conservatives at a general election. it is the way our voting system works at the moment, the rules under which we have to play, and that is why liberal democrats are the key challenges to the conservatives in many places around the country. fishy many places around the country. any predictions you would like to make now? i know we haven t had results from scotland, wales or northern ireland, but any predictions, any targets that we should be looking at? ., ., ., ., ., at? not from me, i m afraid, i don t like guessing at? not from me, i m afraid, i don t like guessing at at? not from me, i m afraid, i don t like guessing at numbers at? not from me, i m afraid, i don t like guessing at numbers thing - at? not from me, i m afraid, i don t like guessing at numbers thing is, l like guessing at numbers thing is, we should never take voters for granted, but there are a few surprises coming through, so i will be watching the results coming in, we will see what happens. [1.3ng we w
of play so far. our political correspondent helen catt has the story so far. a symbolic win for labour wandsworth in south london, tory for 44 years, until now. even in an election about local services, having the lowest council tax in the country didn t keep it blue. the cost of living crisis did come up, as did the massive cuts from the government since 2010. and also boris johnson. borisjohnson was a vote winner for labour, as indeed was keir starmer as well. and i remind you, huw, in 1998, a year after our landslide victory, we didn t win the seat in wandsworth. in 2002, after our landslide victory in 2001, we didn t win the seat in wandsworth, and we ve done it in 2022. wandsworth s former leader blamed the loss on the cost of living and said what he called the issue of borisjohnson was raised. that was echoed by tory councillors elsewhere. it s partygate, it s notjust partygate. there is the integrity issue. basically, ijust don t feel people any longer have the confidence
electoral success, because the evidence is not there that that is the case. ., ., , evidence is not there that that is the case. , evidence is not there that that is the case. ., .,, ., the case. yvette cooper saying that keir starmer s the case. yvette cooper saying that keir starmer s leadership the case. yvette cooper saying that keir starmer s leadership has - keir starmer s leadership has detoxified the brand in some parts of the country, citing the issue of anti semitism in issues cash in places like barnet, but around the rest of the country labour needs to win seats in the north of england, and we will come unto scotland in just a moment. there does obviously seem to be a lot of antipathy now towards boris johnson seem to be a lot of antipathy now towards borisjohnson and the conservative party, but are they embracing labour? conservative party, but are they embracing labour? well, this is the key question embracing labour? well, this is the key question going embr
holes that have shown a labour lead nationally, of course, although not a whole nation is voting, for some weeks. the question is, where do we go from here? labour would to present this as the beginning of their journey towards present this as the beginning of theirjourney towards downing street. the conservatives want to present this as a great reset, an opportunity to start again. the difficulty they have is that the cost of living crisis for many people has onlyjust begun. nine out of ten people have seen the cost of living rise in the last few months. but eight out of ten worry it is going to rise further in the coming months. if you couple that with all of the difficult indicators coming in, it present a difficult position for the conservatives because economic management, historically, has been so important in determining who people vote for in a general election. , . ~ who people vote for in a general election. , ., ~ ., 1, , election. lets talk about boris johnson s election.
from birmingham, in the midlands, very difficult to tell exactly what each of the main parties can take away from this. the cost of living is the key issue for everybody on the doorstep, taxes going up, inflation figures are soaring, and the bank of england, worryingly, hinting that it could be in recession by the end of the year. but it doesn t look yet as if we are seeing a clear picture of where voters are putting their trust in overall? , , ., , . overall? yes, it is a mixed picture, as inevitably overall? yes, it is a mixed picture, as inevitably these overall? yes, it is a mixed picture, as inevitably these local overall? yes, it is a mixed picture, as inevitably these local elections. as inevitably these local elections tend to be. you can always point to something that is good news, and they will probably be a fair bit of bad news as well for each party. the conservatives came out from the very beginning, talking about how they were looking at a bad night. they knew that