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
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.