let's talk to nick eardley _ us. you are welcome. let's talk to nick eardley who _ us. eardley who is out _ us. you are welcome. let's talk to nick eardley who is out on - us. you are welcome. let's talk to nick eardley who is out on the - nick eardley who is out on the campaign trail with rishi sunak. good morning to you. you have been in ilkeston with the prime minister this morning. this is where the work begins. i see you are on the bus already. begins. i see you are on the bus alread . , ., , , ,, .,~ already. yes, it does. rishi sunak ist in: already. yes, it does. rishi sunak is trying to _ already. yes, it does. rishi sunak is trying to hit _ already. yes, it does. rishi sunak is trying to hit the _ already. yes, it does. rishi sunak is trying to hit the ground - already. yes, it does. rishi sunak| is trying to hit the ground running. we are seeing him travel across the uk today. i am about tojump on a plane, not sure where to, but we are going somewhere to watch the pm give a speech and we are going to hear things about turning around the economy and he will tr

let's go straight to nick eardley to counted. let's go straight to nick ea rdley to get counted.some analysis on that result —— just come in. what you make of what we have just heard —— that result that has just come in. let me show you the result we have just got in, we tapped it into our computer very quickly to show you what it actually means. following a pattern we are starting to see. sadiq khan has beaten susan hall, that's different from last time. he has an 11,000 majority. this is the bit that matters. another swing from the conservatives to labour. 5.2%. that is good news for sadiq khan. it matches what we have seen in the other two parts of london we have seen so far, greenwich and lewisham, labour would expect to win by a country mile and they did. look at that, conservative to labour swing, 4.5%. the first result we had from london, murton and wandsworth, again, labour expected to win there and they did, they won comfortably. look at the swing, 5.1%. —— merton. we can show you the full picture in london, sadiq khan is miles ahead with14 london, sadiq khan is miles ah

i do believe we now have comms with my colleague nick eardley who is in the newsroom and has been monitoringng, the conservatives were hoping that this would be a silver lining. we still don't have the official results of course, but your reaction to all this? let results of course, but your reaction to all this?— to all this? let me quickly bring ou a bit to all this? let me quickly bring you a bit more _ to all this? let me quickly bring you a bit more intel. _ to all this? let me quickly bring you a bit more intel. labour- to all this? let me quickly bring you a bit more intel. labour are confident— you a bit more intel. labour are confident they have won, but my sources — confident they have won, but my sources in— confident they have won, but my sources in the labour party are saying — sources in the labour party are saying that they think they have won lry saying that they think they have won by around _ saying that they think they have won by around 1000 votes. that is a tiny margin _ by around 1000 votes. that is a tiny margin it _ by around 1000 votes. that is a tiny margin it is— b

the world's media there is gathered and nick eardley is i is gathered and nick eardley is there too.is morning. he was in kent and he was saying that a vote for labour would be a vote for change. at long last. the election has been called. the time has come and the wait is over. and that means through the power of our democracy, the voters now get to choose the power of the vote, the power each and every one of you has to change our country, our community, and your future for the better. so whether you're a family that's been battling the cost of living, dealing with anti—social behavior, whether your business that's been struggling for years against the odds of the economy that's in chaos under this government, what you've served your country. whatever way, this election is for you, because you now have the power, the chance, to end the chaos, to turn the page and to rebuild britain. and we've had 14 years of going round and round in circles, getting absolutely nowhere. chaos and division. feeding chaos and division. and that has a cost, a human cost. in milton keynes, i met will, w

nick eardley. good to _ meant to be a few months away. nick eardley, good to talk to you. vital support because some councils are not providing care plans quickly enough. local authorities say they are facing growing demand and insufficient funding and the children's commissioner has described the situation is a crisis. 0ur correspondent charlie rose has the story. like all five—year—olds, freddie should be getting a full time education. but last year, a rare complication from chickenpox resulted in freddie having a stroke. following the stroke he has a lot of fatigue. obviously he's now got a brain injury, which has affected his emotional regulation. he can be quite disregulated emotionally. one minute he's up here, the next minute he's down there. he did have a speech delay before but that's just been exacerbated by the stroke. he was fully potty trained. he is now sadly back in nappies. sarah says freddie's needs means he's limited to 16 hours a week at his local primary school near stoke—on—trent. she says to access full time education, freddie needs a legal document c

with me is our political correspondent, nick eardley. thank you forjoining us in the studio. tell us what the foreign secretary had to say. figs studio. tell us what the foreign secretary had to say.— studio. tell us what the foreign secretary had to say. as you had, david cameron _ secretary had to say. as you had, david cameron is _ secretary had to say. as you had, david cameron is pretty - secretary had to say. as you had, david cameron is pretty clear- secretary had to say. as you had, | david cameron is pretty clear that the uk is looking closely at what is

nick eardley, for now, _ moment city khan looks safe. nick eardley, for now, thanks very much.cs at strathclyde university. to give you your full title. we just call you the guru most of the time! does numbers, 4.9%, is that what labour was expecting, or well the conservatives be disappointed, given the expectation last night that things could be closer than we are addicted? iiii things could be closer than we are addicted? ., , ., , addicted? if the conservatives were fuellin: addicted? if the conservatives were fuelling their _ addicted? if the conservatives were fuelling their hopes _ addicted? if the conservatives were fuelling their hopes last _ addicted? if the conservatives were fuelling their hopes last night, - fuelling their hopes last night, they must feel rather flat today, frankly you're not quite sure for all of this speculation came from. opinion polls, they narrowed somewhat during the london mayoral race, were showing very clearly that i suspect roughly we would be in the place where at least some of the polls were anticipating in advance. a couple of things. t

the numbers at his fingertips, nick eardley standing by. ave had overnight _ eardley standing by. the numbers we have had overnight give _ eardley standing by. the numbers we have had overnight give us _ eardley standing by. the numbers we have had overnight give us an - have had overnight give us an indication where we are at. a lot of counting to be done today, some tomorrow, this is not the full picture. this is where we are as of ten o'clock. 35 of 107 councils have been counted, you can see the picture emerging, a good night for labour, up 52 seats from the council is counted so far, a bad night for the conservatives. they have lost 122 councillors, that is towards the upper end of predictions. a bad night by what they were looking at. pretty good for the lib dems, pretty good for the green party as well. i will talk and a moment about independents because they are an interesting part of the big picture. this is what it means in terms of councils, labourat this is what it means in terms of councils, labour at three, the conservatives do

nick eardley, bbc news.ump's hush money trial has threatened the former president with jail if he continues to violate a gag order. the former president has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges of falsifying business records to cover up payments to a porn star. gary o'donoghue's in new york. mrtrump is mr trump is skating on very thin ice, isn't he? mr trump is skating on very thin ice. isn't he?— mr trump is skating on very thin ice, isn't he? , ice, isn't he? clive, these were the harshest words _ ice, isn't he? clive, these were the harshest words this _ ice, isn't he? clive, these were the harshest words this judge - ice, isn't he? clive, these were the harshest words this judge has - ice, isn't he? clive, these were the harshest words this judge has had l harshest words this judge has had three and a half weeks into this trial for the former president. he told him that he had violated a gag order ten separate times and been charged $1000 a pop for doing so, but it was not deterring him. he said, i am

thank you, rajini let's go to nick eardley i shortly. the conservatives were hoping for. it didn't happen, though, did it? no, it is another dark cloud over downing street this evening. it is a really bad result for the conservatives, but let me just talk you through what it looked like, because it is so close. more than half a million votes, and just 1500 in it. you can see the numbers there, andy street on two to and look how close the percentages are. 37.8, 37.5. ithought look how close the percentages are. 37.8, 37.5. i thought we were going to be done with this result a few hours ago, but it is that the fact that it hours ago, but it is that the fact thatitis hours ago, but it is that the fact that it is so close that has led to it taking so long. but as conservative candidate who is critical of labour policy, some feared that this would stop this happening, but not quite. still enough of richard parker to get over the line. here is what has changed, and the big story is the conservative vote is down significantly, down 11. labour i

we will be back tojohn and nick eardley.ar. for go into the general election sometime this year. go into the general election sometimethis ear. ., , ,, sometime this year. for rishi sunak esterda , sometime this year. for rishi sunak yesterday. with _ sometime this year. for rishi sunak yesterday. with a — sometime this year. for rishi sunak yesterday, with a sea _ sometime this year. for rishi sunak yesterday, with a sea of— sometime this year. for rishi sunak yesterday, with a sea of pretty i yesterday, with a sea of pretty bleak results, the result in tees valley was one where they were toasting a victory, and he was there in a blink of an eye, partly because he lives down the road. of course he was there in the blink of an eye, thatis was there in the blink of an eye, that is exactly what you would do. there will be a significant win for him psychologically of andy street tolls on here. when you look at the numbers in the tees value, and this swing against ben houchen, he won by 1 million miles, he won by more than 70% o

nick eardley, bbc news.ump's hush money trial, has threatened the former president with jail, if he continues to violate a gag order. he's pleaded not guilty to criminal charges of falsifying business records to cover up payments to a pawn star. nada tawfik, is live in new york. nada, mr trump is skating on thin ice isn't he? he is in danger of going to prison. yes, this is the tenth time that donald trump has been found in contempt of court, this time for comments he made aboutjurors that are unsubstantiated and the judge said it is a direct attack on the rule of law but the judge is doing everything he can to avoid sending donald trump to prison, but he will do so if necessary he says and that would be an unprecedented move in an unprecedented trial. thejudge unprecedented trial. the judge noting unprecedented trial. thejudge noting the implication on the presidential election, on security challenges given this is a former president with a secret service detail. donald trump said he thought the day went we

let's get more from nick eardley.he biggest electoral losses of recent times for the conservatives.— the conservatives. let's start cuickl the conservatives. let's start quickly with _ the conservatives. let's start quickly with the _ the conservatives. let's start quickly with the west - the conservatives. let's start i quickly with the west midlands. the conservatives. let's start - quickly with the west midlands. the race for mayor looks to be on a knife edge and i can give you a sense why. this is the police and crime commissioner election in the west midlands, it is not the same race, it is a different one. but it is really interesting. labour did when, winning by a considerable margin, but the swing comedy changing the vote was a.5%. that is exactly the swing that labour need for the mayor race to beat the conservatives, a.5%. that gives us a sense of why the race in the west midlands to be the mayor is on such a knife edge. i have been chatting to people on the ground in the last few minutes and it sounds like

nick eardley crunching the numbers.ns have been reacting to those results over the past few hours on sunday with laura kuennsberg. the former home secretary suella braverman has warned that her party could suffer a political wipe—out if the prime minister doesn't change course. she added she regretted backing rishi sunak. the plan is not working. and i despair at these terrible results. there's no spinning these results. there's no disguising the fact that these have been terrible election results for the conservatives, and they suggest that we are heading to a labour government and that fills me with horror. i love my country, i care about my party and i want us to win. and i'm urging the prime minister to change course, to, with humility, reflect on what the voters are telling us and change the plan and the way that he's communicating and leading us. if it's that dire, why not change the leader? listen, i just don't think that's a feasible prospect right now. we don't have enough time, and it's impossible for anyone n

nick eardley, thank you for that analysis. controversial bill that would brand organisations that receive funding from abroad as "agents of foreign influence". the bill is similar to a law passed in russia that critics say was used to crack down on independent media and activtist groups. and activist groups. large demonstrations against the bill have been taking place in the capital for weeks and have lead to violent clashes with the police. 0pposition mp khatia dekanoidze has been speking to the bbc about — why people are opposed to the new law. some of my friends, i mean, they have been labelled as a foreign agent with stickers in front of their apartments. some of my friends had been beaten up. but i don't think that this russian style terror can stop judging style terror can stop georgian people because we have made our geopolitical choice, we don't want to be russia. it is very obvious for everybody, especially youngsters. a lot of people are finding the whole situation quite confusing because the government keeps denying

our political correspondent nick eardley sent this report. ministers before her then—husband's trial. the allegation if she spoke to thejustice secretary robert buckland and suggested that at the time of the trial should be moved to avoid extra publicity. sir robert buckland, who was thejustice secretary at the time, has told the sunday times that she was told in no uncertain terms that it would be "completely inappropriate to speak to the judge about the trial at all. " the bbc has spoken to the robert and he has confirmed that account. ms elphicke, through a spokesman, has said the claims are nonsense, while the labour party has questioned why the allegations were only made after she defected from the conservative party to the labour party. it is another awkward question for the labour party about their newest mp. remember, many labour mp as were pretty uncomfortable with nathalie elphicke being allowed into the party. she was seen as being on the right of the conservatives and a lot of labour mp the a saying why she in the labour party now

nick eardley, bbc news.cept the cease—fire proposals. here are pictures of people in gaza who have been celebrating and delighted with the news that hamas of been prepared to accept the cease—fire, but it does not look like it would happen initially, anyway. we can celebrations that there were earlier on in gaza, and indications are that the cease—fire proposal that hamas has agreed to is a 3—phase agreement, each truce will be 42 days long, following on from each other, involving the release of hostages, that is the latest from the middle east. do stay with us for much more here on bbc news. hello. we've seen further drenching downpours in some parts of the uk this bank holiday monday, but the weather looks set to calm down over the next few days. something more settled, drier, and warmer, developing through this week as high pressure starts to build its way in from the west. as we move through tonight, still this area of low pressure fairly close by, so we'll keep some showers going for a time, particularl

our political correspondent, nick eardley, is in the newsroom.so far, but tend to look in more detail about some of the trends we have seen in different parts of the country. starting off with the big picture this morning at nine o'clock. it looks like this. it has been a decent night for labour, really bad for the conservatives, looking like it could be really, really bad, down 122 seats so far. modest gains for the lib dems. interesting, up 39 independence, i will come back and explain why that is. this is what it means at nine o'clock in terms of councils, you can see labour up three, the conservatives down three. this is the thing that will be looked up closely in party hq, the change in vote share from 2021. it is looking really bad for the conservatives, worrying tories trying to figure out what it means for the general election. pretty good for labour, up 5%. some questions about whether it could have been a bit more, but the message from labour, they think the 5% increase is in areas where they needed to win a general election. looking mo

joining me now is our political correspondent, nick eardley. he wanted to cut taxes but he didn't say anything specific on that, no specific promise. h0 say anything specific on that, no specific promise.— specific promise. no cast-iron guarantees — specific promise. no cast-iron guarantees as _ specific promise. no cast-iron guarantees as it _ specific promise. no cast-iron guarantees as it was - specific promise. no cast-iron guarantees as it was put - specific promise. no cast-iron guarantees as it was put to i specific promise. no cast-ironl guarantees as it was put to the chancellor that he was going to cut tax but what was this all about? it was about trying to wrestle the economic narrative ahead of the general election and you might think that campaign is already under way given what we've seen over the course of this week but it could be six months away. what the chancellor is trying to do was say i am a tax—cutting chancellor and if i win power, i will continue to cut taxes and he was trying to say that labour would do the opposite an

nick eardley can ta ke take us through that.ive party h o i am sure they are trying to find some of the positives and areas where

let's speak to our political correspondent nick eardley take us through the main points...we've seen this week and the chancellor's speech felt like a big attempt to set the narrative ahead of the general election campaign and what he was trying to do was persuade us all that the debate will be between the conservatives, who he says will cut tax, and labour, the conservatives argue would put up a tax. they would contest that and it is more common gate but we're already seeing this wrestle between the two main parties to try and set out the narrative ahead of the general election. mr hunter's argument was the labour policy pledge would cost a lot of money and that to plug the gap between what is being raised and what they need, they would have to put tax up. labour say this is a dodgy dossier that the conservatives have come up with. it's also worth pointing out that tax has gone up quite a lot in the last few years, thresholds have been frozen which means as peoples pay goes up, they pay more tax. national insurance has come down in the past couple of budgets. the chancello

nick eardley can ta ke take us through that.been a really tough now for the tories and the conservative party h o i am sure they are trying to find some of the positives and areas where they have managed to hold control of councils, potentially some of the mayor raises my give them a bit of a silver lining but on the whole, the great picture is pretty bleak for the tories. let me show you this. first of all, this is the vote share compared to 2021 when the seats were last contested. in 2021, boris johnson got a bit of around two bounce after the vaccine roller but look what happened since. the change in the last three years. that is the tory vote change, down 14%. that is pretty big. it's worth looking through some councils when the conservatives used to be in power but are not any more because of this. have a look here at redditch. this is a bellwether seat and we said that all morning and an area with the parties think the result is pretty indicative of how the country is feeling. look at that. the conservatives have lost 11 s

earlier, i spoke to our political correspondent, nick eardley, who gave us his analysis.eron is pretty clear that the uk is looking closely at what is happening in gaza. there has been some nervousness in the uk government, i think it is fair to say, that the actions of the israeli government. there is real concern about the prospect of a ground invasion or a more substantial ground substantial ground invasion in rafah over the next few days. the thing that the uk could do to put more pressure on israel is not doing. there has been speculation for weeks over whether for weeks over whether or not there would be a changing of the position on arms licences. that has not happened yet. you had the foreign secretary said this morning that doing that now could strengthen hamas and the uk government believes it would not be our wise path, it would make getting our stitches getting hostages out even less likely. despite the uk government continuing to say that it has those concerns, it is not changing its mind at the moment about granting those licenses for arms to be sent to isra

let's speak to bbc correspondent nick eardley this case is a bit different.different. iir> doubt it is a blow to the conservatives in the government for one of their mps to turn their back one of their mps to turn their back on the party and someone who made a big issue of illegal immigration in small boats crossing the english channel and that is bad for rishi sunak and chatting to mps today, quite a few think this is slightly back fired on the labour party as well because naturally, she is pretty controversial, she seen as being on the right of the conservative party at a lot of labour mps walked around in parliament scratching their heads been thinking why someone who was never shown any interest in the policies of the labour party in the past been admitted to the labour party in parliament. sir keir starmer come the labour leader made a pretty simple observation that the voting party will pay attention to the details of the ins and outs of those in other conservative turning their back on the government and saying conservatives can't be trusted and it's t

after one of the party�*s worst ever performances in england�*s local elections. 0ur correspondent nick eardleyit is.

here's nick eardley. let's start with that result in the west midlands.votes in the end between the labour party and andy street for the conservatives despite more than half a million votes being cast. in terms of percentages again very close, 37.8, 37.5. note that 12% which was an independent candidate critical of labour policy on the war in gaza and despite that labour managed just to make it through. let me show you in the next light how things have changed, the labour vote is actually a little bit down. but the conservative vote down so much allowing labour to take the west midlands. and finally this swing, a.6 from the conservatives to the labour party, enough to get them over the line. it was notjust the west midlands, london today as well, sadiq khan in return for a third term. the margin there are a lot bigger, 275,000 votes in the end in it and this is why. let me show you the swing, and it is a big one. 3.2% conservative to labour and that matters because the conservatives hope to close the gap with labour in london but the opposite has happened

let's speak to our political correspondent nick eardley. take us through what is happening today. happening toda . ., ., ., ., , ., today. hello, samantha, millions of --eole in today. hello, samantha, millions of peeple in england — today. hello, samantha, millions of people in england and _ today. hello, samantha, millions of people in england and wales - today. hello, samantha, millions of people in england and wales will. people in england and wales will have the opportunity to vote and lots of different votes are going on so let me walk you some of the contest that are being decided today so personally, as you mentioned, blackpool self is getting a new mp and that by—election is happening today and that is the first one, the only by—election for an mp happening over the next few hours. —— blackpool self mac. there are 11 regional mayors being decided today in different parts of the country as well. —— blackpool south. quite a lot of england will be choosing a regional mayor, including the capital, london, greater manchester, parts of the north—east as well, so a lot of contes

the date of the case at southwark crown court, apparently to avoid publicity. 0ur correspondent nick eardleyp for dover. if we were speaking this time last week, she would have been the conservative mp for dover, seen actually on the right — as being on the right of the conservative party — but she is now the labour mp for dover. she changed parties on wednesday. it was a proper "wow" moment. it shocked a lot of people in westminster and the labour party. but she has decided to make that journey and been warmly embraced by sir keir starmer, as you can see. what has she been accused of tonight? this is to do with the trial of her husband on sexual assault allegations back in 2020. her husband is a man called charlie elphicke, he used to be the mp for dover, he was the mp for dover before her. the allegation is when that case was about to be heard in london, she went to sir robert buckland, who was then thejustice secretary, and suggested that the timing of the case should be changed because she was worried thatjust after covid restrictions had been lifted in southwark crown court in london, t

defeat in the west midlands, losing the mayoral election to labour. 0ur political correspondent nick eardleythe west midlands mayor race. here it is. a fascinatingly close result.

here's nick eardley. as you can see, it's a real knife edge.servatives, 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 i2%, 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, ii%, 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 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 hopi

our political correspondent nick eardley has been crunching the numbers.fascinatingly close result.

after one of the party's worst ever performances in england's local elections. 0ur correspondent nick eardleyeen crunching the numbers. let's start off with that result that came in late last night, the west midlands mayor race. here it is. a fascinatingly close result. richard parkerfor labour, 225,000, andy street for the conservatives, 224,000. the majority, despite there being more than half a million votes, wasjust 1508, that's reflected in the percentages. 37.8 for labour, 37.5 for the conservatives. one interesting thing to point out is independents — 12%, that was a candidate critical of labour's policy on gaza. still didn't stop them winning, just. have a look at how the rates have changed. the conservative vote went right down. labour's vote went down as well but the fact the conservative vote went down by so much was what got labour over the line. there is the swing. conservative to labour, 4.6%. 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 susan ha

here's nick eardley. let's start with the projected national share.he whole country had voted yesterday and voted in the same way. this is bad for the conservatives, their joint lowest. it's good for labour, a similar lead to last year. but it's not tony blair 1997. let's drill a bit in to the specific numbers from last night. the conservative had lost half of theirs. labour are labourare up140. this is the change from 2001. but labour say they are particularly heartened in key areas and i want to pick one example, milton keynes. it is a bellwether seat, it often votes the same way as the rest of the country. at the top it has gone from grey, a hung parliament, hung council, to read, i live again and thatis council, to read, i live again and that is a result that would hearten labour hq. but what does it all mean for the general election? there was one westminster seat up for grabs last night, blackpool south. in 2019 had voted conservative but a thumping win for labour last night. have a look at this. the conservatives onlyjust beat the reform party

nick eardley has been crunching the numbers.t coming in late last night, the late west midlands, and here is a fascinatingly close result. richard parkerfor labour, richard parker for labour, 225,000, richard parkerfor labour, 225,000, andy street for the conservatives, 22a,000. the majority, despite being more than half a million votes, was just 1508. that is reflected in the percentages. 37 point lead for labour, 37.5for for labour, 37.5 for the conservatives. 0ne for labour, 37.5 for the conservatives. one interesting thing to point out, the independence, independence, job present, a candidate critical on labour's policy on gaza, still did not stop them winning, just. look at how the votes have changed. what really changed in the west midlands, the conservative vote went right down. labour's vote went down as 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 imp

our political correspondent, nick eardley, is in the newsroom.icture so far. . . ., , , so far. we have a pretty good icture so far. we have a pretty good picture now — so far. we have a pretty good picture now about _ so far. we have a pretty good picture now about what - so far. we have a pretty good picture now about what the i so far. we have a pretty good i picture now about what the local elections for councils in england have thrown out. there was only five orso have thrown out. there was only five or so left it to claire. five left to declare and this is the picture. they were up 173, that is a good result for them. they're confident that that shows they are on track to win a westminster election. maybe not as good as it could have been. there is a world in which labour could have done better but they are pretty happy so far. not happy, conservatives. look at that number their foot up down 449. they are losing of all the seats that they were defending. a result for the conservatives, towards the west end of their expectations. at the mome

our political correspondent nick eardley was with him— what is this about?hester bombings in 2017 and his mother has been campaigning for stricter laws on public venues. she walked 200 miles to meet rishi sunak on wednesday and said she was promised a law would be passed by the summer. she now feels misled, because that law has not been passed before parliament was wound up. we asked the prime minister about this on his campaign plane this afternoon. and he says he is still fully committed to passing that law by the end of the summer and that he didn't mislead. he can only deliver that if he remains the prime minister and whips the general election. it is an unwelcome row for rishi sunak. he has been touring the uk and trying to get on the front foot, but it hasn't gone completely to plan. two other promises have had to plan. two other promises have had to be delayed, getting flights to rwanda with some asylum seeker and the smoking ban, banning people born after 2009 to ever legally buy cigarettes. in the midlands today, the prime minister's car was rushed

i'm joined by my colleague nick eardley, in the london newsroom. een monitoring the other races that are still under way when it comes to counting. tell us more about what we can expect. irate comes to counting. tell us more about what we can expect. we are caettin a about what we can expect. we are getting a really — about what we can expect. we are getting a really good _ about what we can expect. we are getting a really good picture - about what we can expect. we are getting a really good picture of- getting a really good picture of what _ getting a really good picture of what the council results yesterday looked _ what the council results yesterday looked like for all the parties, the state _ looked like for all the parties, the state of— looked like for all the parties, the state of the parties, so what it might— state of the parties, so what it might tell us about the general election — might tell us about the general election. let's start with the up—to—date scoreboard here, only five councils — up—to—date scoreboard here, only five councils

our political correspondent, nick eardley, is in the newsroom. takeit take it away.big moment in the electoral cycle because it's the biggest sense of where the public are at before a general election. let's start with the big picture this lunchtime. there is a long way to go, but with 35 of the 107 councils, sorry, 37, in england declared, this is the picture. labour having a good night so far, up 5a councillors, the conservatives are having a very bad time so far, down 126. that will worry them. lib dems are having a pretty good time, greens as well doing all right, and an interesting increase in the number of independents. there is something we can dive into further. this is the state of the parties. labour up three, conservatives down three. this is the number that will be watched very closely in the party hqs, to give us a sense of the popularity or otherwise each party. the conservatives down 14% compared to 2021 when the seats were last contested. labour up five, to 2021 when the seats were last contested. labour upfive, other parties two or three. in terms of

here's nick eardley. as you can see, it's a real knife edge. it's a real knife edae. , , as you can see, it's a real knife edie,�* , ' i1 i as you can see, it's a real knife edae. , ' :: :: ., , as you can see, it's a real knife edae. m11: ., ,, edge. just 1500 votes between the labour victor _ edge. just 1500 votes between the labour victor and _ edge. just 1500 votes between the labour victor and andy _ edge. just 1500 votes between the labour victor and andy street - edge. just 1500 votes between the labour victor and andy street for l 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 this is how it shakes out, 37.8 and 37.5. note the i2%, that was an independent candidate, critical of labour's policy on the war in gaza, and despite that labour did manage tojust make it and despite that labour did manage to just make it through. and despite that labour did manage tojust make it through. let

here's our political correspondent nick eardley. what can rishi sunak offer his pessimistic party? a general election looming the picture for his party is pretty bleak. it is an awkward time for the prime minister. but he is not backing down. {iii but he is not backing down. of course this was a disappointing weekend for us, the result of the next general election is not a foregone conclusion and, indeed, is closer than, the situation is closer, that many people are saying or indeed many opinion polls are predicting. that is why my absolute determined to fight incredibly hard for what i believe.— for what i believe. fighting talk, but an argument _ for what i believe. fighting talk, but an argument is _ for what i believe. fighting talk, but an argument is getting - for what i believe. fighting talk, but an argument is getting hard | for what i believe. fighting talk, l but an argument is getting hard to make. i have spent the afternoon on the phone to conservative mps, most will not appear on camera but anonymous compositions are important for helping us understand the mood in the

nick eardley is at the screen with the latest.

. _ let's have a look at some of the numbers, nick eardley has been looking at it for us. on, and we are waiting for the west midlands. nick.— west midlands. nick. that west midlands result _ west midlands. nick. that west midlands result sounds - west midlands. nick. that west midlands result sounds like - west midlands. nick. that west midlands 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