Lets speak to our scotland Political Correspondent, jenni davidson. Jennl jenni, for those of us that dont follow the Politics Of Scotland that much, who is this activist . Follow the Politics Of Scotland that much, who is this activist . Well, he has a bit of much, who is this activist . Well, he has a bit of a much, who is this activist . Well, he has a bit of a track much, who is this activist . Well, he has a bit of a track record much, who is this activist . Well, he has a bit of a track record of has a bit of a track record of challenges to the snp leadership. He is a former lawyer. Last year he stood against former snp msp and former government minister mike russell for the snp presidency. And quite memorably, he also described the snps Independence Policy as flatulence in a trance, whatever that might mean im not quite sure. So we have been Hearing Reports in the last couple of days that Graeme Mccormick is planning to challenge john swinney for the snp leadership. It had looked up until that Point Thatjohn Swinney would be the only contender after former finance secretary kate forbes announced she wouldnt be standing and gavejohn swinney a backing. We understand that Graeme Mccormick believes he will be able to get enough nominations. He needs to get 100 signatures from snp members from at least 20 different branches, they need to be hard copy signatures on paper. It is not online. He was at an independence rally yesterday trying to gather signatures. He has declined to speak to us about it so we cant confirm for definite. But well find out noon tomorrow whether he has got their signatures, and if so it will mean a contest that will run another three weeks for the snp leadership rather Thanjohn Swinney Leadership rather than john swinney being leadership rather Thanjohn Swinney being announced as the snp leader tomorrow. figs being announced as the snp leader tomorrow. � ,. , being announced as the snp leader tomorrow. ~ ,. , being announced as the snp leader tomorrow. A � tomorrow. As you say, he hasnt soken tomorrow. As you say, he hasnt spoken to tomorrow. As you say, he hasnt spoken to us tomorrow. As you say, he hasnt spoken to us but tomorrow. As you say, he hasnt spoken to us but john tomorrow. As you say, he hasnt spoken to us but john swinney i tomorrow. As you say, he hasnt l spoken to us but john swinney has spoken to us Butjohn Swinney has been speaking to you on bbc scotland and he is saying he will respect the democratic process but that it would delay rebuilding the snp. Thats delay rebuilding the snp. Thats riuht. He delay rebuilding the snp. Thats right. He said delay rebuilding the snp. Thats right. He said there delay rebuilding the snp. Thats right. He said there is delay rebuilding the snp. Thats right. He said there is a delay rebuilding the snp. Thats i right. He said there is a democratic process within the party and snp members can challenge for the leadership if they wish to. But he thinks it would be betterjust to get on with it now. And obviously he has it in mind that notjust a Leadership Election is costly and potentially damaging to the party, certainly last years one was a little damaging in terms of exposing some internal rifts and criticism between leadership candidates, but also he will have in mind that there is a General Election coming up this year and they want to get and snp leader in place as soon as possible so they can move on with communicating policies to the public rather than discussing them between themselves within the party. In the themselves within the party. In the meantime. Themselves within the party. In the meantime. We themselves within the party. In the meantime, we should themselves within the party. In the meantime, we should say themselves within the party. In the meantime, we should say humza l themselves within the party. In the meantime, we should say humza yousaf continues as the First Minister while this process goes on. Thats ri. Ht. He while this process goes on. Thats right he said while this process goes on. Thats right. He said he while this process goes on. Thats right. He said he will while this process goes on. Thats right. He said he will stay while this process goes on. Thats right. He said he will stay in while this process goes on. Thats right. He said he will stay in place as First Minister until the new snp leader is appointed. Worth pointing out also that Graeme Mccormick, if he won the snp leadership, he couldnt become First Minister so he isnt an snp, so somebody else would need to become First Minister. Thats not really an issue because there is no chance he will bejohn swinney, john swinney is very popular and a very high Profile Figure within the party so it is a question of delaying john swinney becoming snp leader by another three weeks rather than a question of whether that will happen. But yes, there is a separate process. Msps have to vote for a new First Minister. That will happen after the snp leadership is decided. Scotland olitical snp leadership is decided. Scotland Political Correspondent snp leadership is decided. Scotland Political Correspondent jenni Political Correspondentjenni davidson, thank you forjoining us from glasgow, with the latest news on the snp leadership race. More now on the fall out from the local elections in england. The former home secretary, Suella Braverman has told the bbc the conservatives will be lucky to have any mps left at the next General Election if rishi sunak doesnt change course. The tories are reeling after one of their worst performances in a local election in decades. Labour is celebrating a key win in the West Midlands mayoral race after its candidate, Richard Parker, narrowly beat the conservatives Andy Street Who had served two terms in the role. The labour mayor of london, sadiq khan, was re elected for an historic third term. Overall, the conservatives lost hundreds of councillors in the local elections in england. This morning the transport secretary, mark harper said while the results were disappointing, the General Election was still � all to play for�. My colleague Rajini Vaidyanathan has been in birmingham over the count and was there as the pivotal result in the West Midlands Mayoral Election came in. Well, it was already a difficult few days after thursdays local elections for the Conservative Party, but i think many were pinning their hopes on the West Midlands mayoral contest, which declared here in birmingham late last night about 9 00 or so in the evening. And that is because it was a very close race. But the conservatives were hoping that their incumbent mayor, andy street, would hold on for another term. But in the end it was the Labour Candidate who is now the mayor, Richard Parker, who won that race by a squeak by about 1,500 votes in the end. And some of the regions ended up going into a recount in coventry. They were recounting those votes because it was so close. But i think thatjust capped off a really dire weekend of results for the Conservative Party. Now, as you were saying, weve had a statement from the Prime Minister. He has said that those results are disappointing. He said it was disappointing to lose dedicated conservative councillors as well as andy street in the West Midlands. But he did say we will continue working as hard as ever. And he said all of the weekends results have redoubled his resolve to continue to make progress on his plan. But it is very clear this morning that there are many in the Conservative Party who dont think that that plan is working. And as we head to a General Election likely later this year, something needs to change. And earlier Suella Braverman spoke to my colleague laura kuenssberg, and she was pretty damning. We are, at this rate, you know, well be lucky to have any conservative mps at the next election and we need to fight and im not willing to give up. It does me no favours to come here and say it how it is and to set out the difficult situation that were in. But i owe that honesty to my colleagues. I owe that to you and the british people who are crying out for a Conservative Party to vote for. Well, as i say, i think the thing that really tipped what was a bad weekend into an awful one for the conservatives was that result here in birmingham, the West Midlands mayoral result. Now, i was at that count yesterday as those results were coming in, and throughout the day speaking to labour and conservative sources, they were saying that it was going to be on a knife edge, it was going to be neck and neck. It was going to be incredibly close. Now, one thing that was interesting throughout the campaign here is that the incumbent former mayor, andy street, almost distanced himself from the national party. He was already an Anti Politician in a way when he came in in 2017. He was the former head ofjohn lewis, and he was well known locally. And he was hoping to ride on his personal popularity and his personal brand, brand andy, as he called it, to try and win again here. But in the end, the Labour Machine just rolled right over him, even though it was, of course, a very close margin. Now, im in the bbc office here in the West Midlands and i saw the new mayor, Richard Parker. He told me that hes already signed the document, so hes not mayor elect. Hes actually already officially the mayor and hes looking forward to getting on with the job. Now, shortly after the results were announced here in birmingham, i got the first interview with him just as he came off stage. Lets have a listen to a little bit about what his plans are. We had a Policy Platform and a set of priorities that address the needs of working people in the West Midlands. Our focus was how can we help those communities that have been suffering so badly from a cost of living crisis, from a lack of access to housing. And too many people cant get to the high streets, to work, to college because of the failures in the public transport system. So we had a Policy Programme that i think reached out and meant more to more people in this region than the conservative candidate. So i think weve got a great platform for victory in the next General Election. The results over the last few days have demonstrated that. But there is some work to do with our Muslim Community and some of our inner city communities, and i think we need to work on that. If we do that, i think we can deliver the General Election result we want and also start to build the relationship with and the trust back with our very important Muslim Community. Well, one of the things that Richard Parker told me in that interview was that he conceded that the labour party needed to do more to try and engage with voters who felt disillusioned with the partys policy when it comes to gaza. At the start of the war, of course there were a number of people, even frontbenchers, including Jess Phillips, who quit the front bench of the party, councillors resigned over sir keir starmer� s refusal to call for an immediate ceasefire back then. Now of course the Labour Policy has since changed on that and i spoke to Jess Phillips yesterday and she said that she believed that the party had suffered in terms of losing some core voters, particularly in the muslim communities, because of the policy on gaza. And its interesting because in that mayoral race, you had an independent candidate, ahmed yakoob, who had campaigned solely on the platform of gaza, who won in the birmingham constituency area. So theres seven districts, as it were, which made up the mayoral area. And in birmingham, ahmed yakoob won Something Like 42,000 votes, which is pretty staggering for an independent candidate whos relatively unknown. And i think there are some, likeJess Phillips, who feel that actually labour could have won by a greater margin had they engaged voters on that issue. And that is something i put to Richard Parker in that interview yesterday. And he said he conceded that the party did need to do work when it comes to that. Of course, that now means with andy street no longer the mayor, the end of someone who was a well known and quite popular in his tenure, a mayor who had served this area for two terms. And i asked andy street how he felt about the loss yesterday, particularly when it came to the party, because during the campaign he had somewhat distanced himself from the national party. You didnt see the conservative name on most of his literature. Even the colours werent really conservative blue colours on many of his leaflets. But in the end he was conciliatory and he conceded in this interview that it was all down to him in the end, he had to take the hit for what went wrong. Lets have a listen. We did not persuade enough people to be confident in what i had done and of course have confidence as well in what the plan was for the future. And i cant look for anything more complicated than that. Ultimately, we didnt persuade enough people to go out and put their cross in the right box on thursday, and im not going to be slopy shouldered about it in any way. Its my campaign. I did it my way, and ultimately it didnt quite cut through. No slopy shoulders there from andy street. A was saying. Now, i think there was a point yesterday when it was neck and neck where we were all wondering, well, whos going to be visiting once the result comes in . Is it going to be rishi sunak . The conservatives had that win in tees valley. Ben houchen. Again, there were some who were thinking the model then who were thinking the model in tees valley could be replicated here, a locally known mayor, someone who almost distanced himself with the party and is seen in their own person. And could they win again here . Could Andy Street Win . Well, it didnt happen here. And that was a huge, huge celebration for the labour party and it wasjust around 9 00 orjust before 9 00 when we saw lots of members of the labour party take to the floor in front of the stage here. You could see some hugging, some visibly moved. I even saw some tears as well because even though the party threw a lot at this West Midlands mayoral race and sir keir starmer had said throughout the campaign they thought they could do it, nobody really knew who was going to win. It was that close. And suddenly we found out through the course of the evening that sir keir starmer had turned up in birmingham and hed come in person to congratulate the new mayor, Richard Parker, and also set out his partys plan for the months ahead. Lets have a listen to what sir keir starmer had to say. The tories felt that they were entitled to victory here, that they could use andy street as some sort of crutch for rishi sunak� s weak leadership and that they didnt have to be in touch with the priorities of the people. We ran a completely different campaign. We were grounded in the priorities of the people that we now represent. Of the people that we now represent in the West Midlands. We showed that our values are their values and we humbly asked them to put their trust and confidence in a changed labour party. And they did. So there you have it. A jubilant sir keir starmer following a weekend of good local election and mayoral results. Well, to discuss what this might mean as we look ahead to a General Election, im joined on the line byjoe twyman, a pollster. Thank you forjoining us here on bbc news. Whats your reaction, first of all, to the events that unfolded overnight here in the West Midlands . Well, in many ways it was like the culmination of a three day test match, a very one sided Cricket Match in that one side was dominant throughout the three day period, and occasionally another side had flourishes, which got people excited and made made it look like perhaps it wouldnt be as bad as some were expecting, but in the end it probably was. The set of results were very poor for the conservatives, if perhaps not quite as poor as their most negative naysayers might have expected. And similarly for labour, the results were very, very good. A dominant performance by them, but perhaps not quite as good as their most positive supporters might have hoped for. So a very clear picture that really was backing up what we have seen in the National Polling now, notjust for the last few months, but the last few years. And joe, you use the cricket analogy, so ill stay with it to keep with that theme. But there was talk in the recent weeks that if the conservatives didnt get a good showing in these elections, that they might have to change their captain. Now, we heard from Suella Braverman this morning ruling that out, saying that shes not going to call for mr sunak to move on and that he will likely be the leader that they go into the General Election with. I mean, when you look at polling, you know, is there any polling on different leaders and would a new leader in the Conservative Party change their fortunes in terms of the polls or not . Well, theres some bad polling out there that says that, and heres a surprise, if someone were leading the conservatives that gave you everything you want, would you want to support them . And in that hypothetical situation, people say, yes, i would support a new conservative leader. But is there any evidence in the polling that a new leader would actually make a difference . No, there isnt. Not at this stage. Theres no evidence that that would be the case. And also, i dont think theres anyone really coming forward that would particularly want to be the leader at this stage. There are people who im sure would accept it if forced upon them. But if you have any ambitions to lead the Conservative Party longer term, i dont think you want to take over now, given how close we are to a General Election, whenever that may be, and the levers available to a new leader. They wouldnt pretty much be able to do anything different from rishi sunak, apart from a few statements and things. But those would be unlikely to cut through. You might expect, perhaps, a three, four or five point bounce in the polls, but for that to last is questionable. And even if it did, its nowhere near enough to bring about the kind of change that would actually change the overall result in the General Election, as things stand at the moment. Let me ask you about Something Else that i mentioned earlier. Jess phillips, the labour mp, telling me yesterday that she felt that her party lost key voters during this recent tranche of elections because of sir keir starmer� s initial policy and the way he handled the conflict, the Labour Response to the conflict in gaza. Do you agree with that sentiment . And even Richard Parker, the new mayor, said that the party needed to work to attract voters that they may have lost over this issue. Do you agree that this could be a factor, perhaps, when it comes to marginal seats, even when we come to the General Election . Well, thats where things get complicated. Do i think that there is evidence that it had an impact in these local elections . Yes, i do. Do i think that it will have an impact at the General Election . Then things do get more complicated. The first point i would like to make is that the british Muslim Community is a very varied group and they do not all vote the same way or behave the same way, and it would be wrong to suggest that they do. But its worth keeping in mind that the areas where there are large proportions of british muslims, they tend to vote labour very strongly. Jess phillips� constituency, for instance, has a large, large british Muslim Population and she won with twice as many votes as the next person in the contest. If a proportion of those people did Abandon Labour at the General Election, whenever that may be, it� s likely that the constituency would still stay with labour. The margin of their victory may be reduced, but the number of seats in which that actually had an impact would be very small. And then also there� s the fact that people vote differently at local elections than they do at General Elections. People may be far more willing to vote in protest at what they see as the situation in gaza as it stands at the moment. But come a General Election, they may think about National Issues and the incoming government instead. And then lastly, it� s worth pointing out that there� s not a General Election now and there may not be a General Election until november, december, perhaps evenjanuary. By then, the situation in gaza and the situation with british parties of all colours responding to that situation may have changed significantly. Admittedly, it might have got worse, but it may have got better. And way it� s likely to have changed. And either way it� s likely to have changed. And so the Party Position at the moment may not affect where things are. Affect where things are then. It� s worth keeping in mind that when we have polled the british people on their attitudes to the situation in gaza, what we see Time And Again is sympathy for the Palestinian People and sympathy for the israeli people. This is not an either or contest. The vast majority of people in this country, whatever their background, want an end to violence. They want the release of hostages. They want a peaceful settlement, and they want long term peace in the region. And i don� t think any of the Major Political parties in this country would disagree with that. 0k. Thank you, joe twyman, for crunching through some of those local Election Results and the mayoral contests and what they might mean. And i think the overall takeaway, of course, is that it was a really dire weekend for the Conservative Party and particularly what happened here last night in the West Midlands really did cement that weekend. And of course highlight the successes that the labour party had in this recent wave of elections. But asjoe was saying there, anything can change when it comes to a General Election. That� s my colleague Rajini Vaidyanathan in birmingham. We are still actually waiting for three results in the election. The bbc news live page which has been up and running since thursday is still going strong. The ones we are looking out for our councillors in salford, the salford city council, and then there are two crime and Police Commissioner elections that we are waiting for in kent and sussex, they are all expected this afternoon. The timings, as you will know if you� ve been with us the last couple of days, will change when Election Results are called. But the bbc news live page will have the latest for you and they have got more reaction and more fallout from the results from thursday� s local elections in england. The family of the 14 year old boy who was killed in a sword attack in North East London on tuesday say they are devastated by his death. Daniel anjorin died in hainault on his way to school. A local Church Service to remember his life will take place today. Simonjones reports. A community in shock. A community that will come together today with a Church Service to mark daniel� s life a boy described by his family as loving, amazing, precious. In a statement, they said daniel had left the house for school and then, he was gone. His favourite football team, arsenal, paid tribute to him in the 14th minute in their match against bournemouth. Commentator 14yearold daniel anjorin, big arsenalfan, who, sadly, lost his life in hainault. Two Police Officers and two members of the public were also injured in the sword attack last tuesday. Daniel� s family said they would like to send their best wishes to them following what they called this unthinkable incident. They also thanked the local community for their support. Marcus monzo has been charged with murdering daniel. He� s also been charged with two counts of Attempted Murder and two counts of causing grievous bodily harm. He will next appear in court on tuesday. Simon jones, bbc news. A Support Group for survivors of the Manchester Arena bomb attack is calling for the Co Op Live Arena to postpone gigs until they can ensure the venue is ready. A spokesman for the venue is ready. A spokesman for the venue is ready. A spokesman for the venue said it couldn� t and wouldn� t operate any show or event without all necessary approvals. 0ur without all necessary approvals. Our culture reporter noor nanji has more. Fans arriving last night to see the american rapper a boogie wit da hoodie. They did this already on wednesday at the co op live venue, but that gig was called off at the last minute due to technical reasons. The concert was then moved to rival a0 arena. We booked hotels and everything and, now, we have to come here, so it� s a bit annoying, like. Iwas fuming so, we got a taxi, we got out of the taxi and it said cancelled. We met people who travelled. From wales, liverpool and it was like a major inconvenience. But you� re here now, so are you excited . Super excited, yeah. The uk� s largest arena has been hit with setbacks which its owners, oak view group, have blamed on defects with part of its ventilation system. It has said it is taking a short pause to fully ensure the safety and security of fans and artists visiting the venue. This venue should be up and running already with the us Pop Star 0livia Rodrigo originally due to perform this weekend. But her event was among those that were called off and, now, there� s barely a soul around. Members of the Manchester Arena support network, a group which helps people affected by the Terror Attack in may 2017, say they have concerns. For safety reasons, they need to postpone the opening until they� re ready. As members of the group, having the uncertainty of safety within the building is just not good. In may, our anxiety is raised because as soon as the 1st of may hits, we know what� s coming the 22nd of may and everybody has this higher level of anxiety as it is. Oak view says it will welcome members of the public to the arena from 14th may. Noor nanji, bbc news, in manchester. Three hobbits and an elf walk into a bar. No, it isn� t the start of a joke they really did. Take a look at these pictures. Lord of the rings stars elijah wood, orlando bloom, billy boyd, and Dominic Monaghan dropped into a liverpool bistro for a drink and catch up, while in the city for a comic con event. The staff must have loved that. Looks like they are enjoying themselves. Now it� s time for a look at the weather with simon king. Hello again. It has been a fine start to your sunday morning, especially across england and wales where we have had some sunny spells. It will stay largely dry with sunshine into the afternoon but in parts of west sussex, while it� s been sunny this morning, we will see the cloud increasing with this swirl of cloud that has been moving into the South West Of England through the morning. It will continue to push its way north and east, which will bring in some cloud and some showers. Those showers could be quite heavy, perhaps a bit thundery, later in the far south west, as some sunny spells develop. Sunny spells for much of north wales, the midlands, and eastern areas of england. Just a small chance of a shower here. Thundery showers in the north east of scotland and maximum temperatures about 15 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 more cloud further further north in england, north in england, into the central southern scotland. Here there will be some showers as well. Some brighter weather, some sunnier skies to the far north of scotland. Temperatures perhaps down by a degree or so through tomorrow. But still pleasantly warm where you have got those sunny spells. So about 17 18 celsius. But then through the rest of the week, this area of High Pressure builds in, bringing lots of settled weather. Fine conditions for many of us. One or two Weather Fronts coming over the top of that into scotland and northern ireland. That will generally bring just a bit more cloud, perhaps some outbreaks of rain as we go through the week. Temperatures here about 15 19 degrees. But for england and wales, plenty of dry and sunny weather, with those temperatures rising, 20, 21 degrees. Bye bye. Live from london, this is bbc news. Despite a crushing defeat for the conservatives, Prime Minister rishi sunak vows to stick to his plan, but some Party Members voice concerns over the heavy losses in england� s local and Mayoral Elections. We are, at this rate, we will be lucky to have any conservative mps at the next election. We need to fight. And i� m not willing to give up. Israel� s cabinet has voted unanimously to shut down the operations of the aljazeera news channel in the country, accusing it of incitement. Israel and hamas have blamed each other for the failure to agree a ceasefire in gaza, as talks continue in cairo. Entire communities are ordered to evacuate after devastating deadly floods hit brazil with waters continuing to rise. Hello, i� m nicky schiller. Welcome. We start this hour with the fall out from the local elections in england. The former home secretary, Suella Braverman, has said Prime Minister rishi sunak needs to come up with policies that have more relevance to people, saying conservative voters were on strike in thursday� s local elections. The tories lost over 400 Council Seats and all but one Mayoral Election in england. Ms braverman said the results have left her in dispair. But defending the government, mark harper, the transport secretary, said it� s still all to play for in the forthcoming General Election and that mr sunak� s plan had not yet come to fruition