Transcripts For GBN Breakfast 20240703

For the reform party. The labour leader, sir keir starmer, called the result seismic. The result seismic. The counting is also underway as london decides its next mayor, will sadiq khan , make mayor, will sadiq khan, make a third term . Eyes also on key red wall areas in the West Midlands and the tees valley in eight regional battles , with lawless regional battles, with lawless britain dominating the headlines , 38 police and Crime Commissioners are also being elected across england and wales. Currently, the conservatives and labour have one each in the declared results so far , all declared results so far, all results across all elections as we get them throughout the day on gb news today, with quite a bit of wet weather across the country, but the far south should be brighter than yesterday and again, north west scotland doing okay for spring sunshine. The weathers staying pretty mixed as we go into the Long Bank Holiday weekend. Join me later for a full forecast. Also coming up for you going to be looking at the man tipped to be looking at the man tipped to be looking at the man tipped to be scotlands next leader, and we just cant get him out of the news on election day. Find out why former Prime Minister Boris Johnson was refused entry to vote. Morning to you. Morning to you. Im Stephen Dixon and im Ellie Costello, and this is breakfast on gb news. Now, it has been a very strong start for labour as the results from the local Council Elections have started to come in. Its a bit of a slow process. We wont really know it all until saturday evening , maybe until saturday evening, maybe even sunday morning. Labour has won control of a string of key leave voting councils in england and wales, taking rushmoor in hampshire from the conservatives. Thats a council the tories have run for the last 24 years. Yes, its also won back hartlepool council, the scene of a major by election loss back in 2021, which led sir keir starmer to consider quitting as leader. All right, lets have a look at the overall picture then. As we said strong for labour. So far theyve gained 58 councillors as it currently stands taking control of rushmoor , hartlepool and rushmoor, hartlepool and thurrock. Lib dems are also up four councillors. Theyve got 40. N0 four councillors. Theyve got 40. No i beg your pardon. Theyve got 14 additional councillors up for theyve got four councils, 97 councillors at the moment , the greens also up. The moment, the greens also up. Theyre up 12 at the moment but theyve not gained control of any council results from more than 70 councils. Still to come in. So lots to go through. Joining us now is Political Correspondent for the spectator. James heale good to see you this morning james. Whats your assessment of what weve seen so far . Far . Well, i think whats so striking is that it basically confirms what we saw 12 months ago. The confirms what we saw 12 months ago. The polls really havent moved since the may 2023 local elections, and the public seem to have clearly made up their mind. They want the tories out of office and they want keir starmer to be Prime Minister and they will be heartened that not only are they slightly up on last year, but theyre doing particularly well in marginals places like thurrock and redditch as well. And so thats a good sign. Theyre concentrating their vote well and are on course to win number io. 10. Is there anything we can extrapolate from this in terms of the council numbers. Because i mean what were the tories saying would be a worst Case Scenario for them about losing 500. They were talking about 500 Council Seats. And now we see that were in line with that kind of figure. I think for 5500, as the figure ive seen this morning, there will be some talk. I this morning, there will be some talk. I think the tory spin will be focusing on the mayoralties, which were expecting later today. Were expecting tees valley, which has been hawkins mayoralty around 1230, but i think theyll be talking up things like, you know, Harlow Council where the tories just held on there, rather than talking about places like redditch, which the labour did very well on winning 21 out of 27 Council Seats in a crucial marginal in going into this election. You say that these results so far show us that people have made up their minds. Theyre very similar to the results that we saw 12 months ago. But do you think were seeing the sort of excitement that we saw pre 1997 labour landslide victory . Were not there arent we. I would say perhaps that you know in polling for instance and focus groups keir starmer doesnt perhaps command the excitement that tony blair once did. But i would say that labour really dont care to be honest. You know, they will say, look, theres not much enthusiasm for us, but theres real loathing for the tories and they will think a vote is a vote. And some of the issues, some of the commentary overnight talking about, you know, potential issues about keir starmer, thats all for a kind of second term labour government. I think hell be very happy where they are right now. And he is on course to win a whopping majority. And just to say, i mean, look at these results. If anything, theyre kind of worse than 1997. Back then, the tories lost one and two mps. Some of these polls suggest theyre on course to lose 2 in 3, what is interesting is that you say nothings changed in the last 12 months. Well, rishi sunak mandate was to bring things back for the tories. Hes been in 18 months or so now. The months or so now. The implication from that is that he has not achieved anything. Yeah. And that will be the argument were hearing a lot of over the weekend. I know theres conservative mps meeting to discuss whats going on and well be chatting all about it. But i think that, you know, there is clearly a sense of who else could there be. And i think that its much a much a reflection on the party. It is on the Prime Minister. You know, we look where we were 18 months ago. Liz truss, you look at the polls now, were in a similar position. But i think supporters of the Prime Minister will come out and argue that, you know, no one could really have changed this. And i suspect were going to see six more months of this carrying on the same vein, because i dont see any kind of pubuc because i dont see any kind of public support for an alternative. Well, except that the those on the backbenches who are determined to see rishi sunak go , well, this is the kick sunak go, well, this is the kick they possibly need to get those numbers in. Well, i think theres a lot about expectation management and a lot of this was pnced management and a lot of this was priced in. You know weve just seen the third biggest swing at a by election since the Second World War in blackpool south. And yet, you know, a lot of the Prime Ministers supporters would go out there and say, well, at least we werent beaten by reform. So i think that, you know, obviously theres a lot of theres not much to be taken from a conservative point of view here this morning, but i just dont think that where were at right now, the conservatives are going to probably move against their leader. Just to bring you up to date with the very latest and labour have retained control of lincoln after gaining three seats, leaving the party with 23 out of the 33 seats on the council. Tories lost four seats, lib dems gaining one. Both those parties now have five councillors, so five councillors each. For those to 23 for the labour party. But to 23 for the labour party. But i mean i mean these are big differences and yet you just look at it and go, well, im not surprised. Surprised. Well i think the public has made up their mind really. And i think if you talk to pollsters, you look at things in focus groups. They have what they call news avoidance, where a lot of voters have actually tuned out. And i think theyve tuned out and theyre waiting for each kind of electoral test. And every single one has been pretty bad for the conservatives since rishi sunak took over, other than uxbridge. And thats why i think well be interesting to see what happens to the london mayoralty when it declares later tomorrow. Given the ulez issue there, how do you think this is going down in labour hq . How how will they feel they performed last . I think theyll be theyll be really happy with this. Obviously, no. Complacency is the mantra of people like Morgan Mcsweeney in labour hq, but they will be particularly keen to note the fact that theyre doing really well in those marginal areas. So its all about vote dispersal. And under first past the post, theyre putting the votes exactly where they need to win a big majority, unlike 2019, where they did pretty badly at that, can we talk about the lib dems in all of this lib dems have a reputation for being pretty good when it comes to local elections. Theyre good campaigners. Street to street, i mean theyre up slightly. Was it mean theyre up slightly. Was it 1214 seats up so far. Mean theyre up slightly. Was it 1214 seats up so far. But should they have been doing better in they have been doing better in the run up to a general election . Well, 7 well, i . Well, i think well see that later today. And when the wokingham borough council, for instance, comes in places like dorset where theyve been campaigning really hard and i think thats what theyre trying to do is look around oxfordshire, look around the west country, where, of course that was a big mainstay of the lib dem success in the noughties and early 2010s. And i think that really its about making sure that its concentrating. Their vote is key. Last time, of course, we saw jo swinson saying she was going to be the next Prime Minister. They did terribly. She lost her own seat last time. This time ed davey is basically spending every weekend out in places like oxfordshire and surrey , all around the south and surrey, all around the south of england, to try and eat into the tory seats in the blue wall in the south east of england. Okay. James heale really good to see you this morning. Thank you very much indeed. Well, of course, its not just those locally elections and Mayoral Elections. Sir keir starmer says its win in the by election in blackpool south. Thats a parliamentary by election of course, is the most important result today. Chris webb taking the seat previously held by the conservative scott benton, who stood down following a lobbying scandal. Well, here is how it was all decided. Well, chris webb of the decided. Well, chris webb of the labour party, 10,825 votes, david jones, a conservative party, 3218 votes. And mark butcher , reform party, 3101 butcher, reform party, 3101 votes. Ben thomas, green party, 368 votes Andrew Cregan, liberal democrats , 387 votes. Democrats, 387 votes. I declare that Christopher Paul webb is duly elected as the member of parliament for the blackpool south constituency. Correspondent olivia utley. Very good to see you this morning, olivia. This is a significant blow to rishi sunak. Isnt. And being described as a seismic win for the labour party i it absolutely is both a huge blow for rishi sunak and a spectacular win for the labour party , a swing of 26. That is party, a swing of 26. That is double what labour would need to win a general election. Its also as i think james mentioned earlier, the third biggest by election swing since the Second World War and the sixth biggest swing to labour since 2019. Thats six swings of over 20 since the general election six years ago. That is really , six years ago. That is really, really bad news for rishi sunak. The last time that we saw swings of this magnitude was between 1992 and 1997, and of course, we all know how that ends. You mentioned ellie earlier, which i thought was an interesting point. The idea that although there are big, big, big swings towards labour and people are constantly making the comparison with 1997, there is no evidence that theyre the same kind of groundswell of huge enthusiasm and optimism for keir starmer as there was for blair in 1997, and i think actually this by election sort of bears that out. There was only a turnout of 32. Thats the lowest by election turnout weve seen since the general election. But it as labour people keep saying it as labour people keep saying it doesnt really matter. German it doesnt really matter. German elections are won by who goes out to the polling station to vote. And as were seeing time and again, the people who are turning up are voting very, very clearly for labour. Its a huge swing, olivia, but how much of that is likely to be wanting to punish the tories because of the scott benton scandal . Well, that will that have played into this. That have played into this. There probably is an element of that. Scott benton was stung in a pretty embarrassing lobbying scandal. The Times Newspaper approached him a few months ago, posing as lobbyists from the gambling industry, and scott benton essentially said, yes, ill do whatever you like as long as you pay me enough money. Those are pretty bad conditions under which to have to step down. He was suspended for 35 days from the house of commons, eventually triggering this by election. So certainly there will be some people in blackpool who wanted to show their anger at the conservatives for scott bentons behaviour. But this isnt a one off. This isnt some sort of anomaly. Time and time again , we are seeing and time again, we are seeing these huge, huge swings towards these huge, huge swings towards the labor party. Blackpool, of course, isnt a kind of tory stronghold. It was a labour seat stronghold. It was a labour seat between 1997 and 2019, when the conservatives managed to win it with a majority of just over 3000. When the red wall came crumbling down. But the fact that labour won it with such a huge majority this time round shows just how bad things are for the conservatives. I think one other important thing to mention is how reform did this time round. They wanted to beat the conservatives to second place, and they almost managed to do just that. They ended up losing to the conservatives by just 117 votes. Reform now say that they are the big contenders. They are the big opposition in those red wall seats. And i think polling does bear that out. That said, in 2014, 2013, 2014, ukip were polling far, far better than reform is doing now. And if they are really planning to win some seats in the general election, theyre going to have to up their game coming third place in a constituency where they have been campaigning really, really hard and put a lot of their resources isnt really good enough, and its the one thing that the conservatives will be able to go home with today. They can say to their supporters, well, at least we didnt come third place to reform. Third place to reform. How do you think this is going to be going down in cchq this morning, olivia . Because we heard remarks, didnt we, from the new blackpool south mp, chris webb, in the early hours , chris webb, in the early hours, he called on rishi sunak to do the decent thing to admit that hes failed and call a general election. Do you think theyll election. Do you think theyll heed that advice . Heed that advice . I have always said that. I think its very unlikely that rishi sunak will, if he has any choice in the matter , call choice in the matter, call a general election any time soon. The policies which hes been putting in place over the past few months, the rwanda policy , few months, the rwanda policy, his policies on reducing inflation and trying to get those Interest Rates down, he hopes, and the figures sort of bear him out, that later in the yean bear him out, that later in the year, some of the fruits of those policies will begin to show. Hopefully there will be a drop in migrants coming across the channel and eventually we should see inflation coming down to an extent where Interest Rates start to fall. I think it is unlikely that rishi sunak would choose to go to the polls before he is able to, to see some of the dividends from those policies that said, it might not be up to him. Cchq conservative backbenchers will not be pleased with the results of this by election. Yes, it was expected that they were going to lose this seat to labour, but the size of the swing is really, really bad news coupled , of really bad news coupled, of course, with what looks like a very bad night in the local elections around the country. It could be that in the coming days and weeks, conservative backbench mps start to send their letters of no confidence in to rishi sunak. It seems unlikely that they would reach the numbers that would be required to actually to actually depose him in a vote of no confidence. But if they start getting near that number, to even trigger that vote of no confidence, it could be that rishi sunak decides he has no choice. But to call a general election. I still think that is quite unlikely. There doesnt quite unlikely. There doesnt seem to be that much appetite from conservative mps. Ive spoken to yet to remove their leader this close to the general election, but i think a lot will happenin election, but i think a lot will happen in the coming hours, really in the coming hours and days in those local Election Results, which could change all that. Okay, olivia , stay with us. Okay, olivia, stay with us. As we hear from the new mp for blackpool south, chris webb, the people of blackpool south have spoken for britain. They have said to rishi sunak and to the conservatives, theyve had enough. Theyve had enough for 14 years of the conservatives being in power. They have lost trust of the british people and blackpool has had enough of this failed government, which has crashed the economy and destroyed our pubuc the economy and destroyed our Public Services and put up taxes i yeah, i mean, its just whether that sentiment, as we keep saying , will will carry keep saying, will will carry through the country in the run up to the general election. And where does it leave keir starmer in all of this . Because as as in all of this . Because as as weve been saying throughout, its , you know, its very its, you know, its very positive news for the labour party , but theyre winning it party, but theyre winning it because people arent liking the tories , not because people are tories, not because people are seen to be particularly attracted to what labour is offering. Offering. I think that is fair enough. Keir starmer sometimes feels like the luckiest man in politics. Time and again, his ducks seem to have fallen to a row. There have been so many conservative mps now who have had to resign their seats after embarrassing scandals. The embarrassing scandals. The latest, of course, is scott benton and weve seen the implosion of the snp, which could massively, massively help the labour party in scotland. Meanwhile, of course , rishi meanwhile, of course, rishi sunaks policies have been going down really badly and overall the polls havent improved at all for the conservatives since that disastrous 49 day period of liz truss in office, it doesnt feel as though theres a huge swell of support for labour. Focus groups suggest. Actually, theres quite a lot of voter apathy, but what people want to do is get the conservatives out of office. Does keir does keir starmer care that the reason why people will be voting labour at this election is to get rid of the conservatives, rather than because they love what the labour party is offering . I think he probably doesnt care very much with swings of this size towards the labour party. It doesnt really matter why they are voting labour, as i think james heale said earlier , think james heale said earlier, these could be problems for keir starmer in a second term in office. If it turns out that this voter apathy sticks and sticks, then there could be an issue for an incumbent party. But those are problems for five years time right now, keir starmer is on course to win a whopping great victory and sail into number 10. And i think thats all hes thinking about today. Maybe it just whilst weve got you. I did want to ask you about voter id because youve been in blackpool south all, all of yesterday , all of last night as yesterday, all of last night as well. Did you find that to be an issue at all with people turning out to vote . We were hearing that Boris Johnson wasnt able to vote yesterday because he didnt turn up with the correct id. Well, apart from the former Prime Minister, it seems that very few people have had problems with voter id. There have been a couple of instances of people being questioned on their id or bringing id, which wasnt on the list that was deemed to be acceptable. But on deemed to be acceptable. But on the whole, the message that people need voter id seems to have got through, and it doesnt seem to have created too much of a of a hold up or a or aofaholduporaora distraction. The voting process has been slick and straightforward. Apart from bofis straightforward. Apart from Boris Johnson and a couple of other mps actually , most people other mps actually, most people in the country seem to have got the message loud and clear vie okay, olivia utley there for us in blackpool south. Thank you very much indeed. Thank you very much indeed. 6 19. Lets just remind you of the election news so far this morning. And the labour leader, sir keir starmer, says its win in the blackpool south by election is the most important result today. Chris webb won the seat taken previously held previously by scott benton, who stood down following a lobbying scandal. Blackpool south by election labours chris webb took the seat, beating conservative david jones in second. Mark butcher was third in a decent showing for the reform party. For the reform party. Well, in the local elections and the results we have so far this morning and labour are up by 57 councillors. Conservatives though down 114, its that sort of magic figure of 500 that theyre going to have to watch, because that was what the conservative party sort of said would be worst Case Scenarios if it dips below that, then there really will be some questions to answer. Lib dems up 13 at the moment and the greens up 12. County is also underway as london decides its next mayor will sadiq khan make a third term. Eyes also on key red wall seats in the West Midlands and the tees valley in eight regional battles. Results for that are expected over the weekend, with lawless britain dominating headlines. 38 police and Crime Commissioners are being elected across england and wales. Currently, conservatives and labour have one each in the declared results. All the results across all elections, of course, as we get them throughout the day and throughout the day and throughout the day and throughout the weekend here on gb news and it doesnt matter if you were the former Prime Minister and you even had the keys to number 10, if you dont bring your voter id, you cant vote even Boris Johnson found out the hard way yesterday. Hard way yesterday. I have to say, wheres why didnt he have his id with him . I dont think a lot of people carry id every day. No, no, i think absolutely. No, no, i think absolutely. But we were going out to the polls yesterday and it was the last thing. Have you got, have you got your driving license . Yeah we did exactly the same thing. Yeah. Have you got your driving licence , and just check. I know licence, and just check. I know there was an issue in some i cant remember exactly where it was now with, with veteran id cards. Theres some questions to answer over that because they couldnt vote with their veteran id cards because theyre not on the recognised list. Johnny mercer, the veterans minister, have said that will be that they will be looked at. But actually that was raised with him back in february. So why hasnt he got it on the recognised list since february to now . There would have been time to do that. So i think one of the two questions over that, we dont know whether, of course, people missed out on voting as a result or whether they simply werent home and got some other id, but anyway, its what do you think about the voter id system . Id love to know what you think. Gb news compose i quite like it. Do you see, i was talking to my friends about this yesterday and they were saying they felt quite annoyed being asked for it. Really . Yeah. And they werent expecting to feel that way, but they were saying i didnt like being asked for my id, i just wanted to go in and vote no. Dont bother me in the slightest. Slightest. No, i dont have an issue with it because ive thought in the past ive had years when my election card hasnt come through the post. So obviously you can still vote. You just go along anyway, but you sort of think, well, if someone else had just picked up your election card, yeah, and just walked in with it, itd be easily done. Theyre going to get your vote. So i dont have an issue with it at all. I think better, id rather secure my vote than let someone else potentially take it. Well, i do know about a number of people yesterday who went to the polling station, forgot their id, had to go home, pick it up. So if that was you, do let us know. Gb news comunal say. And we also heard, didnt we, from a tory mp, tom hunt, who didnt have any id . Yes. So he says so. He says so. He had to ask local members to act as his emergency proxy. So we saw this sort of chaos, leading up to these local elections, yeah. So tory mp tom hunt, Boris Johnson, they were caught out. Let us know if you were as well. Or is it something that you welcome , it something that you welcome, its something that you think is probably a very good idea. Do let us know what you think. Right. Should we see what the weathers going to do for you today . Today . A today . A brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on gb news. News. News. News. Morning. Welcome to your latest weather update from the met office here on gb news. Again, some places looking fairly soggy today, but it should be a brighter day across parts of the south and another mostly fine and sunny day across northwest scotland. Elsewhere though, a lot of cloud around this morning. Outbreaks of rain still over the midlands, wales, parts of southeast england, some heavier rain coming into parts of Northern England as well. Well see a few showers developing for northern ireland, southwest scotland but say most of scotland again set fair and again on the west coast. We could easily see temperatures up to 20 celsius cooler on the east coast, with a brisk breeze here and obviously much cooler than yesterday, where weve got the cloud and rain over the midlands, parts of northwest england and east anglia. The far south seeing a much brighter day compared to yesterday. Staying compared to yesterday. Staying generally fine here through this evening as the rain starts to edge further northwards, staying pretty soggy over parts of northwest england. North wales well see more showers developing through the night across parts of scotland, temperatures mostly dipping down to about 5 or 6 degrees across the south, staying up at 9 or 10 celsius in this cloudier zone over Northern England, southern scotland. Thats making for a grey start to the long weekend. But more rain to come here. Although it is tending to fizzle out again, highlands western parts of scotland generally looking dry and bright. There will be some sunny spells on saturday across the south, but we are expecting a few scattered showers to develop through the afternoon, but with a bit more brightness. Should feel a touch warmer. That warm feeling inside from boxt boilers sponsors of weather on. Gb news. On. Gb news. Now it might not feel like it at the moment, but summer is just around the corner and we want to make it sizzle for you with an incredible £20,000 in cash, its all up for grabs in the latest Great British giveaway. Yeah, its our biggest cash prize to date and it could all be yours. Heres how weve blown the budget by giving you the chance to win a totally terrific £20,000 in tax free cash to make your summer spectacular. 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Still to come, were going to break away briefly from politics and have a look at all the sport with paul coyte and the sport with paul coyte and the big game in the premier league between chelsea and tottenham. Oh dear. Find out how he got on. Thats in a couple of minutes. Welcome back. It is fast approaching. 6 30. Paul coyte is with us to go through all the sport. Good to see you this sport. Good to see you this morning. Good to see you. How are you . How are you . Very well. How are you . Is the important. Im okay, im okay. Im okay, im okay. You had a tough night . You had a tough night . Yeah. Yeah. It was. Well, im obviously neutral. Oh, yeah. Right. Yeah, yeah. Oh, god. Youre doing really well, chelsea. How am i doing so far . Really . Well, no. Chelsea two, really . Well, no. Chelsea two, spurs nil, chelsea had 14 mean injuries, so they are decimated by injuries at the moment. And so really tottenham should have gone there and still managed to beat spurs quite easily, spurs were not good at all. And its been a strange old season because the way tottenham have been, especially from the start of the season, Ange Postecoglous come in with this new style of football. Everything you know, he wants everybody to go forward all the time, attack, attack, attack and then after, funnily enough, after the chelsea game that they played in november when they lost four one, and then there were a couple of sendings off and injuries, things have never really quite recovered and thought, well, maybe. I mean its okay, theyre doing pretty well. I mean, theyre fifth in the in the league for goodness sake. So its not a disaster. Theres, cole palmer there who nearly scored but didnt. But that pretty much is the picture of the whole day. Heung min son of the whole day. Heung min son not looking very happy. Emerson as well with him, it was not a good performance by tottenham. Good performance by tottenham. And theres ange now. Ange postecoglou was. Hes he seems to be getting trickier and a little bit edgier every time. Every game every time hes interviewed. Does he know hes on the ropes. Well is he on the ropes. Well is he on the ropes. No i dont think hes on the ropes. Hes not on the ropes. But hes he i know commentators that have interviewed him afterwards and he are now saying were a little bit nervous every time because i told you about what happened with me, didnt i . When, no. Did i not tell you . No. They asked you to be manager. They asked you to be manager. No. With me . With ange. No. With me . With ange. Oh, what can we. Are you allowed to say this . Shall i do it . Go on, ill tell you so. So what happened is that this is a. This is a few. Goodbye tottenham. By the way. Its been nice working. No, no, this is what happened is a few months ago. And he doesnt suffer fools. Ange postecoglou nothing wrong with that of course. But then of course i come into the mix and then, you know theres going to be some sort of trouble. Yeah. So an interview in front of a lot of sponsors but 100 people. And i was asked to do an interview with ange postecoglou. So he walks over very nice. How are you. And as i start speaking to him i start heanng start speaking to him i start hearing music, playing. Now im thinking im like, this is this has been piped through and they just put me off my interview. Can someone please turn this music down . And as im looking around then i realised that the music was actually coming from my pocket. Oh, and it was my phone and it was some, it was music that was just playing randomly. So music that was just playing randomly. So as ive gone like that to try and turn it down, ive ended up turning it up. Oh god, it was getting hot just thinking about it. It just looks at me in the eye and goes, mate, i think you want to turn your phone off and that was it. And it was all a bit uncomfortable. So you dont you dont. This is ange does not suffer fools gladly. Oh, paul. Oh, paul. But anyway, this is whats happening with interviews now. He was screaming, pass the ball forward he wants the team to play forward he wants the team to play that way. He wants to play, but its just not happening for them at the moment. But disappointing. Didnt work out last night. Didnt work out last night. No, not good for aston villa either in the in the in the conference league. No aston villa they they looked a little nervy i gotta say. They went two nil down quite early on against olympiakos then managed to get back. Got one before half time , back. Got one before half time, then another one just after half time. So i think in two two this is going to go well. Then a penalty olympiakos got, then they picked up another one as well. So four two. So now theyve got to go over to athens and try and turn it around. So thats the semi final of the europa conference. Oh very europa conference. Oh very difficult. Prince of wales dont recognise that. The manager there in the middle. Im trying to recognise who that is. Big aston villa fan, but Douglas Lewis missed a late penalty as well. You dont want to be missing. Penalties could be crucial. Crucial. Not when the future kings watching, not when the future kings watching. Thats a night out. Out the window for him. Yeah, i think so. Yeah. Yeah should we look ahead tonight . Yes. What do we have . We have luton. Right. Luton facing everton. Its a big regulation relegation. Relegation must win match. Apparently its a regulation relegation fat fight. Relegation must win match. Relegation must win match. Yes everton are looking better. So everton are pretty much safe. They need to win to make sure theyre safe. Whereas luton absolutely only came up last season. Thats right luton did. Thats right luton did. Yeah. And its been you know theyve won so many fans over and their ground and theyre fighting. Its going to be three. Well two out of three are going to go down. The way things are looking at the moment with burnley. So, very important regulation in a relegation fight that will be tonight. That will be tonight. Such a natural with the sport. I feel the need to, talk about some swimming. What just like that. What just like that. Yeah. Yeah. What do you expect me to give you some swimming . Just off the top of my head. Can you not do that . Can you not do that . I can always do that. I can always do that. Oh, good man, i can always get something. I just fancy a little. I just want i just want to get, you know, look forward to the olympics. Yeah. You know, anything like we did the stuff with the flame yesterday. Well, the new Olympic Aquatic Centre in saint denis. Saint denis. Saint denis . Is that where it is . Which is obviously just outside paris. Yeah, theyve had aquatics there, and obviously they would have aquatics because it is a swimming pool, aquatic centre. But its, it was the they dont call it synchronised swimming anymore, dont they . Artistic swimming. The world aquatic artistic swimming world cup. This is unbelievable. Honestly russia are the best team in the world. Thank goodness theyre not going to be there. So look at this. Now what do we have . We have ukraine, we have egypt, we have portugal. Christening that new aquatic centre. I think the water looks very nice. Looks like a very very nice. Looks like a very nice aquatic centre. Look how they do this. Oh, that looks actually she doesnt. She fell over there. I dont know whether that was meant to, because if thats actually meant to happen, id work on that. Because, you know. Not that i know anything about synchronised. Thats my favourite bit when they walk in like that. Oh, no. Oh, no. Thats ridiculous. Thats ridiculous. Thats ridiculous. Thats help. Thats funny enough, how me and steven walked i amazing. See that . I hate all of that. No, thats my favourite bit in the water. What you dont like . Well, would you just want to slovenly walk up to the water . No, but not a poncey sort of. No, but not a poncey sort of. Yeah, but listen, the performance begins the moment you hit the aquatic centre, and its all regimented and there you go. Because if you sort of like strolling. Yeah. Okay, then go in and then start doing all this, then it just wouldnt look the same. No. Youre not happy with it, are you . Im not. I have to say, i think thats a bit noncy. Oh, i love it. I could watch that all day long. It is i yeah. Its amazing. It is i yeah. Its amazing. It is i yeah. Its amazing. I think its great strength that these swimmers have. I mean, if you think turning upside down leg up in the air, theyve got a whole synchronised as well and holding their little and the thing is when you thats why they have those little nose clips. Because when youre going down and round everything, water shoots right up your nose. And if you want to, its not going to look very good when youre coming out of the water. You know what im saying . No. So its not very easy, right. Oh well. Artistic swimming. Oh well. Artistic swimming. Yes. Who knew. Yes. Who knew. It just happens to be synchronised. Exactly. I may recreate the whole thing on dry land at 7 00. Oh, thatd be great, because im working with Stephen Dixon. Yes, and ill walk in properly as well with you, like. Oh, thatd be lovely. Lovely that would be lovely. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. Paul coyte right , we will paul coyte right, we will take you through. Oh, no. We wont. What were going to do, well remind you the big stories this morning on this big election day. And the labour leader, sir keir starmer, says its win in the blackpool south by election is the most important result today. Chris important result today. Chris webb taking the seat previously held by tory scott benton, who stood down after a lobbying scandal. Mark butcher came third for reform. They were determined to come second, but they didnt. But they were still pretty close with the tories , lets have with the tories, lets have a look at then the results around the country as we have them in so far, not a lot has changed in the last few minutes, and these counts are quite slow coming in from here on in, labour up 54 councillors as it currently stands. But the conservative is down 121, down 500 is the key point because thats sort of the worst Case Scenario for the tories that they were predicting, lib dems up by 16 at the moment and greens up 12 counting also underway as london decides its next mayor. Will sadiq khan make a third term. Eyes also on key red wall seats in the West Midlands and the tees valley in eight regional battles. Results for that expected over the weekend and with lawless britain dominating headlines of late 38, police and Crime Commissioners are being elected across england and wales at the conservatives and wales at the conservatives and labour have one each so far. All results across all elections, of course, as we get them throughout the weekend here on gb news and it doesnt matter if you were the former Prime Minister and you even had the keys to number 10, if you dont bnng keys to number 10, if you dont bring your id, you cant vote. Boris johnson found out the hard way yesterday and was turned away, but he returned. Turned away, but he returned. Just to say Boris Johnson did actually go home, collect the correct id and then return to the polling station and cast a vote . Yes. Quite right. So alls well that ends well. But there we are. Lesson learnt from Boris Johnson. Disappointed with the turnout, which seems to be quite low. Yes, i mean it would be, wouldnt it. It sort of is. But you know, if youve got a right to vote you should exercise that right to vote. No. Very important. But anyway, people dont. Anyway, people dont. I hope you did. I hope you did. And you think it would be a bit higher in a general election yean bit higher in a general election year, wouldnt you anyway . No. No. Well, true. True anyway, look, were going to take you through the papers with nigel nelson and Claire Pearsall in a couple of minutes. Welcome back to breakfast. Loads of you getting in touch. Loads of you getting in touch. Alex says he didnt bother voting yesterday. One because reform wasnt standing in my area. And two, because my passport is out of date and i look completely different. And i cant afford another passport, yes, but you can go on the government website and get approved like an approved certificate thing to say that you can vote, thats no excuse. You can vote, thats no excuse. So is an excuse and a driving licence you can use as well. Yeah. And that doesnt cost you anything to get the form of gov. Uk or whatever it is. If youve got access to the internet. Andy says, i use my veterans id card yesterday in petersfield , and i worked for 30 petersfield, and i worked for 30 years to earn it, serving my country under two Political Parties of consistent , dubious parties of consistent, dubious leadership ability. Keep up the good work. So. So they allowed good work. So. So they allowed you to do it with your veterans card. Card. So technically they shouldnt have done, its not on the list , have done, its not on the list, is it . Not on its not on the list. But i do sort of think with some of this, if you apply a bit of common sense to Something Like that, the veterans cards are new, but they are official mod sort of thing. They should be accepted, shouldnt they . Theyre so important. They should be. They should be. Well, there will be next time round. Well, lets hope so. Well, lets hope so. Yeah ive got away with that one andy. Yes. And steve says i was turned away for no photo id. I had to go home eventually found my passport. I went back and voted. Good for you, steve. Yeah. All right, lets, see what our two guests make of it all, from both sides of the political spectrum, our senior political commentator, nigel nelson and former conservative advisor Claire Pearsall. Morning, you to Claire Pearsall. Morning, you to morning. Good morning. All right. Good morning. All right. Clare , as the, as the tory in clare, as the, as the tory in the house this morning. What do the house this morning. What do you make of it all . Is this where im supposed to come up with with the positive line that. No, theres a plan. Line that. No, theres a plan. And the plan is meant to be brutally honest. Okay its not going very well. I think that if you can try, if you can spin that into any kind of positive, then you are brilliant because you have to look at. Weve only had a few councils coming in so far. There are many, many more to come. There are big Mayoral Election results to come in, but from what weve seen so far, the conservatives have held harlow, which im really pleased about because i think theyve worked incredibly hard and i know the mp for harlow very well and his councillors do work hard. However there when you see that we have lost places like redditch over to labour, tameside , thats a gain for tameside, thats a gain for labour and the liberal Democrats Holding places like winchester. Southampton is now a labour hold again and you can see the damage thatis again and you can see the damage that is being done. You can see the anger of people on the streets and then you have the blackpool south by election, which obviously is the headline of the early hours of this morning. Yeah. Yeah. The tory councillors , though, the tory councillors, though, have been warning that just touching upon your point there about harlow that some voters were likely to use their vote yesterday in protest to the government, even though they actually supported the actions and the policies of their local conservative councillors. Is conservative councillors. Is that something that youve seen across the board . Unfortunately , it does unfortunately, it does happen. It doesnt matter if you are a local councillor and you do a great job in your local community. People look at your Party Affiliation now. I had this last year, i lost my seat when the sort of deluge of a thousand odds were lost last yean thousand odds were lost last year, and people said , well, we year, and people said, well, we quite like you, but we dont really like your party. We dont like what theyre doing on xyz issue. And its an issue that we issue. And its an issue that we all suffer from local councillors have no say over defence spending over the nhs, oven defence spending over the nhs, over, education spending, over the rwanda plan or whatever it is. They are there to look at is. They are there to look at bins, parking, bits of social care. If youre a larger authority, they are really, really local issues and unfortunately it gets combined with whats going on in the national picture. And its a shame because you lose some really good local councillors who are hard working, who know their area, who care about it, and theyre lost because of whats happened nationally. Nigel, what do you make of it all. Well i mean on the other side of the table, the other side of the divide, i mean its curious, im sort of linked through to Tory Central Office and to the labour party and of course the labour party and of course the labour party and of course the labour party are actually vie. Cockahoop. While the tories are trying to find any bit of good news thats out there, claire mentioned harlow and thats so far their only bit of good news. News . Well, they didnt get they didnt get beaten into third in blackpool south. Yeah. Yeah. But it was but i think that thats a really worrying one for them that reform are getting getting near on 17. If reform gets to 20 they start picking up mps at a at a general election. And the margin between in second and third was only 117 votes. So its still a really worrying kind of trend that youve got reform right on the tory heels. Its what about the and well how much of a concern is it that for labour. I mean its very its been in labours stronghold. So perhaps it doesnt have that much of an impact. But there has been an issue with the muslim vote. Yeah. There seems to be. Yes i mean i think that we go back to rochdale and see what happened, happened there. And some of that is spilling over into the local elections. And again, from what claire was saying, what people should be voting on is local issues because these are the people who will handle the local issues for them. National politics and in this case, international politics, does then then seep in. I wonder if that so does that make politics or democracy broken a little bit . I often think that in that everything seems to be quite president ial at the moment. We vote on what we think of the government, what we think of the government, what we think of the government, what we think of the leader and leader of the opposition, and not on the issues that are actually going to be addressed by whoever were voting for. I think its interesting the way people are involved with politics now. If you compare it to elections gone by sort of in the 80s and 90s, there was a little bit of crossover from national politics, but not hugely. I think people are more invested. They take a view on things a lot, a lot more quickly. They look at social media, the news output is 24 hours a day. There are endless pieces of information out there, so i think that im not sure its democracy falling away. I actually think its a really good thing. I think the flexibility now that we have to be able to change parties is also different. People used to be very entrenched in how they voted because their parents did. Their grandparents did , and now their grandparents did, and now people are looking at they may well be different. They may well be different. They may change their mind from election to election as well. And i think that this is a change that all Political Parties need to bear in mind. In mind. This is looking at blackpool south. Nigel, this is seventh by election defeat for rishi sunak since he became Prime Minister. How do you think this is going down in number 10 today, was not so much number 10. Its the rest of the tory party well cchq then. Well cchq then. Yeah, thats his real problem. And where we are at the moment is that hes got to come out of this without basically losing his job. So so, there are some key ones here. I think that we have to look at the numbers of seats that go so , if he if he seats that go so, if he if he loses around 300 seats, thats about as bad as last time. Proportionately vie 480 is the same. Is the same number, as 1995, when labour were again 21 one points in the polls. And of course, they won a landslide in 97. Gets to 600 losses and hes in real trouble. Thats an absolute disaster. Then youve got the mayors. We can forget about that, West Midlands because its so close. Both because its so close. Both sides are saying theyll probably lose it. Key there is the tees mayor, ben houchen lose that. And thats when you might see that combination. The letters of no confidence going in. And you could find yourself in. And you could find yourself in a leadership challenge almost by default, sorry to, to spin you back to to the, the, the muslim and labour issue. Weve just had. Labour has lost just had. Labour has lost control of oldham after losing seats to independents. Now is seats to independents. Now is thatis seats to independents. Now is that is that likely to be what were seeing . There it is. Yes it is. I mean that wed have to see a bit more of a breakdown of that. But yes, on the basis of that, id have said that was something to do with the muslim vote. Yeah, thats interesting pressures on all sides. But of course its not the same sort of pressure as as the tories are facing from reform, i think its interesting that the conservatives will spin blackpool. South as well. We blackpool. South as well. We didnt do that badly because we beat reform. But reform 17 of the vote, thats substantial. I dont think you can write them off, it does remain to be seen how they do in places where theyve stood candidates for local elections, because i think a parliamentary by election is one thing. It was also held in quite , difficult circumstances quite, difficult circumstances for the governing party. And its generally much more difficult for the governing to party keep a seat in a by election. As weve seen, we have lost every single one other than uxbridge. Yes. Yes. Yes. Which we won by a small margin. But which we won by a small margin. But the which we won by a small margin. But the rest of them, we margin. But the rest of them, we have lost one to the lib dems and the rest to labour. So i think its always going to be tricky. I think reform, you can never ignore them. And what worries me slightly is that the conservative party had , the head conservative party had, the head office is going to look at blackpool south and say we now need to be chasing reform. We need to be chasing reform. We need to be moving further to the right. We need to be looking at those policies whilst then ignonng those policies whilst then ignoring the seats that youre losing in other parts of the country which are not natural territory for reform anyway. Okay. Thank you both very much indeed. Well catch you a little bit later. Were just going to go to a slightly early break so we can catch up straight afterwards. With the government round this morning talking its its 654. Right. Lets get the government reaction to everything thats been going on so far overnight. Because theres a lot more still to come. Actually, lets talk to conservative Party Chairman Richard Holden, who joins us now. Good to see you. This morning, its hard to look at any of these results, isnt it, in any other way, apart from a bit of a disaster for the government, even if it was expected . Expected . Well, as you said, weve had about a quarter of the council results, and yet none of the big Mayoral Elections yet, and only a couple of the pcc elections. So theres still a long way to go. But what i would say is that obviously theres been a mixed set of results, some good conservative colleagues have have lost their seats and obviously have been out campaigning hard for them and sorry for those guys out on the ground. But other places i think weve overperformed compared to expectations as well. Places like harlow, which weve held visited twice by the labour leader, keir starmer just in the last few weeks. So theres a bit of a mixed picture there, but i dont want to say that, you know, things havent been very tough for us this evening. Tough for us this evening. Coming off what was obviously those vaccine bounce elections in 2021 where wed those vaccine bounce elections in 2021where wed made gains after 11 years in government and in fact, in those elections , in fact, in those elections, evenin in fact, in those elections, even in my own area in 2021, we saw big gains from labour. You know, for Councils Like durham , know, for Councils Like durham, which had been labour for over 100 years. So these really are coming off a very high point of conservative results. But very bad night in blackpool south for you, wasnt it, where there was a huge swing to the labour party, the third biggest by election swing since the Second World War, in fact, and you must be very worried about the role of reform in all of this , because the tories came of this, because the tories came in second place in blackpool south reform came in third place, but there are only 117 votes in it. The reform party are hot on your heels, arent they . They . Well, i can say about, you know, that result and other results across the country, its quite clear that you know, reform are helping labour win in a lot of those areas. What i would also say about blackpool south, though, you know , very south, though, you know, very difficult circumstances locally, on top of that , we had the on top of that, we had the neighbouring seat. We had another mp with issues there dunng another mp with issues there during the campaign itself, which was not a, you know, was a very, very difficult situation for a really great conservative candidate in blackpool. And, you know, but even in those circumstances to come second, you know, we saw back in the mid 2oios, you know, we saw back in the mid 2010s, ukip , you know, the 2010s, ukip, you know, the predecessor to the brexit party, which is a predecessor to, reform, you know, winning seats, you know, in a, in a parliamentary seat. So we havent seen that today. Reform are still third and its still very clear from the result in blackpool that voting for reform just helps labour in and over the line. What are i mean obviously were going to have to wait you know another couple of days to get all the results in. But from the from from cchq perspective, what are acceptable losses . What are acceptable losses . Whats worst Case Scenario . Look, i dont theres no losses, which i think are acceptable. Ive been out there slogging my guts out to help our conservative councillors and mayoral candidates right up and down the country. Ive done hundreds and hundreds of visits, i think now since i became Party Chairman, i, you know, thats they are my focus , the broader they are my focus, the broader conservative party out there in the country. And obviously for individuals, its very sad. Look, in terms of predictions , i look, in terms of predictions, i cant really get into that, that that game. But its very clear to me that when were looking and keir starmer said he wanted to take seats in Councils Like harlow, you know hes made that very clear. Harlow, you know hes made that very clear. Hes been out there many times. He needs to win places like that in order to win, to become the largest party. Never mind win a majority in a general election. Well see about results like the mayoralty in teesside as well later on, where labour have thrown everything at it, the kitchen sink plus some more. I think the entire pipings , from the entire pipings, from the kitchens gone into that one with multiple visits from, keir starmer, plus the shadow cabinet has been half decamped up there for , the last few weeks. Well for, the last few weeks. Well see what happens there, because again , you know, across the tees again, you know, across the tees valley labour need to win all of those seats in a general election scenario just to become the largest party. So i think its a, you know, railings and thrasher and some of the other people have predicted numbers and i dont want to do that. I think its quite clear on a case by case basis. Were seeing different results in different areas. But what i would say is that i want to keep seeing us as a government focus on the main policies, whether thats getting the rwanda bill sorted , so that the rwanda bill sorted, so that nobody who comes to the uk illegally can stay. Illegally can stay. Thats in stark contrast to labours hold on, hold on, hold on, minister immigration system. Its all well and good doing the sort of pitch in that sense and a lot of people watching and listening will appreciate it, but its about what has happened overnight that people care about this morning. And although you can, you can talk about harlow, you can talk what may happen with with some of these mayoral races, the bottom line is the conservative party have done very badly, and thats going to put a lot of pressure on you. Its going to put a lot of pressure on the Prime Minister, and a lot of people are saying, why just not pull the trigger, get this general election underway , look, i think the underway, look, i think the timing of the general election is very much a matter for the pm. But what i would say is, you know, lets wait and see till the rest of the results come out over the next couple of days. It is a drawn out process. Weve is a drawn out process. Weve seen a different results in different parts of the country. Obviously what i want to see is conservatives winning everywhere. Every election we are coming down from a very good set of results in 2021, and i want us to do you know, now concentrate on those policies which the british people are thinking about, whether its cutting inflation like weve done, whether its stopping the boats or whether its getting those hospital waiting lists down, as weve seen falling over the last five months. Thats what i think we need to be focusing on now as we move towards that next phase of a general election in a few months time. Okay. Chairman of the conservative party, Richard Holden, good to see you this morning. Thank you very much indeed. Well, it is 7 00 on friday, may the third. It is a pivotal day in british politics, and its been a strong start for labourin its been a strong start for labour in the local Council Elections , 52 councillors elections, 52 councillors theyve gained so far and taken control of rushmoor, hartlepool and thurrock councils. They have and thurrock councils. They have just lost control of oldham after losing seats to independents, but results from more than 70 councils are still to come in. I declare that Christopher Paul webb is duly elected as the member of for parliament the blackpool south constituency in blackpool south by election. Labours chris webb takes the seat, beating conservative david jones in second. Mark butcher was third in a decent showing for the reform party. The labour for the reform party. The labour leader, sir keir starmer, called the result seismic. The result seismic. Well, counting is also underway as london decides its next mayor. Will sadiq khan, get a third term . Eyes also on key red wall areas in the West Midlands and tees valley in eight regional battles with lawless britain dominating the headlines. 38 police and Crime Commissioners are also being elected across england and wales. Currently, the conservatives and the labour party have one each in the declared results. All results across these elections as we get them throughout the day on gb news. Another day with quite a bit of wet weather across the country, but the far south should be brighter than yesterday and again, north west scotland doing for okay spring sunshine. The weather staying pretty mixed as we go into the Long Bank Holiday weekend. Join me later for a full forecast. Also coming up, well have a look at the man tipped to be scotlands next leader , and you scotlands next leader, and you just cant keep him out of the news on election day. News on election day. Find out why former Prime Minister Boris Johnson was refused entry to vote. Morning to you. Im Stephen Dixon and im Ellie Costello, and this is breakfast on gb news. All right, lets crack on then. Because actually, this is going to take a couple of days. I dont know why they cant just do these counts like they do with the general election and just get it all done overnight. And some come out so quickly, dont they . But theyre taking the time with these. Probably wont get any of the Mayoral Elections probably until saturday afternoon. Yeah. We wont have anything really till sunday. Will we know as a full picture, which is a bit depressing. Ill get on with it. Anyway. It has been so far a very strong start for labour as the results from those local Council Elections start to come in. Its won control of a string of key leave voting councils in england and wales. Yes, labour took rushmoor in hampshire from the conservatives, a council the tories had run for the last 24 years. It also won back hartlepool council, the scene of a major by election loss back in 2021, which led sir keir starmer at the time to consider quitting as leader. Labour have also just lost control of oldham after losing seats to independence. Losing seats to independence. Yes, so lets have a look at the overall picture as it currently stands and the labour party well in the lead if you like, 319 councillors, thats up 52 conservatives down 121, which is a heck of a thumping. But its you got to look at that 500 figure when they still come in. Because thats sort of their worst Case Scenario if you like. If it goes worse than that, theyve got a problem. Lib dems up theyve got a problem. Lib dems p by theyve got a problem. Lib dems up by 17, the greens up 12, the greens having a comparatively decent showing. Actually no Green Councils as yet though. Well joining us now is Political Correspondent for the spectator. James heale good to see you this morning james. Youre loving this arent you . Absolutely. Is my glastonbury im having a wonderful time. Whats your assessment of what weve seen so far then . James. Yeah, its a very good night for labour. I think that, you know, the most striking thing and most worrying thing for the conservatives is that theyre doing sort of really badly among those 2016 leave voting areas. So places where Boris Johnson had a natural affinity. Places where they really staked the electoral house last time in 2019. Theyre doing badly in those areas. Places like hartlepool, for instance, places like thurrock. And i think like thurrock. And i think thats kind of concerning. And of course, the irony is sir keir starmer, of course, was derided as the sort of lefty lawyer, twice remainer etc. And yeah, hes obviously done very well to kind of shut that down as an issue in this campaign. But laboun issue in this campaign. But labour, i suppose the only kind of potential drawbacks of the fact that they might be not doing so well in oldham for instance, ill be interested to see how they do in bristol later, where theyre facing a green challenge. But really, as weve sort of discussed on this programme, these are kind of issues for a second term labour government. I think right now theyll be happy with how the vote dispersal is working out, because it shows keir starmer is on course to win a big majority and head for number 10. And as you said last hour, what we dont seem to have had is any significant change in the last 12 months. Now that that is worrying, isnt it, for number 10, because youve got a new Prime Minister who is meant to shake things up, change it, get the party on track for a general election. Nothings happened. Yes, well, this is sort of striking. Is that last time we saw there was no political credit for things like the Windsor Framework agreement for rishi sunak coming in after liz truss this time, you know, Richard Holden was out there talking about the rwanda scheme and trying his best to sell the party line. Ultimately, there party line. Ultimately, there doesnt seem to be much impact on the polls of that. And it doesnt really matter what rishi sunak does in terms of defence spending or National Insurance cuts. We had the autumn statement. None of that is really making a huge difference in the polls. It seems that the pubuc in the polls. It seems that the public has made up their mind and theyve made up their mind to get the conservatives out and get labour in, and thats what we see in the north of england from the marginals and also in the south of england, where weve got the lib dem seats, where they expect to do very well later today. I wanted to ask about the situation in oldham, which has come in in the past, sort of 15 minutes or so. How much do you think the muslim vote, partook in that, that result there because we have seen that, havent we . The gaza issue affecting im going to be very interested to see how it works out in the two mayoralties. So particularly the West Midlands, where weve talked a lot about the andy street dynamic of that, but also theres an independent pro palestine candidate standing there, but also in london. And i spoke to Robert Hayward a few weeks ago, you know, tory pollster, and he was saying that he thinks that there wont be a, quote, muslim backlash because he thinks that because, sadiq khan moved very quickly on that issue to call for a ceasefire, outflanking labour on that issue. So i think areas where there are candidates standing against labour or where the labour candidates are seen to outflank the Party Leadership , outflank the Party Leadership, they could do quite well. So we want to keep and watch. But i think oldham is a warning shot for labour down the line. I was quite intrigued by Richard Holden, say, talking about, you know, the say the andy street issue. But you know, andy street issue. But you know, theyre quite positive of holding on to to, andy street also the t side obviously theyre quite determined that thats not going to change. Didnt mention london. Yeah. Now which is interesting because obviously sadiq khan has got very strong backing. But there is this separate issue. The ulez issue. Now is that likely to play issue. Now is that likely to play strong in this or not . It will be a big issue in this. And im really interested to see how in a london versus outer london turnout transpires, if there is a low turnout broadly of around 3,435, that helps susan halls campaign because shes got a really fired up base of smaller numbers versus sadiq khan, where theres a lot of people who, you know, lib dem, green in london but arent that particularly enthused by him. So i think the turnout is going to be really key on that. Ulez is a key part of that and as we saw that with last years uxbridge by election, its about a salient issue. They can pin on laboun salient issue. They can pin on labour. And right now i think across the country there is a lack of tory attack lines. But in london, of course, you can say, look, this guys been there for eight years. Crime has gone up. He hasnt done much for london. And i think if the result is closer than expected, as these polls look like, some people will be saying, why didnt we choose a different candidate . Could a better candidate . Could a better candidate have achieved results . Because this was a great chance to turf out an unpopular london mayor of eight after eight years at a time . We had a really salient issue in ulez, looking at these local elections, how do you think this is going down so far in cchq . Because weve heard from mark harper, havent we . Who said, look, it was always going to be difficult to match the performance that they had in 2021. Jeremy hunt yesterday predicting the day before predicting the day before predicting losses. How much do predicting losses. How much do you think that was . Managing expectations or do you think there is going to be real disappointment . I think therell be therell be genuine disappointment, certainly, but this is a lot about expectation management. You know, this was always going to be a very difficult night for them. Theyve expected to see hundreds of losses. Theyre one thing theyre clinging to right now is harlow. And which obviously the conservatives held on to rob halford , the incumbent on to rob halford, the incumbent mp there, has called it the greatest comeback since lazarus , greatest comeback since lazarus, so, you know, biblical reference this morning. But i think that, you know, there are very few, you know, there are very few, you know, there are very few, you know, bits of light. And i think thats what theyll be focusing on the mayoralties. But the irony is, of course, is that the irony is, of course, is that the candidates who seem to have done the best will be the ones who were most critical of the conservatives. And of course, will that affect the colleagues behaviour in westminster, where you have people distancing themselves from the conservative leadership and frankly, going against existing party policy on things like the echr membership . You know, i cant help but wonder. And i know its government rounds and, you know, when you talk to politicians, there are certain things they have to say. You know, its why people get frustrated that you dont get a straight answer out of them. Harlow. Right. Good news for the tories. But its the one bit of good news. And thats just what they want to talk about. Does that wash with people who are watching and listening now. Do you think its a really easy question . Back in 1990, ken baker was the Party Chairman. He went out the Party Chairman. He went out and said, well, you know, look, weve had bad election Election Results. But, you know, we had westminster and we had, we had we had different seats, which did really well in the Council Elections. I think the other one was wandsworth, westminster and wandsworth. If all the country was like this, we could do really well. And of course there wasnt like westminster and wandsworth, a better or worse. And so the country isnt like harlow and of course, you know, six months after ken baker was saying that Margaret Thatcher was gone as, Prime Minister and party leader. So i think that it doesnt its something they have to say to get through it, but im not sure how much there is to take from harlow. Unfortunately where they had a very good, well respected local mp. And you cant say that for huge swathes of the country or should be voting against the tories. Come those general election. And what about labour hq . How do you think its going down there. Because theyll be very pleased with their their victories and marginal seats, wont they. But there isnt the dramatic gains that we saw pre 1997 which, which some would expect. Well i think that theyll be very happy with this. You know they frankly dont care. A win they frankly dont care. A win is a win. And theyll be talking about the fact that blackpool south, as i say, the third biggest swing since the war from conservative to labour. And of course, the first was dudley. And so if you look at the figures , it looks like keir figures, it looks like keir starmer is on course to win a not too dissimilar majority from that time. Its 45 years ago today that Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister one of only three opposition leaders. It is that 3rd of may 1979 and only three opposition leaders to become Prime Minister thatcher, blair and david cameron. And it looks like keir starmer all indications point hes going to become the fourth in 50 years to achieve that feat. Wow. All right. Wow. All right. Wow. All right. There you go. And in terms of mr sunak staying in position until the general election or, or at least pressure on him forcing him to hold a general election to forcing him to call one. And is that pressure going to grow as a result of these results . Not when the tory party. I think that, you know, if you look at this result, im not sure how people would think that 20 points behind the polls, they should have an early election. I think hell be a bit of mumbling and grumbling, but i dont see a challenge at this stage. Okay, good to see you as always, james. Thanks very much indeed. Thank you. Thank you. Well, the labour leader, sir keir starmer, says its win in blackpools south by election is the most important result today. Chris webb took the seat taken previously by scott benton, who stood down following a lobbying scandal. So lets look at the results. And chris webb for the labour party, 10,825 votes, david jones for the conservatives, 3218 a heck of a gap there. But mark butcher for reform uk 3101. So theres only 117 votes in that. Ben thomas of the green party, 368 and Andrew Cregan for the lib dems, 387. I declare that Christopher Paul webb is duly elected as the member of parliament for the blackpool south constituency. Blackpool south constituency. Well, were joined now by our Political Correspondent, olivia utley barry. Good morning to you , olivia. And a very bad night for the tories. But sir keir starmer hailing it as a seismic win. Win. Well, it certainly is a seismic win for the labour party. A swing of 26 away from the conservatives which, as keir starmer points out, is double what labour would need to win a majority in a general election. It is also the third best by election victory for labour since the Second World War, and this one of six now swings of over 20 to labour since the general election in 2019. Now, the last time we saw swings of this magnitude with such regularity was between 1992 and 1997. And of course, we all know how that ended with the huge landslide victory for tony blair, and three consecutive terms in office for labour could we be about to see something similar in a general election . Well, plenty of people have pointed out that it doesnt feel as though theres the same sort of groundswell of support and optimism for keir starmer. People seem to be voting labour because they are not happy with the conservative party, rather than because they love what keir starmer is offering. And the turnout in this by election sort of bears that out. It was only 32, just over 32. That is the lowest turnout for a by election since the 2019 general election. That said , to labour, it doesnt that said, to labour, it doesnt really matter why people are voting them. If we are seeing voting them. If we are seeing swings like this time and time again , it does suggest that keir again, it does suggest that keir starmer is going to sail into number 10. Perhaps somewhere down the line it will start to concern him that the reason people are voting for labour is because they dont like the conservatives. But for now, whatever the reason , enough whatever the reason, enough people are walking out to vote laboun people are walking out to vote labour. They are turning away from the conservatives over and over again. Reform weve got to talk about them too. It was a pretty impressive showing. They pretty impressive showing. They said that they wanted to beat the conservatives to second place, and they almost managed to do that. They came third, but only by 117 votes. They could split the conservative vote in seats like blackpool and in other red wall seats across the north. And that could be a serious problem for the conservative party. Reform have been sort of brushed aside by the conservatives for quite a long time now, but once theyre getting to these sort of levels, once theyre almost on a par with the conservatives rishi sunak has to start taking them seriously. Seriously. And what does this do to the conservative party i mean, to the, the, the number 10 machine in planning for the next general election. Is this going to just delay it further and further with that sort of desperate hope that, well, things will get better . Better . Well, rishi sunak certainly would like, if possible, to delay the election for as long as he possibly can. He is hoping that as time goes by, things will get better for the conservative party. And there are some reasons to believe that perhaps it might. Inflation is going down. Interest rates are sure to go down from that high of 5. 25 soon. And once that happens , then the mortgage happens, then the mortgage problems that people are suffering at the moment will begin to be alleviated. There is also, of course, the rwanda plan that has just come into law. In that has just come into law. In ten weeks or so, we should start to see migrants leaving for rwanda. And if things go as rwanda. And if things go as rishi sunak hopes, then that will prove a deterrent effect and bring down illegal migration. Thats why rishi sunak wants to hold out for as long as he possibly can. But of course it might not be up to him. The local Election Results around the country are looking pretty catastrophic for the conservatives. They could be losing that 500 seat number, which they themselves have said would be a disastrous result for them. If that is the case, morale will be very, very low in the conservative party and i reckon there will be plenty of backbench mps who think , well, backbench mps who think, well, hang on a minute. We know we didnt want to change leader just before an election. We know that isnt a good look, but perhaps its worth a final roll of the dice. We cant do any worse than we are at the moment, so it could be that in the next couple of weeks we do start to see letters of no confidence in rishi sunak come in, and if that is the case, he could be at a point where perhaps the only thing for him to do is to call a general election. And finally libya. Whilst weve got you, i did want to ask you about the issue of voter id we know that it has impacted on some people, including Boris Johnson , who didnt turn up with johnson, who didnt turn up with the correct id yesterday, went home, got the right id and returned to vote. But we also heard the same with the tory mp tom hunt, didnt we . Did we see it affect people in blackpool south at all . When you were there last night or yesterday . The people ive been speaking to, almost everyone seems to be fine with the voter id in fact , fine with the voter id in fact, there are quite a lot of people who thought that they needed to have voter id in previous elections. So apart from our former Prime Minister and a conservative mp, it does feel as though most people got the message. There was a lot of communication from the government about the need to bnng government about the need to bring voter id to these elections, and on the whole, the transition seems to have been relatively smooth. There havent been the kind of queues at the polling stations that were being predicted. So on the whole, it seems to be quite smooth. But of course, Boris Johnson, who came up with the idea in the first place, managed to forget his own id making the headlines again on election day , olivia, thank you election day, olivia, thank you very much indeed. Lovely to see you on the front this morning, there is a chip shop just around there is a chip shop just around the corner from there, olivia. So go and get yourself a bag of chips and maybe a cup of tea. It looks cold. It looks cold. Oh its lovely. I love blackpool on the front like that. And especially when its a bit blustery and the and the. That would wake you up wouldnt it. At this time of the morning. Yeah brilliant breeze. Brilliant. Its one of the i dont, i dont know if it was which pier it was but one of the piers you could see behind her. Ill have to ask for her exactly where she is. Cant beat a bit of blackpool. Yeah, love it, winchester. Lib dems , have we mentioned lib dems, have we mentioned this . Actually a couple of minutes ago with james heale, but winchester has been retained by the liberal democrats. Its a its a stronghold for the lib dems, which of course. And they are very, very good of as a local campaigning. Theyre very good on local issues , much good on local issues, much stronger actually, than they are on the on the national front, which is interesting. Never know quite why that is. Anyway, theyve won eight of the first ten seats to be declared. So as a result, as we wait for those other seats to come through, they have retained control of they have retained control of the council. Well, those results will keep coming through this morning. Of course, were going to bring them to you as soon as we can on gb news. But first were going to take a look at the weather with alex deakin. With alex deakin. A brighter outlook with boxt solar, sponsors of weather on gb news. News. News. News. Morning. Welcome to your latest weather update from the met office here on gb news. Again, some places looking fairly soggy today, but it should be a brighter day across parts of the south and another mostly fine and sunny day across northwest scotland. Elsewhere, northwest scotland. Elsewhere, though, a lot of cloud around this morning. Outbreaks of rain still over the midlands, wales, parts of southeast england, some heavier rain coming into parts of Northern England as well. Well see a few showers developing for northern ireland, southwest scotland but say most of scotland again set fair and again on the west coast. We could easily see temperatures up to 20 celsius cooler on the east coast, with a brisk breeze here and obviously much cooler than yesterday, where weve got the cloud and rain over the midlands, parts of northwest england and east anglia. The far south seeing a much brighter day compared to yesterday. Staying compared to yesterday. Staying generally fine here through this evening as the rain starts to edge further northwards, staying pretty soggy over parts of northwest england. North wales well see more showers developing through the night across parts of scotland, temperatures mostly dipping down to about 5 or 6 degrees across the south, staying up at 9 or 10 celsius in this cloudier zone over Northern England, southern scotland. Thats making for a grey start to the long weekend. But more rain to come here. Although it is tending to fizzle out again, highlands western parts of scotland generally looking dry and bright. There will be some sunny spells on saturday across the south, but we are expecting a few scattered showers to develop through the afternoon, but with a bit more brightness. Should feel a touch warmer. That warm feeling inside from boxt boilers sponsors of weather on. Gb news. On. Gb news. Now summer is just around the corner , so were promised and corner, so were promised and whatever the weather is going to be like, were going to make it sizzle for you. With an incredible £20,000 in cash up for grabs in our latest Great British giveaway, yes, its our biggest cash prize to date and it could all be yours. So heres how weve blown the budget by giving you the chance to win a totally terrific £20,000 in tax free cash to make your summer spectacular. Yeah, you could use that cash to splash out on a holiday , make to splash out on a holiday, make the garden glam, buy a new car orjust save it for the garden glam, buy a new car or just save it for a the garden glam, buy a new car orjust save it for a rainy day. Or just save it for a rainy day. Whatever youd spend £20,000 on, make sure you dont miss the chance to make it yours for a chance to make it yours for a chance to make it yours for a chance to win £20,000 in tax free cash, text win to 63232. Text cost £2 plus one Standard Network rate message or post your name and number two gb05, p. O. Your name and number two gb05, po. Box 8690, derby dh1 nine, double t, uk. Only entrants must be 18 or over. Lines closed at 5 pm. On the 31st of may. Full terms and Privacy Notice gbnews. Com. Forward slash win. Please check the closing time if listening or watching on demand. Good luck. Good luck. Yes, very good luck indeed. Yes, very good luck indeed. Now still to come, were going to be talking about the snp leadership race. Thats next. Welcome back to breakfast. Now were looking at politics across the border. Now in scotland. Because the Scottish National party is looking at a new leader after humza yousaf resigned earlier this week. Yeah, well, as you know , the yeah, well, as you know, the party survived a vote of no confidence on on tuesday. Was it wednesday . Ive lost track of the days this week. I think it was wednesday. It was wednesday. It was wednesday. It was wednesday. I think it was wednesday. I think it was wednesday. Yes. Yes. And now the former deputy leader of the snp, john swinney, is expected to announce hes going to be standing today and he could be running unopposed as kate forbes ruled out standing herself. Lets talk to the journalist alastair stewart, who joins us now. Good to see you this now. Good to see you this morning. I mean, we look like a straightforward coronation here then, dont we, of john swinney. Is that going to keep the snp happy . Is he the continuity happy . Is he the continuity candidate that we keep hearing about . Its more of the same for the snp. The early polls indicated snp. The early polls indicated that mr swinney was the preferred party candidate, but that kate forbes was actually the preferred candidate that the country would like to see become the first minister. There are several issues that are facing mr swinney immediately. One is the most ironic of all and that is legitimacy that the snp at holyrood have been complaining and using the tory party as a bogeyman for a very long time, saying that they keep crowning leaders without going to the country. Now mr yousaf was country. Now mr yousaf was elected last year by the party, he wasnt elected by the country and the very same is now going to happen here. So straight out the gate. Mr swinney is facing a massive challenge of legitimacy as to why it is that he gets to sit in the centre chair at all without facing the country. So kate forbes has stood aside. The scottish tory leader, douglas ross, has called this decision , to back swinney a decision, to back swinney a shady backroom deal. What do you shady backroom deal. What do you make of the optics of this . Theres certainly the accusation that kate forbes has stepped aside under a degree of pressure. Its been reported that shes going to receive the keys to quite a senior position in mr swinneys government. Clearly, the party recognise even behind the scenes that things are not going well optics wise or indeed practically this whole situation. Asian star whole situation. Asian star Humza Yousafs of the incumbent first minister for now through the greens, out of government, they were propping up a snp minority administration. I think senior snp leadership has now finally caught on to the idea that once you remove independence as an attainable reality , not much is left policy reality, not much is left policy wise because theyve been in power for so long, 17 years and that its getting increasingly hard to point the finger at any one except themselves. Mr swinney has been a senior figure in the party for a great deal of that time. Hes been a senior figure in government for a great deal of that time. So some kind of deal has very likely been struck. Thats trying to put continuity at first, a degree of practicality to ensure that they can govern at all. Yeah. I was going to say i mean, its this between a rock and a hard place in a way, arent they . I mean, as much as kate forbes may want the job and as much as , you know, the polls as much as, you know, the polls may show that, you know, the snp supporters across the across the country would prefer her to have the top job if that would mean that the greens wont support her, which i think is probably quite likely and certainly on some key issues for which shes better known , then they cant better known, then they cant govern at all. Thats absolutely correct. But its worth bearing in mind as well that the elements that were attacking kate forbes in the First Leadership run that she made last year were accusing her of being an extremist christian in quotations. Now, john swinney is also a man of faith. Last week, mr yousaf came out encouraging people not to criticise candidates because of their religion. John swinney is going to have to work very hard to assuage the greens at holyrood, because the numbers game of mathematics, the numbers are simply not there for the snp. This is very, very much not over by any stretch of the imagination, but for the walls of the snp. We need to get of the snp. We need to get a first minister elected. Its suspected that mr yousaf could resign as early as monday , resign as early as monday, because there is no immediate challenger to john swinney. The party then, sorry. The parliament then has 28 days to get a first minister in place and then its a case of governing the whole thing and theyre going to be very reliant, that is to say, the snp, on support from the green party, which immediately limits the options available to john swinney and what he might like to do when he takes over that note. Alastair, what do you think this means for the matter of Scottish Independence . Because in John Swinneys press conference, he spoke about wanting to unite the snp and unite scotland for independence. But thats going to be a lot harder than it sounds. Harder than it sounds. Absolutely. And i had not quite guessed that it would be the snp themselves that killed independence. As a conversation for the generation that was once talked about, there is no vehicle for which the Party Members can realistically , members can realistically, realistically believe that independence is an attainable goalin independence is an attainable goal in the near future, or even within the next fabled generation. Its an impossible city. They dont have the support there. Within themselves to organise around how they would even do it. And if you would even do it. And if you remove that, how do you appease members who have signed up the snp . Support the snp and see the snp . Support the snp and see the snp as an umbrella vehicle to achieve independence . If you achieve independence . If you take that off the table and you have a disarray of policies and domestic laws of scotland, does , domestic laws of scotland, does, theres serious challenges theyre facing. Mr swinney , not theyre facing. Mr swinney, not only as a new first minister but existentially as a leader of the snp. If the snp cant achieve independence, whats the point of them . Of them . Just just a quick thought, because its not the first time that hes been the leader of the snp. Of course he was. He was snp. Of course he was. He was leader in between Alex Salmonds two hits, wasnt he, back in the early 2000, where he was sort of considered not to have done very well . Will we see the same sort well . Will we see the same sort of leadership from him, or will he have learnt . Do we think, in fairness to mr swinney, when he was leader, back in the day , as was leader, back in the day, as they say, his was much more of a consensus style. Hes got a soft touch, you could say , about mr swinney as could say, about mr swinney as what was said about Alec Douglas Hume is that hes still painted, as would there is a great deal of substance to him. But i think you need a leader, that is to say, the snp need a leader at the moment. Thats massive. Thats compared to go out and make the case for independence and the party and present radical plans. Mr swinney is actually the candidate who works best for the country. If were going to take it that far. Hes got much more of a consensus style. Thats a strength hes style. Thats a strength hes broadly seen politically as as respectable in that way, and someone that you can do deals with. So that will work well for opposition parties. But not necessarily for the snp membership, who are increasingly becoming slightly bitter towards the fact that independence is a pipe the fact that independence is a pipe dream thats going to show absolutely no chance of realising itself any time soon. Okay, alastair, good to see you this morning. Thank you. Now at 733, heres a reminder of our top stories this morning. And the labour leader, sir keir starmer says its win in the blackpool south by election is the most important result today. Chris webb took the seat from scott benton, who stood down following a lobbying scandal. Following a lobbying scandal. Mark butcher was third in a decent showing for the reform party. For me or not though, i promise to work for you every day to earn your trust and restore the faith in politics. I promise i wont let you down. I have said this all along that i am in it for blackpool and i mean it. Little picture for you. Its looking very positive for the labour party at the moment. Up 52 seats, the conservatives down 121, lib dems up 17, greens up 12. I mean theres a lot more Council Still to declare on that of course. Also got police and Crime Commissioners which are being voted for. And apparently labour have just taken the avon and somerset pcc from the conservatives. So thats going to be a bit of a blow to them. Counting also underway as london decides its next mayor. Will sadiq khan, make a third term . Eyes also on key red wall seats in the West Midlands and the tees valley in eight regional battles. Results for that expected over the weekend. Yeah, no, its interesting with the police and crime commissioner, so in a way it sounds very bad for the tories. But out of 38 i think, and could correct me on this, but i think 31 were held by tories. So in a way theyve got a lot more to lose when it comes to that. But that losing Avon Somerset to laboun that losing Avon Somerset to labour, i mean, its just its just another sting isnt it . And so all the rest of those results all still to come in, apart from. Well, so that currently leaves labour with two. Theres only been three declared labour with two tories with one. So i mean theres everything to play for with that. But its just another blow. The Prime Minister must have his head in his hands this morning. A headache for him this morning. These results are going to trickle in over the next day or so. We have a full picture of what by sunday morning you should do about sunday morning. So we will bring them to you. Of course on gb news and throughout the programme as we get them up next weve got sport with paul coyte, so welcome back to breakfast. Its sport time. Paul coyte is here with us. Morning. Good morning. Morning. Good morning. Morning. Good morning. How are you feeling, chelsea . How are you feeling, chelsea . Im okay, im okay. Im okay, im okay. Youre putting a brave face on. I am chelsea, two, Tottenham Hotspur. No, no , you didnt go hotspur. No, no, you didnt go to the ground last night then . No, i didnt go to the ground last night. Yeah, well, thank goodness youre up at 322 in the morning, which is the time my alarm goes, everybodys alarm goes off at a very strange time. Mines 308308. Why . 308. I just feel like its the perfect time. Ive got it down perfect time. Ive got it down to a fine art. I need to be out the door at 3 30. Yeah, so need. Thats the clock. Thats the clock i need. I know i need that amount of time. He. Mines 314, 314. He. Mines 314, 314. There you go. And im 322. So theres that. Theres that window between all of us. Were a weird bunch. Were a weird bunch. Im the one that lays in between us. Anyway. 14 injuries, to chelseas first team. Mauricio pochettino still doubts about maurizio at chelsea. Theres cole palmer , whos theres cole palmer, whos certainly their best player, didnt score last night, but a very good result for chelsea and spurs were not very good. Ange postecoglou, the manager, you know he was screaming and shouting at the team often stands there quite quietly. But stands there quite quietly. But there he is. Look, there he is, wildly gesticulating. Get wildly gesticulating. Get forward mate. Thats what he was pretty much shouting. Pretty much shouting. He doesnt look happy. He doesnt look happy. He doesnt look happy. He was not happy. And Mauricio Pochettino the much happier of the two. Of course, former Tottenham Hotspur manager spurs seven points behind aston villa , so it looks like its villa, so it looks like its going to be villa there for the Champions League although spurs still have one game in hand, but theyve got very difficult games coming up. Liverpool away still Manchester City to play as well. So its going to be tricky for them. Theyre just not on form at the moment. Whereas talking about aston villa, yeah, well they were on form last night. Either it was they were playing last night. Ellie. Ellie. Olympiacos of greece. Olympiacos of greece. Olympiacos of greece. Correct. Correct. And i dont know what. And i dont know what. Yes is in greece. Yes is in greece. Theyre just yeah, yeah just nod it was well theyre just outside athens. Theyre piraeus, which is where the port is, which is where the port is, which is where the port is, which is where the boat that we were talking about the other day. Oh, yeah. The olympic ship with the olympic flame, all that. So anyway, aston villa were at home, villa park, went two nil down against olympiacos. I dont know whether they thought they would find it easier than they did. Im not sure. Or whether they were a little nervy, but it just didnt go the way. Certainly they go the way. Certainly they wanted it or maybe even we expected it. So it was two nil to olympiacos. Villa came back to olympiacos. Villa came back to two two, then olympiacos got a penalty. There was a deflected shot, went to four two. Villa get a penalty. So youre thinking how important is this douglas luis missed it. So four two. Theyre going back to greece next week. Need to turn that over. Gonna be tricky. Gonna be tricky for. Lets talk. Lets talk. I have an olympic mountain to climb, you know. Oh they are very good. Very good. Get out of here. Very good. Get out of here. Thank you very much. Lets talk big money, should we . And sandro tonali. Yeah. Sandro tonali. We spoke about him. We didnt, didnt we . A couple of weeks ago, he was involved in the betting scandal and. And this was over in italy. There he is playing for. Hes a newcastle player banned from World Football for ten months. This is since august, for betting offence. Gambling offences. During his time in italy. Now, since the ban, they italy. Now, since the ban, they found out that hed actually been gambling whilst playing for newcastle as well. 40 or 50 bets were placed afterjoining newcastle. Four of them were actually on newcastle , although actually on newcastle, although they were on newcastle to win a bit on newcastle. To lose then that would be a bit of a worry. But, the fa i think have been quite lenient and sensible because theyve given him a two month suspended ban because hes already on a ten month ban. Anyway, it sounds like he has got a bit of a problem. I think he does. Yeah, and i dont think theres much doubt about that. So theyve probably thought, well, look, if we then extend the ban what good is this going to do. This is obviously a man with some sort of gambling problem. If, if we can get help for him then hopefully that two months suspended sentence, which would then be if you caught again, then youre going to be in trouble. But we think thats probably enough what youre going through at the moment. So hes banned still continues. Yeah. Yeah. Should we look at the golf . Should we look at the golf . Yeah i like this. Oh i do like this rice. One of my rice is easy. One of my rice is easy. One of my rice is easy. One of my rice is easy. One of your favourites. Oh yeah. Yeah. Hard hitting Bryson Dechambeau known that he plays in liv golf now but a very strong fella. And he can hit the ball so far. So when were talking about golfers that are hitting longer than the course and also the at royal troon where the open is going to be, theyre going to have a 600 yard hole. This is the longest hole in open history. But Bryson Dechambeau went out with junior clubs to see how hed get on with kids. Golf clubs. Have with kids. Golf clubs. Have a look at this. Still pretty impressive. So hes playing a par five. There is bryson. Hes got the kids clubs there. Hes strolling now. Thats a childs club. Bang. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. So he hits that. The average, by the way is 225 yards for a male adult to hit a drive. Hes hit that 239 with childrens clubs. Weve got a lot less weight on them, presumably. Yeah, exactly. And also much shorter. Yeah, exactly. And also much shorter. Dont yeah, exactly. And also much shorter. Dont get much of yeah, exactly. And also much shorter. Dont get much of a swing. Hes a big fella as well. So there we are. And hes playing a par five and manages. So there we are. Thats the chip there for an eagle i believe hes got a putt now for a birdie. So this is for a four on a par five with im getting those im getting those eyes from ellie. What are you. There he is. So there we are. And he holds it for a four. So a birdie is one under par and an eagle is two under par. So a birdie on a par five with kids clubs is pretty damn good. Good. Very good. Very good. I once had a kids club at crazy golf. Its only about six months ago i picked up the wrong club. Oh, did you too embarrassed to take it back . I couldnt. I couldnt. Even more embarrassing with the little club, isnt it . I couldnt even do crazy golf with a kid. Oh, could you not . No. Oh, dear. No. Oh, dear. Well, hes very good then. Well, hes very good then. I cant see. The thing is, i have trouble with the full length clubs, so maybe kids clubs would be the answer. At least id have an excuse. Least id have an excuse. Yeah, im making no comment. Are you not about. No. Oh. Oh stephen, please. Oh. Oh stephen, please. Nothing wrong with cuban heels , paul. Im just saying heels, paul. Im just saying youre right. Youd be all right. I need lifts in my shoes. I need lifts in my shoes. Thats what i need to get a good swing. Very possibly. Thank paul. Very possibly. Thank paul. Thank you. Thank you very much. Im six foot six, by the way. If anybodys do, you stay with us. Us. Us. Claire pearce and nigel nelson are with us on the papers, arent they . And they are next. Welcome back to breakfast. Were going through the papers now. Going through the papers now. And gb news senior political commentator nigel nelson and former conservative advisor Claire Pearsall. Very good to see you both this morning. From both sides of the political agenda , which is very good on agenda, which is very good on a morning like this, nigel, what do you make of what weve seen so far . Well, we have an awful lot more results to come through, but certainly its not looking great for the tories, about a quarter of the councils have come through. And if this was come through. And if this was replicated all the way through , replicated all the way through, the tory is going to be losing 450 odd seats. So, that is in the, in the sort of bad zone rather than disaster zone, but it puts them where they were in 1995, which means that, you know, a couple of years later, there was a landslide labour victory. But theres not that that same groundswell of excitement and support is there . No there isnt no. I mean, youre absolutely right that tony blair, tony blair really prepared for government. And what was impressive about it was that he had some really big hitters on the on his shadow cabinet all set to go into government. And i think there was a real excitement in the nation that we were having a change. And youre right, its more a negative vote to the tories rather than a great positive vote for labour, but on the results here, if you were working on on what weve got so far, you would be looking at a kind of labour landslide nevertheless. Yeah, you didnt do so well, claire. Your lot. Your lot. Your lot. Its nicely put. Its nicely put. Way to go yet. Its all not over until the last ballot has been counted. Etcetera etcetera. But. No. Do you know what it isnt . Its not been a shining beacon of electoral for success the conservatives so far. But when we spoke not long ago, we were talking about oldham , and i were talking about oldham, and i did a little bit of digging into , the muslim vote and what that meant for labour, and just had a quick look into it. And the muslim vote support is down by eight points since last year in wards where there are more than 10 of people who identify as as muslim. So theyre leaving labourin muslim. So theyre leaving labour in their droves. And the independent candidates, they won eight seats on Oldham Council and five of those were candidates who stood on a pro gaza anti labour platform. So gaza anti labour platform. So theyre really heaving themselves away from labour. I think that its going to be quite a concern within labour hq in in those areas where there is a high muslim population, except and although youre right, i mean there will be concerns of course, of course they will. But its not going to divide the party in the way reform is dividing the tories , is it . So dividing the tories, is it . So its not on a par with that sort of issue. I dont know, because you can see this being replicated because were only were only looking at Oldham Council now. There are more places with wards with a higher population of muslim voters in different constituent races. So i think it would be quite interesting to delve down into the details of, of those. But unfortunately we wont have any, electoral information to go on. Yeah, but i think it is as divisive. I dont think you can separate this and say , well, reform is this and say, well, reform is much more of a threat than this. I think that both parties have an existential threat. It depends how much theyre going to look to either deal with it, understand it, and what what theyre going to do with that information. Because as i said before, i worry slightly that, conservative hq are going to latch on to the fact that reform did well in blackpool south and then change policies to try and take them out when it isnt going to work in all seats across the country. There are those seats where reform doesnt figure very highly. So i think figure very highly. So i think you have to be the reform are damaging. I mean, the point is the reform are hugely damaging the tory brand and that is benefiting labour. If reform were out of the out of the frame, the polls would be a lot narrower, closer than they are at the moment. But of course its interesting because it was labour voters who lent their to vote the tories in 2019. Yes. Who . And some of those could very well switch to reform. Well, they could i mean, bear in mind youre talking about certainly brexiteers. I mean, it certainly brexiteers. I mean, it was it was boris, Boris Johnsons promise of get brexit done that won him 2019. Youre absolutely right then a load of labour labour brexiteers moved across the tory party at the moment that what weve got really is the blackpool south result. And what is interesting result. And what is interesting there is that although reform didnt come second, as predicted, there only a smidgen behind the tories, they did poll nearly 17. Thats their highest. So far at a by election hit 20. They start picking up mps. So far at a by election hit 20. They start picking up mps. And they start picking up mps. And certainly if you hadnt had those reform votes , the margin those reform votes, the margin between labour and the tories wouldnt have been so great. What do you make of turnout, though, in blackpool . Blackpool south, because that wasnt. No. No. I mean the trouble is people dont turn out for they dont tend to turn out for by elections , dont really turn out elections, dont really turn out for local elections. When we get to the police and Crime Commissioners usually turn out about 15. So i think weve seen that with avon and somerset it was 23. Thats good. Thats good. Thats good. Thats good. On that basis then considered to be high in turnout terms with the police and crime commissioner, was that was that a pcc vote and nothing else . Yeah, absolutely. And its 23. So i think that we can see probably that as being the peak and much, much, many fewer people coming out for others. I mean, people dont know who their, who their, their police and Crime Commissioners are. Know you get well, you dont get any leaflets or anything else about them. Do you know weve no name in a box . Yeah nothing in our area. Nothing in our area. Right. You two. Thank you. Well catch up with you a little bit later on. Thank you very much indeed. Time for the weather. A brighter outlook with boxt solar , sponsors of weather on. Solar, sponsors of weather on. Gb news. Morning. Welcome to your latest weather update from the met office here on gb news. Again some places looking fairly soggy today, but it should be a brighter day across parts of the south and another mostly fine and sunny day across northwest scotland. Elsewhere though, a lot of cloud around this morning. Outbreaks of rain still over the midlands, wales , parts over the midlands, wales, parts of southeast england, some heavier rain coming into parts of Northern England as well. Well see a few showers developing for northern ireland, southwest scotland, but say most of scotland again set fair and again on the west coast. We could easily see temperatures up to 20 celsius cooler on the east coast, with a brisk breeze here and obviously much cooler than yesterday, where weve got the cloud and rain over the midlands, parts of northwest england and east anglia. The far south seeing a much brighter day compared to yesterday. Staying compared to yesterday. Staying generally fine here through this evening as the rain starts to edge further northwards, staying pretty soggy over parts of northwest england. North wales well see more showers developing through the night across parts of scotland, temperatures mostly dipping to down about 5 or 6 degrees across the south, staying up at 9 or 10 celsius in this cloudier zone over Northern England, southern scotland. Thats making for a grey start to the long weekend. But more rain to come here, although it is tending to fizzle out again. Highlands western parts of scotland generally looking dry and bright. There will be some sunny spells on saturday across the south, but we are expecting a few scattered showers to develop through the afternoon. But with a bit more brightness. Should feel a touch warmer. Warmer. That warm feeling inside from boxt boilers sponsors of weather on 52 councillors so far and taking control of rushmoor, hartlepool and thurrock councils. But plenty more still to come. Were still waiting for 70 councils to declare. I declare that Christopher Paul webb is duly elected as the member of parliament for the blackpool south constituency in blackpool south. By election labours chris webb takes the seat , beating webb takes the seat, beating conservative david jones in second. Mark butcher was third in a decent showing for the reform party. The labour leader, reform party. The labour leader, sir keir starmer, called the result seismic. Result seismic. Counting is also underway as london decides its next mayor. Will sadiq khan, get a third term . Eyes also on key red wall areas. Voting for mayors. West midlands and the tees valley, two crucial ones for the tories. There are eight regional battles going on, with lawless britain dominating the headlines. 38 police and Crime Commissioners are also being elected across england and wales. Currently the conservatives and the labour party have one each in the declared results. All results across all elections as we get them throughout the day on gb news. Another day with quite a bit of wet weather across the country, but the far south should be brighter. Than should be brighter. Than yesterday and again north west scotland doing okay for spring sunshine. The weathers staying pretty mixed as we go into the Long Bank Holiday weekend. Join me later for a full forecast. And of course you cant keep him out of the news on election days. Find out why Boris Johnson was refused entry to vote. Oh yeah, well tell you more about that, wont we . We will. Good morning to you. Im Stephen Dixon and im Ellie Costello. And this is breakfast on gb news. News. Well, weve had a bit of a stall on the results so far. Have not much as is coming through just at the moment. The latest thing we had was avon and Somerset Police and crime commissioner, which labour have taken from the conservative tvs giving labour two. It sounds like a football score. Labour two, conservatives one. One. Yes. One. Yes. But across the Council Elections it has been a very strong start for labour, theyve got control of a string of key leave voting councils in england and wales. Labour taking rushmoor in hampshire from the tories. So council the tories tories. So council the tories have had for the last 24 years. It also won back hartlepool, the scene of a major by election loss back in 2021. And labour have also just lost control of oldham after losing seats to independence. Losing seats to independence. So lets have a look at the key panel there for you. And so theres a lot still to play for in all of this. But labour up 52 at the moment. Tories down 121. Youve got to see if they get any worse than that. Sort of 450,500 loss mark. Lib dems up 17, greens up 12. Others which is interesting. Up 39. I dont really know if, if theres any if you read anything into the others at the moment. Lets talk to our Political Correspondent katherine forster. Good morning. Katherine forster. Good morning. I mean, were looking at the at the top two in all of this are we were we knew it was going to be bad for the tories, but it seems to be looking at what weve had in so far. If you sort of follow that through, it does look like their worst Case Scenario. It does. And potentially they might expect to lose 500 Council Seats. It looks at the moment like that is on track to happen. Worth saying of course, the conservatives will be clutching at straws. They would say. Of at straws. They would say. Of course, the last time these Council Seats were up for election was at 2021. It was the height of the vaccine bounce, bofis height of the vaccine bounce, Boris Johnson sort of at the height of his powers. So it is a high water mark. But, can i just ask on that one . Because when we talked to the chairman of the conservative party earlier on, he talked about the vaccine bounce. Yeah, i mean, but theyre using that as an excuse, arent they, to say . Well, it was, it was, it was unrealistically high last time. Well look we look to be on course for a big labour majority in the general election at the moment. But the conservatives will take anything they can to try to make it look, you know, theyve got to try to put up any positive spin that they can. I think worth saying with blackpool south, obviously the one westminster seat, the one by election and of course it was going to go to labour after, you know, the scot benton, the incumbent tory mp. The lobbying scandal. But i think worth scandal. But i think worth looking at in in 2019, the last time that was, you know, in a general election , the general election, the conservatives in that seat got 49. 6 of the vote last night. They got 17. 5. Thats a huge , they got 17. 5. Thats a huge, huge collapse in the conservative vote. Now the reform party, the candidate there, said he was disappointed not to beat the conservatives into second. I mean, he only missed doing so by 100 votes. So a good result for reform. There but of course, theyre standing in a lot of seats now. But theyre saying that theyre going to stand in every seat in the westminster election. Are they going to be able to replicate that sort of support . Im not sure. Well, richard tice, speaking in the early hours, said that he wants reform to be seen as the big opposition in red wall seats. Do you think that will be the case, or do you think its more the case . Therell be a gift to the labour party. Well , the conservative well, the conservative argument is a vote for reform is argument is a vote for reform is a vote for keir starmer, because the likelihood is millions of people may probably will vote for reform in the general election. But because of the election. But because of the Voting System we have, its probable that they wont win any or possibly very , very few or possibly very, very few seats. So the overall effect will be to hurt conservatives to take seats from the conservatives. They might potentially stop labour getting some seats, but i think given that theyre to the right of the tory party, theyre going to hurt the conservatives more. But of course theres plenty of reform voters and ive spoken to a number of them, will say ultimately they dont care , even ultimately they dont care, even if it means that it puts keir starmer in downing street. They are so cross with the conservatives that if it means that the conservatives do even worse and have fewer mps, so be it, nigel nelson , our senior it, nigel nelson, our senior political commentator, is still with us, im quite intrigued by richard tice saying they want to be the big opposition. I mean, sir Jacob Rees Mogg was saying last night, thats a very low expectation, isnt it . If the best you can hope for is to be, you know, the come second in a race where second doesnt count. Race where second doesnt count. Yeah. I mean i think theres probably thats probably right, but obviously it depends. I mean, as catherine has mentioned, that under present polling they dont get a single mp, so , so, but when you see mp, so, so, but when you see things like a 17 in blackpool south, if they get a bit, if they get a bit more going, if they get a bit more going, if they got 20 of the vote, then they got 20 of the vote, then they do start collecting mps and they do start collecting mps and they have some real kind of power. And i think this is where nigel nigel farage keeps teasing us about whether or not he is going to come back and lead reform , clearly he doesnt want reform, clearly he doesnt want to do it if its the same, same old story as ukip had back in 2015. So back then they were running at about 13. Ukip got one mp, and that was Douglas Carswell , who already was in carswell, who already was in place. Yeah the moment that you can, because of the first past the post system, you just dont pick up , the number of mps you pick up, the number of mps you should from the vote share, catherine, can we talk about voter turnout in blackpools south because it was low, wasnt it . 32. 5. That is often the case in by elections, but is it a ringing endorsement for the labour party . We know its a big swing, but a lot of people stayed at home. It was very low, wasnt it . And of course, by elections, the turnout is often low and i think worth bearing in mind with this one, that we know theres going to be a general election coming along in a few months. I still think november, but it might be sooner than that. And so people voting in blackpool south know that, you know, theyre going to be doing this again. So in some ways, you know what is the point. But i think it does speak to a general level of disaffection with lots of people. When im out and about around the country, as i often am talking to lots of people , am talking to lots of people, well, theres so many people simply say, well, im not going to vote, because what difference doesit to vote, because what difference does it make . Because nothing changes and theyre all the same as each other . A really very depressing, state of affairs. But yeah, very low turnout. Its interesting how we view how we view it, though. Im always quite intrigued. We all view these sort of things through our own lens, dont we, nicks just been in touch and talking about the turnout in blackpool south, its, you know, 32. 5. Its not exactly a ringing endorsement for labour. Well, in one sense, no, but its even less of a ringing endorsement for the tories. Yeah. Yeah. And its really sad, actually, for democracy, which i think, yes, i think is the real victim there. I mean, the important thing is people have fought fought, for years for the right to vote. Its a really precious thing to have. And i precious thing to have. And i think that what people should do is if they really dont want to vote. So in blackpool , were vote. So in blackpool, were talking about two out of three people appeared to. Not what do people appeared to. Not what do you go along . What do you go along and do is spoil your ballot paper. Write a nice rude message to your candidates because they actually see spoilt ballot papers and when the count is taking place. But at least if youve gone along, youve shown youve gone along, youve shown you havent just stayed in bed and youre just youre just lazy about it. Yeah. Have you done that before . Have you done that before . Yeah, i did it to claire because. Because i couldnt vote tory. Oh i see, so when claire was up for four, you couldnt vote for claire . No, no, i did vote for claire . No, no, i did vote for claire . No, no, i did vote for claire. The whole thing was i had to spoil my ballot paperin was i had to spoil my ballot paper in a way that would get claire the vote, but i wouldnt actually vote tory. So i put an intimate little emoji in the in the box. Where was the little emoji . It was a pair of breasts. Emoji . It was a pair of breasts. Oh. And emoji . It was a pair of breasts. Oh. And i appreciate. I shouldnt have asked. I thought you did ask. I thought you were going to say little love heart, okay. Anyway. Anyway. Well, it got count. Well, it got counted , the other the other got counted, the other the other candidates were absolutely furious. And claire never let on. It was me. Furious. And claire never let on. It was me. But she furious. And claire never let on. It was me. But she got the on. It was me. But she got the vote right. Well, well, theres a trick i wouldnt try that one, unless you know your candidate very, very well indeed. Very well indeed. Yes. Yes. Good advice. Heck, ive slightly lost my train of thought. Oh, no , we all have. Thought. Oh, no, we all have. What . What about the pressure on rishi sunak as a result of this . Because im just. It would have been worse if reform had come second in blackpool south. That would have upset. But its that would have upset. But its not about the result, is it . Its about how this makes incumbent tories feel and how much pressure then they put on to say, right, were going to decapitate the government and get a new leader in. Yeah. And i mean, so many of them generally just feel that they are doomed. They are convinced that they are doomed. Theres many of them spending less time in westminster, more time in their constituencies. Where of course, they would already be on a friday trying to sort of shore up their support. But yes, i think a lot will hang on a couple of votes for regional mayors that are coming out today and tomorrow. Now, obviously in london, we expect sadiq khan to hold on. Of course, andy berman in burnham and greater manchester, we expect. But but ben houchen, conservative tees valley mayor, its sounding like they expect him to win. Also andy street in the West Midlands. Now that seems very very close. If the conservatives very close. If the conservatives keep both of those , the party keep both of those, the party will hold that up and say look, look whats going on here. Yes, weve got more work to do, but were turning the corner. Stick to the plan. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. If they lost both of those, then i think , both of those, then i think, there probably will be more letters going in. Its interesting for teesside, though, because, i mean, labour is throwing everything but the kitchen sink at that one. Yes. So thats right. And i think thats, thats the absolutely key one that if ben houchen doesnt win, he won 70 of the vote last time, and hes distanced himself from the tory party during this campaign , then party during this campaign, then if he doesnt win, rishi sunak is in real trouble. Less so in is in real trouble. Less so in West Midlands with andy street, which is so close that both parties are predicting theyre going to lose it. Theres, theres the damage limitation ism for you. Yeah. Yeah. Well, i mean they try and do a lot of expectation management, which is what theyre up to there. Oh lord. What was i going to ask. Oh, london, does it make a difference if i say sadiq khan expected to win . But how . But what if susan hall makes a significant dent, if its closer than people were expecting, what does that mean . Does that mean . Well, obviously we dont have the result, but the polls suggest, and we know that polls can be wrong because theyve been wrong before. But the polls suggest that it will be a clear win for sadiq khan. But of course, what we dont know is how much support susan hall is going to galvanise largely not only but largely off this anti ulez ticket, because of course, she has said if i get elected mayor, i will get rid of the expansion to the ultra low emission zone on day one. And of course, we know that last year the conservatives held on to the uxbndge the conservatives held on to the uxbridge seat. Boris johnsons former seat, against expectations on an anti ulez ticket, of course theres a lot more going on in london, isnt there . And weve got all the issues around crime, knife crime in particular, that horrific incident in hainault the other day that 14 year old boy, stabbed in broad daylight. Difficult questions for the mayor of london. Around that and around crime and along, around much else. Okay. Katherine forster and nigel nelson, very good to see you both this morning. Thank you very much indeed. Ed, still to come. Are getting the impression were going to be talking to lee anderson. The reform mp. More in a minute. 2024 a battleground year , the 2024 a battleground year, the year the nation decides as the parties gear up their campaigns for the next general election, who will be left standing when the british people make one of the british people make one of the biggest decisions of their lives . Who will rise and who will fall . Lets find out together for every moment the highs, the lows, the twists and turns. Well be with you for every step of this journey in 2024. Gb news is britains channel. Well, what a night. Its been so far. But, i mean, we have no conclusions to anything much apart from the odd police and crime commissioner. Thats results. Thats come in. Weve got two for labour, one for the conservatives at the moment. Which leaves another 35 to declare on that. Weve got another 70 councils to declare all their seats at the moment. But one thing we do know is, of course , the parliamentary course, the parliamentary parliamentary by election, which was blackpool south. Scott benton, who was there for the tories , had to go, and hes been tories, had to go, and hes been replaced now by chris webb for the labour party with a huge swing. But what about reform in swing. But what about reform in all of this . They were hoping to come in second. They didnt do it. Lets talk to their mp for ashfield, lee anderson, who joins us now. Good to see you this morning, what do you make of this . I mean, its sort of close, but no cigar, isnt it . Close, but no cigar, isnt it . Its very close. And lets be honest, been a good night for laboun honest, been a good night for labour. Its not been a very good night for the conservative party, but, to get 16. 9 in the by election in blackpool is absolutely fantastic. Its our best ever by election result. I was thinking about 15, 16, just 100 or so votes behind the conservative candidate, you know, with a few more resources, and a little bit, you know, more campaigning, maybe if weve got more bodies up there, wed probably pip the toys on this one. But were making massive strides. I mean, when you look at the our polling from 2 or 3 years ago, it was on 3 or 4. And now were getting, you know, 17 nearly in a by election 30 odd percent up in sunderland in one of the council wards. There so were on the up the, the trajectory on, on our poll rating is going up. The conservative party is coming down. Weve sort of met in the middle in areas like mine in the midlands and in the north, and were only going one way. And the conservative party are going another way. So come the election well be ready. So going ahead, is this the plan to just try and damage the tories as much as possible in the general election . Because until recently you were , of until recently you were, of course, the tory deputy chairman. So im just wondering personally how it feels that you clearly damaged the tories in blackpools south and helped labour give them their victory . Well, ali, im in this job to make our country a better place to live and work in and bring up, bring up our children, our families, whatever. Look, politics is a brutal game. You know, the winners and losers in every election. And when i stand for election in ashfield this yean for election in ashfield this year, this year, somebodys going to lose. Its going to be 4 or 5 people lose. It could be me. I think ill probably win. But you know, we do this job for a reason and theres, theres no time for sentiment. Yes. Some of my colleagues in the conservative party will lose their seats. And many of those will be friends of mine. And im still friends with them, and i will still be friends with them after the election. But thats the game. Thats the game were in. Its quite brutal. I mean, you need to be polling the sort of 20 mark, according to our very own nigel nelson in the studio. You need to be hitting that 20 mark in order to start pulling in seats, right . Which is clearly what what any Political Party wants is the only way to do that, to bring in nigel farage. Well, i mean , its not very well, i mean, its not very often nigel, nigel nelson gets his his facts right, but on this one is spot on. If we get like the 20 and above, thats when we start winning seats in parliament. Now im being flippant with nigel. Hes a great man. But look, if not nigel farage, i keep getting asked the question, is he coming back . asked the question, is he coming back . I dont know, its up to nigel. And now we have spoken to him about it. Hes keeping his, his cards close to his chest, if you like. But its all about timing with nigel. If he did come back, in some capacity, there would be a massive boost for the reform party. And thats when the conservative party will really start to worry. And let me tell you this as well, in some of the red wall seats in the north, the labour party will be worried as well, because nigel goes down pretty well in these areas, i did want to ask you about that because richard tice talking overnight, speaking about the reform party, said he wants to be seen as the big opposition in red wall seats. Thats a really interesting turn of phrase, isnt it . To be the best opposition . Well, i mean, its a step up from where we started a few years back. Like i said before, you know, was was polling 3 or 4 and hardly getting any votes at all. Now, weve stood in, you know, at about 300 odd council candidates. Weve just come third in the by election, got a record result. Were on the up. And now if we can overtake the conservatives and be the opposition that that thats progress. And the next step after that is to overtake the labour party. Thats just a simple political progression. Well, yeah. Fair enough. But well, yeah. Fair enough. But how within that i mean, if youre going to make that sort of progress, as you know, all Political Parties are youve got to win over Centre Ground at some point, havent you . Because thats how you thats how you thats how you thats how you thats how you win a general election by winning the Centre Ground. Those people who are undecided. So i mean, how would reform do that when you seem to be positioned , you know, be positioned, you know, considerably to the to the right of Centre Ground . Well, i keep hearing this, this, argument. Stephen about winning the Centre Ground. You know, the last election wasnt fought on the Centre Ground and the, the conservative party got an 80 seat majority, so that thats quite a nonsense argument. So, you know, the people in this country are ive always said this, even when i was in the labour party, a very, very socially conservative. Theyre worried about theyre worried about immigration, legal and illegal migration. And both parties will fail us on this. And if we can get the party, you know, get a party like the reform uk, who are very strong on immigration, very strong on law and order, very strong on our national identity, thats what the people in this country want. Yeah. But in terms of the last election, i mean, theres two arguments. One is that it was a single issue election because of brexit and labour. The labour party hated that. But it was the brexit election, theres no doubt about it. But also of course, the labour opfion also of course, the labour option was so far to the left at that point under Jeremy Corbyn that point under Jeremy Corbyn that that was offputting for people. So it wasnt people. So it wasnt a stereotypical election, was it . No it wasnt and youre quite right. But look, go to the election before that 2017, the tory party was pretty much in the Centre Ground. Then what happened then . That was a disaster. Go back to 2010. You know, the election when the conservative party you know, took it away from labour, that was you couldnt get more centre than cameron, still could not get a majority. We need clear dividing lines in this country. And the reform party offer that the rise of reform is quite remarkable. Quite remarkable. Lee, when we talk about the difference, even from from just a few short years ago, what do you put that down to . Are people just very cross with what the tories are offering right now . I think i think so, i think people are just fed up. They fed up with mainstream politics. Thats the feedback i get on the doorstep. Lots of people lent doorstep. Lots of people lent their vote to conservative party. As steven said, earlier in 2019, people like my parents, people like my friends and my family in ashfield voted conservative for the very first time. And boris stood there on the steps of downing street and he says, you know, youve lent your vote. I get it, i wont let your vote. I get it, i wont let you down. But unfortunately, these first time voters have been let down. They feel disappointed. It was a tough gig for these people to vote conservative after a lifetime of voting labour. Theyre not in love with keir starmer. They dont like what the Labour Party Stands for. Thats if they know what the Labour Party Stands for. So theyre looking at reform reforms, contract with the people. Theres some pretty good things on there. What people resonate with. Yeah. And look i think its a different argument when you talk about labour voters voting for reform. Its a whole different reform. Its a whole different set of issues. But but on the tories who are tempted to reform and, you know , theres lots who and, you know, theres lots who email in and watch and listen to gb news. At what point does it become a real support or how much of it is and the lib dems have to put up with this for a long time, the idea that it was just a protest vote because theyre so angry at the conservatives, well, i think yeah, i think we have to look, you have to split the country up into its geography, political geography a little bit, steve, because weve got the north and the midlands are very brexity sort of areas where people would be more inclined to vote for the for, for reform uk, you know, labour voters and conservative voters. And then were looking in the south of the country where, you know, were looking at the lib dems and the labour against the conservatives as well. And so the political geography in this country is, is, is a little bit upside down, traditionally, you know, we had the conservative seats in the south. I think theres going to be a lot of damage done in the south west, especially with the with the labour party and the lib dems. Thats going to hurt the conservative party. Likewise, in the north, if we get our act together and our polling increases at the rate it is at the moment, you know, 20 and above, were going to be picking seats up at the general election, in the north and in the midlands, i mean , youre the midlands, i mean, youre creating a lot of noise, as you say, if you get to that 20, 20, youll be pulling in seats. But thatis youll be pulling in seats. But that is going to be a challenge for you, lee, isnt it . Oh well, of course its a challenge. You know, this is not an easy industry, ellie, to work in. You have to you have to work hard for every single vote. You have to get your message out there. But were out there campaigning. Were out there knocking doors. Were out there knocking doors. Were giving people a real choice between us and the two mainstream parties. And look, you know, with nigel farage, you know, hovering around, lurking around in the background, if he does come back and give us that little bit of a boost, then ill tell you what. Thatll put the cat among the pigeons. So the idea of you making quite a noise like ive got to say, it makes a difference to pubuc say, it makes a difference to public perception, is important in all of this. And, you know, youre a reform mp now, what difference would it make if there were more reform mps in this parliament . And how many of your former colleagues are you to . Talking to . Talking well, ill tell you what difference it would make to me personally if there were more reform mps in parliament, i wouldnt have to sit next to George Galloway and Jeremy Corbyn on a daily basis. That would be great news for me. That would be great news for me. That would be great news for me. That would be a little bit of company, but there is. Yeah, there is quite a few people in there is quite a few people in the conservative party whove got the same politics as me. I used to sit with them in on the green benches just a few weeks ago, and its very sad for me sometimes just to see my friends there, you know, and im thinking, well, youve got the same politics of me, but theyre going to go down with the ship. I think parliament is a better place with those sort of people in parliament and myself, so im not actively encouraging people to, to join the reform party, but my door is always open if they want to have that little chat over a single malt at night time, i will gladly speak to my ex colleagues. Ex colleagues. So thats a tempting offer. Really. So you dont think were going to see any more defections soon, lee . Well im not sure, ellie. I mean, look at today. Its going to be a disaster for the conservative parties. And sadly, i mean, the sad thing, apart about this guys, is theres going to be a lot of hard working, conservative councillors lose their seats through no fault of their own. Its the national picture. Its the disaster. Whats in number 10 at the moment . Its going to cost hundreds of seats up and down the country, and who knows whats going to happen over the next few days. Probably sunday, well have a clearer a clearer idea of whats going to go. Were going to its going to be all the results will be in by then. And therell be a few of my old colleagues, you know, sat there sunday afternoon thinking, you know, staring into space and thinking, you know, whats going to happen to me in a few months time. And you know, i would say to these people, look, the good ones out there because theres still plenty of good conservative mps in there, you know, parliament is a better place with you. People in and reform uk are going to win seats at the next election. Im convinced of that. All right. If well, let us know on sunday if your phone rings lee, because were on air monday morning would be itd be itd be fascinating to know if, if youve had any contact. Really good to talk to you. This morning. Thank you. Thanks, guys. Thank you. Let. Us know what you made of that chat. Gb news comm slash your say i have to say interesting. Yeah. I mean, whether you agree with with his politics or not, hes a straight talker. He is. And i think i quite respect that. I mean, its a northerner in me. You know, i like a bit of straight talking. I know you do, whether or not you agree with him is another matter. You dont have to agree with what hes saying. No, but do let us know what you good morning. Its 834. This is breakfast on gb news with stephen and ellie. Lets look at the top stories on this big election morning. Election morning. Well, the labour leader, sir keir starmer, says theyre winning the blackpool south by election. The most important result today. Chris webb taking result today. Chris webb taking the seat previously held by scott benton, who stood down following a lobbying scandal. Labour have made decent gains. Theyve taken even in Somerset Police and crime commissioner in the last few moments. 52 councillors up for laboun moments. 52 councillors up for labour, 122 lost for the conservatives so far. Liberal conservatives so far. Liberal democrats up 18. Councillors and greens are up by 13. Those are results. So far. Lots more still to come this morning. Yes still awaiting the results. Actually on 35 police and Crime Commissioners, three declared so far. Oh. Lets see. Labours one. Cumbria. Plus avon and somerset. Cumbria. Plus avon and somerset. Tories getting lincolnshire. So tories getting lincolnshire. So 38 in total, 35 still to declare counting also underway as london decides its next mayor. Will sadiq khan make a third term . Eyes also on key red wall seats in the West Midlands and the tees valley in eight regional battles for mayor. Results for that are expected over the weekend. Over the weekend. Thats a lot to get through. Thats a lot to get through. Thats a lot to get through. Lets have some sport, shall we . I think some light relief. Yeah. You got a break from it all, mr coates, this is not light relief. Ill have you know, from results to other results. Well, youre not happy this morning, are you . But for totally other reasons. Well, chelsea. Chelsea two. Tottenham hotspur, nil last night. And, its a good result for chelsea because Mauricio Pochettino, whod been under pressure certainly as chelsea manager, former spurs manager. So bragging rights and all that. But anyway, he came through. And but anyway, he came through. And its probably going to alleviate the pressure a little bit. Im a little worried that maybe, hes not going to get the time to build what he wants to build. At chelsea, they have 14 injuries yesterday. 14. There were only four starters. They had a load of academy kids that were on the bench, but still managed to beat spurs, who were not terribly good. Oh, its going to be unhappy. Hes going to be. You have to kick a few people into action on the pitch. Is pressure going to be on him to go . Who mauricio are we talking about . And postecoglou, big ange not yet. Ill say not yet. Not at all at the moment. The thing is, its probably fair to say that spurs have overperformed after what happened last year because they started Antonio Conte season. Well , thats why it started well, thats why it started so well and its almost the worst thing because spurs did start so well that fans are then expecting a lot more. But it did exceed all managements expectations and its settling down and its going to take time. Theyre probably going to bring some new players in. But early days i mean fifth is okay. Can i after that can i just say i wish youd go that can i just say i wish youd 90 by that can i just say i wish youd go by angelo. Yes. Rather than ange. Right. Because all i can think of is east enders. Oh, i thought you could say the brotherhood of man shop. No dirty den. And its all i can think of. Oh, ange. As in ange, of course. Yeah, yeah. So youre all, like, every time you say big ange. Im just thinking of the hair. Yeah, yeah. Queen vic and all that time with the dog. Whats the name of the dog . Whats the name of the dog . Oh, i cant remember. Oh, i cant remember. Poodle called. That was always in it. Yeah. Yeah. Cant remember. Drive me crazy now. Gbnews. Com yoursay. Gbnews. Com yoursay. Some someone will know that will come in very quickly. They always know everything. You just have to ask the viewers. Yeah. Yeah. Can we talk, birthday. Can we talk, birthday. Can we talk, birthday. You want to do some birthday . You want to do some birthday . I want to do some birthdays. I want to do some birthdays. Okay, lets do some birthdays. Aston villa lost four two, but you know. All right. Another leg. Another leg to go. Lets do some birthdays, lets have a look at one, shall we . Weve got one golfer, i think, to start with. Right. See if you can tell me who this is going to be. Tricky, hes won a lot of majors plays in liv golf at the moment. Caroline. Caroline. You go. His name is Brooks Koepka. Oh, there we are. Thats koepka. Oh, there we are. Thats how hes looking now. Brooks koepka how old is Brooks Koepka . Koepka how old is Brooks Koepka . Ill put him at 36 for. Hes 34 stephen well done. Very good. Thank you. Thank you. Good at this game because youre upset i didnt get many through through many last year. Yeah lets go with another one, now this man on the right i believe thats don quarrie there on the left, the jamaican, but on the left, the jamaican, but on the left, the jamaican, but on the right, alan wells won the olympic gold medal for britain in the moscow olympics of 1980. Okay, so were going back to 1980. Scotsman. You know, it was obviously when america, boycotted the olympics back in 1980, in moscow. But alan wells won the gold medal for the 100m. Im gonna say 66, 72 is the right answer. No, youre making no, youre googling it. No im not i was i was busy, i was about to i was about i was about to google the east enders dog. Thats what i got that no i didnt how are you so good at this . Rolly . Rolly . Rolly. Thats it. So anyway, 72 one more and we have a little a man in action now, former england coach , Manchester England coach, manchester united. Hes been out. But anyway , lets see him. And anyway, lets see him. And actually, this is his finest moment. And im sorry, steve, for playing this, but when he was the manager of fc twente, fc twente in the netherlands , he twente in the netherlands, he was interviewed. And strangely, he did. Hes one of those people that adopts an accent, the accent of whoevers asking him questions. Lets roll. Steve mclaren, shall we . Of new, when i came here and, Champions League liverpool or arsenal, i thought maybe one of them we would draw. And it is arsenal. I think one of the toughest teams in the draw. And i think it will be, very, very difficult for our players, but also a great experience. We have also a great experience. We have a young team and to experience big games, Champions League arsenal at home, the emirates will be fantastic for the players , not just. Players, not just. I love that the interview has probably spoke better english to steve and thats thats truly double dutch, isnt he . So how lovely. 7777 is arsenal 77 . Im going 7079. Im going 7079. Hes just 61 oh 61 you started so well first. He was so good. Oh but thats quite insulting. It is. It is. Yeah it is. Yeah it is. Im sorry steve. Im sorry steve. Sorry steve. Sorry steve. Do apologise. Do apologise. He still really over us playing that clip, let alone adrian. Dont go anywhere because you might like a bit of this. Were going to try and rattle through this quite quickly before we hear from keir starmer at the moment. Well, yes, because we do like a sing song, dont we, paul . We do like to join us in the morning. Well, new data has revealed the uks most performed karaoke songs, apparently its, pubs are getting into it a lot more now, and apparently karaoke rooms are becoming more popular. Well, joining us now is uk managing director for singer steve dalton, who can tell us more. Very good morning to you steve. So apparently were getting into karaoke. Why. Apparently. Apparently so. Good morning apparently so. Good morning and thanks for having me. Well, theres been a huge surge over theres been a huge surge over the last few years in consumers demanding more from a night out, thats mixed with younger age groups drinking less, nightlife operators struggling with increased costs and trying to innovate. So we decided to carry out this research with a view of just figuring out how much additional revenue karaoke can generate versus those without. So we interviewed 300 plus venues across the uk that use our software that were studied and returned on average, a 10 to 15 increase on revenue versus those without. So ultimately , those without. So ultimately, karaoke is a great way to for a venue to drive business, and have fun and engage customers at the same time. It also gave us a the same time. It also gave us a great opportunity to see what customers were singing up and down the country. So what are people singing up and down the country . What are the popular songs . The popular songs . Well, theres a slight differences as you move up and down the country. So kind of unsurprisingly, mancunians love their their local legends oasis. So they two of their songs featured in the top 20. So wonderwall and dont look back in anger. Wonderwall is a cracker and lots of pointing going on. Its always comes with the pointing though, as youre doing it right i yeah yeah yeah yeah, always, always better with friends. Glaswegians show their retro taste, its the only city that analysed 1970s classics. So young hearts run free by candi staton and kenny rogers and yeah, steve, look, it sounds really. Im sorry. Weve got to interrupt you and take you up to blackpool and leader of the labour party, sir keir starmer. Labour party, sir keir starmer. Thank you everyone , for thank you everyone, for coming out this morning. I know a lot of you were at the camp and were staying up, till 6 00 to watch the incredible result. Weve had today. We absolutely smashed it when every polling district, blackpool turned red. They want labour, they want keir in number 10. They want a labour government. Well they. The government. Well they. The people of blackpool south have made it clear rishi needs to admit hes failed and call a general action now and lets get a labour government. A labour government. Thank you chris, and thank you to all the activists. You really have put a shift in and thank you to the people of blackpool for putting their trust in chris, whos born and bred, who has done so much for blackpool and the people here. And he knows that 14 years weve had nothing but broken promises, austerity, our kids not given the opportunities they deserve, the opportunities they deserve, the housing we desperately need in this country, the good, secure jobs that people need and the people of blackpool have seen through the tory lies and chaos. And they want change. We all want that change. Rishi sunak call that general election and let this country move forward. Yeah. And now im going forward. Yeah. And now im going to hand over to hopefully the next Prime Minister of this country, keir starmer. Country, keir starmer. Thank you ryan. Thank you chris. Thank you ryan. Thank you chns. Thank thank you ryan. Thank you chris. Thank you to this Brilliant Team here and all the people that supported you in this historic campaign. It is incredible to won by such a swing. 26 swing. Thats the fifth swing of over 20 to the labour party in by elections in recent months and years. It is a fantastic result at a really first class result. And here in blackpool, a message has been sent directly to the Prime Minister, directly to the Prime Minister, directly to the Prime Minister, because this was a parliamentary vote, this was directly to rishi sunak to say, were fed up with your decline, your chaos and your division and we want change, we want to go forward with labour and chris, youve smashed that. That wasnt just a little message. That wasnt just a murmur. That was a shout from blackpool. We want change and blackpool speaks for the whole country in saying weve had enough. Now after 14 years of failure, 14 years of decline, we need to turn the page and start afresh with laboun page and start afresh with labour, which has a positive plan for the country. A plan to get us building again the houses we desperately need, the infrastructure, the transport to get our nhs back on its feet and functioning properly for the people of blackpool and across the whole country to make our streets safe from anti social behaviour. That blights too many communities. That plan is there. We had a positive message into this by election and weve been heard. Chris, youve been heard. Heard. Chris, youve been heard. Youve been made history even before being sworn in as an mp. Before being sworn in as an mp. Youve made history here in blackpool. But coming out of this this morning, there is one clear message , which is lets clear message, which is lets turn the page on this decline varne. Lets pull together as a country, we believe in this country. We believe in our businesses and our communities. We dont accept this hopelessness of the tories that nothing can get better. We have a positive case. We want to take our country forward. This is a giant step on that journey. Well done chris, and thank you to every Single Person who voted here yesterday and put their faith in a changed labour party. No more decline forward with laboun no more decline forward with labour. Thank you very, very much. Okay, well, there you much. Okay, well, there you go, sir keir starmer getting the crowd going. Hes off leaving his deputy in the new mp for blackpool south, up there. But i mean, south, up there. But i mean, look its a, it is a great night for labour. You cant deny it. Yeah, and a very bad night for the tories. Hes out doing the interview rounds , as they say. Interview rounds, as they say. Whether its a pool clip, which means everyone shares it or not, i dont know. We shall try to find out , i dont know. We shall try to find out, were going to head to a quick break. Oh, no, were not. Is that the country wants change . Well, were going to be speaking to nigel nelson and Claire Pearsall, who join us now with their reaction to sir keir starmer talking in blackpool south with the new blackpool south with the new blackpool south mp , chris webb, you can south mp, chris webb, you can tell hes got a real spring in his step this morning. Yeah he has. And from Keir Starmers point of view, this is the most important result overnight. Its important result overnight. Its a parliamentary election. So this gives them a better indication of what might happen. Come a general election than almost anything else. Itll be interesting to see what happens if one of the mayors who are targeted by labour, andy street in the West Midlands , ben in the West Midlands, ben houchen in tees valley, if they both lose, itd be quite interesting to see if keir starmer then pops up there. Oh, youd think so. Look the oh, youd think so. Look the pressure claire on the i mean this was expected. Yeah. But nevertheless the pressure is substantial. Now it is substantial. And i think that were only going to see that increasing this weekend when weve got a number of results coming through later today and into tomorrow. So today and into tomorrow. So i think that any pressure on the Prime Minister is going to ramp up. Youll start to see the messaging come out from different sides of the conservative party as to what the future is going to look like. And it remains to be seen then what rishi sunak does, because weve not heard from him just yet. Weve had Party Chairman and a couple of, mps out there on the media, but not the Prime Minister himself. So well well see what his message is. Its is. Its a is. Its a very is. Its a very difficult line to spin, isnt it . And you know, to be fair, weve seen this from all parties over the years. Nigel, you know what its like when labour has a bad night and someone comes along and says, oh, no, no, no, its all jolly good. He put people out there andifs good. He put people out there and its very hard to believe what theyre saying, because you sort of know its not true. Well, i think honesty is quite often the best policy in this respect, because you cant tell the public that this is all going well and its all good when they can see with their own eyes that it plainly isnt. So dont take the public for being stupid and i think its really insulting on those candidates who have lost their seat in any election to try and spin it in any other way. I think you have to take this one on the chin and say, do you know what . This hasnt been great. We need to look at what were doing , how we look at what were doing, how we do it, and see if we can change this before any more of our colleagues lose their seats. I mean, nigel, just hearing there from Angela Rayner and then sir keir starmer talking about the results in blackpools south, theres truly historic and showing that the country was notes change. How much do you think we should read into the turnout at then. Because actually turnout was 32. 5. A lot of people could have voted tory, could have voted any other party, but they stayed at home. Yeah. And one suspects an awful lot of them were tory voters. Thats of them were tory voters. Thats what seems to be happening in a lot of by elections. Theres a disillusionment with the tory party, no huge enthusiasm for the labour party. So what tory voters are doing is simply staying at home, not bothering to go out, to go out and vote, which is a problem. And i think that people actually should go out and vote, but the result at the end of it all, 20 that 26 swing really good or labour need is 12. 5 and they win the election. But also when you start looking at the actual figures on this now, sir keir starmer is saying what a massive success this is. And yes, the swing is quite big, but the turnout was down by 14,000, which conversely was the amount that the tory candidate lost by. But labour actually got 2000 fewer votes than they did in 2019. So the devil is always in 2019. So the devil is always in the detail in this. So im not necessarily sure that theyre really picking up that many votes when it comes to it. I do think a lot of conservative voters will have looked at reform. There will be a lot of conservative voters that just stayed at home. So i think. Stayed at home. So i think. Theres a lot more to it. You cant simply say that its yeah, i get what youre saying. And it reiterates, actually what a lot of people contacting us have said this morning. But at the end of the day, you can only count the votes of those people who bother to vote. Well, of course you can. Well, of course you can. I mean, its first past the post and that person has won. So yeah, you cant really spin it, but i just think its quite interesting when you delve down the details and turnouts for election is quite interesting when you become a little bit sort of nerdy about elections, when you look at turnout. So between 1922 and 1997 never fell between 1922 and 1997 never fell between below 70 turnout. And then it declined again, coming up to a peak at the 2016 referendum, where people were really involved and really interested. At 72, it went down interested. At 72, it went down to 68 in 2017 and 67 in 2019. I mean, what okay, sorry to interrupt, but were going to go straight back to blackpool. And sir keir, youve got here in blackpool south is the first born and bred , blackpool mp for born and bred, blackpool mp for 60 years. So youve got now not a candidate but a soon to be sworn in member of parliament who is absolutely of this area and fights for this area and will be a powerful advocate. Hes already in my ear about the change that he wants to see if we get it over the line in a general election. But what we now need to do is, is to complete on this. Yes, this is a, you know, first class, excellent by election win. We now need that general election so that putting those two things together, we can really deliver at speed for blackpool. At speed for blackpool. Thank you, labour winning voter turnout. Good. Good. Sorry. Where do you want me . Here. Thats perfect. Maybe a little bit closer. Do you want apologies . No worries. Labour is certainly winning. But turnout is low and voter apathy seems high. Is the comparison with 1997 really at, well , look, im 1997 really at, well, look, im aiming for a victory in 2024 as we went into 1997, we had four by elections where we had over 20 swing, with blackpool south going into the 2024 election. Weve just had our fifth by election win with over a 20 swing. So i think that that is vindication that people can see were a changed party. People want to turn their backs. Now on 14 years of decline under the tories and theres this sense that we need to turn the page now, have a fresh start for our country and go forward with a positive plan and the sooner that can happen, i think the better. At the low turnout doesnt bother you . Well, by elections traditionally have lower turnouts than general elections, but this is a very, very significant swing. 26 swing. And not just labour getting that swing , but of course, the tories swing, but of course, the tories only just clinging to on second place by a few hundred votes ahead of reform. So theres a very, very strong message, i think, to the Prime Minister here. And i think anybody trying to suggest that this is some kind of midterm problem, this is consistently been happening in by elections for a long time now. And i think thats because the country wants change. Theyre fed up with the situation under this government, and they want to go forward with laboun and they want to go forward with labour. And we want to make that positive case to the country. Will it be a blow to you if you fail to win , tees valley or you fail to win, tees valley or the West Midlands . Look, were fighting hard, in all areas of the country, in tees valley, its obviously a huge majority that the conservatives got, last time. That would take, a sort of mammoth swing to labour. So were very, very feet on the ground in relation to that. But look, weve shown here in blackpool south exactly what we can do with our changed labour party. And people have now spoken so that sir keir starmer, speaking there to olivia utley in blackpool south, saying it shows exactly what the new labour party can do. We talk a lot about expectation management. Nigel teesside , his comments nigel teesside, his comments about teesside. Yes, thats right. Yes, i mean the, at the moment both sides are saying, oh we dont think were going to win it. Well one of them has got to win it. So at the, at the, the moment that, it does look like ben , ben houchen is the victor ben, ben houchen is the victor and that would be a real disaster for, for rishi sunak given he got 70 of the vote last time. But expectation management is part of any Election Results. So we see it all the time. And theres been an awful lot of playing down in, the tory circles. But when you look at circles. But when you look at some of the council results for laboun some of the council results for labour, actually theyre not as great. Some of the councils that theyve held on to, one of them is South Tyneside , where they is South Tyneside, where they actually theyve held the council, but theyve lost ten seats. So i think we need to we need to be mindful of the detail on this and cant just rely upon one headline. No. No. Well, its all break. Good morning to you. 9 00 friday the 3rd of may. On what is a pivotal day in british politics. I declare that Christopher Paul webb is duly elected as the member of parliament for the blackpool south constituency in blackpools south by election. Labours chris webb takes the seat, beating conservative david jones in second. Mark butcher was third in a decent showing for the reform party. Well, its looking good for keir starmer in the local elections theyve gained more than 50 councillors and taken control of rushmoor, hartlepool and thurrock. Tories down 122 councillors at the moment and were still waiting. Results from more than 70 councils to come in counting also underway as london decides its next mayor will sadiq khan make a third term. Eyes also on key red wall areas in the West Midlands and tees valley in eight regional battles for mayor well, with lawless britain dominating much of the headlines. Of course, tragically, in some cases 38 police and Crime Commissioners also being elected across england and wales. Currently three have been declared labour winning two, the conservatives winning one. Another day. With quite a bit of wet weather across the country. But the far south should be brighter than yesterday and again, north west scotland doing okay for spring sunshine , the weather staying sunshine, the weather staying pretty mixed as we go into the Long Bank Holiday weekend. Join me later for a full forecast. Me later for a full forecast. Morning to you. Morning to you. Im Stephen Dixon and im Ellie Costello and this is breakfast on gb news. Well, theres lots to get through because those local Election Results are coming through and theyre going to keep coming through all weekend, actually. So weve got ourselves poised. Theyre going to trickle through, arent they . Well probably have a clear picture of everything by sunday morning. Hopefully the next 24 hours or so are going to be very busy indeed. Or so are going to be very busy indeed. But one thing is clear, indeed. But one thing is clear, and that is its been a very strong start for labour, its won control of a string of key leave voting councils and often red wall sort of councils in england and wales. That red wall sort of councils in england and wales. That theyve england and wales. That theyve taken rushmoor in hampshire as well from the conservatives and thats a council the tories had run for 24 years as. Yes, labour have also lost control of oldham after losing seats to independents , lets seats to independents, lets have a look then at the figures that weve got so far, labour are up 52. Thats the net change at the moment. Theyre up 52. Tories down 122, lib dems up 18 and greens on 13. Its that in a sense what you want to be looking at is the conservative figure and how much they lose expectation was that it could be as many as 500. So well have to see if it gets that low. See if it gets that low. Well lets speak now to our Political Correspondent katherine forster, who joins us live in the studio. Good to see you, catherine. Whats your assessment of what weve seen so far . Well, so far, and obviously weve got a very long way to go. Laboun weve got a very long way to go. Labour. Very, very happy indeed. And the conservatives, theyll try to put a good spin on it. But theyre very little good news for the conservative party here. It looks pretty much like were in a similar position to where we were with the local elections. A year ago, in that the conservatives havent got dramatically worse, labour havent got dramatically better, but it looks according to these and of course, only local elections months to go to the general election, probably, like sir keir starmer is heading for a majority. We just saw him speaking in blackpool. Then they are cockahoop, of course. And he said, you know that the blackpool south result in particular the one by election. So the one westminster seat said here in blackpool, a message has been sent directly to the Prime Minister were fed up with your decline and division. We want change and you have to wonder , change and you have to wonder, for rishi sunak is convinced that the tide will turn. Flights will go to rwanda. Theyve cut £0. 04 off National Insurance. Thats a big deal. £0. 04 off National Insurance. Thats a big deal. And inflation thats a big deal. And inflation is falling. But the point is, have voters simply stopped listening to the conservatives because it feels a bit like whatever they do now, a lot of people have simply had enough 14 years of conservative government, Public Services , government, Public Services, doctors appointments, all of that, you know, plenty of tory mps will think this is the fault of rishi sunak, but is it or is it the fact that the country has simply decided its time for change . Yeah, i mean, thats the crucial matter. Its whatever he throws at it and you sort of wonder if a, you know, flights to rwanda or even some bigger tax cuts are going to make any difference at all. You do and you know, they will possibly have some good news later. They they think they may keep hold of a the tees valley mayor ben houchen, may hold on there, possibly andy street in the West Midlands that looks like its on a knife edge. They will hold those up, but its very, very difficult for them because no matter what rishi sunak does or doesnt do now says or doesnt say, the conservatives have been in for office 14 years now. Of course they would say, look, weve had war in europe, weve had covid, weve had all these huge events that have been very difficult to deal with. But of course, labour back in 2008 had the financial crisis. Now that was not of their making, but they got a lot of the blame for it. And similarly, yeah, its not the conservatives fault that we had covid, that weve got war in europe, but they are going to get the blame for the state of pubuc get the blame for the state of Public Services, for the levels of tax that are at this 70 year high. And, and theres a huge amount of disaffection as well. A lot of people not necessarily enthusiastic for labour, but simply fed up with the conservatives and many fed up with the loss of them. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Katherine forster, thank you very much indeed. Lets talk to labours National Campaign coordinator, pat mcfadden. Good to see you as pat mcfadden. Good to see you as always, pat. I mean, catherine made a really good point there doesnt it. Didnt didnt she that, you know, theres not a great deal of enthusiasm for laboun great deal of enthusiasm for labour, she says, which perhaps you can see in the turnout in blackpool south. But people are just fed up with the government. Well, people say that to me, but i think theres two things going on. Yes, there is disillusionment with the government and i could list many reasons for that. I think theres a big mood for change after 14 years of tory governments and all the political chaos and so on. But i do think there is a recognition that the labour party has changed with keir starmer as well, that those tests of trust that voters asked them about before casting their vote, you know, can i trust this party with public money . Can i trust this party with National Security . I think were passing those tests of trust in a way that maybe we werent a few years ago. So i think both things are going on. And thats what youre seeing in the very positive, local Election Results in the by election result that weve seen overnight. Weve seen overnight. But looking at blackpool south, the turnout was incredibly low, 32. 5, as we often do see at a by election. But many would say those would be tory voters were they simply stayed at home, or they let their vote to the reform party. And that split, that tory vote. Thats what were seeing in these results this morning. These results this morning. Well, i see is a 26 swing to laboun well, i see is a 26 swing to labour, an enormous swing in a seat that, even though its existed for 70 odd years, has only had a labour mp for 20 odd of those years. So its not one of those years. So its not one of these constituencies which maybe the tories won in 2019, which had never had a tory mp before. Its not like that, this before. Its not like that, this is a critical battleground seat for the next election. We had a stunning result there , and its stunning result there, and its the kind of seat that will be really decisive whenever the Prime Minister calls the general election. So when all these elections are counted, by the time we get to sunday, weve got a big weekend ahead of us and what well be looking for is not just that blackpool result, but other, parliamentary constituencies that will be decisive at the next election. And when you look at what we know about some of them already, like thurrock or Great Grimsby or southend east, were doing well there. And that gives us a lot of encouragement as we approach the general election. Approach the general election. Yeah, i mean, i mean that is interesting. Its always very dangerous, as we know, to extrapolate either by elections or local elections to the, to the, to the parliamentary picture. But as parliamentary picture. But as you say in this, in this election year, though , those key election year, though, those key constituencies where there are Council Elections as well, i think Milton Keynes is one of them, isnt it, where its been no overall control for a long time. Well what do you think you have done which has persuaded people to either give or lend labour the vote this time round . Labour the vote this time round . Well, we had to change after the last election because we had such a terrible defeat and we had to learn the lessons. And as i said, a moment or two ago, i always think theres a couple of essential tests that voters ask themselves when looking particularly at an Opposition Party, because its quite a big thing to change a government, and can they elect this Opposition Party and theyre going to be asking themselves, can i trust them with public money and can i trust them with National Security . And the answer to those questions is yes. Now in the labour partys case, and thats because of the changes that keir starmer has made. He hasnt won just the leadership and decided to fight the next election. And the same manifesto as the last one, just a different leader, but the same program. It had to be a top to bottom change in a re examination, and we took that very, very seriously. And i think that is what has led people maybe who havent voted labourin people maybe who havent voted labour in recent elections or who used to vote labour a long time ago, but they havent maybe at the last election to say i can take another look at this party. Theyve changed now theyve got the message and theyre back in the mainstream of british politics. But theres one big question that you havent answered on that you havent answered on thatis that you havent answered on that is can we trust labour with our borders now . We know thats a real concern for a lot of people. And people even from the labour party voting reform, it might be less than the tories voting reform, but even so, its there. So how are you in the run up to the general election . How are you going to convince the electorate that actually labour can be trusted when it comes to our Border Security and getting those, migration figures down . Well, its a big question for, the country , and nobody can for, the country, and nobody can be comfortable if youve got tens of thousands of people crossing the channel in small boats and you dont know who they are or whether theyve got any right to come to the country. And so its completely understandable that voters are concerned about this. I mean, our view is that this random policy is theyll get some flights off, i think. But its unlikely to affect more than a tiny proportion of those who are coming, so that on its own wont work. And we think that the resources would be better directed into real Crime Fighting on the International Criminal operation that there is to get people right across europe, sometimes across asia and into those small boats in the first place. So were going to take this seriously. Were going to put resources into it. Its a tough issue for many, many countries , but it is many countries, but it is something we will take seriously if we are elected. I wanted to ask you about the situation in oldham because labour have lost control of the council there to independent candidates, thought that this is evidence of a negative reaction to labours approach to the israel gaza conflict. Obviously, a significant proportion of muslim voters there. This is a warning shot to laboun there. This is a warning shot to labour, isnt it . Ahead of a general election . General election . It is a factor in some places. Im not going to deny that. And i understand why people have got strong feelings about this. I mean, thousands of innocent people have been killed and people wanted to stop. They want to do something about it. And so it is a factor in some places. You mentioned oldham places. You mentioned oldham there in particular, the truth is oldham is a place where the local Election Results have been augned local Election Results have been aligned with the National Ones for a few years now. I mean, we for a few years now. I mean, we were losing seats in oldham last year and the year before, long before anything in gaza had broken out. So there are some hyper local factors there. Above and beyond the gaza situation in oldham and if it does come down to the middle eastern issue, anybody who maybe used to vote for us, whos not voting for us now because of that issue, if weve lost that support for the moment, we will work really hard to get it back. We dont take to get it back. We dont take anybodys vote for granted, and we understand why people have got strong feelings about this issue. Okay pat mcfadden, good to talk to you on this slightly wet morning down here. Well catch up again soon, no doubt. Thank you very much indeed. And, well, what do much indeed. And, well, what do you make of it all . Gb news news commun. Say yes. Now, the labour say yes. Now, the labour leader, sir keir starmer, says its win in blackpools south by election is the most important result today. Chris webb took the seat taken well previously held by scott benton , previously held by scott benton, who stood down following a lobbying scandal. So these are your results then . Christwho for the labour party. 10,825. David jones for the conservatives, 3218. A significant gap there, very little gap between them. And little gap between them. And reform uk came in third, 3101 mark butcher. There candidate there Andrew Cregan for the lib dems , 387 and ben thomas of the dems, 387 and ben thomas of the green party 368. Well, lets speak now to our Political Correspondent olivia utley, who joins us live now. Good to see you this morning, olivia. And victory for labour in blackpool south. Absolutely huge victory for labourin absolutely huge victory for labour in blackpools south, a swing of 26 away from the conservatives now that is twice more than double what keir starmer needs to win this general election. If we can extrapolate this by election into the general, labour is very, very pleased with this result. Weve just spoken to keir starmer, who is thrilled, who says that the fact that this isnt just a one off, this isnt an anomaly, this is. The sixth time since 2019 that labour have won a by election with a swing of over 20. Now, the last time we saw swings of this magnitude, this regularly was between 1992 and 1997. And we all know how that ended with tony blairs landslide victory in 97 and three terms of labour in office, keir starmer and his party are clearly hoping that history is going to repeat itself in this election. But there are those who are pointing out that the situation isnt quite the same. Turnout is very low indeed. By election turnout is always quite low. But here in blackpool last night it was just 32. And those sort of figures weve seen similar in by elections across the country over the last five years. Voter apathy is also quite high. Polling shows that people really dont like the conservatives, but they might not actually be that keen on laboun not actually be that keen on labour. Is that a big problem for keir starmer . Well, of course it would be wonderful for him if he was able to sweep to victory on a wave of popularity like tony blair. But for now he seems pretty happy. He seems pleased that people are going out, people are voting labour and those swings are enormous. And those swings are enormous. At the end of the day, general elections are won by the people who come out and vote. Turn out doesnt really matter. Yeah. Doesnt really matter. Yeah. Fair point olivia, thank you very much indeed. For the first very much indeed. For the first time in a long time, of course, the mp for blackpool is born and bred. Oh do you know what you call our guest . What you call someone who is born and bred from blackpool . I dont know, from blackpool . I dont know, its a sand groaning sand. Groningen. Groningen. Youre funny. Why not a blackpool lidlington . No. Paul. Lilian. Yes. Lilian. Yes. A sand groningen. A sand groningen. Why . Why . I dont really know. Id have to google why. Okay, lets do that. Okay, lets do that. Well, there you go. I know because because im my in laws are sand groningens. Oh are they. There you go. And they go on about it all the time. Oh, there you go. Thats chris webb for you. New blackpool south mp yeah well Van Groningen he is a sand groningen. Weve got lots more still to come for you trying to get a feel from around the country on the local elections with our east midlands. Reporter will hollis. Welcome back to breakfast now. Of course we are still waiting on the results of the key Mayoral Elections in areas like teesside and the West Midlands. They are likely to come in tomorrow. Yeah, well, with conservative mayors currently representing both seats, their loss could signal further issues for rishi sunak. Actually, more than issues. If he loses teesside. Yeah, if he loses teesside. Yeah, because they got 70 of the vote last time. So if they lose that well i mean the pressures on. Its a hammer blow actually a real hammer blow to rishi sunak. I dont know how he would recover from that one. Yeah, that it is. Yeah, that it is. Well, our reporter will hollis is in the east midlands now with some local residents who can give us their thoughts. Good morning to you. Will good morning. Yes. Well, its the morning after the night before except the hangover hasnt quite hit yet because here in the east midlands, the brand new Regional Authority for the first time ever, where local people have been electing a mayor for the east midlands mayoral combined county authority, try saying that after authority, try saying that after a few drinks, we havent had that result yet, but we will expect it at around 2 pm. This afternoon. Afternoon. But lots of people have been voting about 1. 6 million of an electorate of about 2. 2 Million People that live here in derbyshire and nottinghamshire, as well as the two cities derby and nottingham. But here in sutton in ashfield, where theyve also been voting for that brand new mayor. Weve got judnh that brand new mayor. Weve got judith and weve got caroline , judith and weve got caroline, just tell me, how did you vote yesterday . We dont know the results yet, but what persuaded you , i voted conservative. The you, i voted conservative. The men that i voted for is local. And i feel that he has quite a good handle on things in this area. And will do well. Do you think thats how a lot of people might have voted here until recently . Ashfields constituency mp was a conservative, recently joined the reform party, was there any temptation there a bit . I did look at you. Yes i did, but i like ben. I think that , but i like ben. I think that, hell do well. And the fact that he was a is a local candidate. Yes. Yes. Locally. Yeah, i think so. What about you . There caroline . How did you vote, i voted conservative as well , but voted conservative as well, but that was down to the information that was down to the information that came through my letterbox. And he seemed to be instrumental in getting things sorted within the local area. Did you feel that you heard enough about this . This is the first time that the east midlands is voting for a brand new regional mayor that comes with new powers and new funding. Did you know that it was even happening . And what did you know about it . No, nothing until we got the election papers through. Through. There was nothing. And i do watch the news and things, and there was nothing at all. I didnt even know it was happening. Yeah, i was the same. But we had, some information passed to us from where i go to college and helped me understand more of the details of the process. Yeah, yeah, we do have regional mayors in other parts of england. Its something we call devolution, bringing powers from westminster into the regions. Westminster into the regions. West midlands has been very successful. London has a very famous mayor, sadiq khan, who were going to be waiting to see if hes been re elected. But do you think that this is going to be a good thing for the east midlands, which is traditionally underfunded compared to other regions . I hope so, my, my one worry is that its more money will be going to , for it to become going to, for it to become devolutionist. I think that, devolutionist. I think that, thats money that could well be spent somewhere else locally, but hopefully, yes, one of the criticisms is beforehand, in a poll about half of people said that they didnt want a new mayor. They didnt want a new layer of politician. Is that something that you imagine local people might have voted on . Those kinds of lines . Of lines . Possibly, yes. I think that, another layer of people, is probably quite unacceptable for a lot of people. Yeah, it makes a lot of people. Yeah, it makes it, you know, its more people when the money should be going to the people locally. I think the money should be coming to our region, not, to another layer of people being paid. Yeah youve both voted for the conservatives. Its no denying that the conservative are behind in the polls. Theyre losing tonight in places like blackpool and losing Council Seats. Why did you want to stick with the conservatives, caroline . Well, really, i think they have, a more of a handle on things in, in politics. And to get , things in, in politics. And to get, policies put through, and they seem quite strong on that front. Labour seemed to waver occasionally, and im not sure that people are so much black and white about politics anymore i yeah, exam yeah, this is a traditional labour area. Former coal mining town. Your family are traditionally labour voters. You didnt feel any temptation to vote for labour for this election . No. I think my values were brought up from my family , but brought up from my family, but weve changed as people, as you 90, 9 weve changed as people, as you go, go on in life. And i think conservative would be more suitable these days. Yeah. And then just very quickly, how do you think you would vote in a general election . I would probably vote conservative. Now, what about you there, judith . Conservative staying with the conservatives. Yes. Yes. Yes. Even though maybe a lot of the country is going to be looking towards labour. Thank you so much for sharing your view. We dont yet know who is going to be the east midlands mayor, and we dont yet know when a general election might be, but we know that local people here, at least in certain ashfield, are sticking to their guns and sticking to the conservatives. Okay, well, hollis , good to okay, well, hollis, good to see you. Thank you very much indeed. There are some rumours doing the rounds, as we heard got from some of our guests actually a little chat. There is a possibility that rishi sunak could call an election today. Yeah, im not sure about that. Ive very, very much doubt it. I dont think so. I dont think so. Itd be interesting if he did, though. Then wed probably get to go to the ballot in july, which would be nice, which would be nice because then get it out the way. Yes. I dont think hell do that. Hell wait to see all the results on the table sunday, but i think we could see something if im going to make a prediction next week. Really got nothing to base that on. No, just you just wonder how are they limping on now . Does something need to be done anyway . Do let us know what you think. Well see you very good morning to you. Its 9 30 on friday, the 3rd of may. This is britains newsroom on gb news with me. Ben. Leo and nana akua. So in a devastating blow for rishi sunak this morning, chris webb has been elected as the new labour mp for blackpool south. Terribly humbled. We had a record result here tonight and i promise the people of blackpool south i wont let them down. A spectacular win for labour here in blackpool today. Are we now in general election territory . Find out more with me very soon and there are more results in coming local elections, Mayoral Elections and police and Crime Commissioners. Police and Crime Commissioners