BBC News Special

:00:07. > :00:09.I'm Gavin Esler, and welcome to Holyrood.

:00:10. > :00:12.Here in Scotland with nearly all the results in, Labour have been

:00:13. > :00:15.beaten into third place as the SNP claim victory

:00:16. > :00:20.in the Scottish Parliament elections.

:00:21. > :00:22.Nicola Sturgeon's party receives nearly half the vote -

:00:23. > :00:25.but may fall short of an overall majority.

:00:26. > :00:28.What we're seeing tonight is a huge vote of confidence in the SNP's

:00:29. > :00:30.record in government, and an enormous vote of trust

:00:31. > :00:36.in our ability to move the country forward.

:00:37. > :00:37.Ruth Davidson's Scottish Conservatives overtake Labour

:00:38. > :00:43.for the first time to become the main opposition.

:00:44. > :00:55.In England, Labour have put in a better performance

:00:56. > :01:00.Jeremy Corbyn's party have retained key councils in England and won two

:01:01. > :01:03.Hello, I'm Sian Lloyd at Cardiff Bay.

:01:04. > :01:05.Labour are set to remain the biggest party in Wales,

:01:06. > :01:15.Ukip win their first seats in the Welsh Assembly.

:01:16. > :01:20.And there's a stunning personal victory for the leader of

:01:21. > :01:24.We'll bring you all of the latest reaction and results

:01:25. > :01:56.It is a glorious morning in Edinburgh. Welcome to Election 2016.

:01:57. > :01:58.Results from regional and local elections have been coming

:01:59. > :02:01.in through the night across the UK - and will continue throughout

:02:02. > :02:04.It seems Labour losses have been fewer than some

:02:05. > :02:06.in the party had feared, and the Conservatives

:02:07. > :02:09.We're live at Holyrood - the home of the Scottish Parliament

:02:10. > :02:13.- where the Scottish National Party have won a third term in power.

:02:14. > :02:15.And with another meltdown in the Labour vote north

:02:16. > :02:17.of the border, it looks like the Conservatives will overtake

:02:18. > :02:23.them here to take second place and become the official opposition.

:02:24. > :02:25.As it stands, here in Scotland the SNP remain the largest

:02:26. > :02:38.The Conservatives are now the second largest party in Holyrood.

:02:39. > :02:40.They made gains, picking up an extra 14 seats,

:02:41. > :02:43.which means that they now have more representation in the Scottish

:02:44. > :02:47.Overall it was a bad night for Labour in Scotland - losing 12 MSPs.

:02:48. > :02:50.So far, with 80 authorities declared, Labour have fared better

:02:51. > :02:52.in the English local elections, managing to hold on to

:02:53. > :02:54.all but one of the 42 councils it was defending.

:02:55. > :02:57.Elsewhere it was a largely unchanged picture.

:02:58. > :03:01.In Wales, Labour suffered a 6% drop in its share of the vote,

:03:02. > :03:07.which cost them one seat in the Welsh Assembly.

:03:08. > :03:10.Despite that, they are set to remain the biggest party.

:03:11. > :03:12.Those losses at the expense of the Welsh nationalist

:03:13. > :03:16.Ukip have also won their first seats in the Welsh Assembly.

:03:17. > :03:18.Our political correspondent Iain Watson has been

:03:19. > :03:22.Scotland's First Minister, cheered by her own supporters

:03:23. > :03:25.in Glasgow when it became clear that the SNP would once again be

:03:26. > :03:29.the largest party by far in the Scottish Parliament.

:03:30. > :03:32.What we're seeing tonight is a huge vote of confidence in the SNP's

:03:33. > :03:35.record in government, and an enormous vote of trust

:03:36. > :03:39.in our ability to lead the country forward.

:03:40. > :03:41.But scratch beneath the surface, and the SNP victory

:03:42. > :03:46.Conservative leader Ruth Davidson has ambitions to lead

:03:47. > :03:48.the opposition in Scotland, replacing Labour, and she's coming

:03:49. > :03:55.And there was even a crumb of comfort for the

:03:56. > :04:00.They snatched a couple of seats from the Scottish nationalists.

:04:01. > :04:02.But for Labour, there was little to cheer about.

:04:03. > :04:07.The SNP maintained their surge at this party's expense.

:04:08. > :04:08.Former Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont was one

:04:09. > :04:16.The current leader, Kez Dugdale, campaigned on a platform

:04:17. > :04:18.Jeremy Corbyn would approve of, pledging better public services,

:04:19. > :04:24.The Labour leader himself is under pressure.

:04:25. > :04:27.Many of his own MPs were lining up to criticise him.

:04:28. > :04:30.But the party's performance was not as bad as expected.

:04:31. > :04:32.Labour retained two safe Parliamentary seats -

:04:33. > :04:38.And in the council elections, they didn't just hold on in northern

:04:39. > :04:41.heartlands but defied expectations on the south coast,

:04:42. > :04:49.retaining control in Southampton and in Hastings.

:04:50. > :04:50.But with fewer Labour councillors overall,

:04:51. > :04:54.some MPs are saying the results aren't good enough.

:04:55. > :04:59.There are a lot of brilliant Labour council candidates and Assembly

:05:00. > :05:02.members across the country tonight waking up who will not have a seat

:05:03. > :05:08.These elections should have been challenging for David Cameron,

:05:09. > :05:11.as members of his Cabinet now clash regularly over Europe.

:05:12. > :05:14.But even critics in his own party expect the Conservatives to end up

:05:15. > :05:17.with more councillors once all the results are in.

:05:18. > :05:20.Almost you become conditioned, a year into a government, to know

:05:21. > :05:23.that you're going to have a dreadful night sitting here and saying,

:05:24. > :05:25.well, they're not really as disastrous as they look.

:05:26. > :05:28.And in fact, this is very different from most programmes that I can

:05:29. > :05:31.remember one year into a government, because this is when the opposition

:05:32. > :05:37.Labour is expected to be the largest party in the Welsh Assembly,

:05:38. > :05:45.while Ukip has now won two seats there for the first time.

:05:46. > :05:52.It has been a big night of the Ukip, we are making breakthroughs in

:05:53. > :05:56.places like Wales, we have never had elected representation before. We

:05:57. > :05:57.also winning council seats in England, but coming almost

:05:58. > :05:58.everywhere. The results in London will not be

:05:59. > :06:01.declared until later today. Voters in Northern Ireland will have

:06:02. > :06:15.to wait until the weekend to get Just to confirm, we have the final

:06:16. > :06:19.results up the Scottish elections, the SNP have an historic third

:06:20. > :06:24.victory, with 63 seats in the Scottish Parliament. But that is two

:06:25. > :06:28.short of an overall majority. A Scottish parliament was not designed

:06:29. > :06:32.for any one party to have an overall majority, so you could say that what

:06:33. > :06:36.has been remarkable is that they have had that in the last few years,

:06:37. > :06:39.but they are just short, so there are questions about whether they

:06:40. > :06:44.will form a formal or informal coalition with other parties, or

:06:45. > :06:50.just work on an ad hoc basis in order to get the majority.

:06:51. > :06:53.The SNP now has 63 seats, the final result, and an extraordinary result

:06:54. > :06:58.the Ruth Davidson's Conservative Party north of the border, they have

:06:59. > :07:01.31 seats, they are the main opposition party in Scotland, a

:07:02. > :07:05.brand that many conservatives themselves would have said was toxic

:07:06. > :07:09.for many years, Ruth Davidson and her team have somehow managed to

:07:10. > :07:10.turn it around. Let's get more perspective on the nationwide

:07:11. > :07:11.elections. Our assistant political

:07:12. > :07:20.editor Norman Smith Norman, is there a consistent story

:07:21. > :07:24.or a series of rather different patterns in different parts of the

:07:25. > :07:28.country? Gulp there is a story, which is how little has changed

:07:29. > :07:35.overnight. That tells us a number of things. It tells us that Mr Corbyn

:07:36. > :07:42.is safe, for now. It tells us, too, of the deep doldrums into which

:07:43. > :07:46.Labour has already sunk. That might sound contradictory but, to some

:07:47. > :07:51.extent, Mr Corbyn's position is saved by the fact that expectations

:07:52. > :07:56.were so catastrophically low, projections he could lose 150 or so

:07:57. > :08:01.seats, so when he only losers around 25, his team are able to go, that

:08:02. > :08:05.was not so bad overall. But when you look at it in the normal narrative

:08:06. > :08:11.of politics you are looking at an opposition party after six years of

:08:12. > :08:18.a Government implementing pretty tough austerity in the wake of a

:08:19. > :08:22.near civil war over Europe, after a catastrophic general election

:08:23. > :08:29.defeat, still unable to make any progress. The slightly paradoxical

:08:30. > :08:33.situation is that that is perhaps the worst possible result for Mr

:08:34. > :08:38.Corbyn's critics, because they do not have the killer blow now to say,

:08:39. > :08:43.right, we had to go for him, he must be moved, because they can't point

:08:44. > :08:47.to a massive loss of seats. Then again, result simply confirm their

:08:48. > :08:51.conviction that they cannot win under Mr Corbyn. This uneasy

:08:52. > :08:59.stand-off in the Labour Party persists. A fairly acrimonious

:09:00. > :09:03.stand-off. Last night one of Mr Corbyn's key allies, Clive Lewis,

:09:04. > :09:09.said to critics, shut up or get out. I have had texts this morning from

:09:10. > :09:13.leading Corbyn critics saying, OK, he only has until next year, and if

:09:14. > :09:18.things do not turn around by then, he is out. The deputy leader of the

:09:19. > :09:24.party, Tom Watt is, this morning was urging people to be patient, not to

:09:25. > :09:31.rush judgment -- Tom Watson. I think that will buy this to call than some

:09:32. > :09:34.time. This is what Tom Watson said. Goodbye party members and even

:09:35. > :09:40.opponents would say that after only eight in office you have to give

:09:41. > :09:45.Jeremy more space to develop parties and the direction of the party. I

:09:46. > :09:49.just hope that my colleagues will understand that. They must respect

:09:50. > :09:56.the mandate that members gave Jeremy, to lead the party.

:09:57. > :10:00.I guess, for the Tories, some surprise and probably some

:10:01. > :10:04.satisfaction that they have lost one council, Worcester, but they have

:10:05. > :10:10.gained one, Peter Brown, and that is despite the bunfight over Europe

:10:11. > :10:22.raging around us, day after day. -- gained one, Peterborough.

:10:23. > :10:28.Potentially the Lib Dems average lot -- rock bottom and clawing their way

:10:29. > :10:32.up again. Ukip, piling up second places behind Labour in traditional

:10:33. > :10:38.Labour seats, first past the post stopping them from winning much,

:10:39. > :10:41.although they seem poised to gain around 40 councillors overall, and

:10:42. > :10:46.representation on the Welsh Assembly for the first time, so some progress

:10:47. > :10:51.for Ukip. Thank you very much, Norman.

:10:52. > :10:57.In the last few minutes the last few results have been declared in the

:10:58. > :11:00.Scottish election. The SNP have lost their overall majority, they are two

:11:01. > :11:01.seats short. In the first big test

:11:02. > :11:04.of public opinion since last year's general election,

:11:05. > :11:11.Labour has suffered The party is third in Scotland, the

:11:12. > :11:14.Tories are now the major opposition. Lorna Gordon has more.

:11:15. > :11:16.If she was feeling nervous, she didn't show it.

:11:17. > :11:18.Nicola Sturgeon, leading her party into the Holyrood elections

:11:19. > :11:21.for the first time, her personal appeal at the heart

:11:22. > :11:26.To seek and to win a mandate as the First Minister

:11:27. > :11:32.of our country is a special and very precious thing.

:11:33. > :11:34.I pledge that, over these next five years,

:11:35. > :11:41.I will govern in the interests of everyone in Scotland.

:11:42. > :11:44.Another party whose push for votes was based around their leader,

:11:45. > :11:50.Ruth Davidson, positioning her party as the defenders of the union.

:11:51. > :11:53.I am under no illusions that everyone in that seat who voted

:11:54. > :11:55.for me is a true blue, died in the wool Tory.

:11:56. > :11:58.They're not, and neither are they in places up and down Scotland.

:11:59. > :12:01.They are people who want us to do a very specific job,

:12:02. > :12:04.and it is a job that me and my new team of MSPs coming

:12:05. > :12:06.in take very seriously, and that is to hold

:12:07. > :12:12.For Labour, it was deja vu as one by one their seats fell.

:12:13. > :12:15.While this was a night of celebration for some,

:12:16. > :12:19.for Scottish Labour's Kezia Dugdale, it was one to endure.

:12:20. > :12:22.There is no doubt that the defeat for the Labour Party tonight

:12:23. > :12:25.is painful, but it is not the end of our campaign.

:12:26. > :12:28.We will continue to argue for Labour values, Labour ideas

:12:29. > :12:35.The work to renew the Scottish Labour

:12:36. > :12:38.Party so that it is fit to serve the people

:12:39. > :12:40.For the Liberal Democrats, their message

:12:41. > :12:42.that they would punch above their weight punched through,

:12:43. > :12:44.holding onto their seats in the Northern Isles,

:12:45. > :12:47.expanding their reach on the mainland.

:12:48. > :12:48.With the list votes still being counted,

:12:49. > :12:51.the final tally of seats for each party is not yet clear, but

:12:52. > :12:55.this was another successful night for the SNP, who are set for a third

:12:56. > :13:12.With me is our Scotland correspondent, Kevin Keane.

:13:13. > :13:20.That is for some perspective on these extraordinary results. The

:13:21. > :13:24.SNP, 63 seats, just short of an overall majority, but it is an

:13:25. > :13:27.extraordinary, historic performance. As are all of these results.

:13:28. > :13:32.Although at first glance it would look like the SNP did less well than

:13:33. > :13:37.they had expected, or less well than five years ago, in fact, they

:13:38. > :13:43.brought in around 156,000 more votes macro than the last time, and yet,

:13:44. > :13:48.as they say, they have wrought in fewer seats. That is because the way

:13:49. > :13:52.the system works, they have a second voting system, a list which counters

:13:53. > :13:56.the constituency vote, and because they have done better in the

:13:57. > :14:01.constituency they have much fewer of the list votes, overall they have

:14:02. > :14:05.come up with fewer seats even though they have polled more votes. For a

:14:06. > :14:09.party nine years into government, to still be increasing the number of

:14:10. > :14:15.votes they take in at this stage is quite some story. It is also worth

:14:16. > :14:19.reflecting on this truly amazing result for the Conservatives macro

:14:20. > :14:22.in Scotland, a brand which was considered by conservatives macro

:14:23. > :14:27.themselves almost to be toxic. You did not talk about being a Tory.

:14:28. > :14:32.Ruth Davidson has somehow turned that around. Whether that is by

:14:33. > :14:37.personality or what it is about, it is hard to quantify. That might be

:14:38. > :14:43.some of it. They have permeated, as well as the list, back into some

:14:44. > :14:47.areas that traditionally, pre-devolution, were conservative

:14:48. > :14:53.parklands. West Aberdeenshire, one was an MP in the 1980s, for a large

:14:54. > :14:58.period that was a conservative. The Lib Dems have held up their vote,

:14:59. > :15:02.they have free taken a seat in North East Fife which was a Liberal

:15:03. > :15:06.Democrat seat before the SNP took it over a few years ago -- they have

:15:07. > :15:13.retaken. They have almost doubled the amount of votes they have taken

:15:14. > :15:17.in and become the biggest -- second biggest party in Holyrood. With the

:15:18. > :15:22.Labour Party in Scotland, it has been a real disaster for them, as

:15:23. > :15:26.was predicted. But Kezia Dugdale has said she is in it for the long-term,

:15:27. > :15:30.they have lost the seats but she has talked about a five-year plan,

:15:31. > :15:34.unlike down in Westminster, as we know, there are lots of people in

:15:35. > :15:37.the parliamentary party unhappy at the leadership down there, there

:15:38. > :15:42.does not seem to be any noises off with the party Labour voters in

:15:43. > :15:45.Scotland calling for Kezia Dugdale to go, despite the size of the

:15:46. > :15:50.defeat she has suffered. Thank you. Scotland's First Minister Nicola

:15:51. > :15:53.Sturgeon said the SNP had made history by winning a third

:15:54. > :15:56.consecutive parliament election. What is now beyond doubt

:15:57. > :16:00.is that the SNP has won a third consecutive

:16:01. > :16:05.Scottish Parliament election. That has never been done

:16:06. > :16:07.before in the history It is a vote of confidence

:16:08. > :16:25.in the record in government of the SNP, and it is a vote

:16:26. > :16:31.of trust in the SNP to lead We in the SNP will always

:16:32. > :16:39.stand up for Scotland, and tonight Scotland has

:16:40. > :16:43.stood with us. And I want, in closing tonight,

:16:44. > :16:47.to make a pledge to every single To seek and to win a mandate

:16:48. > :16:56.as the First Minister of our country is a special

:16:57. > :17:00.and very precious thing. I pledge that, over

:17:01. > :17:07.these next five years, I will govern in the interests

:17:08. > :17:17.of everyone in Scotland. Joining me now is the Deputy First

:17:18. > :17:23.Minister of Scotland, John Swinney. But to see you, congratulations, a

:17:24. > :17:27.historic third win. I have to offer some commiserations that you did not

:17:28. > :17:31.get the overall majority? What came out of the election last night is a

:17:32. > :17:37.truly historic result. It was a third consecutive win of a Scottish

:17:38. > :17:42.Parliamentary election. No other party has ever done that. For the

:17:43. > :17:48.first time ever, a party has pulled 1 million votes in the constituency

:17:49. > :17:52.election, which the SNP did last night. So there is a tremendous

:17:53. > :17:55.amount to celebrate from what happened years today. That is borne

:17:56. > :17:59.out by the fact that we have continued to grow our votes and the

:18:00. > :18:05.number of constituency seats that we have won. Would you accept that the

:18:06. > :18:09.country is still split down the middle between those who are in

:18:10. > :18:13.favour of the union and those who are probably in favour of

:18:14. > :18:18.independence? So things have not changed dramatically in that sense?

:18:19. > :18:22.People have exercised their democratic choice across a range of

:18:23. > :18:26.issues and parties. The SNP has emerged as the largest political

:18:27. > :18:31.party, with 63 seats in the next Scottish Parliament. That's a

:18:32. > :18:38.commanding lead. Nobody has ever won as many constituency seats. The

:18:39. > :18:43.Conservatives now have a very strong voice, with Davidson says she will

:18:44. > :18:46.hold you to account. You add up the pro-union parties, and they are

:18:47. > :18:51.pretty much have the country. You can add up the parties on either

:18:52. > :18:55.side and you can see that the pro-independence parties have got a

:18:56. > :18:59.majority within the parliament. There are ways of looking at it. But

:19:00. > :19:05.I think the key point to reflect upon is that the Scottish National

:19:06. > :19:09.Party, after nine years in, government has gone into, come out

:19:10. > :19:16.as the leading political party, within a hairs breadth of having a

:19:17. > :19:19.Parliamentary majority. That is a great colossal achievement. Looking

:19:20. > :19:23.at it a different way, your supporters will expect you to move

:19:24. > :19:27.ahead with the biggest part of your agenda, which would be another

:19:28. > :19:32.referendum - do you have a mandate for that now? We set out that there

:19:33. > :19:34.has to be a consistent and significant demonstration of support

:19:35. > :19:40.for independence, and that would have to change from the position

:19:41. > :19:45.which was achieved in the referendum in September 2014. That change has

:19:46. > :19:48.not taken place, so we are not advancing the proposal of a second

:19:49. > :19:52.independence referendum. If we want to have one, we have to earn that

:19:53. > :19:55.right by persuading people in Scotland that independence

:19:56. > :19:58.represents the best way forward for our country. We set out to the

:19:59. > :20:02.people in Scotland a manifesto which was about delivering successful

:20:03. > :20:06.people in Scotland through rising educational attainment, through the

:20:07. > :20:09.quality of public services and through stimulating our economy.

:20:10. > :20:15.That is the programme for government which the SNP will concentrate on

:20:16. > :20:19.delivering. You have now got tax-raising powers. Labour said they

:20:20. > :20:23.would increase income tax by onep. You did not say that. What will

:20:24. > :20:28.change, as you try to offer something different? I'm sorry, I

:20:29. > :20:41.think we now have to go to the count in Llanelli. I, being the regional

:20:42. > :20:44.returning officer, hereby give notice that the number of votes

:20:45. > :21:02.recorded for each party is as follows... Abolish The Welsh

:21:03. > :21:26.Assembly... 10,000 707. Association Of Welsh Local Independence, 1032.

:21:27. > :21:43.Welsh Conservatives, 44,000 461. People First Fighting For Wales,

:21:44. > :21:55.1496. Plaid Cymru, the Party Of Wales, 56,754.

:21:56. > :22:16.The Official Monster Raving Loony Party, 1071. Ukip Wales, 25,042.

:22:17. > :22:42.Wales Green Party, 8222. Welsh Christian Party Proclaiming

:22:43. > :23:07.Christ's Lordship, 1103. Welsh Communist Party, 423. Welsh Labour,

:23:08. > :23:17.41,975. Welsh Liberal Democrats, 23,554.

:23:18. > :23:26.And I do thereby declare that the under mentioned are duly elected as

:23:27. > :23:37.the four members for the said electoral region.

:23:38. > :23:52.HE SPEAKS IN WELSH. Let's get a bit of perspective on this from our

:23:53. > :23:57.correspondent Sian Lloyd, who joins us from Cardiff bay. Yes, good

:23:58. > :24:01.morning to you from Cardiff bay, the home of the Welsh SMB. We were just

:24:02. > :24:07.seeing there the latest declaration coming in for the regional list of

:24:08. > :24:13.made and West Wales. Two Labour candidates are returned on that

:24:14. > :24:19.list, and also Neil Hamilton for Ukip. It has been a big story of the

:24:20. > :24:23.night here in Wales - Ukip, for the first time, will be presented here

:24:24. > :24:29.at the National Assembly. So far, they have picked up six seats on the

:24:30. > :24:34.regional list, which is the proportional representation element

:24:35. > :24:46.of the National Assembly. We can now listen to Neil Hamilton... Ukip has

:24:47. > :24:50.made a great breakthrough today, and I don't think that the politics of

:24:51. > :24:55.the assembly will ever be the same again. I have had enough experience

:24:56. > :24:59.of losing elections myself, or not being selected for seats, to know

:25:00. > :25:04.that with the joy of winning comes the heartache of not winning. And I

:25:05. > :25:09.would like first award to pay tribute to my running mate Gethin

:25:10. > :25:17.Jones, who did not quite make it today, but will make it one day - I

:25:18. > :25:22.hope not through my falling off my perch during my period of office,

:25:23. > :25:36.but through election next time round. I would also like to pay a

:25:37. > :25:40.tribute to Bill Powell, who has been a first-class member of the

:25:41. > :25:48.assembly, and it will be the poorer without him. This has been quite a

:25:49. > :25:54.surprising turn of events for me. I had not anticipated that at the age

:25:55. > :25:58.of 607I would once again be in it to public office, particularly as I had

:25:59. > :26:02.been liberated from it so spectacularly in 1997 by the

:26:03. > :26:07.electorate. But I came back into politics after that event for one

:26:08. > :26:10.thing, and one thing only, to free our country from the bonds of the

:26:11. > :26:15.European Union something for which I have been fighting ever since I

:26:16. > :26:27.joined the Ante-, Market Lead in 1960s seven. -- the Anti-, Market

:26:28. > :26:34.Lead. Our main aim, certainly in the next few weeks, is to ensure that we

:26:35. > :26:37.win the referendum, and that the whole of Britain, including Wales,

:26:38. > :26:44.is freed from the shackles of the EU. And Ukip is the only party

:26:45. > :26:50.standing in this election which had a chance of winning to take that

:26:51. > :26:55.stance. So, I thank all those who have worked so hard to make this day

:26:56. > :27:03.happen for me, not least my long-suffering wife...

:27:04. > :27:07.So, Neil Hamilton from Ukip will be taking up his seat here in Cardiff

:27:08. > :27:10.in the National Assembly for Wales. The party have said that they hope

:27:11. > :27:14.to be a breath of fresh air here, that it has been too cosy in the

:27:15. > :27:19.Welsh Assembly for too long. We will wait and see what impact they make.

:27:20. > :27:28.But Labour remain the dominant party here in Wales, with 29 seats.

:27:29. > :27:31.Waiting patiently, listening to all of that, is the Deputy First

:27:32. > :27:38.Minister of Scotland, John Swinney. One final point, an important one of

:27:39. > :27:42.the economy. Since 2008, the growth in the Scottish economy has been

:27:43. > :27:47.disappointing, less than other parts of the United Kingdom. You have now

:27:48. > :27:51.got some more powers, including the power to vary income tax and raise

:27:52. > :27:57.it if you wish, and you have set your face against that? What we have

:27:58. > :28:00.set out in our manifesto is the tax cuts which have been passed on by

:28:01. > :28:06.George Osborne to the people of the United Kingdom. But we will not pass

:28:07. > :28:10.them on in the fashion in which he has set them out. So, we propose to

:28:11. > :28:15.have a different threshold for higher rate taxpayers. That is an

:28:16. > :28:19.acknowledgement of the fact that we can use the tax powers differently

:28:20. > :28:23.to invest in our public services in Scotland. Part of that is to support

:28:24. > :28:27.and encourage development within the economy. The overwhelming majority

:28:28. > :28:32.of the time the SNP has been in power over the last nine years, we

:28:33. > :28:35.have had a higher employment rate in Scotland than in the rest of the

:28:36. > :28:39.United Kingdom. We have had higher employment, significant growth in

:28:40. > :28:44.productivity and much greater than the rest of the UK. That's all about

:28:45. > :28:49.taking investment decisions to strengthen the Scottish economy. I

:28:50. > :28:52.will have to cut you off, because I have been hearing that David

:28:53. > :28:55.Cameron, the Prime Minister, has congratulated with Davison on doing

:28:56. > :29:04.so well here in Scotland and is saying that she will, as she put it,

:29:05. > :29:09.hold her feet to the fire of the SNP. We will wait to hear whether

:29:10. > :29:18.your feet are burning, John! With more on the overall picture across

:29:19. > :29:24.the country, here is Annita McVeigh. Let's have a look at the overall

:29:25. > :29:29.picture in England. It remains largely unchanged. Labour managed

:29:30. > :29:34.successfully to remain in control in 41 out of 42 councils it was

:29:35. > :29:37.defending. That only defeat came in Dudley, which is now under no

:29:38. > :29:41.overall control. Looking at the share of the vote, you can see that

:29:42. > :29:47.it remains fairly stable for the Conservatives, but Labour have

:29:48. > :29:51.suffered a four-point drop with Ukip seeing a 6-point rise in its share

:29:52. > :29:55.of the vote. We can get some more analysis and reaction to all of this

:29:56. > :29:56.now with our assistant political editor, Norman Smith, at

:29:57. > :30:06.Westminster. Thank you. A lot of the focus has

:30:07. > :30:12.been an Labour, but the Tories have not made much progress either. They

:30:13. > :30:17.lost one council, Worcester, but they gain Peterborough. I am joined

:30:18. > :30:20.by the Communities Secretary, Greg Clark. Why haven't you made any

:30:21. > :30:24.progress since you seem to think you are facing a Labour Party in the

:30:25. > :30:32.terminal disarray? We made huge progress in Scotland. I think we are

:30:33. > :30:36.the principal opposition there, in numerical terms. Across the rest of

:30:37. > :30:42.England, I think we have done incredibly well, when you consider

:30:43. > :30:47.that, almost without exception, parties of Government lose ground to

:30:48. > :30:52.opposition, midterm. Here, it looks like we might even be ahead. The

:30:53. > :31:01.Labour share Robert votes is down 6%. Your share is also down 4%. --

:31:02. > :31:05.labour share of the vote is down. You expect to lose ground, but

:31:06. > :31:10.across the country we have maintained our grip on councils like

:31:11. > :31:14.Trafford, for example. Trafford, in the north-west of England, a

:31:15. > :31:21.bellwether marginal, lotsa bleeder people piling into that, we help

:31:22. > :31:27.but, we took Peter Brown. -- lots of Labour people piling into that. The

:31:28. > :31:31.opposition leader has changed and they are doing even worse. Doesn't

:31:32. > :31:37.did suggest that just one year after a general election, which you won

:31:38. > :31:44.fairly comfortably, you are rapidly losing support, down by 4% already?

:31:45. > :31:49.I disagree. If you look across the country, places that we held, we

:31:50. > :31:53.continue to hold. If you look up the challenge that we have had, it has

:31:54. > :31:59.fallen flat. Labour are going backwards when they should be going

:32:00. > :32:02.forwards. Portsmouth, a very important place, the Labour leader

:32:03. > :32:07.in Portsmouth said that the Jeremy Corbyn leadership is a disaster for

:32:08. > :32:10.him. This failure to connect with ordinary working people is

:32:11. > :32:14.confirming the choice that people made up the last general election,

:32:15. > :32:20.that the Conservatives offer the best chance of success for ordinary

:32:21. > :32:24.working people. If it was not for the result in Scotland, where you

:32:25. > :32:29.are now the official opposition, we would be talking about a

:32:30. > :32:33.Conservative Party in retreat. And in Scotland it is only, by and

:32:34. > :32:38.large, down to Ruth Davidson, who has often been a critic of Mr

:32:39. > :32:42.Cameron. The idea that a Government, six years in, would be making gains

:32:43. > :32:47.and holding the seats that we have... One Michael Foot was elected

:32:48. > :32:51.later of the Labour Party, in his first year he won 1000 seats. The

:32:52. > :32:57.average for a new opposition leader is to gain 500 seats. Senior Labour

:32:58. > :33:00.people have said they need to gain 400 seats. I think it is an

:33:01. > :33:04.extraordinary achievement for a Conservative Party on the sixth year

:33:05. > :33:10.of Government to do this right across the country, it has been a

:33:11. > :33:17.great night. Thank you. We will have to wait and watch for the result on

:33:18. > :33:21.the London mayoral election, which will shape how things are seen in

:33:22. > :33:25.the south of the country, the bruising contest between Sadiq Khan

:33:26. > :33:31.and Zac Goldsmith. Let's look at some other election

:33:32. > :33:41.news. Labour have held onto two Westminster seats in Parliamentary

:33:42. > :33:44.by-elections held yesterday. Labour was also successful in

:33:45. > :33:50.Liverpool, where Joe Anderson was re-elected mayor. The outcome of the

:33:51. > :33:54.mayoral contest in London, Salford and Bristol will not be known until

:33:55. > :33:58.later. London is set to declare in the late afternoon or evening.

:33:59. > :34:01.Voting took place yesterday for almost 40 police and crime

:34:02. > :34:07.commissioners across England and Wales. One result has been declared

:34:08. > :34:14.so far, Wiltshire, won by the Conservatives. The other results

:34:15. > :34:28.should be known later in the day. Then page, the chief executive of

:34:29. > :34:32.Ipsos MORI, joins me. -- Ben Page. Not so much polling day and is in a

:34:33. > :34:36.general election, but what are your thoughts? Labour have a massive hill

:34:37. > :34:40.to climb to win a general election. We have to be cautious, there is not

:34:41. > :34:43.a massive link between what happens in local elections in general

:34:44. > :34:51.elections, but the fact that the Conservatives have advanced in

:34:52. > :34:56.Scotland, Labour have lost seat, -- seats, if this continues, if the SNP

:34:57. > :35:00.Hamon in Parliamentary elections, with the boundary changes that will

:35:01. > :35:07.happen in English constituencies and throughout Britain, Labour pars lead

:35:08. > :35:15.in Britain is going to have to be 30 points ahead of the Conservatives to

:35:16. > :35:20.win -- 13 points. That is very, very hard. The fact that Labour has not

:35:21. > :35:26.lost hundreds of seats, which some had predicted, is fine, but it is

:35:27. > :35:30.also the first time since 1910 of Labour has come third in Scotland,

:35:31. > :35:34.this is probably the worst performance for an incoming Leader

:35:35. > :35:41.of the Opposition at a set of local elections. Shadow Chancellor says

:35:42. > :35:45.that Labour is laying the foundations, on a path. The other

:35:46. > :35:47.context is that Labour has been competing in these local elections

:35:48. > :35:51.with the Conservatives still in power after six years, the

:35:52. > :35:57.conservatives are divided over Europe. Looking at it through that

:35:58. > :36:01.prison, some people would say that Labour should be performing better.

:36:02. > :36:06.-- Conservatives are divided over Europe. Looking at it through that

:36:07. > :36:10.prism. They would hope to do better, the fact they are not suggest that

:36:11. > :36:13.nothing has changed. Labour are in a difficult position at the moment.

:36:14. > :36:18.This election does not give them much hope, except tonight, if the

:36:19. > :36:22.polls are correct, it is very likely that Sadiq Khan will be elected

:36:23. > :36:25.Mayor of London. Ringing you back this thing you

:36:26. > :36:31.mentioned in your first answer, an interesting foot note, there is

:36:32. > :36:35.virtually no relationship, polls have shown, between results of local

:36:36. > :36:40.elections like this and what goes on to happen in general elections?

:36:41. > :36:45.William Hay, in opposition to Tony Blair, won hundreds of seats and

:36:46. > :36:52.failed to win a general election. -- William Hague. Tony Blair regularly

:36:53. > :36:56.lost lots of local elections but won general elections handsomely. The

:36:57. > :37:00.key point is that most people do not vote NBC elections. We pay a lot of

:37:01. > :37:04.attention in Westminster, but in the country as a whole, most people have

:37:05. > :37:11.not voted. In the London mayoral elections last time, only 38 cents

:37:12. > :37:15.bothered voting. -- 38% bothered. I do not know what it will be tonight,

:37:16. > :37:23.but it might be less. It was a good night for Labour in

:37:24. > :37:28.Wales. They have 27 seats, they look like they will remain the biggest

:37:29. > :37:32.party. There was a shock personal win for Leanne Wood, who defeated

:37:33. > :37:37.Leighton Andrews in the battle for Rhondda. Ukip has won their first

:37:38. > :37:40.seats in the Welsh Assembly. Our correspondent Sian Lloyd

:37:41. > :37:53.is in Cardiff Bay. She can give is accurate and up to

:37:54. > :37:58.date Ukip figures? -- give us? Labour remained the biggest party in

:37:59. > :38:03.Wales, up to 29 votes after the regional list was declared for Mid

:38:04. > :38:09.and West Wales Wales. Ukip will have representation here. They are up to

:38:10. > :38:14.six members at the moment. The South Wales Central regional list has yet

:38:15. > :38:21.to declare. Labour has lost a seat to Plaid Cymru, Rhondda, Leanne Wood

:38:22. > :38:27.took that from Leighton Andrews. Plaid Cymru could be the second

:38:28. > :38:31.biggest party in Wales at the expense of the Conservatives. The

:38:32. > :38:34.Welsh Liberal Democrats, Kirsty Williams had a fantastic result for

:38:35. > :38:41.herself in her constituency, increasing her majority, but it

:38:42. > :38:47.looks like she will otherwise not be that happy with the results in

:38:48. > :38:53.Wales. Edwina Hart has been a driving force in Welsh Labour in the

:38:54. > :38:58.Welsh Assembly over the years, a former AM for Gower, you have

:38:59. > :39:03.retired, your seat remains Labour. What do you think of the

:39:04. > :39:06.performance, better than expected? I think everybody had worries, there

:39:07. > :39:12.was uncertainty with the electorate, but in the last couple of weeks the

:39:13. > :39:16.policy agenda was getting through, people respected Carwyn Jones as the

:39:17. > :39:20.leader and saw him as the leader. What about the shock result in

:39:21. > :39:24.Rhondda? I am not as shocked as everybody thinks we are shocked.

:39:25. > :39:29.There was a realisation that something was going on, Leanne Wood

:39:30. > :39:31.had a lot of national coverage in the general election and as a

:39:32. > :39:37.national leader, we have to remember that we did not win the Rhondda in

:39:38. > :39:43.1989. It does not look like Labour will have an overall majority, so

:39:44. > :39:48.what happens now? I know you will tell me, we will have to see how the

:39:49. > :39:54.dust settles and Carwyn Jones will take his time? You are absolutely

:39:55. > :39:58.right. It is important to recognise that 29 is 29, you can have a

:39:59. > :40:03.minority government, the Scottish National Party did once, you can

:40:04. > :40:06.govern if you get agreement on key issues around legislation and

:40:07. > :40:10.budget. I think the First Minister will take his time on this. There is

:40:11. > :40:17.another big vote on Europe shortly, it is very important that there are

:40:18. > :40:21.pro-European parties in the Assembly, we will be canvassing for

:40:22. > :40:27.a Yes vote. Type you to your feet up? I think it's is important to

:40:28. > :40:32.campaign for Europe if you believe in it, so I will be helping with the

:40:33. > :40:37.Yes vote campaign. I will be doing something about it. Rhodri are

:40:38. > :40:42.Poland, the political analyst, you have been watching the events

:40:43. > :40:49.unfold. What is the big story of the night? The result for the Labour

:40:50. > :40:55.Party, 29 seats. The most optimistic within the Labour Party, they would

:40:56. > :40:58.not have expected that. If we had told them yesterday they would win

:40:59. > :41:07.29, they would have been very happy. Kept all the constituency seat bar

:41:08. > :41:10.one, Rhondda was a shock. Apart from a common except all the

:41:11. > :41:16.key marginals, Cardiff North, Gallup, which was lost last year,

:41:17. > :41:20.they did a very good job indeed. A bad night for the Conservatives?

:41:21. > :41:25.Extremely disappointing. Last year they did so well, they won the veil

:41:26. > :41:31.of clue it and Gower, they went into the election optimistic. They were

:41:32. > :41:36.full of optimism at the conference. There is the steel crisis, Brexit,

:41:37. > :41:39.Panama Papers, it has not gone down well with the electorate on the

:41:40. > :41:44.doorstep, is a disappointing night, and there will be questions asked

:41:45. > :41:51.about the future of Andrew RT Davies. Ukip have picked it seats on

:41:52. > :41:54.the regional list, the element of proportional representation. They

:41:55. > :42:00.have said they will be a fresh breath of air, it has been too cosy

:42:01. > :42:04.the too long. Will they be a breath of fresh air, or disruptive? It will

:42:05. > :42:10.change the make-up of the assembly. We don't know how many seats they

:42:11. > :42:16.will get, seven is projected. They will spice things up, having Neil

:42:17. > :42:22.Hamilton and Mark Reckless in the chamber. Time will tell how they

:42:23. > :42:27.will behave and react. Will they react like the Conservatives in 1999

:42:28. > :42:33.who oppose the Assembly, will they be more like Peter Rogers and Rod

:42:34. > :42:40.Richards? Only time will tell. Thank you both for joining us.

:42:41. > :42:45.Thank you, Sian Lloyd. Let's get more on an historic win for the SNP

:42:46. > :42:50.in Scotland. Gavin Esler is at Holyrood.

:42:51. > :42:52.Results from regional and local elections continue to come in -

:42:53. > :42:55.and it seems Labour losses have been fewer than some in

:42:56. > :42:57.The Conservatives have made some gains.

:42:58. > :43:00.Here at Holyrood, the SNP has claimed victory in elections

:43:01. > :43:05.to the Scottish Parliament but falls short of an overall majority.

:43:06. > :43:07.Labour is set to be pushed into third place by a resurgent

:43:08. > :43:09.Scottish Conservative Party, while the Liberal Democrats

:43:10. > :43:13.With me here is Tom Gordon, Scottish political editor at The Herald,

:43:14. > :43:20.and Severin Carrell, Scotland editor for the Guardian.

:43:21. > :43:28.Good to see you. What did you pick out as the big headline? Easily, the

:43:29. > :43:33.SNP did win, they lost their majority overall. But the headline

:43:34. > :43:38.for most of us is the Conservative revival, which seemed unthinkable

:43:39. > :43:41.even a few years ago, that the Conservatives would double their

:43:42. > :43:44.representation in the parliament in a single election. It has been an

:43:45. > :43:50.extraordinary campaign, they had a very simple, clear and strip down

:43:51. > :43:55.message, vote for us and we will resist the SNP and a push for a

:43:56. > :44:00.second independence vote, which has resonated with many. I was going to

:44:01. > :44:05.as Severin whether it is the Conservative Party or the Ruth

:44:06. > :44:08.Davidson Party? This is one of the fascinating things about the

:44:09. > :44:13.Scottish election, it has revolves heavily around personalities, Nicola

:44:14. > :44:16.Sturgeon for the SNP and Ruth Davidson, it was her campaign, she

:44:17. > :44:22.led from the front, her name all over the literature. She has pulled

:44:23. > :44:24.off a quite remarkable turnaround for the Scottish Tories, forcing

:44:25. > :44:28.Labour into third place for the first time in 100 years is quite

:44:29. > :44:33.human dating for the Labour Party and an extraordinary victory for

:44:34. > :44:38.Ruth Davidson. She won Edinburgh Central, a constituency seat she had

:44:39. > :44:41.not really campaigned for. Where will this leave the Labour Party?

:44:42. > :44:46.Some people have said it could be a wipe-out next year, in Glasgow,

:44:47. > :44:51.which has been run by Labour in my lifetime. No Labour councillors, he

:44:52. > :44:58.said. We don't know if they have hit rock bottom, they are at their

:44:59. > :45:05.lowest at, but there are county elections next year. They have some

:45:06. > :45:09.elections in bastions like Glasgow. The SNP could pick them off.

:45:10. > :45:13.Labour's problems are probably not over. Is this to do with Jeremy

:45:14. > :45:24.Corbyn, or is it different? Firstly, Kezia Dugdale is the

:45:25. > :45:28.youngest, least experienced leader among the Scottish parties. She has

:45:29. > :45:31.not yet got that relationship with the Scottish voters. The other

:45:32. > :45:36.problem is that Jeremy Corbyn was not actually part of the campaign.

:45:37. > :45:44.He made only a couple of appearances, in party only events.

:45:45. > :45:52.On the doorstep, voters are looking at Jeremy Corbyn, and also at the

:45:53. > :45:59.John man, Ken Livingstone, feud last week, which was deeply damaging for

:46:00. > :46:05.especially eastward, the part of Scotland with the largest Jewish

:46:06. > :46:14.community. This was a seat held by Jim Murphy as well. What do you make

:46:15. > :46:26.of the way forward for the SNP? -- Eastwood. They have experience here.

:46:27. > :46:30.From 2007 to 2011, they had a majority of just a single seat and

:46:31. > :46:33.they managed to work very well. I am quite certain they will go back to

:46:34. > :46:36.another minority government. They will work issue by issue with the

:46:37. > :46:41.other parties. The interesting things will be on the budget,

:46:42. > :46:43.because the SNP are closely aligned with the Conservatives in wanting

:46:44. > :46:48.very, very Limited tax changes. The other parties - the Liberal

:46:49. > :46:55.Democrats, Labour and the Greens - all want higher taxes and will push

:46:56. > :47:00.for that. And on fracking, which is a massive issue in Scotland, huge

:47:01. > :47:07.swathes of the central belt are ripe for fracking, and the Conservatives

:47:08. > :47:12.oppose it. We will have to see what the SNP do, if they do a deal there.

:47:13. > :47:19.In terms of the big issue of independence, where is that now?

:47:20. > :47:25.Kezia Dugdale said, we have moved on from that, but it seems that maybe

:47:26. > :47:28.the voters have not only I actually think this result is a setback for

:47:29. > :47:35.the independence movement. If you add together the Scottish National

:47:36. > :47:38.Party and the Greens, you have 69 pro-independence SNP is, nominally.

:47:39. > :47:43.But neither party put a demand for independence or for a referendum in

:47:44. > :47:48.their manifesto this time around. I think Nicola Sturgeon will look at

:47:49. > :47:52.these results and think, this is actually a bit of a setback. I have

:47:53. > :47:57.not matched Alex Salmond's remarkable result from 2011. And I

:47:58. > :48:02.think she will be much more focused on domestic issues like the new tax

:48:03. > :48:06.powers, the new welfare powers, and she will have to start building on a

:48:07. > :48:11.much more long-term agenda. As you well know, two months away from

:48:12. > :48:17.whether we exit the European Union or not, and Scotland again has a

:48:18. > :48:19.different flavour, it would appear? Yes, like London, Scotland seems

:48:20. > :48:26.overwhelmingly in favour of remaining in the EU. Even this issue

:48:27. > :48:30.is viewed through the independence prism in Scotland. If there is a

:48:31. > :48:35.mismatch in results, Scotland voting to stay in, the rest of the UK

:48:36. > :48:38.voting to leave the EU, would that trigger a second independence

:48:39. > :48:44.referendum? I think that has become a less likely prospect because of

:48:45. > :48:48.what has been a kind of a setback. Nicola Sturgeon will wonder if she

:48:49. > :48:53.has actually fuelled a pro-independence backlash, which the

:48:54. > :48:57.Conservatives have managed to capitalise on? She spoke about

:48:58. > :49:01.independence of a lot during the campaign, especially during the last

:49:02. > :49:05.few days. With Davidson comes along and says, we will resist any move to

:49:06. > :49:15.independence. And she has done very well on the back of that. We can get

:49:16. > :49:20.the big picture from Westminster now, with Norman Smith. Rock star.

:49:21. > :49:24.We are now going through some of the details to give us a bit more sense

:49:25. > :49:28.of what has happened. Jerry Corbyn has been keen to stress that by and

:49:29. > :49:32.large, they have held their ground and managed to hold onto councils

:49:33. > :49:36.which might have been vulnerable, in the south and the Midlands, places

:49:37. > :49:41.like Southampton, Redditch, Crawley, Cannock Chase. But when you get into

:49:42. > :49:46.some of the detail, in those critical middle England consoles,

:49:47. > :49:52.places like Bury, Tamworth and Nuneaton, Labour are still losing

:49:53. > :49:58.councillors. Interestingly, Nuneaton, which was regarded as one

:49:59. > :50:04.of the bellwether seats in the last election, again, Labour are still

:50:05. > :50:08.losing votes. In 11% swing from Labour to the Conservatives. Now,

:50:09. > :50:11.what Mr Corbyn's critics are saying is that this underlines the extent

:50:12. > :50:19.to which the party is still failing to reach out and engage with

:50:20. > :50:25.centrist voters. The line from Jeremy Corbyn's team is, it is still

:50:26. > :50:28.early days, give your man time. But I sense among his critics there is a

:50:29. > :50:33.view that nothing will change, no matter how much time Mr Corbyn is

:50:34. > :50:38.given. So in a funny sort of way, the uneasy stand-off within the

:50:39. > :50:44.Labour Party continues, despite last night's results, with Mr Corbyn's

:50:45. > :50:48.team saying in effect, we are gradually establishing ourselves,

:50:49. > :50:51.give us time, and his critics saying, no, this confirms everything

:50:52. > :50:56.we have said about you. As for the other parties, the Conservatives I

:50:57. > :51:01.have no doubt will draw some satisfaction that despite the euro

:51:02. > :51:05.war howling around, they have by and large managed to cling on. They have

:51:06. > :51:10.lost one council, Worcester, and kicked up another one, Peterborough.

:51:11. > :51:13.The Liberal Democrats will draw some satisfaction I would think from the

:51:14. > :51:18.sense that they have not lost a whole load of seats, which they have

:51:19. > :51:23.managed to do spectacularly well in recent elections. And Ukip - well,

:51:24. > :51:27.frustration in the sense that they believe they are hoovering up

:51:28. > :51:31.disgruntled Labour votes, but not in sufficient quantity to win Labour

:51:32. > :51:36.seats, because the first-past-the-post system still

:51:37. > :51:39.seems to be keeping a lid on them, albeit they are looking to get

:51:40. > :51:45.around I think about 40 new councils.

:51:46. > :51:53.Norman Smith, thank you very much. One of the big stories in Scotland

:51:54. > :51:55.over the past few years has been that younger voters can vote. It

:51:56. > :52:00.happened with the Scottish referendum campaign. It did not

:52:01. > :52:04.happen in the general election, which has different rules, but it

:52:05. > :52:10.did happen in this campaign. I am now joined by three younger voters.

:52:11. > :52:22.All part of the BBC's Generation 2016. Megan, 18, this was your first

:52:23. > :52:27.vote? Yes. What did you vote? I voted for Scottish Labour. What was

:52:28. > :52:32.your rationale? My biggest issue was education, and they have promised to

:52:33. > :52:36.put in more money to education. That was the deciding factor for me. Did

:52:37. > :52:40.you vote with enthusiasm in this election? It is certainly true that

:52:41. > :52:44.over the past couple of years, since the independence referendum, people

:52:45. > :52:50.of your age have thought to themselves, politics is important?

:52:51. > :52:54.Yes, definitely. The referendum got me to take a bigger interest in

:52:55. > :52:58.politics, and I have seen it with my friends as well. I have been looking

:52:59. > :53:08.into different party policies and manifestos. What about you? I

:53:09. > :53:11.decided to vote Liberal Democrat. Similarly to Megan, it was because

:53:12. > :53:18.of their policies on education and also on the NHS and mental health.

:53:19. > :53:22.For a first-time voter, it was a hard decision and I did not make it

:53:23. > :53:27.until yesterday's. Was it a big moment for you, putting those

:53:28. > :53:31.crosses in the boxes? Yes, I have always really loved politics. I have

:53:32. > :53:37.been waiting for the day when I could vote since I was probably

:53:38. > :53:41.five! You're saying that you're a teenage veteran of politics already!

:53:42. > :53:45.You did not mention independence - was that not something you thought

:53:46. > :53:50.about or was it in the back of your mind? For me, it is something which

:53:51. > :53:54.has been discussed a lot and I think it is not really something that we

:53:55. > :53:58.need to be thinking about in the very near future. There is more

:53:59. > :54:04.important issues, in my opinion. Stuart Cummings you've voted SNP -

:54:05. > :54:13.why did you choose to vote for them? After the 2011 election, I was not

:54:14. > :54:18.able to vote in that... I thought it was best to see those policies to

:54:19. > :54:24.fruition. But were you attracted by their policies on some of the issues

:54:25. > :54:28.which Megan was talking about, like education, or is independence the

:54:29. > :54:33.big issue for you? It was mainly education and social policies.

:54:34. > :54:38.Independence was a factor the last time I voted, in the general

:54:39. > :54:41.election. I realised now that it is perhaps best to leave that

:54:42. > :54:44.particular subject alone for a while, because there are other

:54:45. > :54:49.things which need doing first. And some thoughts about your age group -

:54:50. > :54:54.how engaged other people? I know there is a view, or a prejudice, you

:54:55. > :54:58.might think, that teenagers do not care, are not interested in

:54:59. > :55:04.politics. What about your friends and yourselves? I disagree. I think

:55:05. > :55:08.people our age are really interested. Maybe it was the

:55:09. > :55:13.referendum which did it, but I have found that my friends at home and at

:55:14. > :55:15.university, even the ones who are not from Scotland, have really taken

:55:16. > :55:23.an interest in different party policies. I was struck listening to

:55:24. > :55:28.you, you actually studied the policies. I know a lot of people

:55:29. > :55:32.three times your age who do not study policies. Did you really give

:55:33. > :55:36.it that much attention? Yes, because I did not want to just waste my vote

:55:37. > :55:41.which I had only just got. I really wanted to look into what everybody

:55:42. > :55:45.was saying. Do any of you have an idea that you would like to pursue

:55:46. > :55:50.some kind of public office or run for election? I would like to add

:55:51. > :55:54.some point. My plan is to go into teaching for a while and then after

:55:55. > :55:58.that hopefully go into politics. I'm not sure whether it will be at

:55:59. > :56:03.Scottish level or at a national level, but I would like to go into

:56:04. > :56:08.it. What about the others? I think I would possibly not like to be an MP

:56:09. > :56:13.because it seems quite brutal. I would love to be a correspondent and

:56:14. > :56:17.get to challenge the MPs and politicians, whilst being impartial.

:56:18. > :56:21.It has been a pleasure talking to all of you. The weather is rather

:56:22. > :56:25.glorious here in Edinburgh. We will have all the election headlines

:56:26. > :56:27.coming up. First a look at the weather across the nation, with John

:56:28. > :56:38.Hammond. Most of us will have a fantastic

:56:39. > :56:43.weekend but there will be some exceptions. For a few of us it will

:56:44. > :56:52.stay cloudy and dull. And for a very few of us, there will be some

:56:53. > :56:55.thunderstorms, so watch this space. Most of this cloud is very high and

:56:56. > :57:01.it will not stop the sun getting through. Bright sunshine across more

:57:02. > :57:07.southern parts of the UK. It is here where we will have the highest

:57:08. > :57:11.temperatures. It reached 22 degrees yesterday's, and I fancy some places

:57:12. > :57:26.could hit 24 to the west of London this afternoon. A little bit of

:57:27. > :57:37.cooler near the coasts. The North Sea coasts will be cooler. All eyes

:57:38. > :57:40.to the south over the next day or so. This developing low pressure

:57:41. > :57:43.will start throwing some cloud and showers up towards us, initially

:57:44. > :57:51.across the far south-west of England. Then moving across the

:57:52. > :58:03.Irish sea. Not as chilly as some places had last night. Then we could

:58:04. > :58:06.see some really intense thunderstorms developing across the

:58:07. > :58:10.heart of England and Wales. Very hit and miss, but if you catch one, you

:58:11. > :58:15.will know all about it. Warmer across the southern half of the UK,

:58:16. > :58:19.every bit as warm as today. Northern half of the UK, cooler. There will

:58:20. > :58:31.be a notable easterly breeze coming off the North Sea. Here, it could

:58:32. > :58:37.stay quite grey and murky for much of the afternoon. But that will be

:58:38. > :58:44.the exception, most of us will have plenty of fine weather. Sunday,

:58:45. > :58:47.again, fine and dry for most. But we could again have some isolated but

:58:48. > :58:55.intense than the storms developing. Very difficult to nail down a

:58:56. > :58:59.position. Possibly up to 26 degrees across the London area. Into the

:59:00. > :59:01.early part of next week, it starts to turn more unsettled, with some

:59:02. > :00:02.rain. I'm Gavin Esler, and

:00:03. > :00:05.welcome to Holyrood. Here in Scotland with all

:00:06. > :00:08.the results in, Labour have been beaten into third place as the SNP

:00:09. > :00:11.claim a historic third victory in the Scottish

:00:12. > :00:15.Parliament elections. Nicola Sturgeon's party receives

:00:16. > :00:17.nearly half the vote - but falls two seats short

:00:18. > :00:38.of an overall majority. We are seeing an enormous vote of

:00:39. > :00:40.confidence in the SNP's record in government, and an enormous boat of

:00:41. > :00:41.trust in our ability to lead the country forward.

:00:42. > :00:43.Ruth Davidson's Scottish Conservatives overtake Labour

:00:44. > :00:45.for the first time to become the main opposition.

:00:46. > :00:51.In England, Labour fends off challengers to retain control of an

:00:52. > :00:53.above key councils. Jeremy Corbyn's party have retained

:00:54. > :00:56.key councils in England and won two But some figures say here's failing

:00:57. > :01:02.to win the centre ground. -- he is. Hello, I'm Sian Lloyd

:01:03. > :01:04.at Cardiff Bay. Labour remain the biggest party

:01:05. > :01:06.in Wales, though their Ukip win their first seats

:01:07. > :01:09.in the Welsh Assembly, And there's a stunning personal

:01:10. > :01:13.victory for the leader of Plaid We'll bring you all of the latest

:01:14. > :01:19.reaction and results Good morning and welcome

:01:20. > :01:47.to Election 2016. I am at the Scottish Parliament in

:01:48. > :01:50.Holyrood. A clear picture has emerged of how

:01:51. > :01:52.the parties have fared in yesterday's local

:01:53. > :01:54.and regional elections - though results will continue

:01:55. > :01:56.to come in through the day. The Tories have made gains,

:01:57. > :01:59.and Labour has suffered some big losses - including in Scotland,

:02:00. > :02:02.where they're now the third party. We're live at Holyrood,

:02:03. > :02:06.the home of the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish National Party has won

:02:07. > :02:09.a third term but loses So here in Scotland the SNP remain

:02:10. > :02:18.the largest party with 63 MSPs. The Conservatives are now the second

:02:19. > :02:21.largest party in Holyrood, picking up an extra 16 seats,

:02:22. > :02:24.which means that they now have more representation in

:02:25. > :02:28.the Scottish Parliament than Labour. Overall it was a bad night for

:02:29. > :02:33.Labour in Scotland, losing 13 MSPs. So far, with 80 authorities

:02:34. > :02:36.declared, Labour have fared better in the English local elections,

:02:37. > :02:39.managing to hold on to all but one of the 42 councils it was defending,

:02:40. > :02:45.despite losing dozens of seats. In Wales, Labour remains the largest

:02:46. > :02:49.party despite a drop in its share of the vote,

:02:50. > :02:51.which cost it one seat at the expense of the Welsh

:02:52. > :02:55.nationalist party, Plaid Cymru. Ukip had a very good night in Wales,

:02:56. > :02:59.securing six new members to the Welsh Assembly in return

:03:00. > :03:03.for 14% of the vote. Our political correspondent

:03:04. > :03:10.Carole Walker has been -- Ian Watson has been following the

:03:11. > :03:27.story so far. The SNP felt shorter than overall

:03:28. > :03:31.majority. We are seeing a huge vote of confidence in the SNP peers

:03:32. > :03:35.record in government and enormous trust in our ability to lead the

:03:36. > :03:39.country forward. Scratch beneath the surface, and the

:03:40. > :03:44.SNP victory was not the only story. Conservative leader with Davidson

:03:45. > :03:48.has ambitions to lead the opposition in Scotland, replacing Labour, and

:03:49. > :03:52.is coming close to fulfilling them. A crumb of comfort for the Billy

:03:53. > :03:56.goat Lib Dems, snatching a couple of seats from the Scottish

:03:57. > :04:00.Nationalists. Little to cheer about four Labour,

:04:01. > :04:07.the SNP retained its surge at this party's expense. Johann Lamont was

:04:08. > :04:12.one of the political victims. Kez Dugdale campaigned on a platform

:04:13. > :04:16.Jeremy Corbyn would approve of, better public services paid for by

:04:17. > :04:19.higher taxes. The Labour leader himself is under

:04:20. > :04:24.pressure, many of his own MPs lined up to criticise him, but the party's

:04:25. > :04:29.performance was not as bad as expected. Labour retain two safe

:04:30. > :04:33.Parliamentary seats, one in England, one in Wales. In the council

:04:34. > :04:39.elections they did not just hold on to the northern heartlands but

:04:40. > :04:42.defied expectations in the south coast, retaining control in

:04:43. > :04:46.Southampton and Hastings. With fewer Labour councillors

:04:47. > :04:53.overall, some MPs say the results are not good enough. We should have

:04:54. > :04:56.been making games, there are lots of brilliant local Labour council

:04:57. > :05:00.candidates who will be waking up, not having a seat that they should

:05:01. > :05:03.have had. These elections will be challenging the David Cameron, as

:05:04. > :05:10.members of his Cabinet clash regularly over Europe.

:05:11. > :05:14.Do you have almost become conditioned, one year into a

:05:15. > :05:18.government, to know you will have a dreadful night, but sitting here and

:05:19. > :05:23.saying they are not as disastrous as they were, this is very different

:05:24. > :05:25.from most programmes that I can remember, one year into a

:05:26. > :05:30.government, because that is when the opposition normally makes their big

:05:31. > :05:33.day. Labour will be the biggest party in Wales, but Ukip will

:05:34. > :05:38.celebrate their first ever Welsh Assembly seats. It has been a big

:05:39. > :05:42.night, we are making breakthroughs into places like Wales, we have

:05:43. > :05:45.never had a leg and representation before. We are winning council seats

:05:46. > :05:51.in England and coming second almost everywhere. -- we have never had

:05:52. > :05:54.elected representation before. Voters will have to wait until the

:05:55. > :05:56.weekend to get the full picture in Northern Ireland.

:05:57. > :05:57.Our assistant political editor Norman Smith

:05:58. > :06:10.Is it possible to look at these rather varied results and draw

:06:11. > :06:13.anyone big picture conclusion? The one big picture that I draw is that

:06:14. > :06:18.these were the standstill elections. Pretty much for every party, none of

:06:19. > :06:23.them went anywhere and nothing much at all changed south of the border.

:06:24. > :06:28.A different story in Scotland, but south of the border it is a

:06:29. > :06:32.standstill election, really. That tells us a story. From the Labour

:06:33. > :06:37.side, it is possibly the worst conceivable result the Mr Corbyn

:06:38. > :06:40.Haas critics, because it is not sufficiently disastrous to provide

:06:41. > :06:44.them with a trigger to mount a challenge against Mr Corbyn, but it

:06:45. > :06:47.is bad enough to confirm their worst fears that they have no chance of

:06:48. > :06:53.winning a general election under him. They find themselves in a limbo

:06:54. > :06:58.land, unable to move against him but at the same time terrified that he

:06:59. > :07:02.is leading them to catastrophe. Mr Corbyn's people have drawn a huge

:07:03. > :07:07.sigh of relief, there has not been the massive loss of seats and

:07:08. > :07:12.councils projected. He might lose about 25 or so, that is bad in

:07:13. > :07:17.historic terms because at this time in the Parliament, one year after an

:07:18. > :07:21.election with a Tory party ripping itself to shreds over Europe and

:07:22. > :07:27.after years and years of austerity, he ought to be clawing away at them,

:07:28. > :07:32.pulling seats back. That is not happening. As for the Tories, I

:07:33. > :07:37.suspect they, too, like Mr Corbyn are thinking, view, because in the

:07:38. > :07:44.wake of a budget which has seen wrangling over academies and

:07:45. > :07:49.disability benefits, spats over steel industry, and less grief on

:07:50. > :07:54.the Tory side, they have managed to hold their ground. They lost

:07:55. > :07:58.Worcester council, they picked up another in Peterborough. In Scotland

:07:59. > :08:01.they have a spectacular advance. The extent to which that is down to the

:08:02. > :08:06.personality of Ruth Davidson and the way she has reshaped the sections of

:08:07. > :08:10.the Tory party in Scotland is open to debate. The Lib Dems, my take is

:08:11. > :08:15.that maybe they have finally reached rock bottom. They look as if they

:08:16. > :08:23.will gain a few councils after years of haemorrhaging hundreds. Same old

:08:24. > :08:27.story in Ukip, piling up votes in traditional Labour seats but unable

:08:28. > :08:30.to win because of the first past the post system, hugely frustrating for

:08:31. > :08:35.them, meaning that at the end of the day they might end up with 40 or so

:08:36. > :08:40.councillors had not the significant breakthrough they might have hoped

:08:41. > :08:44.for. You have a very mixed picture

:08:45. > :08:48.throughout the country, Ukip doing very well in Wales, coming nowhere

:08:49. > :08:52.in Scotland. We still don't know about the London mayoral election,

:08:53. > :08:56.but London almost seems to be its own country. Different parts of the

:08:57. > :09:01.country are devolved, politically, at least in their intentions,

:09:02. > :09:05.perhaps, if not in the way that politics is run? I think that is

:09:06. > :09:10.very true. That is another reason why Mr Corbyn Haas critics, I would

:09:11. > :09:15.suggest, are stymied. Catastrophic though the result in Scotland may

:09:16. > :09:18.be, even the Mr Corbyn said it would be a priority for him, he would go

:09:19. > :09:22.up there once a month and the hope was that are more left-leaning

:09:23. > :09:27.Labour leader would reconnect the party in Scotland, catastrophic

:09:28. > :09:32.though the result is, he can kind of say, hang on a second, there is an

:09:33. > :09:36.historic generational collapse in the Labour vote which happened way

:09:37. > :09:41.before me, it will take years to put right. Don't delay that at my

:09:42. > :09:45.doorstep. Similarly, in London, London is almost a country in its

:09:46. > :09:50.own right, politically, with its own mood and temperature. This took all

:09:51. > :09:54.that has drawn a lot of support from London, but interestingly, Sadiq

:09:55. > :09:59.Khan has gone out of his way to say, hey, the ad you are not travelling

:10:00. > :10:03.in the same direction. He has chosen to distance himself from Mr Corbyn

:10:04. > :10:08.-- me and you are not travelling in the same direction. Mr Corbyn is

:10:09. > :10:11.insulated from these results, to some extent, because other factors

:10:12. > :10:17.could explain what is going on in parts of the country. For that

:10:18. > :10:20.reason, is respect he will carry on. The big question is whether his

:10:21. > :10:24.critics settled down and accept that they will just have to lump this, or

:10:25. > :10:29.whether they will regroup and prepare to come back, maybe after

:10:30. > :10:33.European referendum, I doubt it, or maybe after the local elections next

:10:34. > :10:35.year. Very interesting, Norman, thank you

:10:36. > :10:38.for joining us. In the last few minutes the last

:10:39. > :10:41.results have been declared in the Scottish parliamentary

:10:42. > :10:43.election - and the SNP have And it was a bruising night

:10:44. > :10:47.for Labour in Scotland, in the first big test of public

:10:48. > :10:49.opinion since Jeremy Labour's now third in Scotland,

:10:50. > :10:53.and Tory gains mean they're now Our Scotland correspondent

:10:54. > :10:55.Lorna Gordon has more. If she was feeling nervous,

:10:56. > :10:57.she didn't show it. Nicola Sturgeon leading her party

:10:58. > :11:00.into the Holyrood elections Her personal appeal at the heart

:11:01. > :11:06.of the SNP campaign. To seek and to win a mandate

:11:07. > :11:09.as the First Minister of our country is a special and very

:11:10. > :11:16.precious thing. I pledge that over these next five

:11:17. > :11:20.years I will govern in the interests Another party whose push for votes

:11:21. > :11:27.was based around their leader, Ruth Davidson positioning her party

:11:28. > :11:41.as the defenders of the union. Now I'm under no illusions that

:11:42. > :11:43.everyone in that seat that voted for me is a true blue,

:11:44. > :11:46.dyed in the wool Tory. And neither are they in places

:11:47. > :11:50.up and down Scotland. They are people who want us to do

:11:51. > :11:52.a very specific job, and it's a job that me and my team

:11:53. > :11:56.of new MSPs coming in take exceptionally seriously,

:11:57. > :11:58.and that is to hold the Scottish National

:11:59. > :11:59.Party to account. For Labour it was deja vu as one

:12:00. > :12:05.by one their seats fell. They were putting our neighbour

:12:06. > :12:07.brave face, but disappointment behind the smiles.

:12:08. > :12:09.Our defeat is painful, but it is not the end,

:12:10. > :12:14.we will continue to argue for our values and principles.

:12:15. > :12:25.There is work to renew the party so it is fit to serve the country.

:12:26. > :12:30.For the Liberal Democrats, their message that they would punch above

:12:31. > :12:33.their weight punched through, holding onto their seats in the

:12:34. > :12:38.Northern Isles, expanding their reach on the mainland. The SNP won

:12:39. > :12:42.fewer seats than the polls predicted, they will have to form a

:12:43. > :12:45.minority Government or enter coalition. But it has still been a

:12:46. > :12:47.successful night for the Nationalists, who will be in power

:12:48. > :12:59.for the third time in Scotland. I am joined by our Scotland

:13:00. > :13:05.correspondent, Kevin keen. The SNP did not get an overall majority, but

:13:06. > :13:09.a win is a win? It is an even bigger win than the one they had five years

:13:10. > :13:13.ago in terms of vote, they have top 1 million mark for the first time

:13:14. > :13:19.for any party at Holyrood devolution began. Unfortunately for them, they

:13:20. > :13:23.have fallen victim to a system which compensates for the fact that they

:13:24. > :13:27.have all these additional constituency MSPs and takes away

:13:28. > :13:32.some of the list once, overall it means they have slightly fewer. It

:13:33. > :13:35.is only two. They have done a minority administration before, and

:13:36. > :13:39.very successfully, I can see no reason why they would not be able to

:13:40. > :13:43.do again this time, ridiculously because the Green Party have six

:13:44. > :13:47.members and they will probably able to do deals with them or the Liberal

:13:48. > :13:51.Democrats, some of the other parties, fairly successfully. For

:13:52. > :13:56.many, the Conservative revival in Scotland is one of the big stories,

:13:57. > :14:00.a few years ago they were almost the dead parrot sketch from Monty

:14:01. > :14:05.Python, they were deceased, they had ceased to be. Ruth Davidson has made

:14:06. > :14:09.a remarkable turnaround? She is trying to set the party north of the

:14:10. > :14:14.border separate from the party in the rest of the UK, but she has done

:14:15. > :14:18.that by her own personality, in many respects. Rather unexpectedly, she

:14:19. > :14:23.has become the constituency MP for this place, and for the Palace of

:14:24. > :14:30.Holyrood House, the Queen's official residence. She has taken a constant

:14:31. > :14:34.C -- they had taken a constituency where Balmoral is, as well. They

:14:35. > :14:38.were pretty much going for the list vote stop the big losers have been

:14:39. > :14:42.the Labour Party, not entirely unexpectedly. It is unlikely that

:14:43. > :14:46.there will be any change of leadership, we are on four leaders

:14:47. > :14:53.in five years. When Kezia Dugdale was elected, certainly within the

:14:54. > :14:56.party at was for a long-term period, generally people around her accepted

:14:57. > :15:00.that they needed some kind of stability. She hinted this morning

:15:01. > :15:03.that the elephant in the room was still independence. She very much

:15:04. > :15:08.set the tone of the election by ringing up the issue of tax very

:15:09. > :15:12.early on. In terms of what she and other politicians talked about, she

:15:13. > :15:16.was in there first, but it turned out that was not what the voters

:15:17. > :15:17.were thinking about. They are still thinking about independence, I think

:15:18. > :15:26.she will address that now. In the English local

:15:27. > :15:32.authority elections, the overall picture with 80 councils

:15:33. > :15:36.declared remains largely unchanged. Labour managed to successfully

:15:37. > :15:39.remain in control of 41 of the 42 councils it was defending -

:15:40. > :15:41.that only defeat coming in Dudley, which is now under

:15:42. > :15:46.no overall control. Looking at the share

:15:47. > :15:49.of the votes in England compared with four years ago,

:15:50. > :15:53.you can see it remains fairly stable for the Conservatives,

:15:54. > :15:56.but Labour have suffered a four-point drop, with Ukip

:15:57. > :15:59.seeing a six-point rise Our assistant political editor

:16:00. > :16:24.Norman Smith is at Westminster. I suppose a key question would be

:16:25. > :16:28.whether Labour under Jeremy Corbyn has done enough to keep his critics

:16:29. > :16:31.at bay? I think it is fair to say that his critics would have been

:16:32. > :16:35.hoping that these results would provide them with some ammunition to

:16:36. > :16:38.move against him, but but they have not had that ammunition. There has

:16:39. > :16:43.been no complete and utter collapse in the Labour vote. These critics

:16:44. > :16:46.still remain convinced that Mr Corbyn cannot win, but they do not

:16:47. > :16:51.have the bullets to fire against him. Let's talk about that now with

:16:52. > :16:55.the Labour shadow cabinet member Diane Abbott. If you had to use one

:16:56. > :17:00.word to characterise the Labour results last night, what would that

:17:01. > :17:03.be? Steady progress. If you compare it to last year's general election,

:17:04. > :17:07.we have increased our share of the vote. And crucially we have held

:17:08. > :17:12.onto seats in the south, like Crawley and Southampton. People have

:17:13. > :17:21.been arguing we need to move right, but under he Jeremy, we have done

:17:22. > :17:25.that. Can I put it to you that holding onto seats, and losing

:17:26. > :17:28.councillors, is not progress? Our share of the vote indicates

:17:29. > :17:32.progress. This is the beginning of something, it is not the end of

:17:33. > :17:36.everything. Remember, we had a catastrophic result last year,

:17:37. > :17:40.particularly in Scotland. And in Scotland it was a long drawn-out

:17:41. > :17:44.process of collapse, and it will be a long process of rebuild, and no

:17:45. > :17:49.other leader could have any better in Scotland. Some of Mr Corbyn's

:17:50. > :17:54.critics are saying that every Labour leader, in their first set of

:17:55. > :17:59.elections, wins seats, even Michael Foot, in the 1980s, won nearly 1000

:18:00. > :18:07.seats. Jeremy Corbyn is losing seats! That's disingenuous. We have

:18:08. > :18:11.a much different electorate than we had at that time. It is much more

:18:12. > :18:15.fragmented. We have got Ukip, we have got the nationalist parties.

:18:16. > :18:25.You are not comparing like with like to compare local elections under

:18:26. > :18:28.Jeremy to low collection -- to local elections under Michael Foot. In

:18:29. > :18:33.Nuneaton, you have had a swing against Labour of 11% to the

:18:34. > :18:41.Conservatives - how do you explain that? Jeremy has had unprecedented

:18:42. > :18:54.complaints and attacks not least from members of his own party! I

:18:55. > :18:58.think we have done well overall to increase our share of the vote. And

:18:59. > :19:03.as I said, in the south, we have held steady. We are on track to win

:19:04. > :19:08.in 2020. Your colleague Clive Lewis was saying earlier this morning that

:19:09. > :19:15.was to Corbin's critics secured shut up or get out, do you agree? He puts

:19:16. > :19:21.his own thoughts in his own way. What I would like is for that small

:19:22. > :19:23.group of MPs who have been so over Severus in attacking Jeremy finally

:19:24. > :19:31.to accept the result of last year's leadership election and get behind

:19:32. > :19:37.the leader of the party. Obviously, Scotland, a disastrous result for

:19:38. > :19:39.Labour, but the significance is much greater than Scotland, because

:19:40. > :19:44.unless you can claw back Labour seats in Scotland, you have no

:19:45. > :19:48.prospect of winning a general election. And yet all the signs are

:19:49. > :19:54.that you're going backwards in Scotland? You know, no-one has said

:19:55. > :19:59.that under an alternative leader, it would be any different in Scotland.

:20:00. > :20:02.It took a long time to get to that collapse last year, and we have to

:20:03. > :20:07.be patient in rebuilding the position in Scotland. Kezia Dugdale

:20:08. > :20:11.has done a very good job and she must be left to shape the Scottish

:20:12. > :20:15.party in her own way. The point I'm making is that in Scotland you're

:20:16. > :20:19.going backwards, in England, in terms of councillors, you're going

:20:20. > :20:29.backwards - how can you possibly say this is progress towards an election

:20:30. > :20:31.victory? You cannot read everything from individual council ward

:20:32. > :20:35.results. If you look at our overall share of the vote since last year,

:20:36. > :20:39.you will see that our share of the vote is going up, and I think that's

:20:40. > :20:44.the most important thing. What does Jeremy Corbyn need to do to win back

:20:45. > :20:52.votes? To do what he has been doing, to frame the debate. On benefits, we

:20:53. > :20:59.were abstaining on benefit cuts, Jeremy took the battle on welfare

:21:00. > :21:02.and benefits to the Tories, won the argument and defeated them in

:21:03. > :21:06.Parliament. And we need to do more of that. Doesn't that shore up your

:21:07. > :21:14.traditional vote and failed to in gauge with people of middle England?

:21:15. > :21:18.Tamworth, you lost four seats, Bury, you lost four seats, Dudley, you

:21:19. > :21:22.lost the council. It is fine for shoring up your heartland but it

:21:23. > :21:26.does not move you forward? Middle England cares as much about

:21:27. > :21:33.inequality, as much about the NHS, as much about unfairness, as

:21:34. > :21:37.anywhere else. Jeremy's message is particularly strong on unfairness

:21:38. > :21:41.and the NHS. That's right. But is it not the danger that he presents the

:21:42. > :21:45.party as a party of the aggrieved rather than as a party of

:21:46. > :21:49.aspiration? If people thought that we were just a party of the

:21:50. > :21:54.aggrieved, we would not have held on in Crawley, in Southampton, in those

:21:55. > :21:58.sorts of seats in the South. We are on track. Briefly, London, we will

:21:59. > :22:02.get the result in the middle of the afternoon, I think - what is your

:22:03. > :22:10.take on the way that campaign has been fought? The Conservatives have

:22:11. > :22:14.fought the most appallingly anti-Muslim campaign that I have

:22:15. > :22:20.seen at a national level. They should be ashamed. What is the

:22:21. > :22:25.message to young Muslims thinking about getting involved in mainstream

:22:26. > :22:31.politics? The message is that if you do not happen to be a merchant

:22:32. > :22:35.banker, you can expect to be abused and attacked, as Sadiq Khan was. It

:22:36. > :22:40.has been a shameful and terrible campaign. Some talk we might get

:22:41. > :22:44.that London result a bit earlier than we thought. But of course, that

:22:45. > :22:48.will be another critical result in shaping the way these elections are

:22:49. > :22:52.seen overall, after what has been a very, very bruising contest between

:22:53. > :23:00.Sadiq Khan and Zac Goldsmith. Thank you very much for that.

:23:01. > :23:03.In Wales, it was a good night for Labour, who remain on course

:23:04. > :23:05.to be the largest party in the Welsh Assembly,

:23:06. > :23:16.Over to Sian Lloyd. The sun is coming out here in Cardiff babies

:23:17. > :23:21.eat Labour remains the biggest party here in Wales. We are still waiting

:23:22. > :23:26.for the poll from south Wales central, but that is all that is

:23:27. > :23:30.outstanding. Labour's share of the vote overall did go down, and they

:23:31. > :23:35.did lose a seat to Plaid Cymru. Ukip are happy here in Wales this

:23:36. > :23:39.morning, we're hearing, as they have won seats for the first time, again,

:23:40. > :23:43.on the regional list, through proportional representation. So,

:23:44. > :23:49.Labour are the biggest party, Plaid Cymru look to be in second place at

:23:50. > :23:51.the expense of the Welsh Conservatives, and it has not been a

:23:52. > :23:58.good night for the Liberal Democrats. Lets talk to our Wales

:23:59. > :24:01.correspondent Thomas Morgan now. You have been following the campaign

:24:02. > :24:07.very closely. Let's talk about Labour first. We heard from Edwina

:24:08. > :24:10.Hart, the former minister, earlier on the programme, that they feel

:24:11. > :24:14.they have done very well, even though their share of the vote has

:24:15. > :24:18.gone down? I think if you had asked anybody from the Labour Party over

:24:19. > :24:24.the last few weeks, they would have been hoping for about 26 seats. They

:24:25. > :24:27.far surpassed that, with 29 seats, only one less than they got in the

:24:28. > :24:32.last election, which means they will probably be able to go ahead and

:24:33. > :24:36.follow one as they were, almost, with the minority party government

:24:37. > :24:39.here. They will obviously have to pass some laws with the other

:24:40. > :24:43.parties, but they will be very happy. Arguably that is the biggest

:24:44. > :24:46.story of the night, that they have been able to hold onto some of those

:24:47. > :24:52.key marginal areas, places like the Gower, the north of Cardiff, places

:24:53. > :24:55.where in the general election last year, they lost out to the Tories,

:24:56. > :24:59.but they have been able to secure them for the Welsh Assembly. They

:25:00. > :25:05.will be very happy with today's outcome. Ukip's performance,

:25:06. > :25:09.eye-catching. Six seats so far on the regional lists. Mark Reckless

:25:10. > :25:14.and Neil Hamilton will be taking up seats in the building behind us?

:25:15. > :25:18.Yes-no doubt that will make it a very lively Assembly when they come

:25:19. > :25:21.back in the next few. I think it is interesting that we knew that Ukip

:25:22. > :25:25.would be getting some of the regional seats, those Paul Jewell

:25:26. > :25:31.representation seats. Nigel Farage was expecting five, and they have

:25:32. > :25:35.already got six. -- proportional representation seats. They might

:25:36. > :25:39.even get seven, which would be quite a large number for the first time

:25:40. > :25:42.they have ever got seats in Wales. As I say it will make for

:25:43. > :25:47.interesting debates here in Cardiff. Counting has begun meanwhile in

:25:48. > :25:53.Northern Ireland, although we do not expect to have the outcome of that

:25:54. > :25:59.for quite some time. We can go over now to Chris Buckler, in Belfast.

:26:00. > :26:04.Yes, counting has only begun in the last hour or so here at the Titanic

:26:05. > :26:10.Exhibition Centre. They are trying to make sense of the vote behind me,

:26:11. > :26:12.as the count begins. However, it is a very complicated voting system in

:26:13. > :26:16.Northern Ireland. As a result we will not know the full picture of

:26:17. > :26:20.what the new Assembly looks like until tomorrow, at the earliest.

:26:21. > :26:26.However, we will start to get people elected this afternoon. Nigel Jones

:26:27. > :26:29.is with me, the deputy leader of the DUP. You are not a candidate in this

:26:30. > :26:33.election because you are an MP, but at the same time you have been

:26:34. > :26:39.watching closely - what have been the key factors and strategies? And

:26:40. > :26:42.what about your leader, Arlene Foster, a leader for only a matter

:26:43. > :26:48.of months - how do you think she did? I think she has performed

:26:49. > :26:51.extremely well in this election. It is a big test going to your first

:26:52. > :26:57.Assembly election only having been leader for five months. But she is

:26:58. > :27:00.enormously peeler throughout the entire community, which came across

:27:01. > :27:05.very strongly from the time she first became First Minister. She and

:27:06. > :27:08.our team have set out a 5-point plan for Northern Ireland to take the

:27:09. > :27:10.country forward. , who in Northern Ireland want to cease table

:27:11. > :27:16.government with Northern Ireland actually moving forward. Of course

:27:17. > :27:19.it is not just about you see Northern Ireland has differences do

:27:20. > :27:23.not government from everywhere else. Basically everybody has to work

:27:24. > :27:28.together. The biggest parties are all entitled to be in this our

:27:29. > :27:31.sharing coalition. In reality, how difficult is it going to be two,

:27:32. > :27:39.with a programme of government, because you have only got two weeks

:27:40. > :27:44.to do that? In Northern Ireland, it is a mandatory system, we HAVE to

:27:45. > :27:47.have a coalition. So there will be negotiations. But we're pretty

:27:48. > :27:51.confident that we will be able to form an executive with an agreed

:27:52. > :27:54.programme for government. I think the issues which dominated the

:27:55. > :27:58.election campaign for us were things like education, health,

:27:59. > :28:03.infrastructure, trying to keep household bills as low as possible.

:28:04. > :28:07.So I think across all the parties, there is a common interest. I hope

:28:08. > :28:11.that everybody will see Northern Ireland moving forward, embedding

:28:12. > :28:16.the peace process. That is extremely important. It is only a matter of

:28:17. > :28:20.months since Stormont looked to be in serious trouble, the future of

:28:21. > :28:24.power-sharing in danger. It does seem like DUP will be the biggest

:28:25. > :28:29.hearty, Sinn Fein second. Relationships have not always been

:28:30. > :28:33.good, so can we work together going forward? Yes, I think we can. The

:28:34. > :28:37.Secretary of State Theresa Villiers said recently that we are ironically

:28:38. > :28:41.in one of the most stable periods of devolution, because of the new fresh

:28:42. > :28:45.start agreement put in place by our previous leader, Peter Robinson, in

:28:46. > :28:49.November. I think that is the basis which can be followed. I am very

:28:50. > :28:54.confident about the future of Northern Ireland. As I say, the

:28:55. > :28:57.counting is under way here. But the complicated system basically

:28:58. > :29:02.involves candidates being elected and then any surplus votes they have

:29:03. > :29:09.being redistributed, any other candidate being eliminated and their

:29:10. > :29:11.votes being redistributed. It is a complicated and long process. It

:29:12. > :29:21.will be a long couple of days here. Let's take a look at some

:29:22. > :29:25.other election news. Labour have held on to two

:29:26. > :29:27.Westminster seats in parliamentary They comfortably held

:29:28. > :29:31.Ogmore in South Wales, and Sheffield Brightside and

:29:32. > :29:34.Hillsborough. Ukip came second

:29:35. > :29:38.in both by-elections. Labour were also successful

:29:39. > :29:40.in Liverpool, where Joe Anderson The outcome of the mayoral contests

:29:41. > :29:44.in London, Salford and Bristol London is set to declare in the late

:29:45. > :29:52.afternoon or evening. Voting also took place yesterday

:29:53. > :29:55.for almost 40 Police and Crime Commissioners

:29:56. > :29:56.across England and Wales. One result has been

:29:57. > :29:58.declared - Wiltshire - The rest of the results should be

:29:59. > :30:11.known by the end of the day. We can go back now to Gavin Esler in

:30:12. > :30:17.Scotland, where it has been an historic night for the SNP.

:30:18. > :30:23.And historic night for the SNP, very difficult for Labour, there are

:30:24. > :30:28.those who think they lost to every other party everywhere, pretty much.

:30:29. > :30:33.Alex Rowley, the deputy leader the Scottish Labour and also the party's

:30:34. > :30:38.campaign director, joins me. What went wrong for you, it seems you

:30:39. > :30:42.lost votes to all the other parties? We had a very bad night. We put

:30:43. > :30:46.forward a very positive agenda, setting out how we would tackle

:30:47. > :30:51.austerity stop the cuts and invest in Bulls future, but we did not

:30:52. > :30:56.persuade enough people up and down the country, and the failure to do

:30:57. > :31:02.that has resulted in this very bad result for us. Did you make a

:31:03. > :31:06.strategic mistake in not focusing on the independence campaign and

:31:07. > :31:10.talking about raising income tax and so on, and attacking the SNP from

:31:11. > :31:15.the left when it seems voters are still preoccupied with the

:31:16. > :31:18.independence issue? It was right for Labour and fairly bold of Kezia

:31:19. > :31:22.Dugdale to set up this agenda, moving forward. We had to tackle the

:31:23. > :31:26.big issues in Scotland, we were right to do that, but it is

:31:27. > :31:30.evidently clear that people are still talking about the

:31:31. > :31:34.constitution, and that it is still a big issue. For Labour, we had to

:31:35. > :31:38.learn for that and set out the type of Scotland that we would see moving

:31:39. > :31:42.forward, addressing the constitutional questions, that is

:31:43. > :31:46.the next step. Do you worry it could get even worse for Labour in

:31:47. > :31:51.Scotland? I have spoken to people who think you could have a wipe-out

:31:52. > :31:54.in Glasgow in the local elections next year? Unless we can set out a

:31:55. > :31:59.clear vision for Scotland, unless we can show we have an idea for

:32:00. > :32:02.Scotland, how we would tackle the issues of inequality and poverty by

:32:03. > :32:07.investing in stopping the cuts, addressing the issue of the

:32:08. > :32:11.constitution and setting out our vision on how we move forward.

:32:12. > :32:14.Unfortunately, in Scotland, there is the label that you are unionist or

:32:15. > :32:19.Nationalist, neighbour macro needs to set out what it leaves is the

:32:20. > :32:26.best way forward for Scotland. -- Labour needs to. You have been

:32:27. > :32:30.called the red Tories, yet somehow the Conservative vote has gone up

:32:31. > :32:36.close they were very clear on independence and that their job was

:32:37. > :32:40.to oppose the SNP. To answer the red Tories question, the only party

:32:41. > :32:45.setting out how to stop the cuts, with the SNP agenda there will be ?3

:32:46. > :32:50.billion of cuts, harming public services. The only party proposing

:32:51. > :32:54.to address that was Labour, we were right to do that. The voters did not

:32:55. > :32:59.think so. We need to address the constitutional question, in terms of

:33:00. > :33:04.the constitution moving forward. It is a clear question for the future

:33:05. > :33:08.of Scotland. I think we failed to do that. Will people continue to be

:33:09. > :33:12.happy with Kezia Dugdale 's leadership, or will they want to

:33:13. > :33:18.change? In her short time as leader, I think she has made real progress.

:33:19. > :33:22.We say we want to create an autonomous Labour Party, Kezia

:33:23. > :33:25.Dugdale has pushed that and we are making the progress, there will be a

:33:26. > :33:30.decision at the UK conference. We want a strong autonomy for the

:33:31. > :33:35.Labour Party in Scotland. We want to set out the type of party that we

:33:36. > :33:39.see moving forward, and exactly how the constitutional question will be

:33:40. > :33:43.addressed by the Labour Party in Scotland. Kezia Dugdale has shown

:33:44. > :33:47.real strength, but she also showed real strength ensuring that she

:33:48. > :33:50.would tackle austerity. Others have talked about it, Kezia Dugdale was

:33:51. > :33:54.the only leader to set out a clear agenda.

:33:55. > :33:58.Was there a Corbyn factor in Scotland at all? Was his name

:33:59. > :34:03.mentioned on the doorsteps, or was he regarded as irrelevant? I think

:34:04. > :34:06.the days of Labour Party leaders coming up from Westminster and

:34:07. > :34:10.telling the Scottish Labour Party how to run their affairs is over,

:34:11. > :34:15.and that is right. Kezia Dugdale has made clear that she is the leader of

:34:16. > :34:19.the party in Scotland, we are establishing an autonomous Labour

:34:20. > :34:23.Party in Scotland. Jeremy Corbyn, I think, is a breath of fresh air. The

:34:24. > :34:27.people of Scotland voted for him at welcome his leadership, we support

:34:28. > :34:34.that, but in Scotland, Kezia Dugdale is read. If we are to tackle that

:34:35. > :34:38.result last night, we need a strong, autonomous Labour Party in Scotland

:34:39. > :34:44.with a clear vision for the future. Thank you for taking the time to

:34:45. > :34:54.talk to us. You are watching BBC News, Election 2016. Election 2016

:34:55. > :34:56.coverage on BBC News. Votes are still being counted

:34:57. > :34:59.in the local and regional elections but a clear picture is emerging

:35:00. > :35:01.of how the parties are The SNP wins a third victory

:35:02. > :35:11.in the Scottish Parliamentary elections but loses

:35:12. > :35:18.its overall majority. With all the results now in,

:35:19. > :35:33.Nicola Sturgeon's party is two seats Labour drops to third place in

:35:34. > :35:38.Scotland, down 13 seats, in the first big test of Jeremy Corbyn pits

:35:39. > :35:41.leadership. But it has held onto most of its local authorities in

:35:42. > :35:43.England and retain two Westminster seats in parliamentary by-elections.

:35:44. > :35:45.The Conservatives are now the main opposition in Scotland

:35:46. > :35:48.The Scottish Tory leader, Ruth Davidson, took

:35:49. > :35:54.In Wales, Labour remains the largest party in the devolved Assembly,

:35:55. > :36:01.It has been a good night for the Ukip.

:36:02. > :36:04.Ukip meanwhile claimed its first seats in the Welsh assembly -

:36:05. > :36:07.so far it's got six, that's one more than Nigel Farage's target.

:36:08. > :36:10.It has also made gains in English councils.

:36:11. > :36:13.And a significant win for Plaid Cymru - leader Leanne Wood

:36:14. > :36:26.took the south Wales heartland seat of Rhondda from Labour.

:36:27. > :36:32.Labour had a mixed night in council elections in England. They held onto

:36:33. > :36:36.some key authorities which they were expected to lose, the critics have

:36:37. > :36:41.said that it has not fared well enough to suggest a generally

:36:42. > :36:45.election victory in four years. Andy Burnham was asked about claims he

:36:46. > :36:49.was planning to stand as the first mayor of Greater Manchester when the

:36:50. > :36:53.position is created next year. There is no decision. I had not

:36:54. > :36:57.planned for this news to come out at this time, it is very early days.

:36:58. > :37:03.The truth is, I have had people approaching me to consider it. I

:37:04. > :37:10.have decided to consider it. Over the next few days I will take

:37:11. > :37:14.soundings from people... Obviously the political community in Greater

:37:15. > :37:18.Manchester but also people from business, sport, other fields, the

:37:19. > :37:25.health service, and make a decision in June course. Whatever that

:37:26. > :37:30.decision is, I continue to serve the leader of the Labour Party and stay

:37:31. > :37:32.in the Shadow Cabinet. The short while ago, Shadow Foreign

:37:33. > :37:36.Secretary Hilary Benn gave his reaction to Labour's performance in

:37:37. > :37:38.the polls, admitting that the party had a long way to go to regain

:37:39. > :37:43.ground. We have retained control of

:37:44. > :37:48.cancelled people predicted we might lose, faces like Harlow, Norwich and

:37:49. > :37:51.Southampton. We won the two by-elections. Looking forward to the

:37:52. > :37:55.result of the London mayoral election, hoping that Sadiq Khan

:37:56. > :37:59.will be victorious. Our share of the boat is up compared with this time

:38:00. > :38:03.last year, but we have a long way to go. That is the message from these

:38:04. > :38:07.elections. If we will form a Government in 2020, which we want

:38:08. > :38:10.to, to be able to get rid of this Government, we need to win back

:38:11. > :38:14.trust and confidence from more people, which is a task for all

:38:15. > :38:19.others in the party. What would you say to people who say that it is a

:38:20. > :38:23.relief, we have earned breathing space, is there room for

:38:24. > :38:27.complacency? I don't think there is any complacency on the part of

:38:28. > :38:32.anybody. We have a big task ahead, Jeremy was elected with a big

:38:33. > :38:35.mandate. Our job is to support him, that the electoral test accounts,

:38:36. > :38:38.whether you win support. If we are to be able to defeat this

:38:39. > :38:43.Government, we need to win more support in the months and years

:38:44. > :38:46.ahead. This is the first stage, we have made progress compared with

:38:47. > :38:53.last year, we have a long way to go. Hilary Benn. Let's return to Wales,

:38:54. > :38:58.it was a good night for Labour and also, as we reflected, a good night

:38:59. > :39:02.for Ukip, currently with six seats, one more that the target set by

:39:03. > :39:08.party leader Nigel Farage. Sian Lloyd has the detail. Hello.

:39:09. > :39:14.Good morning from Cardiff Bay. There will be many new faces coming here

:39:15. > :39:19.to the Senedd because a large and bothersome two members retired, they

:39:20. > :39:23.were not seeking real action. -- a large number of members retired.

:39:24. > :39:27.There will be new faces, some of them younger people. During the

:39:28. > :39:31.course of campaigning in Wales, the parties were seeking the vote of

:39:32. > :39:35.young people. I am joined by three of them. Amat, Ellie and Rob, great

:39:36. > :39:42.to see you. You have brought the sunshine. First of all, what did you

:39:43. > :39:46.think of the campaigning in Wales? You are a student in Cardiff but

:39:47. > :39:50.from Portsmouth? That is correct, I live in Cardiff but I am originally

:39:51. > :39:55.from Portsmouth. What I really noticed about this campaign, it was

:39:56. > :40:00.more based on policies rather than personal attacks on individuals or

:40:01. > :40:04.parties. Lots of the policies were discussed. In Portsmouth, where I

:40:05. > :40:07.come from, there are regular attacks on politicians instead of focusing

:40:08. > :40:12.on policies, so it was refreshing but it was more policy based. So a

:40:13. > :40:20.bit friendlier here in Wales? Definitely! That is a positive. Any?

:40:21. > :40:24.There has been a lot of support in Wales for politicians, which is the

:40:25. > :40:29.same everywhere, but I have noticed a lot of communities demonstrating

:40:30. > :40:33.who they are voting for, I feel like it is more vocal, more friendly,

:40:34. > :40:40.there is more of a shared consensus. Everywhere I go, I see placard

:40:41. > :40:47.saying who they are voting for. So it was high profile? I actually

:40:48. > :40:54.think in comparison to England, it was more in the media and more out

:40:55. > :40:57.there. Rob, what have you taken from the campaigning here? It was the

:40:58. > :41:03.most competitive one I have seen to date. I thought it was so much

:41:04. > :41:09.more... Every party ran a better campaign, it was much more visible

:41:10. > :41:13.to see the other parties. It was not so much labour-macro/ Conservative,

:41:14. > :41:20.everybody got a shout, it has helped people to be more engaged, they see

:41:21. > :41:24.more opinions. Labour remained the biggest party in Wales, it looks

:41:25. > :41:30.like Plaid Cymru will be in second place. What do you make of that? I

:41:31. > :41:35.am worried about complacency. It was nice to see Plaid getting more and

:41:36. > :41:38.more competitive, compared to Scotland where Labour has been

:41:39. > :41:44.completely wiped out. It is about time there was a party like Plaid

:41:45. > :41:49.Cymru, for me, they came on the part of the country, whereas I think

:41:50. > :41:54.Labour can more about the party. It is most disease and body challenging

:41:55. > :41:59.Labour, tackling the complacency. I would like to add that I am a Labour

:42:00. > :42:04.voter, that one thing that I found really quite frustrating was how

:42:05. > :42:09.this big election, this big game that we have got, could lead to a

:42:10. > :42:13.lot of complacency. We lost Rhondda to Plaid, maybe that'll be a step up

:42:14. > :42:18.for Carwyn Jones, but I worry that it will go back to the old Labour,

:42:19. > :42:22.the same complacency we have seen in Scotland, and we could be wiped out

:42:23. > :42:26.again in the next election, I am worried about that. There is the

:42:27. > :42:31.proportional representation element here. As a result of that, the

:42:32. > :42:35.regional list is, of which there are 20 seats available, Ukip will be

:42:36. > :42:43.coming here for the first time. Any comments on that? I think it is a

:42:44. > :42:47.bit of a shame, when Wales was building, they got people from all

:42:48. > :42:52.over Europe and all over the world to try to come together. You could's

:42:53. > :42:55.anti-immigration policy is not something I support, I don't think

:42:56. > :42:59.it is in the best interests of Wales. At the end of the day, this

:43:00. > :43:07.is a democratic election, Wales has gone with the most democratic voting

:43:08. > :43:11.system. Ellie, what caught your eye in the campaign? Any particularly

:43:12. > :43:14.eye-catching policy? We are students, education is bound to be

:43:15. > :43:17.important to us. That links to the concept of politicians getting

:43:18. > :43:22.involved with young people and encouraging them. Living in Cardiff,

:43:23. > :43:26.I have seen a bit more engagement with that. I feel like politicians

:43:27. > :43:31.here are getting more involved with young people as opposed to back

:43:32. > :43:36.where we are from, so reducing the disillusioned feel is important. I

:43:37. > :43:43.think education has been really important. Like you say, lots of

:43:44. > :43:49.issues in Wales. It is good that the democracy voters getting

:43:50. > :43:53.represented. Thank you very much. Thank you for coming along this

:43:54. > :43:58.morning and giving us your thoughts on the election here in Wales. That

:43:59. > :44:03.is it from Cardiff Bay at the moment, let's go back to Gavin

:44:04. > :44:08.Esler. Let's have a quick round-up of how

:44:09. > :44:11.things are shaping up in Scotland. The Scottish National Party has won

:44:12. > :44:16.its third election at the Scottish parliament but failed to secure a

:44:17. > :44:20.majority at Holyrood. Labour's vote collapsed, pushing the party to

:44:21. > :44:24.third place by the Conservatives, who will form the biggest opposition

:44:25. > :44:28.party in the parliament. The Lib Dems staged a revival. With me here

:44:29. > :44:37.is Willie Rennie Connor Scott -- the Scottish Lib Dems. Reports of your

:44:38. > :44:41.demise was exaggerated. That is 60% of the vote in Orkney and Shetland,

:44:42. > :44:45.we were predicted to lose, we did not. I won in North East Fife,

:44:46. > :44:52.against all predictions. And in Edinburgh West, the charismatic

:44:53. > :44:56.candidate won. Four brilliant constituency results. I think we

:44:57. > :44:57.will have great influence, with the SNP losing a majority I think the

:44:58. > :45:08.liberal voice will be heard. It must have been really difficult

:45:09. > :45:11.to pick yourself up from that disaster a year ago. And you have

:45:12. > :45:15.begun a fightback of some sort? I had the time of my life in this

:45:16. > :45:21.campaign, touring Scotland, visiting all of the great places, showing

:45:22. > :45:24.dynamism and vigour but also a clear policy platform. We're getting back

:45:25. > :45:28.to our best as Liberal Democrats, and paining at our best, almost a

:45:29. > :45:32.Charles Kennedy style of politics, reaching out to people in their

:45:33. > :45:37.homes on things like mental health. We really touched people. We had

:45:38. > :45:42.people coming up to us to say, at last, somebody speaking to us about

:45:43. > :45:48.mental health. Other things like investing in education, making sure

:45:49. > :45:53.that we exceed our climate change targets, big, bold visions about the

:45:54. > :45:59.future. Our big slogan was Making Scotland The Best Again. It is that

:46:00. > :46:05.kind of optimism which people liked. Where do you think all of this

:46:06. > :46:07.leaves the independence debate? You could have a majority for

:46:08. > :46:13.independence, if you add up all the seats from different parties. I

:46:14. > :46:18.think the whole thing is put in doubt now. With the SNP losing a

:46:19. > :46:22.majority, I think there is a clear signal being sent. I don't think

:46:23. > :46:27.people want to have a round whole day debate about independence. We've

:46:28. > :46:30.saddled the matter, it has been resolved, it was one of the biggest

:46:31. > :46:35.democratic expert rinses of our lifetime. We should respect it and

:46:36. > :46:38.move on, and think that's the message the SNP should be receiving

:46:39. > :46:42.today. Whether they are listening or not is another matter but I am

:46:43. > :46:46.determined to make them listen. Where do you think that leaves them,

:46:47. > :46:50.in the sense that they have not got a majority so they will have to deal

:46:51. > :46:55.with other people - could you deal with them on day-to-day issues? We

:46:56. > :46:58.have worked with them before. We worked with them to deliver extra

:46:59. > :47:04.nursery education for two-year-olds. But not in a formal coalition. No,

:47:05. > :47:08.I'm not interested in that. I'm interested in getting Liberal

:47:09. > :47:11.Democrat policies through. We got support for mental health services,

:47:12. > :47:15.we got support for nursery education, that kind of level, we

:47:16. > :47:20.will work with them if we can agree. If we can get Lib Dem policies

:47:21. > :47:24.through, we will deliver some kind of progress. But what we will not do

:47:25. > :47:30.is, we are not interested in coalition agreements. We will

:47:31. > :47:34.strongly oppose them on the police. If it was not for us, it would not

:47:35. > :47:37.have been dealt with. So the Liberal Democrats will play a very strong

:47:38. > :47:41.role in this Parliament. Now that they have lost their majority, I

:47:42. > :47:46.think the constructive approach of the Liberal Democrats is the right

:47:47. > :47:51.one. Willie Rennie, thank you very much for speaking to us. Very

:47:52. > :47:57.interesting that in Shetland, for example, the Liberal Democrats have

:47:58. > :48:01.made huge gains. Orkney and Shetland are clearly a different part of

:48:02. > :48:02.Scotland. It has been part of the picture up and down the country as a

:48:03. > :48:04.whole. It's also been a night of gains

:48:05. > :48:08.for Ukip who took around 20 seats in local councils in England -

:48:09. > :48:11.while in Wales, the party says it's on course to take eight seats

:48:12. > :48:13.in the Welsh Assembly. Let's go to Westminster now

:48:14. > :48:24.and our assistant political editor I have just got an e-mail on my

:48:25. > :48:29.phone from Ukip, saying, Ukip read through. I was wondering what it

:48:30. > :48:34.was, but it refers to Wales, where Ukip have gained six councillors.

:48:35. > :48:39.They previously had none. But in the rest of the United Kingdom, not such

:48:40. > :48:43.an impressive story for Ukip. The party leader Nigel Farage joins me

:48:44. > :48:48.now. It is true for, isn't it? There has not really been any breakthrough

:48:49. > :48:52.outside Wales? No, we're up. We are winning seats on councils all over

:48:53. > :48:56.the country. We are coming second in a phenomenal number of seats. I

:48:57. > :48:59.think the big trend within England is that in the north of England, we

:49:00. > :49:03.have really now replaced the Conservatives as the opposition

:49:04. > :49:07.party for Labour in the big northern cities. That is a big message when

:49:08. > :49:11.it comes to the referendum. In six weeks' time, we have got to get

:49:12. > :49:18.people, not just Ukip voters but Labour voters as well, in the north

:49:19. > :49:26.of England, to come out and vote for Brexit. People might think, I agree

:49:27. > :49:32.with them on Europe, OK, but not in local government. I think at the

:49:33. > :49:35.moment we have gained more seats in England than any other party. We

:49:36. > :49:40.have got 500 councillors across England. It takes time. We are

:49:41. > :49:44.getting there. Our percentages are up from the general election last

:49:45. > :49:49.year. National opinion poll, we are at or near the all-time highs for

:49:50. > :49:54.the party. Let me put it to you, you are at a standstill, you are on the

:49:55. > :49:57.same share is at the last election? We are 13% up from when these

:49:58. > :50:05.elections were forced last time around. From the general election

:50:06. > :50:09.last year, we are up by 3.5-4%. We have broken through in Wales. I am

:50:10. > :50:13.hopeful for a breakthrough in the London nb this afternoon. I even

:50:14. > :50:18.think there is a chance we will breakthrough in Stormont. -- in the

:50:19. > :50:22.London Assembly. You mentioned you were coming second in traditional

:50:23. > :50:26.Labour seats, but is it not the case that you tell a different story in

:50:27. > :50:30.different parts of the country? In Labour seats, you are a

:50:31. > :50:34.working-class party, in Tory seats, you are a traditional...? Are you

:50:35. > :50:39.left of centre or right of centre, as a party? Left or right is

:50:40. > :50:45.irrelevant! You can learn that at university! This is about whether we

:50:46. > :50:48.are a self-governing nation. The big issue, which everybody in

:50:49. > :50:52.Westminster wants to run away from, is border controls and the effect

:50:53. > :50:55.that mass immigration is having on our schools and hospitals and

:50:56. > :50:59.people's pay rates. There is nothing left wing or right wing about that.

:51:00. > :51:04.It is about putting the interests of ordinary British people first. You

:51:05. > :51:06.have said for years about how you are clawing votes away in

:51:07. > :51:13.traditional Labour seats, but you're still losing! Look at Hartlepool,

:51:14. > :51:18.for example. Rock solid Labour. Last night, we won three seats and we

:51:19. > :51:22.came second in ten. This does not happen overnight. It takes time, but

:51:23. > :51:27.we're getting there. We have got more results coming this afternoon.

:51:28. > :51:31.We will see places like Leeds, Sheffield and Rotherham and I expect

:51:32. > :51:35.to see more games. Is there any point in Ukip after the EU

:51:36. > :51:39.referendum? Is there any point in a party which is prepared to make big

:51:40. > :51:43.calls against the prevailing consensus and get them right, as we

:51:44. > :51:46.have done on the European question, as we have done on open-door

:51:47. > :51:50.immigration and as we have tried to do on social mobility and other

:51:51. > :51:56.issues. You bet there is. So Ukip will continue? Of course it will.

:51:57. > :52:01.Because there have been all sorts of suggestions about how it will become

:52:02. > :52:05.a social media party. Ukip needs to change. At the moment the managing

:52:06. > :52:07.structure is based on willing volunteers. We have to

:52:08. > :52:11.professionalise that. We then have to change our membership model to

:52:12. > :52:17.reach out to a younger demographic. The model I'm in favour of is the

:52:18. > :52:21.5-star movement in Italy, who are currently at 30% in the opinion

:52:22. > :52:26.polls. I want us to have a big online engagement. Last week we

:52:27. > :52:29.became the biggest party in Britain on social media, overtaking the

:52:30. > :52:32.Conservatives despite the vast amount of money they have spent on

:52:33. > :52:38.it. We now have to convert that into something more real. Once we have

:52:39. > :52:42.had the EU referendum vote, whichever way it goes, your central

:52:43. > :52:45.political aim has always been to secure this referendum and to secure

:52:46. > :52:51.Brexit, so after that, what is the point? You said the same thing to me

:52:52. > :52:55.after the Bloomberg speech. You said, what is the point of Ukip? We

:52:56. > :52:59.have gone on since then from strength to strength. Let's see what

:53:00. > :53:03.happens to Ukip after the 23rd of June. What really matters to me is

:53:04. > :53:06.that Ukip is winning this referendum, getting back the

:53:07. > :53:12.independence and self-governance of our country. Nigel Farage, thank you

:53:13. > :53:15.very much for your time. So, Ukip will carry on, although may be

:53:16. > :53:23.slightly changed in the way it does politics. Back to you, Gavin.

:53:24. > :53:28.Norman, thank you very much. We are doing some number crunching here

:53:29. > :53:34.with Mark Diffley, rector of polling with Ipsos MORI. He is based here in

:53:35. > :53:37.Edinburgh. Beginning with the SNP, we have said they have failed to

:53:38. > :53:42.reach an overall majority, but they have done incredibly well? Yes. The

:53:43. > :53:47.headline from this election is definitely, this is the third term,

:53:48. > :53:49.the hat-trick, another five years for the SNP, which is unprecedented

:53:50. > :53:56.for the Scottish Parliament, and in a system, a voting system, which is

:53:57. > :53:59.set up to encourage coalitions, essentially. The fact that they have

:54:00. > :54:05.got pretty much almost a majority government is quite an achievement,

:54:06. > :54:10.actually. And yet, they will be slightly disappointed, given the

:54:11. > :54:14.level of expectation that there was beforehand. How do you account for

:54:15. > :54:19.the Conservative vote? As you well know, just a few years ago,

:54:20. > :54:21.Conservatives did not like to say they were Conservative at all, they

:54:22. > :54:26.did not say it on the doorstep? That's right. Despite the headline

:54:27. > :54:31.that the SNP have won, the real story here actually is the rise of

:54:32. > :54:34.the Tories. They have got a young, charismatic leader who reaches out I

:54:35. > :54:42.think beyond the traditional Tory constituency. And they've also

:54:43. > :54:45.played the aftermath of the referendum pretty astutely, it has

:54:46. > :54:50.to be said. They have portrayed themselves as the party of unionism,

:54:51. > :54:56.and if you want to protect yourself against a second independence

:54:57. > :55:00.referendum, they had the line, to vote Tory to protect yourself

:55:01. > :55:03.against another referendum throughout, and were completely

:55:04. > :55:07.consistent on that throughout the campaign. Did Labour make a

:55:08. > :55:10.strategic mistake in trying to attack SNP from the left? Because

:55:11. > :55:15.that's not perhaps where the votes were? No, and we saw,, who spoke

:55:16. > :55:20.about the election of Jeremy Corbyn down south as being somehow riding

:55:21. > :55:25.to the rescue for Scottish Labour up here. That hasn't happened,

:55:26. > :55:28.unsurprisingly just so I think it is a sign that attacking the SNP from

:55:29. > :55:32.the left was not the right move at all. Also I think they have

:55:33. > :55:37.mishandled the constitutional question and given out mixed signals

:55:38. > :55:42.as to whether party stands on that. Given that 55% of people voted to

:55:43. > :55:46.stay in the union only 18 months ago, the Tories just had a much

:55:47. > :55:49.clearer position on that issue. And on the European Union referendum

:55:50. > :55:55.which is coming up, it is constantly said Scotland is for staying in - is

:55:56. > :56:00.that what you're polls find? Yes, the polling in Scotland is much more

:56:01. > :56:05.in favour of Remain down in the UK as a whole. However, there are

:56:06. > :56:11.somewhere between 25 having 30% of voters in Scotland, about a million

:56:12. > :56:16.voters, who want to leave the EU. -- between 25-30%. And there is no

:56:17. > :56:22.political representation apart from the leader of Ukip in Scotland. They

:56:23. > :56:25.have not got any seats. Here's an MEP, but nonetheless the only

:56:26. > :56:31.elected representative in Scotland representing those nearly 1 million

:56:32. > :56:34.voters. It is quite extraordinary. As you can see behind me, it is a

:56:35. > :56:41.glorious day here in Holyrood. Let's have a look at the weather

:56:42. > :56:44.nationwide now, with Chris Fawkes. Thanks a lot, Gavin full stop

:56:45. > :56:53.yesterday's was the warmest day of the year. -- thanks a lot, Gavin.

:56:54. > :56:56.Yesterday was the warmest day of the year so far. And by Sunday,

:56:57. > :57:04.temperatures could even get up to 27. We have some high cloud at the

:57:05. > :57:10.moment, thinnest over south-east England, where strong sunshine is

:57:11. > :57:13.coming through. More cloudy across the far north of England, Scotland

:57:14. > :57:17.and Northern Ireland as well. But most of us will see some sunshine.

:57:18. > :57:24.Come this afternoon, warmer for most of us. The top temperature, 24, in

:57:25. > :57:28.London. Today, again, will be the warmest day of the year so far.

:57:29. > :57:34.North Sea coasts will be a bit cooler with the onshore breezes. And

:57:35. > :57:38.we do have that area of high cloud, which will be a bit thicker across

:57:39. > :57:49.parts of Scotland and the far north of England, making the sunshine a

:57:50. > :57:51.little bit of hazy. Otherwise it should be largely dry picture to

:57:52. > :58:02.take through the night time. Temperatures on the mild side

:58:03. > :58:06.overnight. Tomorrow, a rate risk of showers affecting Wales and the

:58:07. > :58:09.south-west of England. Maybe an area of rain moving across Northern

:58:10. > :58:14.Ireland. We might have some low cloud affecting some of the coasts

:58:15. > :58:22.of north-east England and Eastern Scotland, but in the sunshine, it

:58:23. > :58:28.will be another warm day. If we do see this low cloud form, however,

:58:29. > :58:41.temperatures will be pegged back around these coasts. There is a bit

:58:42. > :58:45.of uncertainty about how that low cloud may or may not form. Sunday, a

:58:46. > :58:52.lot of dry weather again. Hazy sunshine the order of the day. There

:58:53. > :58:55.could be some hefty showers breaking out in the afternoon. Aside from

:58:56. > :59:00.those than the storms, it will be even warmer, as ugly upto 27

:59:01. > :59:04.degrees, on Sunday, which would make is warmer than the likes of Lisbon,

:59:05. > :59:08.Rome, Athens and Istanbul. So we will have bragging rights over

:59:09. > :59:10.Europe for many of us at least this weekend, warmer than areas in the

:59:11. > :00:03.Mediterranean. I'm Gavin Esler and

:00:04. > :00:06.welcome to Holyrood. Here in Scotland, Labour

:00:07. > :00:09.records its worse vote share in a century as the SNP claims

:00:10. > :00:11.a historic third victory in the Scottish

:00:12. > :00:15.Parliament elections. Nicola Sturgeon's party receives

:00:16. > :00:17.nearly half the vote - but fails to secure an overall

:00:18. > :00:22.majority by two seats. Ruth Davidson's Scottish

:00:23. > :00:23.Conservatives overtake Labour for the first time to become

:00:24. > :00:31.the second party in Holyrood. We expect to hear from the Prime

:00:32. > :00:34.Minister in the next hour. In England, the picture so far

:00:35. > :00:38.is largely unchanged as Labour manage to retain control

:00:39. > :00:40.of a number of key councils. Jeremy Corbyn's party also hold

:00:41. > :00:43.onto two Westminster by-elections - but senior figures say there's no

:00:44. > :00:57.room for complacency. We have a long way to go. I think

:00:58. > :01:02.that is the message from these elections. Because of we are going

:01:03. > :01:06.to form a government in 2020, which we want to, to be able to get rid of

:01:07. > :01:09.this government, we have to windbag more people's trust and confidence.

:01:10. > :01:12.This is the scene live in Sheffield where the Labour leader is due

:01:13. > :01:16.That is one of the two by-election seats that Labour held onto

:01:17. > :01:17.overnight. Hello, I'm Sian Lloyd

:01:18. > :01:19.at Cardiff Bay. Labour falls just short

:01:20. > :01:22.of a majority but remains the biggest party in Wales,

:01:23. > :01:27.though their vote share is down. Ukip wins their first seats

:01:28. > :01:41.in the Welsh Assembly, There is a stunning personal victory

:01:42. > :01:42.for Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood in Rhondda.

:01:43. > :01:44.We'll bring you all of the latest reaction and results

:01:45. > :02:11.Good morning and welcome to Election 2016.

:02:12. > :02:16.A clear picture has emerged of how the parties have fared

:02:17. > :02:17.in yesterday's local and regional elections,

:02:18. > :02:20.though results will continue to come in through the day.

:02:21. > :02:22.Here at Holyrood, the Scottish National Party has won a third

:02:23. > :02:27.election at the Scottish Parliament but failed to secure a majority.

:02:28. > :02:29.The party's leader Nicola Sturgeon described the night as historic.

:02:30. > :02:31.David Cameron has congratulated the leader of the Scottish

:02:32. > :02:34.Conservatives, Ruth Davidson - he praised her as a leader

:02:35. > :02:37.who will stand up to the SNP and give Scotland strong opposition.

:02:38. > :02:39.In English local elections, Labour defied expectations

:02:40. > :02:41.by holding on to a number of councils thought

:02:42. > :02:47.Ukip saw a number of advances across England and Wales.

:02:48. > :02:50.Critics of Labour's leader Jeremy Corbyn have said the council

:02:51. > :02:53.results show that the party needs to be winning much more

:02:54. > :02:57.So here in Scotland the SNP have 63 MSPs after losing two seats.

:02:58. > :03:00.The Conservatives gained 16 Holyrood seats and are now the second largest

:03:01. > :03:05.So Labour, losing 13 seats, have dipped into third place

:03:06. > :03:12.In the English local elections so far, Labour have fared better.

:03:13. > :03:15.They've lost dozens of seats but retained control of all but one

:03:16. > :03:24.In Wales Labour's still the largest party though its vote dropped

:03:25. > :03:26.and it lost a key seat to the Welsh nationalist party,

:03:27. > :03:31.Ukip had a very good night in Wales, securing six new members

:03:32. > :03:39.to the Welsh Assembly in return for 14% of the vote.

:03:40. > :03:45.We're hoping to go over to Sheffield Brightside in just a moment, where

:03:46. > :03:52.Labour have held in that by-election. Joe Furnas will be the

:03:53. > :03:56.new MP. Let's get some perspective on all of this from our political

:03:57. > :04:01.correspondent Norman Smith, who joins us from Westminster. What do

:04:02. > :04:07.you make of these results so far? It is a tale of two countries, a huge

:04:08. > :04:11.up shirt in Scotland with the demise of Labour pushed humiliatingly at

:04:12. > :04:23.historically into third place -- a huge upset in Scotland. In England,

:04:24. > :04:26.almost nothing has changed. That is significant that two reasons, Mr

:04:27. > :04:32.Corbyn is safe for now. His critics do not have the ammunition to move

:04:33. > :04:43.against him, because it has gone precisely nowhere. The second

:04:44. > :04:51.thing we know is the deep, deep doldrums that Labour is in south of

:04:52. > :04:56.the border. Here we are, six years after Mr Cameron was elected, after

:04:57. > :05:00.years of austerity in the middle of the Euro bloodbath, the party is

:05:01. > :05:06.unable to make any progress at all. Labour is on course to lose roughly

:05:07. > :05:14.around 25 councillors and will have lost one council in Dudley. I

:05:15. > :05:17.suppose what is worrying Mr Corbyn's critic is that they do not see any

:05:18. > :05:21.prospect of that situation improving. They are pointing to a

:05:22. > :05:29.number of bellwether councils and so-called Middle England, places

:05:30. > :05:35.like Tamworth, Bari, Nuneaton, and there the votes are slipping away

:05:36. > :05:39.from Labour to the Conservatives -- Tamworth, Bury and Nuneaton. In the

:05:40. > :05:44.need to know was an 11% swing from the Labour Party to that evidence.

:05:45. > :05:49.Although Mr Corbyn himself might be saved, the apprehension and Labour

:05:50. > :05:53.circles is huge. -- 11% swing from the Labour Party to the

:05:54. > :05:57.Conservatives. I think we can cross to Jeremy Corbyn in Sheffield, where

:05:58. > :05:58.labour won the by-election, increasing their share of the vote

:05:59. > :06:13.by 5%. STUDIO: We're just waiting for Mr

:06:14. > :06:17.Corbyn to arrive. We can see fig crowds applauding him after the

:06:18. > :06:36.Labour by-election victory. And the new MP, Gill Furniss.

:06:37. > :06:44.As you can see, there is a bit of wobbly vision going on as they get

:06:45. > :06:48.ready. Slightly chaotic scenes. It looks like Mr Corbyn is

:06:49. > :06:51.congratulating party workers there. We hope to hear him and Gill Furniss

:06:52. > :07:12.say a few words. A fantastic result. This is, of

:07:13. > :07:16.course, a by-election that none of us wanted. I think the late Harry

:07:17. > :07:19.would be very proud that the by-election following his passing

:07:20. > :07:30.gives an even better result for Labour than he achieved himself.

:07:31. > :07:33.And all across England last night, we were getting predictions that

:07:34. > :07:40.Labour was going to lose councils. We didn't, we hung on and we grew

:07:41. > :07:45.support in a lot of places. And there are a lot more results to come

:07:46. > :07:51.today. We're looking forward those. Because our party is standing up,

:07:52. > :07:56.standing up for the steel industry, standing up against the cuts in

:07:57. > :08:00.disability payments made by this Government, standing up against the

:08:01. > :08:05.grotesque levels of inequality in Britain. That is the Labour message,

:08:06. > :08:09.that the economy could and will be run in a very different way that

:08:10. > :08:15.works for all, not just a phew, under the Tories. That is why Gill

:08:16. > :08:19.was elected, that is why we won yesterday in Ogmore, that is why

:08:20. > :08:24.people are supporting Labour. I want to congratulate the Labour Party in

:08:25. > :08:31.Wales for its excellent results yesterday, and it will continue to

:08:32. > :08:37.be a Labour Government in Wales. I also want to send this message to

:08:38. > :08:43.our party in Scotland. Well done on the campaign you fought, well done

:08:44. > :08:47.on the determination you have shown. There is a lot of building to do in

:08:48. > :08:50.Scotland. We are going to be with you, we are going to walk

:08:51. > :08:55.hand-in-hand with the party in Scotland to build but support once

:08:56. > :08:59.again so that the Labour tradition in Scotland will be re-established

:09:00. > :09:02.once again. I am sure I can send a message on behalf of everybody here

:09:03. > :09:08.to our colleagues in Scotland, we are with you.

:09:09. > :09:12.And so, today, we will finish the counting of all the results and we

:09:13. > :09:17.will know the full picture by tonight or, indeed, in the case of

:09:18. > :09:21.Bristol, by tomorrow. But we are also very determined that we will

:09:22. > :09:26.continue our opposition to what this Government is doing. We are forcing

:09:27. > :09:31.them back on so many things, such as the academisation, the force

:09:32. > :09:37.academisation of our schools, such as the continuous underfunding of

:09:38. > :09:42.our NHS. Because, as I said to the Prime Minister last week, there is a

:09:43. > :09:46.choice. Either you continue this path of cuts, closures and

:09:47. > :09:51.inequality, or you collect the uncollected tax and you pay for the

:09:52. > :09:55.services that everybody else needs. That is what we understand, I don't

:09:56. > :10:02.think they do. This is the Labour way. Thank you very much.

:10:03. > :10:06.REPORTER: Is it enough to win in 2020, Mr Corbyn?

:10:07. > :10:12.STUDIO: Jeremy Corbyn Havili kick back at some of the critics which

:10:13. > :10:17.suggested that the party was on course to lose 150 or 200 seats, he

:10:18. > :10:22.said we hung on and grew support. Clung on is an interesting phase. I

:10:23. > :10:26.guess many of those critics inside the party would say that is the

:10:27. > :10:29.point, we just clung on when Labour ought to be winning seats. Also

:10:30. > :10:35.interesting that he made a specific point about talking about Scotland's

:10:36. > :10:39.and how he applauded the campaign that the party had fought there and

:10:40. > :10:45.how he hoped to build Labour as the traditional party in Scotland.

:10:46. > :10:48.Interesting for two reasons. When Mr Corbyn became leader, he very

:10:49. > :10:52.specifically said he wanted to make a priority of rebuilding the party

:10:53. > :10:56.in Scotland. There was a view that is more left-wing brand of Labour

:10:57. > :11:01.politics might resonate a bit more in Scotland. Clearly, that has not

:11:02. > :11:04.happened. The second thing I found interesting is that there is no

:11:05. > :11:09.route map, it seems to me, certainly from what Mr Corbyn said, about how

:11:10. > :11:14.Labour will re-establish itself in Scotland. Over the past few years

:11:15. > :11:16.they have pretty much tried everything, rebranded themselves as

:11:17. > :11:22.separate from the National party, tried different leaders, try taking

:11:23. > :11:25.a distinct tinge to the left. None of that has worked. You are left

:11:26. > :11:29.scratching your head, what is it that Mr Corbyn or anyone else can do

:11:30. > :11:36.to re-establish the Labour Party in Scotland? For Mr Corbyn, I suppose

:11:37. > :11:41.he will draw comfort that he has got breathing space at the moment. His

:11:42. > :11:45.position is not under immediate threat, which it could have been if

:11:46. > :11:51.the party had suffered significant losses of 150, 200 or so

:11:52. > :11:55.councillors. STUDIO: Thank you, Norman. As you

:11:56. > :12:00.rightly say, Jeremy Corbyn's words about a lot of rebuilding to do in

:12:01. > :12:05.Scotland will be praying quite big throughout the days and weeks ahead,

:12:06. > :12:10.Isis backs right up to next year's local elections in Scotland, where

:12:11. > :12:17.Labour might feel under pressure -- I suspect right up to next year's

:12:18. > :12:19.local elections. Let's catch chirp with what is going on across the

:12:20. > :12:27.country, with Carole Walker. A third term in power for Nicola

:12:28. > :12:31.Sturgeon. Though the SNP fell short of majority, the result confirms her

:12:32. > :12:36.party's grip on politics in Scotland. Tonight is a huge vote of

:12:37. > :12:41.confidence on record in government and a huge vote of trust in our

:12:42. > :12:44.ability to lead the country forward. But the Conservative leader Ruth

:12:45. > :12:47.Davidson had reason to be cheerful, winning Edinburgh Central and

:12:48. > :12:51.overtaking Labour to be the second-largest Holyrood party.

:12:52. > :12:56.The beleaguered Liberal Democrats retained their five seat in

:12:57. > :13:00.Scotland. The result was a serious blow for Labour, with former party

:13:01. > :13:03.leader Johann Lamont one of the political casualties.

:13:04. > :13:08.Current leader Kezia Dugdale said she was heartbroken that her party

:13:09. > :13:16.had been pushed into third place, but said she would remain as leader

:13:17. > :13:20.no matter what. Jeremy Corbyn you the results would

:13:21. > :13:24.also be seen as a test of his leadership. They have not been as

:13:25. > :13:28.bad as some predicted, the critics say the party needs to do much

:13:29. > :13:32.better if it is to have agents of regaining power. It was really

:13:33. > :13:35.disappointing that the labour activists out there campaigning for

:13:36. > :13:42.months -- Labour activists. Jeremy needs to take responsibility for

:13:43. > :13:47.poor performance yesterday. Labour retain two safe seat, one in England

:13:48. > :13:50.and Wales, they held onto some councils considered vulnerable and

:13:51. > :13:54.retained control of Southampton and Hastings along the south coast. The

:13:55. > :14:00.deputy leader appealed for patients. We have lost some, not as many as

:14:01. > :14:03.addicted. Reasonable people both within the Labour Party and our

:14:04. > :14:07.opponents, I think, would say that after only eight months it would be

:14:08. > :14:12.very unfair to hang this particular set of results on Jeremy Corbyn

:14:13. > :14:16.alone. -- we have lost some, not as many as a predict it.

:14:17. > :14:20.The Conservatives made to modest gains. The party will be relieved to

:14:21. > :14:25.have held ground at a time when the party is openly disagreeing over

:14:26. > :14:31.Europe. Normally made term governments expect to lose ground,

:14:32. > :14:36.we have held our own, we have taken Peterborough cancel, for example,

:14:37. > :14:41.Labour has lost control of Dudley, I think it is much better than might

:14:42. > :14:47.be expected. Labour is on course to retain power in Wales, but Ukip as

:14:48. > :14:50.won seats that for the first time. A big breakthrough, Wales in

:14:51. > :14:55.particular, but all threat the country. In England became almost

:14:56. > :14:59.second everywhere, our boat Sherrock, raking through and getting

:15:00. > :15:02.more firsts. Many results are still to come, including the contest for

:15:03. > :15:07.London mayor, that these elections are already providing an important

:15:08. > :15:18.insight into public opinion one year after the general election.

:15:19. > :15:25.One of the big stories here in Holyrood has been the fact that the

:15:26. > :15:31.Conservative Party have now got 31 MSPs at Holyrood, up 15 from last

:15:32. > :15:35.time. One of those joins me now. Congratulations. Our you surprised

:15:36. > :15:40.at how well the party has done? I think we are all just delighted. We

:15:41. > :15:44.went into this campaign with a real mission set by Ruth Davidson, to

:15:45. > :15:51.have our best result, and we have achieved beyond that. We have jumped

:15:52. > :15:56.up to three MSPs in most regions now. It is a huge new base to work

:15:57. > :16:02.from across Scotland. As you know, you were the toxic Tories for many,

:16:03. > :16:05.many years, following the legacy of Mrs Thatcher, north of the border -

:16:06. > :16:11.what do you think has turned that around? Some people say Ruth

:16:12. > :16:14.Davidson has not talked about London Conservative very much, she has been

:16:15. > :16:19.her own personal? I think people have that the Conservative Party in

:16:20. > :16:23.this election to do a specific job. We have been clear that we want to

:16:24. > :16:27.hold the SNP to account. And people have said they will put their faith

:16:28. > :16:31.in Ruth Davidson and in the Conservative Party. I think people

:16:32. > :16:34.have said, we need to start to turn the page on the coast at usual

:16:35. > :16:38.arguments which have dominated the last ten years in this Parliament.

:16:39. > :16:43.That is where we have done so well, because people now want to move on

:16:44. > :16:46.in Scotland. Do you think they do? If you add the SNP representation

:16:47. > :16:51.with that of the Greens, they do have a majority, in favour of

:16:52. > :16:54.independence? I think people vote for different parties on various

:16:55. > :17:00.issues. The Green Party have been trying to step back from the

:17:01. > :17:03.referendum. They have suggested their policy would not be another

:17:04. > :17:08.referendum without 1 million people signing up to it. We as a party are

:17:09. > :17:11.clear at this election that we are not expecting people to be

:17:12. > :17:16.card-carrying Conservatives in Scotland, but once again we want to

:17:17. > :17:20.show how we as a party can work for our country. That has given a

:17:21. > :17:29.greater agility for Ruth Davidson to take that case to people, and people

:17:30. > :17:35.have responded. It is a great part of our democracy that actually we're

:17:36. > :17:38.going to have normal politics again in the Scottish Parliament,

:17:39. > :17:45.something we have been missing, with a centre-right opposition. Is it the

:17:46. > :17:48.case that this is very much the Scottish Conservative Party, rather

:17:49. > :17:54.than the Conservative Party? Yes, absolutely. We have a number of

:17:55. > :17:57.policies in our manifesto, and that is how devolution in developing

:17:58. > :18:02.across these islands. In Wales as well, there's a number of different

:18:03. > :18:06.policies we are putting forward. The Scottish Parliament, with the new

:18:07. > :18:10.powers, needs to have parties which are ready to meet the challenge of

:18:11. > :18:15.consensus which has been built up. That is where I think over the next

:18:16. > :18:18.five years, people in Scotland are going to have a chance to look at

:18:19. > :18:23.the Conservative Party again, with fresh eyes, and we hope we can win

:18:24. > :18:26.their confidence. Maybe I could ask you whether you think in the next

:18:27. > :18:31.five years, however, the independence question might be

:18:32. > :18:38.sidelined and economic will be the big issue? RUC and an opportunity

:18:39. > :18:42.there? I hope so, but as long as there is an SNP government, we need

:18:43. > :18:47.strong voices in that parliament to stand up for a strong United

:18:48. > :18:51.Kingdom. Ruth and our team of MSPs, that is what our focus will be in

:18:52. > :18:56.this Parliament. People who voted yes, or no are starting to want to

:18:57. > :18:59.move forward, beyond the referendum. That is where I think there is a

:19:00. > :19:03.great opportunity for us to start challenging again in Scotland. You

:19:04. > :19:08.mentioned the fact that there are council elections and the next

:19:09. > :19:12.Westminster election. This is all about building up and becoming once

:19:13. > :19:20.again Scotland's natural party. Are you surprised at being an MSP? Not

:19:21. > :19:24.personally, because I was number two on the list. But the fact that we

:19:25. > :19:26.doubled our numbers to four in the Lothian region was very nice and it

:19:27. > :19:40.was a bit of a surprise. Let's find out how things are

:19:41. > :19:45.happening in Wales, with Sian Lloyd. Gavin, the sun has been coming out

:19:46. > :19:55.here in Cardiff. Already, some of the new Assembly members are being

:19:56. > :19:59.sworn in in the Senedd behind me. We are still waiting for the regional

:20:00. > :20:03.vote of south Wales central. Four seats there. We can speak to our

:20:04. > :20:08.Wales will respond and Tomos Morgan, as well as journalist Martin Shipton

:20:09. > :20:11.who has been following the campaign closely. Tomos Morgan, bring us up

:20:12. > :20:16.to date with how it has been settling down? The big news I think

:20:17. > :20:20.will be around the Welsh Tories. They have not been able to take any

:20:21. > :20:24.of the marginal seats they were looking at - the Gower, the Vale of

:20:25. > :20:28.Clwyd, the Vale of Glamorgan. They have closed the gap but they have

:20:29. > :20:33.not been able to take any of those seats. And they have lost some key

:20:34. > :20:36.regional seats to Ukip. That will mean that questions will now be

:20:37. > :20:40.asked of their leader, Andrew RT Davies. We will have to wait and

:20:41. > :20:44.see. REA massive loss for the Lib Dems, who have now only got one

:20:45. > :20:51.seat. Rusty Williams has not been able to increase the number of

:20:52. > :20:59.seats. And of course, Plaid Cymru, winning wander from Labour, a major

:21:00. > :21:02.scalp for Plaid Cymru. We are hearing that that south Wales

:21:03. > :21:07.central result may be coming in shortly. Martin Shipton, you have

:21:08. > :21:11.followed the campaign very closely - what do you make of things, with

:21:12. > :21:16.only really one seat changing hands in Wales? That's right. I think many

:21:17. > :21:18.people will be astonished, including many in the political parties. I

:21:19. > :21:23.know that Labour themselves are quite overjoyed. They did not

:21:24. > :21:27.imagine that they would end up with 29 seats. They were spinning a

:21:28. > :21:32.couple of days ago that they will expect him to go down to 26. 29 is

:21:33. > :21:36.exceptionally good for them. Some of the seats but they have retained

:21:37. > :21:39.they have done so with quite significant majorities. Here in

:21:40. > :21:42.Cardiff it was thought to be a very tight race in Cardiff North, but

:21:43. > :21:50.they actually ended up retaining the seat with a majority of 3600. What

:21:51. > :21:56.happened, do you think? I think a number of things have helped them.

:21:57. > :22:03.For example, the recent steel crisis, which is very close to many

:22:04. > :22:06.people in Wales. People have seen that the First Minister has acted in

:22:07. > :22:11.a statesman-like way in terms of dealing with, representing the

:22:12. > :22:16.nation. This is how Labour has tried to portray him, as the only

:22:17. > :22:20.potential First Minister and is a real leader, in comparison with the

:22:21. > :22:26.other leaders. And I think that that message has got across, to a degree.

:22:27. > :22:30.Also I think the Conservatives are at a particularly low ebb now, in a

:22:31. > :22:33.way that they were not after the general election a year ago. They

:22:34. > :22:37.were riding the crest of a wave? They were, and at that time Labour

:22:38. > :22:45.thought they might even go down to the low 20s. Labour strategists were

:22:46. > :22:49.extremely gloomy, thinking both with the aftermath of the general

:22:50. > :22:53.election, and also the election of Jeremy Corbyn, a lot of the

:22:54. > :22:57.strategists here in Wales are not great fans of Mr Corbyn and they

:22:58. > :23:01.thought it would be disastrous for Labour's prospects, but that has not

:23:02. > :23:05.in fact proved to be the case. What is the feeling now between Plaid

:23:06. > :23:08.Cymru and the Conservatives? Plaid Cymru are taking enormous comfort

:23:09. > :23:13.from the fact that their leader, Leanne Wood, has pulled off this

:23:14. > :23:15.remarkable victory over Leyton Andrews, the public services

:23:16. > :23:21.minister, in her home patch of wonder. In a sense, that has masked

:23:22. > :23:25.the lack of progress the party has made in other parts of Wales, in

:23:26. > :23:30.other seats, where they were hoping to gain. They have not really

:23:31. > :23:33.advanced in the way they were hoping to. They had been presenting

:23:34. > :23:37.themselves as an alternative government for Wales and saying,

:23:38. > :23:42.vote for real change, we have got all of these dynamic overseas. Well,

:23:43. > :23:46.the people of Wales have not really bought that. But nevertheless it is

:23:47. > :23:51.a tremendous coup for Leanne Wood personally to have won Ronda. For

:23:52. > :23:53.the Conservatives they are buried is appointed. They cannot really

:23:54. > :23:58.understand where they have done as badly as they have. They are quite

:23:59. > :24:03.sophisticated in terms of their voter engagement techniques come on

:24:04. > :24:06.writing personal letters to voters, getting David Cameron to write

:24:07. > :24:12.letters to voters, and perhaps as a recent sundeck indicated, David

:24:13. > :24:16.Cameron is not as popular in Wales as they may have thought he was and

:24:17. > :24:20.it may have been a bit of a turn-off for them. As Tomos Morgan was

:24:21. > :24:24.saying, I think there will be question marks over the future of

:24:25. > :24:28.Andrew RT Davies as their leader. He has been talking about taking seats

:24:29. > :24:33.from Labour, and they have not been able to do that at all. And so it is

:24:34. > :24:38.a very bad day for them. Thank you very much both of you for joining

:24:39. > :24:39.me. And Ukip members will also be joining the National Assembly for

:24:40. > :24:44.Wales. Now, back to Annita McVeigh. In the English local

:24:45. > :24:48.authority elections, the overall picture with 80 councils

:24:49. > :24:55.declared remains largely unchanged. Labour stays in control

:24:56. > :24:57.of 41 of the 42 councils it was defending -

:24:58. > :25:00.that only defeat coming in Dudley, which is now under

:25:01. > :25:02.no overall control. Looking at the share

:25:03. > :25:08.of the votes in England compared with four years ago,

:25:09. > :25:15.you can see it remains fairly stable for the Conservatives,

:25:16. > :25:16.but Labour have suffered a four-point drop, with Ukip

:25:17. > :25:20.seeing a six-point rise Let's take a look at some

:25:21. > :25:28.other election news. Labour have held on to two

:25:29. > :25:30.Westminster seats in parliamentary They comfortably held

:25:31. > :25:34.Ogmore in South Wales, and Sheffield Brightside and

:25:35. > :25:36.Hillsborough. Ukip came second

:25:37. > :25:39.in both by-elections. Labour were also successful

:25:40. > :25:41.in Liverpool, where Joe Anderson The outcome of the mayoral contests

:25:42. > :25:47.in London, Salford and Bristol London is set to declare in the late

:25:48. > :25:54.afternoon or evening. Voting also took place yesterday

:25:55. > :25:57.for almost 40 Police and Crime Commissioners

:25:58. > :26:01.across England and Wales. One result has been

:26:02. > :26:03.declared - Wiltshire - The rest of the results should be

:26:04. > :26:09.known by the end of the day. Counting has begun in the election

:26:10. > :26:12.for the Northern Ireland Assembly. The final outcome won't be

:26:13. > :26:14.known until tomorrow. Our Ireland correspondent

:26:15. > :26:32.Chris Buckler is in Belfast. A little bit of marathon counting

:26:33. > :26:37.session going on? Yes. The system is known as a single transferable vote.

:26:38. > :26:41.You can see a number of names up in front of you. Those are the

:26:42. > :26:45.candidates in just one constituency. There are six seats to be won in

:26:46. > :26:50.each constituency. The process of getting those of six candidates from

:26:51. > :26:54.all of those names means that there are multiple counts. People are

:26:55. > :26:58.eliminated and their votes are reallocated. Spare votes are

:26:59. > :27:03.reallocated as well. It is a long process. It makes it difficult for

:27:04. > :27:06.the candidates. Just taking a look at these now, you get a sense of

:27:07. > :27:13.what is actually happening in terms of this vote - do you think Sinn

:27:14. > :27:18.Fein can make gains? I think we can, but I am not foolish enough to call

:27:19. > :27:21.it at the moment. I do think that from what I have seen in terms of

:27:22. > :27:25.the count, that Sinn Fein have done well. They have had a disciplined

:27:26. > :27:32.approach in north Belfast and in West Belfast. We expect to do well.

:27:33. > :27:37.We were out on the streets. If I can say so, some media pundits were

:27:38. > :27:40.saying that this was going to fall below 50%. And of course in Belfast

:27:41. > :27:49.and throughout the north, but is not true. Actually, north Belfast was

:27:50. > :27:57.the lowest, at 52.8%. West and east have done 57.8% and 54%. That shows

:27:58. > :28:03.people are engaged, but at the same time, everybody is asking what is

:28:04. > :28:09.going to happen after this election. Sinn Fein and the DUP are the two

:28:10. > :28:13.main parties within that power-sharing coalition, which has

:28:14. > :28:17.to exist, for Stormont to exist. How are you going to agree a programme

:28:18. > :28:20.of government? We have made it very clear that we were in this election

:28:21. > :28:28.to go into government. We have shown what we can do in government. 40,000

:28:29. > :28:32.jobs. Putting ?1 billion into the Health Service. That is actually

:28:33. > :28:36.coming from the DUP as well. Two weeks seems a short time but we are

:28:37. > :28:40.up for that challenge. Having been in negotiations for a long period of

:28:41. > :28:45.time, but we know the issues now and we should be able to do it in two

:28:46. > :28:48.weeks, without any problem. I believe it is going to be a five

:28:49. > :28:54.party coalition. Will we be able to do it? Absolutely we believe we can.

:28:55. > :28:57.This is when it matters, when people come out and do their votes, and we

:28:58. > :29:02.want to do what is best for the people. That is what we are elected

:29:03. > :29:06.for. We always hear the positives, and you're talking about ?1 billion

:29:07. > :29:11.more into health, which is badly needed. But ultimately, something

:29:12. > :29:16.will suffer from that. Give me an idea of what is going to lose out?

:29:17. > :29:20.What we have to do is prioritise. I am not going to the programme for

:29:21. > :29:24.government to you today. Those negotiations will take place.

:29:25. > :29:29.Everybody agrees that we need this injection, and as well, it needs

:29:30. > :29:35.radical change. We can now go high-end to Gavin.

:29:36. > :29:40.Here at Holyrood, it is obvious that there is a patchwork of results

:29:41. > :29:44.looking up and down the United Kingdom as a whole. We will be

:29:45. > :29:48.waiting for the London mayoral election results later today. The

:29:49. > :29:53.Lib Dems have got something to cheer them up in some parts of Scotland,

:29:54. > :29:56.Labour in some parts of England and Wales, the SNP and the Conservatives

:29:57. > :30:00.have done extremely well here in Scotland. That is the big story

:30:01. > :30:03.here. Now let's go over to Huw Edwards for continuing coverage of

:30:04. > :30:07.Bbc Election 2016.