It depends how you count it. It depends who you are. If youre mark harper, who is a loyal ally of rishi sunak, you say, its all to play for. Or if you are Suella Braverman, former home secretary, you say on the telly, we might not have any mps left if rishi sunak doesnt change course. And if youre paul scully, whos another former minister who was also on our programme, you say, its all looking pretty terrible and the party needs to take a breath, show some humility and stick to the centre. So its not a very pretty set of realities, but there are differing realities, but not a very pretty set of realities for rishi sunak today. So i offerfrom radio 4 land today Gavin Barwell, who was theresa mays adviser. Now, of course, she saw a chance to go for an election and was then humbled by it, was then replaced as Prime Minister. He said the conservatives are on course for a defeat, possibly a huge one. But he said keir starmer is not loved, hasnt necessarily got the blair power. Henry, whats
They use this Phrase Country first, party second. Keir starmers argument is he has to behave as he sees a british Prime Minister should and hes taking the stance that he would as Prime Minister. But there is no doubt there is evidence to suggest that that has been difficult for labour in some places, particularly those with a significant muslim population. Theres a prominent independent candidate, as you say, here in this contest, who has had a particular view on the conflict and the uk governments outlook on the conflict. And its a point of difference with the labour party. Now the question is, speaking to labour folk here, to what extent are they former labour voters going in the direction of an independent or people who might be motivated to vote for the independents who would have not backed labour otherwise . We shall see. The other factor here that is acknowledged by labour is that the local authority, the council here in birmingham, not the whole region by a long chalk, but the
Well be discussing the tory party. Is it the end . As we know it . And if you are a fan of married at first sight, you will not want to miss star florist rosalind darlington, also known as ros. But before we get started, lets get your latest. News. Very good afternoon to you. Its just gone 3 00. And the top story this afternoon. Afternoon. Labour sources say they are confident that sadiq khan has won the mayoral contest in london. Thats despite the battle with conservative challenger susan hall being said to be closer than previously expected. Well, the count is well underway and so far mayor khan has won the five of six london boroughs due to declare susan hall has won just one of those officials have asked candidates to arrive at city hall for 430 this afternoon. So we can expect to have a declaration soon after that. We will bring that to you here on gb news. In total, seven contests are being announced today, with labour already retaining Liverpool City Region and south yorkshire.
Are we now . Its been a busy few hours. Where are we now . Yes, The Big Story so far this afternoon are we now . Yes, The Big Story so far this afternoon is are we now . Yes, The Big Story so far this afternoon is from are we now . Yes, The Big Story so far this afternoon is from the far this afternoon is from the capital, london, where sadiq khan is in a really good place. Let me show you the latest up to date numbers, which show that the incumbent is on 560,000 votes, just about. Susan hall, the conservative, is on 386,000, thats about half the constituencies having counted. That is a big lead. I should say that the areas weve had in, some of them are very proud labour. But the thing that really matters here, that makes us think it is a slam dunk for sadiq khan is this. The swing that we are seeing across london from the conservatives to labour. Its been slightly different in different parts of the city, but overall, the average at the moment, 3. 7 swing from conservative to labour.