intend to fight with her. the whole point of having an east midlands mayor is to fix the fact that the east midlands has been consistently bottom of the charter public spending per head of population for years now, can you commit now to that changing under a labour government?— labour government? there will be a fundamental — labour government? there will be a fundamental change _ labour government? there will be a fundamental change under - labour government? there will be a fundamental change under a - labour government? there will be a fundamental change under a labour| fundamental change under a labour government because i believe in devolution, more po

. the first mayor of the east midlands-_ the first mayor of the east midlands. ., ., midlands.e was asked about the london mayoral _ midlands. he was asked about the london mayoral contest. - midlands. he was asked about the london mayoral contest. sadik- midlands. he was asked about the l london mayoral contest. sadik khan was absolutely the right candidate. he has got two terms of delivery behind him and i'm confident he's got another time of delivery in front of him but, that, if you look across the country, i am standing here in mansfield, in the east midlands where we find a significant victory in the team here but that is the pattern across the country. we have been winning in blackpool, north yorkshire, true blue tory territory and tear on the west midlands with a very many constituencies that match acutely in the general election so all that this is done with a purpose. i want a labour government to serve our country and this is effectively the last stop on the journey to the general election and i am really pleased that we have been able to show we are making progress.

sir keir starmer celebrating east midlands. in some laces, we celebrating east midlands.ces. we did _ celebrating east midlands. in some places, we did not _ celebrating east midlands. in some places, we did not get _ celebrating east midlands. in some places, we did not get all - celebrating east midlands. in some places, we did not get all of - celebrating east midlands. in some places, we did not get all of the . places, we did not get all of the votes we wanted and of course we will fight to get those votes back but if you look at the overarching picture and the purpose, the purpose is to serve our country. this is the last stop before the general election and we have made very real progress. i election and we have made very real rouress. ., _ . ., ., progress. i do hereby declare that steve rotherham _ progress. i do hereby declare that steve rotherham is _ progress. i do hereby declare that steve rotherham is duly - progress. i do hereby declare that | steve rotherham is duly elected... celebrations in liverpool... south yorkshire... celebrations in liverpool... sou

i don't see anywhere we are in the west midlands so far, but for| in the west midlands so far, but for throughout the third time, the labour party thought they could be able to turn it over to them. richard parker, their candidates, was quite hopeful but in the last few hours also, sources have told my colleagues here in the west midlands that labour think they might not necessarily get it. we don't know until the count is over. my colleague the bbc west midlands political editor rob mayor had a conversation with a labour source, so what were they saying? labour really thought they might produce a massive upset here. we don't know whether that will happen or not, but all signs are that they feel that might not happen. yesterday morning this happened, a source _ yesterday morning this happened, a source told — yesterday morning this happened, a source told us they felt they would lose this _ source told us they felt they would lose this mayo oh contest and they -ot lose this mayo oh contest and they got a _ lose this mayo oh contest and they got a lot— lose this mayo oh contest and they

what is your reaction to events overnight in the west midlands?e the culmination of a three—day test match, a one—sided cricket match. 0ne match, a one—sided cricket match. one side dominant throughout the three—day period. 0ccasionally, another side have flourishes that meant it got people excited and made it look perhaps it would not be as bad as some expected. but in the end, it probably was. the results were very poor for the conservatives, if not quite as poor as the most negative naysayers might have expected. similarly, for labour, the results were good, a dominant performance, but perhaps not quite as good as their most positive supporters might have hoped for. a clear picture that really was backing up what we have seen in the national polling notjust in the last few months but last few years. you used to the cricket analogy. i will stay with it. there was talk in recent weeks that if the conservatives did not get a good showing in the elections, they might have to change their captain. suella braverman this morning ruled that out saying

let's start with the west midlands.ge and i can perhaps give you a bit of and i can perhaps give you a bit of a sense why. this is the police and crime commissioner election in the west midlands. it is not the same race, a different one, but it is really interesting post labour winning by a considerable margin. but i want to show you the swing, the change in the vote. it was a 4.5% swing conservative to labour. that is exactly the swing that labour need for the mayor race to beat the conservatives. 4.5%. that gives is a sense of why the race in the west midlands to the mayor is on such a knife edge. i have been chatting to people in the last few minutes and it sounds like it is extraordinarily close. a couple of thousand votes in it. that is the sense we are getting. you get a sense we are getting. you get a sense of why that's when matters so much. let's step back for a second. this is the picture across england. we now have 106 of 107 councils declared. that is the picture. you can see labour with 185, a good result f

we are watching the west midlands. of all on that, i don't know if you have heard anything but what... how disappointing would it be to lose that for andy street? we disappointing would it be to lose that for andy street?— that for andy street? we saw teesside's — that for andy street? we saw teesside's mayoral— that for andy street? we saw teesside's mayoral election l that for andy street? we saw| teesside's mayoral election as that for andy street? we saw - teesside's mayoral election as well and because we have three extra elections occurring this week that effectively it meant that there was a lot more for the conservatives to lose and what is really interesting in regard to the local elections as well is that they have been a kind of area where there is so much more for them to lose. because they did so well in 2021, it was the height of the vaccine roll—out and so support for the conservative party has significantly increased. if they were to lose west midlands, it would be usually damaging when it comes to how

police and crime commissioner. 0k. the west midlands police and crime commissioner.— the west midlandswe will— commissioner. 0k. thank you so much, sirjohn curtice. we will be _ commissioner. 0k. thank you so much, sirjohn curtice. we will be back - sirjohn curtice. we will be back with you through the course of this afternoon. for now, i will leave you with the weather with chris fawkes. but we will be back in birmingham life shortly. hello, there's been a big reversal of weather fortunes. yesterday, scotland and northern ireland had lots of sunshine and warm weather, with temperatures peaking at 23 degrees celsius. not so much today, though. it's a lot cloudier, a lot cooler. and for some, that means a drop of about nine degrees celsius between yesterday's warm sun and today's rather grey and cloudy skies. the clouds extensive then for scotland and northern ireland and is also still affecting parts of northern england and north wales. best of the sunshine further southwards today where yesterday it was cloudy and wet, feels a lot warmer in today's sunshine across these more southern

we didn't persuade enough people across the west midlands.he future to give them confidence to go and vote on thursday. i've always said it was my campaign and we didn't get over the line. very straightforward. is rishi sunak to blame? no, this was my campaign. idid it, the famous words. i did it my way, and it was always going to be like that. and in the end it wasn't quite enough. but i'll tell you what, it was bloody close by in my language and no one would have expected that. to be clear, do you want rishi sunak to lead the conservatives into the general election? yes, there is. it would be complete madness to have another moment of introspection. khan, sadiq labour party.... labour's sadiq khan has won again in london. thank you from the bottom of my heart. thank you, london. it's the honour of my life to serve the city that i love. therefore, i declare that andy burnham is duly elected as the mayor of the greater manchester combined authority. there was another labour victory in greater manchester. it has been hard to keep greater manch

, west midlands, in peaks across the country, west midlands . country, west midlands. >> do you think labour is going to win, i doubt it, because they're not winning. they're no. >> look labour won in redditch. won in big time in redditch. it looks as though it looks it looks as though it looks it looks as though all of the incumbent mayors are going to

the _ midlands to improve. the roads is the main one. the potholes i midlands to improve.ive _ roads. people just struggling to live a— roads. people 'ust struggling to live. �* . ., g roads. people 'ust struggling to live. a ., g , ., , live. a clear message? my priorities next work will _ live. a clear message? my priorities next work will start _ live. a clear message? my priorities next work will start working - live. a clear message? my priorities next work will start working with i next work will start working with the civil servants, the combined authority. we will be looking at how we can most effectively and quickly use a mare's unspent housing resources to prop up funding into housing development. its, resources to prop up funding into housing development. a nail-biting ni . ht. housing development. a nail-biting niuht. now housing development. a nail-biting night. now voters _ housing development. a nail-biting night. now voters look _ housing development. a nail-biting night. now voters look to _ housing development. a nail-biting night. now voters look to mr i

sunny spells for much of north wales, the midlands, and eastern areas of england.18 degrees. the warmest weather will be across north wales, the midlands, towards the east of england, where you�*ll have the best of the sunshine and this is where you�*ll have the highest pollen levels through today. elsewhere, they will be moderate. bear that in mind if you suffer from hay fever. tonight, showers across eastern scotland, drifting their way a bit further southward. we will see quite a bit of cloud across england and wales tonight. it means it�*s not going to be quite as cold as last night. temperatures staying up at about nine or ten degrees celsius across many parts of the uk into bank holiday monday. we�*ll see this little area of low pressure going out into the low countries and that will clip the south—east of england. we will keep a close eye on that one because that could bring heavy and maybe thundery showers on monday. staying quite cloudy here. elsewhere, there could be the odd shower developing but mostly dry for england and wales with some sunshine. a bit

midlands rail hub, improving the connectivity of birmingham.f state, is that it's notjust about what happened in the last couple of days, which, in many places for you, is dire. you got hammered in the local council elections last year as well. you've lost seven by—elections under rishi sunak. and if we can show you the roll—call and show this to our viewers as well, the roll call of councils that you lost, basildon, dorset to the lib dems, north east lincolnshire, nuneaton, redditch. these are places where labour is salivating at the prospect of taking your mp5. you've been losing under rishi sunak time and again. don't you think you need to change something? look, i'm not going to pretend they weren't disappointing results, always disappointing. i was out campaigning with lots of people across the country and it's always disappointing when you lose hardworking conservatives... but the point here is, doesn't this give you evidence that you need to do something differently? and if you don't do anything differently and you just say, "stick to th

_ swing and we've ended in the west midlands with our new mayor, richard marka _ midlands with our newidlands with our new mayor, richard marka is the west midlands mayor —— backpoohl— backpool.l cheering and applause "the most loved and amazing son" — the family of daniel anjorin, who was killed in a sword attack in east london, pay tribute to the 1a—year—old. good morning. their 22—year wait is over: ipswich town can start preparing for premier league football after clinching promotion from the championship. and is it sacrilege or sustainable? we'll look at the rise of vegan bakeries in france. and while there will be some about today, will also be some sunny spells and when the sun comes out, it is once again going to feel

. of being re-elected in the west midlands. �* , ,, midlands.midlands. andy street douglas, though. and _ midlands. andy street douglas, though, and you're _ midlands. andy street douglas, though, and you're talking - midlands. andy street douglas, | though, and you're talking about midlands. andy street douglas, i though, and you're talking about a strong brand. andy street, ben houchen, there was so move to distance themselves from rishi sunak. they didn't bother brand affiliation front and centre. it was all along, we will talk about brunt andy. does not have any bearing on your mind on how mps should be approaching the general election? == approaching the general election? » brand — under. frankly, the country has switched from listening to what conservatives have to say. you have to go back to notjust partygate but also some of the disaster decisions like electing liz truss as a leader of the party, the budget and other decisions, to show that frankly the conservatives are not really in a position to be listened to any more. the fact that r

but the eye—catching result today is in the west midlands.also birmingham, and spoke to the newly—elected mayor, richard parker. these recent local elections and mayoral races in england have been seen as the last significant as the public opinion and head of the likely general election, probably to the end of this year. you could argue that there result coming out of here in birmingham for the west midlands mayor was one of the most significant events of the most significant events of the most significant events of the last few days, because the conservative incumbent andy street, who had been there for two consecutive terms, it lost here by the closest of margins. it was about 1500 votes in it. and labour's richard parker is now the mayor elect here in the west midlands. a diverse part of the uk, which takes in the huge city of birmingham. i spoke to richard parker after his victory. this talk about your priorities. your spoken about transport, putting buses into the public sector, for example. butjust talk into the public sector, for examp

the odd rumble of midlands.t england, south—west scotland but for much of northern scotland, central scotland dry and fine. warmer spot likely to be western scotland , where we could get scotland, where we could get 2223 degrees elsewhere. a lot cooler with the cloud and the rain over these central areas. particularly chilly on some nonh particularly chilly on some north sea coast, but it is a brighter day across southernmost parts of england. better chance of staying fine and dry here and that dry, clearer weather will spread north as we go through the night. we'll keep outbreaks of rain going over much of wales, the midlands and northern england, parts of southern scotland and northern ireland to that northwestern corner staying dry and fine with the cloud that keeps the temperatures up in double digits. quite a chilly start, then to the long weekend in the south, but hopeful for a bit of sunshine here. actually generally fine day tomorrow over south wales, southern england and east anglia. drying up process o

and a nail—biter in elections in england — labour win the mayoral contest in the west midlands, cappingleak set of local election results for the conservative party. hello, i'm carl nasman. efforts are intensifying to secure a deal for the release of hostages and a ceasefire in gaza as the israel—hamas war approaches the seven—month mark. a delegation of hamas negotiators arrived in cairo. cia director william burns is also in the egyptian capital to mediate. the talks are reported to have ended for the day, with a senior hamas official telling the afp news agency there have been "no developments" but talks are expected to continue sunday. let's take a look at where things stand. the main sticking point is whether a ceasefire deal will be permanent or temporary. a hamas official says the group will not agree to a truce that does not fully end the gaza war. israel is reluctant to agree to this. israeli forces remain active in gaza. mediators have been waiting for hamas to respond to an israeli proposal to halt the fighting for a0 days and to exchange hostages for palestinian prisoners. b

labour are calling east midlands. they sayi are calling east midlands.t. back to something you were - and see the result. back to| something you were talking and see the result. back to- something you were talking about. ben something you were talking about. beh bradley— something you were talking about. ben bradley absolutely _ something you were talking about. ben bradley absolutely stood - something you were talking about. ben bradley absolutely stood as i something you were talking about. ben bradley absolutely stood as a i ben bradley absolutely stood as a conservative _ ben bradley absolutely stood as a conservative. i— ben bradley absolutely stood as a conservative. i was _ ben bradley absolutely stood as a conservative. i was in— ben bradley absolutely stood as a conservative. i was in his - ben bradley absolutely stood as a conservative. i was in his patch i ben bradley absolutely stood as a i conservative. i was in his patch and he was _ conservative. i was in his patch and he was delivering _ conservative. i was in his patch and he was deliver

parts of england into central southern england and in towards the midlands. still got cloud and heavy showers in scotland, the far north of england. maybe staying dry but maybe cloudy in northern ireland and across other parts of northern england, wales, the midlands, towards the south—west, there'll be some heavy and thundery, slow—moving showers in the afternoon. 0n the whole, more showers around for bank holiday monday. temperatures not quite so high. almost anywhere could catch a shower. tuesday, though, looks a little bit drier. we have still got the odd shower around across scotland, into northern england, the midlands, perhaps into wales, but not as many showers, not as heavy showers. the south and southeast are looking dry and warm. it may well be dry in northern ireland once again. and the theme as we head further into next week is for high pressure to build, and that means things for many of us will turn dry. there will be some sunshine and those temperatures will be climbing as well.

labour victorious in the west midlands' _ 224082.victorious in the west midlands' mayoral - 224082. labour victorious in the west midlands' mayoral race. i 224082. labour victorious in the west midlands' mayoral race. al 224082. labour victorious in the - west midlands' mayoral race. a tiny margin in a region of 2 million people. one of the conservatives' high—profile metro mayors, andy street, toppled. the labour leader was there to celebrate. the message out of these elections — the last elections now, the last stop before we go into that general election — is the country wants change. i hope the prime minister is listening and gives the opportunity to the country to vote as a whole in a general election as soon as possible. mr street said conservatives should not respond to defeat by shifting further right, but follow his moderate policies. the famous words "i did it my way". and it was always going to be like that and, in the end, it wasn't quite enough, but i tell you what, it was bloody close — pardon my language — and no—one w

but the eye—catching result today is in the west midlands. chris mason, bbc news, birmingham.m are now in — and find out what they tell us about the state of the parties' fortunes as we approach a general election. here's nick eardley. as you can see, it's a real knife edge. just 1,500 votes between the labour victor and andy street for the conservatives, despite the fact that more than half a million votes were cast. in terms of percentages, this is how it shakes out, 37.8 and 37.5. note the 12%, that was an independent candidate, critical of labour's policy on the war in gaza, and despite that labour did manage to just make it through. let me show you on the next slide how things have changed. the labour vote is actually down a wee bit. the conservative vote is down so much, 11%, that has allowed labour to take the west midlands, and finally let me just quickly show you the swing that we got there, 4.6 from the conservatives to labour, enough to get them over the line. it wasn't just the west midlands, though. as we were just hearing from chris, london today as well. sadiq k

we begin in the uk where the governing conservative party has suffered a shock defeat in the west midlandslosing the mayoral election to the labour party. the contest between the conservatives�* andy street, who was seeking a third term as mayor, and labour's richard parker went right down to the wire — with a recount ordered for one area. the outcome of this particular race had been cast as pivotal for the prime minister, rishi sunak. the bbc�*s political editor chris mason reports. how are you feeling, andy? we will see. out of his hands. the conservative andy street arrived here at lunchtime awaiting the verdict of voters. it was to be a long wait for mr street and his labour rival, richard parker. votes rechecked, a recount in coventry and this result in the last hour or so. the number of votes recorded for each... we've waited all day for this moment. it's happening now. the result. and i do hereby declare that richard parker... cheering. this is the most important thing i will ever do. - this week, people here voted for the person and the party. | they recognise that a labour mayor c

, they think about the midlands, they often think about the west midlands.n you replicate that? what has happened in the west midlands, where it has been very successful , particularly in successful, particularly in places like birmingham, the country's second city? how can you make that happen in nottingham or derby , which nottingham or derby, which doesn't have the same infrastructure or the same population? well we still have a very large population at 2.2 million people, but we're five times the size of west midlands, so it's a big geographical area to cover. >> but i will be making sure that each of those areas feel the benefit of having the power. and the funding from westminster brought into this region, so that we can make the decisions that we can make the decisions that we can make the decisions that we need and make the choices that we decide are right for us. >> you said this is about bringing back powers from westminster . you know westminster. you know westminster. you know westminster very well from when you were watford mp 20 or so years ago

as listens today, has been sent from the west midlands.— the west midlands. tea leaves out of the - read the tea leaves out of the general election, what do you think your party can take away from whatever happens? whichever way it goes, the fact it is so close, you are saying it could come down to a few quick... i are saying it could come down to a few quick- - -_ few quick... i think the labour party has _ few quick... i think the labour party has many _ few quick... i think the labour party has many reasons - few quick... i think the labour party has many reasons to - few quick... i think the labour party has many reasons to be| party has many reasons to be cheerful— party has many reasons to be cheerful this week. excuse me, there's— cheerful this week. excuse me, there's a — cheerful this week. excuse me, there's a fly! i apologise. but the labour— there's a fly! i apologise. but the labour party has reasons to be cheerful — labour party has reasons to be cheerful. the votes are building up in areas _ cheerful. the votes are building up in areas that we

let's turn to the west midlands. _ still quite tight. let's turn to the west midlands.have the discussion there about the result for the solihull district within the west midlands authority that the result they are for the mayoral race has no already been published. we have calculated the swing that this means from 2021. the answer is 5% from conservative to labour. the swing that labour need across the west midlands as a whole to unseat andy street is 4.5%. in other words, solihull does underline the claim that this election looks too close to call. certainly, andy street needs to be a little bit better than he did in solihull if he is going to hang on to his position. that is number one. the second thing that is no one saying, we just have one council left to declare in salford, it might be tomorrow, were not quite sure, there isjust one it might be tomorrow, were not quite sure, there is just one counsel left a declare. liberal democrats now have 520 counsellors, and the conservatives have 508, and it is now clear to us with just one counsel to go that the liberal de

streets in the west midlands . we'll also be hearing midlands.ring from eight of ten contests for police and crime commissioner. a burst water main has left around 31,000 properties without water in east sussex , causing a in east sussex, causing a drastic impact on businesses. southern water says the disruption in saint leonards on sea and parts of hastings will continue into tomorrow. the issue was first reported on thursday, forcing the company to open water bottle stations, schools, a leisure centre and a theatre in the area have all been forced to close and motorists are being warned to expect heavy traffic this bank houday expect heavy traffic this bank holiday weekend, according to the rac, around 3 million vehicles are taking to the roads today alone, an increase in day trips and short breaks could mean local routes are congested. also, train strikes between this coming tuesday and the following saturday could lead to most roads being busier. well, saturday could lead to most roads being busier . well, for roads being busier. well, for th

that's london, that's west midlands.ing you up to date on the national picture across england. 106 of 107 councils declared, we will not get the other today so this is as close as we will get to the full picture on saturday. as you can see, labour up 185 seats, they are pleased, they think the places they are winning are the places they are winning are the places they are winning are the places they need to win if they are going to form a majority government at a general election, so there really please. you will notice that the lib dems are ahead of the conservatives in terms of the result from thursday. slightly more complicated than that, i will explain a second. they are cock—a—hoop, they are up 105. really bad, down 472. quite the cataclysmic 500 losses we were talking about over the past 2a hours. but not far off it, they have lostjust under half the seats they are defending. with putting out as well, 73 seats have been gained by the greens, they are really happy in this show is a bit of a breakthrough moment for t

once again, how hamas are the villains _ midlands. villains was what this quote said _ the villains was what this quote said it — the villains was what this quote said. it was pretty quickly slapped down _ said. it was pretty quickly slapped down by— said. it was pretty quickly slapped down by the labour party who described it as a racist comment and they said _ described it as a racist comment and they said this person does not share they said this person does not share the values _ they said this person does not share the values of the labour party. in the values of the labour party. in the campaign team here, richard parker's— the campaign team here, richard parker's campaign team here are confident— parker's campaign team here are confident this is a close race. there — confident this is a close race. there are _ confident this is a close race. there are certainly not conceding anything this morning. let's talk about that independent candidate. by the wording of that statement did cause offence and the party has apologised for usi

lindsay doyle, bbc midlands today, birmingham.and party leader, is the only person officially in the running, but veteran party activist — graeme mccormack says he believes he can garner enough nominations by tomorrow's deadline. our reporter in glasgow ben philip explains how serious a challenge this could be. it was widely expected thatjohn swinney would be unopposed. the deadline is tomorrow at midday, and it was expected thatjohn sweeney would become the next snp leader and seventh first minister of scotland, but there are reports that graham mccormick, a veteran activist, believes he'll have enough motivations. —— nominations. including about its independence strategy, he's been critical. if he was to win a contest, he could only become party leader, he can't become the first minister of scotland because he isn't an msp. something cuite because he isn't an msp. something quite different _ because he isn't an msp. something quite different now. _ it's been a staple of breakfast tables and cafes across france for generations —

, west midlands, in peaks across the country, west midlands . country, west midlands. >> do you think, i doubt it, because they're not winning. they're no. >> look labour won in redditch. won in big time in redditch. it looks as though it looks it looks as though it looks it looks as though all of the incumbent mayors are going to get re—elected, which shows you something about the mayoral. the mayoral set up. and it shows you something about the strength of that. and it shows you okay. >> john mcternan, that's all we have time for. but thank you so much for talking through those results. really, really interesting stuff. let's get the reaction now of nigel farage. gb news. presenter of course, and honorary president of reform uk. joining us from dallas, texas this evening, nigel, i suppose on one sense, last night's results show that incumbent mayors are doing fairly well. london to one side. and we'll sort of leave off too much speculation about london, but it looks like there could be an upset there. is this the united kingdom, following this almost american experiment of, of split

east midland mayoral election, peter saull, political editor for the east midlands. to get under way. —— east midlands mayo accounting. it's the first time here they have had a directly elected metro meier. a lot of talk about the west midlands and the tees valley, but this one in the east midlands will also give a really interesting indication of where the parties are at nationally. lots of attention on this one, it is a straight two horse race between labour and the conservatives. at the moment, it's labour sounding much more confident than the tories, the conservatives i've spoken to this morning pointing to a much more difficult national picture, they believe they have a strong candidate in the mp for mansfield, ben bradley, but he is feeling a little despondent at the moment. labour much more confident with claire ward, a former labour mp during the layer and brown years, covering derbyshire and nottinghamshire. not necessarily the whole of the region, leicestershire not included in that, but a huge area, 2.2 million people. a large geographic one stretching fro

, and finally let me just the west midlands, and finally let mejust quickly show the west midlands, andst quickly show you the swing that we got there, 4.6 from the conservatives to labour, enough to get them over the line. it wasn't just the west midlands, though. as we were just hearing from chris, london today as well. sadiq khan being returned for a third term, the margin there was a lot bigger, 275,000 votes in it in the end, and this is why. let me show you the swing quickly. it's a big one, 3.2% conservative to labour, and that matters because the conservatives were hoping to close the gap with labour in london, but the opposite has happened. as you can see there. across the country, across england, we have now got a pretty good picture. 106 of 107 councils have declared, and here is how it looks. labour up 185, a good result for them. the conservatives down 473, they've lost almost half of all the seats they were defending on thursday. that's a really bad result. as you can see, the lib dems on thursday's results have just overtaken them. it is worth pointing out down here as we

ranges of powers so city can in london is responsible for quite a lot but less so here in the east midlandsmain kind of areas there will be responsible for our public transport, housing provision, skills and training, so further education. ultimately they will be responsible for hundreds of pounds of central government funding and we are going to get more metro mayors, being elected to the very first time. i'm detecting a lot of scepticism talking to voters in this part of the world about the idea of having another elected politician and that may well be borne out in the low turnout we get it eventually but that once people understand what a mayor does and we have seen that in greater manchester and the midlands, and those politicians tend to be very well known and they tend to be very well known and they tend to do and perform quite well and in many respects this is different was happening in the west midlands and the tees valley where you have two conservative incumbents that have quite successfully managed to create a sense of them being apolitical, really, standing up for the region and

west midlands and in places— midlands, west midlands and in places like — midlands, west midlands and mentioned teesside and _ switching to labour. you mentioned teesside and west _ switching to labour. you mentioned teesside and west midlands, - switching to labour. you mentioned teesside and west midlands, you i switching to labour. you mentioned i teesside and west midlands, you have already said that actually the mayoralty is there so it's a bit of an anomaly, but you have set yourself, you've been there, lots of labour politicians have been there, you have campaigned very hard in those places and from the kind of language you are giving us tonight, it sounds like you don't think you are going to make it. fit it sounds like you don't think you are going to make it.— it sounds like you don't think you are going to make it. of course, we fou~ht are going to make it. of course, we fought really _ are going to make it. of course, we fought really hard _ are going to make it. of course, we fought really hard across _ are going to make it. of course, we fought really hard across the - fo

but the eye—catching result today is in the west midlands. chris mason, bbc news in birmingham.oach a general election-— as we approach a general election. �* , . ~ election. it's a knife edge. 1500 votes _ election. it's a knife edge. 1500 votes between - election. it's a knife edge. 1500 votes between the i election. it's a knife edge. - 1500 votes between the labour victor and andy street despite half a million votes were cast. this these are the percentages. very close. 37.8 to 37.5. not the 12%, that very close. 37.8 to 37.5. not the i2%, that was an independent candidate critical of labour's policy on the war in gaza. despite that labour made it through. there's the swing. it wasn't just the west midlandses. london today as well. a swing to labour. the conservatives hoped to close the gap, the opposite hand. we now have a good picture across the country. 106 of 107 councils declared. labour up 185. a good result. the conservatives down 473. they lost almost half of all the seats they defended on thursday. a bad result. you can see the liberal democrats have on thursday's r

what really changed in the west midlands, the conservative vote went right down.well but the fact for the conservative vote went down so much was what got labour over the line. there is the swing. conservatives to labour, a.6%. that was the big result from last night but there was another really important result yesterday, in the capital, london. here it is. sadiq khan comfortably beating the conservative's susan harle, 207,000 votes, this time a lot more. this is what the swing look like, a 3.2% swing from the conservatives to labour. the tories were hoping they could clawback more ground in london to run a close and that did not happen. it was pretty comfortable for sadiq khan in the end. so, the big picture, across england for local councils, there is only one left to declare. this is pretty much the finished picture and is a similar picture, labour doing well, up 185, the doing terribly, down a73, losingjust under half of all the seats they were defending. you will notice the lib dems are above the conservatives in that. they put in 10a. worth pointing out as

let's london, greater manchester and the west midlands . let's pose the west midlands.ws political correspondent olivia utley, who is outside of city hall right now, and our reporter jack carson, who's up in manchester. thank you both . so, manchester. thank you both. so, olivia, let's start with you. doesit olivia, let's start with you. does it look like the tables may be turning with the chances of susan hall in the london mayoral elections ? elections? >> well, it looks like the result is going to be much, much closer than anyone was predicting a week or so ago . predicting a week or so ago. just ten days ago, sadiq khan was leading by about 20% in the polls, and the most recent poll . polls, and the most recent poll. still, he was leading by at least 10. now though, it looks like everything could be changing. why is that? well, turnout is low. turnout is around 40. and susan hall's team for the conservatives have said time and again that susan hall will do better with a lower turnout and where the turnout is high and low matters too, in the doughnut area, as it's ca

they don't even have that cold comfort of the west midlands any more. and i think...nd, as we could see from suella braverman today, the coup isn't happening. so that leaves the conservative party in a very odd place where, simultaneously lots of their mps think that they have the evidence that they're doomed, but they don't want to change leader because many of them think that would make it worse. i mean, they're stuck, aren't they? i mean, they are really, really stuck. that's the thing that i see — a sense about the conservative party. they're stuck believing that they are on their way to what commissar melvyn on dischord has called starmergeddon... starmergeddon. ..after a terrible week for the tories. it is a takeaway. we can say that rishi sunak will lead the conservative party into the next election. it certainly would be weird at this stage. it would be really weird if he didn't. and i think in time, as i pompously wrote in a piece on the website, i think this weekend might see that this is sort of the moment their fate was sealed, if you like, because they've

there _ you look you in the west midlands. there are _ you look you in the west midlands. pour over the results to see what it might— over the results to see what it might say— over the results to see what it might say about the general election and the _ might say about the general election and the intriguing thing is to what extent— and the intriguing thing is to what extent is— and the intriguing thing is to what extent is the party brand and the national— extent is the party brand and the national trend significant and to what _ national trend significant and to what extent is, in particular here, brand _ what extent is, in particular here, brand andy— what extent is, in particular here, brand andy able to act as a counter to the _ brand andy able to act as a counter to the national trend which has moving — to the national trend which has moving away from the conservatives. let's moving away from the conservatives. let's move _ moving away from the conservatives. let's move on to the labour party. there has been some talk you that if they don't win here, and they've re

if i actually think, i would ignore tees valley and the west midlands.r brands. if there is one contest i think will give us the best indication of what might happen in a general election, it is that new east midlands mayor, because there are lots of marginal seats in that area, there is no incumbent, it is pretty much a straight tory labour fight, so that is what i would have my eye on. fight, so that is what i would have my eye on-— fight, so that is what i would have my eye om— my eye on. and i would also said that blackpool— my eye on. and i would also said that blackpool south _ my eye on. and i would also said that blackpool south is _ my eye on. and i would also said| that blackpool south is important because — that blackpool south is important because that is another tory loss, and another labour gain, and all of that does. — and another labour gain, and all of that does, you know, the arithmetic in parliament makes it more difficult _ in parliament makes it more difficult for rishi sunak as well. but it— difficult for rishi sunak as well. but it

labour win the mayoral contest in the west midlands, capping a bleak set of local election results forhe conservative party. negotiations continue in cairo to try and work out a deal between hamas and israel as fighting drags on in the gaza strip. plus the us is reportedly set to send fresh military aid to haiti to help its new government re—assert control over gangs. hello, i'm carl nasman. we begin in the uk where the governing conservative party has suffered a shock defeat in the west midlands, losing the mayoral election to the labour party. the contest between the conservatives�* andy street, who was seeking a third term as mayor, and labour's richard parker went right down to the wire — with a recount ordered for one area. the outcome of this particular race had been cast as pivotal for the prime minister, rishi sunak. the bbc�*s political editor chris mason reports. how are you feeling, andy? we will see. out of his hands.

the midlands, east anglia and south—east england.here the sunshine comes out, it should feel quite pleasant. heading into bank holiday monday, low pressure to the south of the uk with this weather front still bringing the threat of some rain across southern counties of england. the rain may turn more showery in nature through the afternoon but those showers could be heavy and thundery. further north, we are likely to see some thunderstorms break out across parts of scotland and northern england as well but that still leaves part of wales into the midlands and parts of northern england where we will have the best of the day's sunshine breaking through. temperatures not doing too badly. highs between 15 and 17 degrees but then as we look at the forecast deeper into next week, high pressure is going to start to dominate the weather picture. not the strongest high you have ever seen so there will still be some showers around. and for tuesday, those showers are most likely to form across western areas of the country. the best of the sunsh