Part 3 Election 2017: Scotland

it does pose challenges for the union between Northern Ireland and

the rest of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland politics is

increasingly polarised which is amplified by the general election

result tonight. Let us bring in a new member of our political panel,

Jo Swinson, we spoke to you earlier live from your account where you

were re-elected as MP for Dunbartonshire East. Thank you for

coming into the studio. We are waiting for one result from

Scotland, in Fife North East. Have you heard any updates? We heard

there might be one vote in it. I think we're on a third recount. It

shows you how close it is. It is a reminder to all of us knocking on

doors until the last moments, in the pouring rain as was yesterday, that

elections do come down to one or two votes. And they can be that close. I

am hopeful for Elizabeth riches, but we will not know until we get the

result. In terms of the picture across the

UK, we expect the party to finish in the teens. It is not the sort of

advance you were looking for giving the distinctive message you had on

Brexit and the possibility of revisiting that question once the

final deal was done. We are two years on from what was a

catastrophic result for the Lib Dems. Rebuilding from that there's

not going to be an overnight job. We have our highest of the membership

of over 100000 and we're now seeing some solid steady progress and cease

in this election, which was a snap election from a standing start in

many cases. So I think we can be pleased with the results tonight,

particularly when you MPs, people like Vince Cable and Ed Davey,

having that level of experience, and some new places like Christine

Jardine. We're going to have a strong Parliamentary party.

Obviously you always want to win more seats. We have seen other

parties losing seats, then you would rather be in the position of gaining

seats. Where do you think this election leaves a Brexit process,

Mohamed Sarwar? I think she needs to go tomorrow and is a question about

who will lead the talks about trying to put together a new government,

and there is a reason for that because the Brexit negotiations will

be even more difficult, I think. I would go further, not only do we

need a new Prime Minister and Theresa May needs to go but given

the make-up of the Parliament, that negotiation team has to be a

cross-party negotiation team, rather than purely a conservative

negotiation team if were going to bring the country together and if

Adam is right to say that we are going to try and protect the union,

if we're serious about it we need to bring the parties together make up a

cross-party negotiating team to get the right result for Britain. You

said a cross-party negotiating team. Are you suggesting some kind of

national government well? It is safe to say that there was no chance that

the Labour Party 's have anything to do with the Conservative government

that is what we end up with, we will have to go within the Parliament to

get about past, to agree a deal, and how that deal was negotiated and put

together is very serious now. Should there be labour and Lib Dem people

involved in that well? There's a serious case for it to be a

cross-party negotiation is that we can get agreement across the UK. All

parties? Yes, get that deal passed in the Parliament. What about that

idea, Adam Tomkins? Were getting a long way ahead of ourselves here. It

is clear that those going to be a hung Parliament were no party has an

overall majority. We have some days ahead of us of negotiations between

the parties to try and form an administration. I don't agree that

Theresa May should go tomorrow. There is no vacancy at the top of

the Conservative Party or in Downing Street. Theresa May will try to form

a minority or coalition government or some kind of combination of the

two. And we have rules in the Constitution in place to allow

governments to try and do that in the rare cases where we elect a hung

Parliament. If Theresa May goes, which I think is likely, she cannot

be replaced by a buffoon like Boris Johnson. If you allow him to lead

the government and negotiation on Brexit, it is going to fail. I don't

think Anas Sarwar should be saying who we should have as Prime

Minister. They can see at the moment. From an SNP point of view,

do you lot back the suggestion from Anas Sarwar that all parties become

involved in the Brexit negotiation and that no one party leads us

through that? The SNP has said all along that Scotland should have a

voice within the Brexit negotiations and the Scottish Government would

like the SNP to be involved in that. Adam is right in some ways... Wait,

you just said that Adam Tomkins of the Conservative Party is right!

There are rules of the game that the players set themselves. Theresa May

said she lost 60 said this election she would have lost the election.

She has done that. She cannot carry on with a record like that leaving

the country into something as serious as Brexit negotiations. We

have seen a performance during this election campaign. I don't think

anyone seriously expects Theresa May to be able to go in and do battle

for Britain amongst 27 EU members. It is a ludicrous suggestion that

she has got strong and stable leadership that she promised right

at the start of this campaign. She has been speaking out Conservative

Party headquarters. She hasn't given an indication that she either will

or will not move from the position of leadership she is currently in.

Jo Swinson, in any event, does this election and its outcome change the

nature of the Brexit deal that we will be seeking and ultimately end

up with? It should. Theresa May went into the election saying she wanted

a mandate for her extreme vision of Brexit, choices that she had made

about what our opening position would be about being outside the

single market and Customs union. And she hasn't had a mandate for that

position. She hasn't been heard to stand up and debate it against other

leaders. I do think that this result, in the same way that the SNP

need to reflect on the second independence referendum having seen

the results in Scotland, Theresa May needs to reflect on the way that she

has been pursuing Brexit, because the people have spoken and they have

not given her the majority that she sought. I want to bring in Brian

Taylor. It will probably not be a popular thing for me to say but one

way of resolving the hung Parliament is to have another election. Isn't

that right? Take that badge away! I think it would be a courageous

individual who went to the country to try and hold another election

having called one unnecessary election when they were in

government and then to say... Week that to a year, it has been seven

including the referendums in the past two years. That discussion

about Brexit, does Theresa May look to anybody here, like somebody who

is up for a fight with 27 nations all of whom are defending their own

interests staunchly against the United Kingdom? Does she look like

someone ready to pursue that battle in 11 days' time, having made a

cautious, timid, half-hearted speech and then departed from the scene of

her own victory in Maidenhead? She doesn't look to me like somebody

ready for that fight. She may recall, she may gather and change

your mind but it didn't look like it tonight. I've had quite like to ask

about potential successors, should there be a contest and that is

something that we will pick up on. We are waiting in Scotland from the

declaration from Fife north-east, no indication as to how soon you might

get that. We are hoping to catch up with Professor John Curtice, who has

been crunching numbers all night and we are hoping to hear from him, his

perspective on this remarkable election outcome. I will bring in

his colleague in political punditry. It's far too inaccurate word,

because of course as a professor of politics what you do is much grander

than that! Your perspective on this remarkable result. And where we

might go on the two constitutional issues, both independence and

Brexit. The Conservatives will be humbled by this result. This is not

the result the UK Conservatives expected. But they will be

emboldened by the performance within Scotland. There has been lots of

discussion about whether or not the Scottish Government should take the

independence referendum of the table. For me, it doesn't really

matter whether it is formerly of the table or not because the threat or

the promise as you perceive it of a second independence referendum is

much less terrible now as a result of the election than it was before.

But that does raise some issues. It can be used as leverage between the

relations between the Scottish and UK governments to help increase the

influence that Scotland has, over say, Wales and Northern Ireland, and

if you remove that, it presents challenges for the Scottish

Government in how it can have its voice heard in the Brexit

negotiations and in some of the challenges for devolution in the

past ahead. We can cross now to London and speak to Professor John

Curtice of Strathclyde University. How did the exit polls do, first of

all? I think in the end we got it almost right. We said at the

beginning of the night the Conservatives would get 214 seats,

and we would probably although by no means definitely end up with a hung

Parliament. At the moment we expect the Conservatives to get 319 or so,

so a slight underestimate but the essential story correct. The SNP,

34, maybe ending up at 35. That is as accurate as you are going to get,

it will never be spot-on, but we did tell the nation at ten o'clock

roughly what the story was, and above all, that the Prime Minister's

decision to call the election has basically backfired spectacularly.

Backfired to the extent that we're going to need a new Prime Minister,

do you think? That is a decision for the Conservative Party. It is

perfectly clear that the only administration that can be formed is

a conservative led administration and, indeed, so long as they can get

the DUP onside that will take them past the 325 mark I given that Sinn

Fein are winning as many as seven seats in Northern Ireland, there

will only be 643 MPs in the next Parliament, so the Conservative

Party can for all practical purposes as long as they have the DUP onside

will have a small majority, but politically, the reaction in the

Conservative Party is going to be, we went into this election with a 16

point lead, at some point a 20 point lead and we ended up with just a

3-point lead which ended up being insufficient to return an overall

majority. Given that clearly, behind-the-scenes there were quite

substantial criticisms of the Prime Minister's campaign and the mistakes

that were made on the so-called dementia tax, and then we came to

understand that she was not somebody you found it easy to deal with the

unexpected, with the interchange with journalists and in casual

conversation, in the way that is pretty essential. She was constantly

wanting to rehearse preferred answers. She didn't look like

someone who did think on her feet. In contrast, Jeremy Corbyn, who at

the beginning of the election, most voters had just written off as a

party leader, because he campaigned at least as well as Theresa May,

because he came up with a popular manifesto, more popular than hers,

many voters re-evaluated their view of the leaders. In truth, what

Jeremy Corbyn has achieved in terms of his personal popularity is

unprecedented in polling history. Usually in polling history if the

public have decided you're not a good leader you can not turn it

around. Jeremy Corbyn managed to turn around his position in just

four short weeks. Given that the Conservatives put together a

programme based on a landslide, in these circumstances, what bits of

that programme, that manifesto, might have to be traded away, do you

think? That is a very good question. The problem, of course, the big task

that faces this next government is indeed negotiating Brexit. And,

given that the Conservative Party, shall we say, are not entirely

united on the subject, given what Theresa May was trying to do was to

make it possible for her to reach an accommodation with the EU that would

involve compromises for those at the hard Brexit end of her party, than

they would like, she will now not have that freedom of movement. In

truth, one might want to say to her in that situation that, actually, a

central position, that the government would try to reach an

accommodation with the opposition as to what the UK negotiating position

should be, so that she therefore the wood no what the House of Commons

might and might not accommodate. I've heard some people suggest that

that should be the case this morning. That would require Theresa

May not just add insult her party in a way that so far she has shown

little appetite for doing, but actually, to be willing to reach

across the floor of the House of Commons. That would require a very,

very different style of government. Otherwise, I suspect that

Conservative proposals for the financing of social care for older

people in England, those will probably bite the dust very rapidly.

And in Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon appears to have, or has won the

election north of the border, with the largest number of seats, I think

it's 34 at the moment. But she said she will reflect on that result, so

what kind of reflection do you think she might have? I think clearly the

concern for the SNP must be that some of the momentum that has been

behind the independence movement, which survived the defeat in the

referendum three years ago, some of that has gone. One of the

interesting things, apart from the opinion polls in Scotland, which

were beginning to pick up the rise in Labour support north of the

border towards the end of the campaign, was that again, much of it

was happening among younger people, and that the SNP was losing the

enthusiasm of younger people in Scotland, who hitherto had been keen

on independence and keen on footing for the SNP. What the opinion polls

also told us was that we should be careful of leading directly the

level of support for independence from the level of support for the

SNP, because only around three quarters of those who voted US in

2014 said they were going to vote for the SNP. It may well be that the

SNP will have to reflect, as well as rushing a second independence

referendum, may want to reflect on the domestic record, not least on

schools, it's beginning to undermine their support among those, who on

the constitutional question, are still willing to support the

nationalist position. Thanks very much for your perspective. Professor

John Curtice live from London. We will be live in Glenrothes fairly

shortly, we think, for the declaration. I'm hoping so, I have

my fingers crossed. There have been three recounts in the Fife

north-east constituency. A very close contest, perhaps just one vote

in it. The last time we checked, it seemed the count was leaning towards

the Liberal Democrats, but could it be that the SNP hold on? We will

find out, we hope, in the next few minutes. In the meantime, let's pick

up with Jackie and this morning's headlines.

If you are just waking up, you're waking up to a new political dawn.

The BBC is predicting a hung parliament. The Conservatives are

unlikely to have an overall majority. Pressure is already

growing on Theresa May to stand aside. She has not uttered the words

as we saw her account. In Scotland, the party registered their best

result since the early 1980s. The Scottish Secretary David Mundell is

now one of 13 Conservative MPs. The SNP is still the largest party. It's

easy to forget that, after the seismic victory two years ago. But

they have lost 21. Conservatives with the Lucky 13 for them so far,

Labour on Southern, gained six overnight and the Lib Dems on four.

One of the night's most dramatic moments came when the former SNP

leader Alex Sam lost his Gordon seat. I'm disappointed, I've lost so

many fine parliamentary colleagues. I think one thing the polls did not

detect at all was a late recovery in Labour Party fortunes, based on the

admiration of a lot of people for the performance of Jeremy Corbyn

during this general election campaign. The newspapers are owed.

The National has some top the night like this. Being tribute to the MPs

who lost their seats. As the nation wakes up to news of that hung

parliament, let's see what the reaction is to some of the gains and

losses on Twitter. In a speech to Conservative HQ, Theresa May did not

mention her future, but obviously a lot of speculation. Angus MacNeil of

the SNP, who held the Western Isles has asked the question, is this the

election were everyone lost? As Glenn was just saying, we're waiting

for one more declaration in Scotland. It could come down to a

coin toss in North East Fife, where in the here's press in it.

We will cross strait that declaration when it comes in. We are

just reflecting on the extent of the conservative comeback in Scotland at

this election. They have 13 seats, and among those who are returning to

parliament, were taking seats in parliament, the Scottish secretary

David Mundell. And in the neighbouring constituency of

Dumfries and Galloway, the new MP is Alister Jack. They are both with us

live from Dumfries. Congratulations to both of you on your re-election,

David Mundell, and on your election, Alister Jack. Alistair Jack, how

does it feel to be new to the House of Commons? It feels very good. It

feels particularly good to do it when the Conservatives are returning

and other 12 seats. Another 12 seats, and actually this is the best

result in terms of seats that the Conservatives have had since 1983,

when you won 21. This year of the board might be slightly up on that

time. What do you think the key ingredients have been of this

recovery? The key ingredient has been first of all Ruth Davidson's

success as a leader, David Mundell's success as Scottish Secretary. I'm

getting revamp in the year, but I'll learn how to do this better as time

goes on. And obviously, the big thing was Nicola Sturgeon calling

that vote on a second independence referendum. Had she known Theresa

May was going to go to the country, I don't believe she would have done

that. It was a mistake, and the country have turned their back on

Nicola Sturgeon. It was a high water mark for the SNP in 2015, and the

tide is now going out. But they bring in David Mundell as MP for

Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and detail. If I could concentrate with

you on the UK picture, what you think is good to happen now? What is

the way forward, given the hung parliament? You know much more about

the UK position than we do, we've been stuck in a count with not

particularly good Wi-Fi or mobile reception. There are still a few

results to come. You will see how the results settles down in the

morning. The shape of that parliament will determine the nature

of the government going forward, but there is still important business to

be done, particularly taking forward the Brexit negotiations, which are

due to begin in about 11 days. Theresa May, having failed to

achieve the goal she set herself, to increase her majority and strengthen

her hand, is she now vulnerable? Will she have to go? I certainly

don't think so. She is still the best person to lead us into those

Brexit negotiations. We will see the shape of the new parliament when all

the results are in. I think that will determine the nature of things

going forward, particularly the approach that people take, what I

hope as a result of the result in Scotland, is that Nicola Sturgeon

takes her plans for a device of the second independence referendum of

the table. We will see the SNP actually come forward in a

constructive way in relation to the Brexit negotiations. I hope Labour,

even with an increased size of party in parliament, will also adopt a

constructive approach. We've got to work together on what our

unprecedented post-war negotiations. Labour's Anas Sarwar suggested that

the Conservative - led government, if that what we're going to have,

will have to reach out to all the parties in the House of Commons to

try and negotiate a Brexit deal. Is that a good idea? And how might that

change the sort of deal we would be seeking? I think we've got to get

the best possible deal, and I don't think we should be looking for a

deal that meets the requirements of individual political parties. I

think this is actually a time where those sort of party political

considerations are put aside in the national interest, and the national

interest is put first, and that the parties come together to actually

look and work for a good deal for Britain. But of course, if the

government doesn't have a majority, it does have to work with others,

whether that is in Holyrood or Westminster. When we see the final

numbers, those will determine the shape and nature of the government

going forward. That is a suggestion of a deal with the Democratic

Unionist Party, we will see where we end up. Thank you both for talking

to us. Live from Dumfries. Now, it has been another extraordinary

election. An extraordinary night. Some extraordinary results. Let's

catch up on all the action with our correspondent Andrew care. Colin

James Clark, Scottish Conservative and Unionist, 20 1000, the SNP may

be the overall winners, but that the biggest losers. The people of Gordon

hosted the former First Minister. Alex Salmond said the SNP had

suffered a grievous blow, but he did think they could still play a big

part at Westminster. The SNP might well find itself in reduced numbers

in the House of Commons, but in a position of very substantial

influence indeed. And I know that my colleagues will seek to use that

influence to keep the Conservative Party from power and to build a

progressive alliance to take this country forward. And to avoid the

calamity of hard Brexit. And then a little warning to his opponents.

Just a phrase from an old Jacobite song, in the midst of your glee,

you've not seen the last of my bonnets and me. Until then, the

SNP's biggest loss had been there at Westminster leader Angus Robertson.

The Conservatives overturned his majority in Moray of 10,000. For the

Scottish Conservatives, an unbelievable night, the best result

since 1983, as they picked up the fruits of the anti-independence

message. I think we've seen the country's reaction in the number of

SNP seats that have fallen. Indirect to is dead, Glenn, that's what's

happened tonight. The SNP also lost seats to the Conservatives and

acknowledge they should reflect on the result. I'm not going to rush to

hasty judgments or decisions, but clearly there's thinking... Let's

cross to Glenrothes for the declaration in Fife north-east.

41,000 ballot papers were verified, giving a turnout of 71.3%. I give

notice that the total number of votes cast for each candidate in the

election was as follows. Rosalind Garton, Scottish Labour Party, 4026.

Stephen Gethins, Scottish National Party, 13700 and 43. Tony Miklinski,

Scottish Conservative and Unionist party, 10000 and 88. Janet Richards,

Scottish Liberal Democrats, 13700 and 41. Mike Scott-Hayward,

independent sovereign democratic Britain, 224. The total number of

ballot papers allocated were 41,000 822. I declare Stephen Gethins to be

elected to serve in parliament as a member for the Fife north-east

constituency. The majority was two. A majority of just two in Fife

north-east. Stephen Gethins a relieved man. Thank you for your

extraordinary efforts tonight in what has been an extraordinary

evening. Thank you to you. Can I thank Elizabeth, Tony and Rosalind

for I think a well fought campaign, and thank you for the campaign we

have fought. It has been a close one, I think it's fair to say.

Second, volunteers from all political parties who make democracy

work, who have been trudging round in the pouring rain today, you have

my thanks, as well. And finally, on a personal note, my wife had a baby

halfway through the selection and she has been an absolute hero, so

thank you, and thanks very much, everybody. Thank you. He returns to

the House of Commons defeating the Liberal Democrat challenge in five

north-east by two votes. You can barely get much closer than that.

Stephen Gethins winning with 13,743, the Liberal Democrats Elizabeth Rich

is second with 13700 and 41. The Conservatives third in the seat.

Several thousand votes behind, 10,088 for him. The turnout in five

north-east, 71%. The SNP and the Lib Dems almost neck and neck in terms

of share of the boat with 33% each, the Conservatives on 24, Labour on

10%. -- of the vote. He was a change from two years ago, the SNP down 8%,

the Conservatives up 8%, Labour up two and the SNP holding on despite a

swing of 4.8% from the SNP to the Lib Dems. That was the last seat in

Scotland to declare. The final total for the 59 constituencies in

Scotland. The SNP finishing 35, down 21 one 2015, the Conservatives

second with 13, up 12, Labour on seven, up six, the Lib Dems on four

up three. Let's take a look at those aerial shots, they are from London,

of the Labour Party. He has clearly of the Labour Party. He has clearly

-- it is clearly anticipated that he will emerge from his House at some

point. His position is clear on what is now a fairly firm outcome to this

election, a hung Parliament, with the Conservatives as the biggest

single party but short of that overall majority and in need of

support from, perhaps, the Democratic Unionists all others in

the House of Commons. Jeffrey Donaldson of the DUP has said, we

have suddenly become very important. We will obviously talk to the

Conservatives in the best interests of the UK. That was so Jeffrey

Donaldson of the DUP. Let's cross once again to the Election Cafe to

catch up with the owner. There has been no problem staying awake

tonight. It has been shot after shot after shock after-shock. Kirsty

Strickland is with us having made it through the night. It has been

fascinating, hasn't it? Where do we go from here? What is des two going

to hold for us? It will be all about manoeuvring. Before the campaign it

was going to be about the chess match between Nicola Sturgeon and

Theresa May and at the end of this campaign, this night, they are the

two characters who have suffered the most. It will be interesting to see

how they regroup and come back after this. It'll be down to the deals

that will be done and whether or not Labour are willing to take the

poisoned chalice if the arithmetic allows and Labour can form a

minority government, then whether or not that will work out well for them

in the long run is a different thing because with Brexit, if you break

it, you buy it, and whoever forms the next government will have one

hell of a task over the Brexit negotiations and in the long run

strategically, it might work out better for Labour to hold fire and

put pressure on when they can, which they will be able to do, now the

Conservatives have suffered so many losses and, in the next five years,

come back stronger. Interesting what Tom Harris has to say, former Labour

MP, support or Brexit. You have got some interesting themes. What on

earth is the second day going to hold? It will be 90% speculation

about who is going to resign next and who's going to do a deal. The

Constitution, unwritten though it is, suggests that the sitting Prime

Minister, one that has a majority of a large number of seats will have a

first chance to form a government. If the DUP come on board, which they

probably will, I expect, Jeffrey Donaldson has said as much already,

whether it is a formal deal or not, I expect this government will be

able to limp on without any major defeats in the Commons, up to and

beyond the Brexit talks but there is no doubt that this is a government

that has been holed below the water line. Theresa May, her position is

untenable. Even if she is replaced by someone, I would suggest David

Davis if I was putting money on it, but it is not a government that can

be asked -- in last five or ten minutes beyond the end of the Brexit

negotiations. Is this a omnishambles? For the Conservatives

that would be an improvement on what we have at the moment! What are your

theories about what is going to unfold now? It hinges on what

Theresa May decides to do now and what pressure she is put under

inside the party. You have to talk about the fact that the exit

negotiations start in 11 days' time but the other question is, if you go

into this Brexit talks with all of those EU leaders thinking, actually,

you are a lame duck, you went into this election with a 20% advantage

in the opinion polls, you thought you would come out stronger and you

have come out weaker, so she might have to consider future, there is

the doubt about that whatsoever. Until that happens we won't do what

the other parties can do. Jeremy Corbyn is going to do a speech this

morning making all sorts of challenges that she should stand

down. He will start setting out his stall, with scenarios about what the

left can do with some kind of anti-Brexit alliance, but her

decision is absolutely pivotal. A quick prediction, in a word, what

happens next? I genuinely don't know. She can quite easily say, the

nation requires stable leadership. If I was putting money on it I would

say that we will continue with an already Conservative government led

by someone other than Theresa May. I think we will see a swift

resignation from Theresa May and a minority Conservative government. If

you want to letters know your thoughts and views on what could

possibly happen over the next few hours, weeks and months, remember it

is #bbcelection. We are heading towards a minority of chaos, not a

coalition of chaos, that was copyright Lord Purves of the Lib

Dems. We will hear from the panel and a little while. We can cross the

Glenrothes, there are still around going on were the SNP held on with

two, Laura McIver. Stephen Gethins of the SNP winning with just two

votes in it at the end after four counts in Glenrothes for the North

Fife seat. It seems it went twice to the Lib Dems, two ties to the SNP.

In the end there were deep discussions going on with the

returning officer, their candidates and their agents who went on to make

the declaration of Stephen Gethins as the winner. But the Lib Dem

candidate in her speech on the state said that there could be further

action after this vote because it was obviously such a close one.

Things are winding down and victory has been declared but it sounds like

it is possible that this could be something that ends up being

challenged in a couple of days' time. Just to be clear, when the

declaration was made, was that not, does it, in itself, mean that the

Lib Dems, the two main contenders have accepted that result? You are

saying that the Lib Dems have not accepted that result? It would

appear that they had because that would be the end of it for them,

being on the stage together, but she talked about the possibility of

further action. Whether this is something that she could end up

appealing for it, asking for it to be looked into further, I am not

sure. Stephen Gethins has been declared the SNP MP for North East

Fife after a very long night and lots and lots of counting. Thank you

for keeping as a cross that story throughout the night. We will let

you get away and have some rest. The majority last time was 5344 and that

is down to two. It seems that after a recount and a further recount, the

victim we switched sides on more than one occasion. Let me bring in

Lord Purves for the Lib Dems. Is there anything your party or

candidate could do, given that that declaration has now been made? Can I

congratulate Elizabeth for the campaign that she thought? She did a

brilliant job in the circumstances. As someone who was first elected

after two recounts I can understand the nerves that would have been

there. From my recollection in my count the returning officer can make

a decision and that is the decision that will stand on the night and it

would be up for our agent and party to consider their options going

forward. Just because of a candidate was on the stage it doesn't mean we

are fully accepted the result. The returning officer can make a

decision in that situation. The principle is that we will Act

honourably and Stephen Gethins' speech was gracious but I would

commend Elizabeth for the campaign that she fought and we will make

sure that all options are considered. In 1997, Gerry Malone,

the MP for Aberdeen South and then the MP for Winchester, he lost that

seat by two votes, to the Lib Dems who contested the result in the High

Court, the result was declared void, the election was called again and

Gerry Malone lost the subsequent by-election by 21,000 votes. Voters

tend not to like it if their verdict is challenged. The circumstances

that were very different and also the dynamic of the campaign was very

different. Quite interesting, that constituency. You are right to say

that, at some point the returning officer is the returning officer, at

some point he can say, that is it, I am calling it. You saying that there

was a possibility that the Liberal Democrats will challenge this result

in court? I don't want to read anything into this at this stage

because after those number of recounts, everyone needs to just

pause slightly and consider the options, including the agents

involved. I've been in that situation and that six, seven

o'clock in the morning, ultimately, what is important is that

everybody's vote has to be properly counted. Innovations we operate a

first past the post system and every vote has to be counted. It did not

help that in that constituency the Conservatives were campaigning so

that they had a chance to win it... A political postmortem, Shirley-Anne

Somerville. I can appreciate that pensions would be running high at

that count. His nerves must be absolutely frayed. I am delighted to

see him re-elected. I spent quite a bit of time in that seat myself and

I know what a tremendous amount of hard work he and his team have done.

A period of reflection now, this is not the time for hasty decision iss

and talking about the courts, but Stephen Gethins has been a fantastic

MP during his time and it has been a good into the night for the SNP.

Would it be sour grapes if the Liberal Democrats decided to

challenge, which is a perfectly legitimate course of action given

how close it was? We have to look at the different circumstances and

opportunities for them. He has been declared winner in that

constituency, he's a worthy winner and I would be very disappointed if

the Lib Dems, with a period of reflection, didn't accept the

result. Let's cross once again to Jackie Bird for more news on this

extraordinary election. You might have gone to bed last

night believing the UK had a self build strong and stable Prime

Minister, but look at these figures. No overall majority. The

Conservatives have lost 12 seats and Labour have gained 29, with about 12

seats still to be declared. Theresa May is being asked to consider her

future after her election gamble backfired, leaving the UK with a

hung parliament. Scottish Secretary David Mundell dismissed suggestions

she should stand down. She is still the best person to lead us into

those Brexit negotiations. We will see the shape of the new parliament

when all the results are in. I think that will determine the nature of

things going forward, particularly the approach people take. What I

hope, as a result of the result in Scotland is that Nicola Sturgeon

Baltic plan for it divides of second independence referendum of the

table. And we will see the SNP forward actually coming forward in a

constructive way. With all the seats declared in Scotland,

notwithstanding any legal challenges, Unite of surprises and a

historic wrist versions -- a historic resurgence for the

Conservatives. The SNP remains the biggest party. Labour also had a

good night and an increase for the Lib Dems. The last result was the

closest, after those recounts, North East Fife was retained by the SNP by

just two votes. This eviction will be characterised by the loss of some

of the SNP's biggest beasts, among them Alex Salmond and Angus

Robertson. A quick look at the newspaper coverage. The headlines

illustrating both the losses of the Tories across the UK and the SNP.

Just seven constituencies still to declare in the UK, six being

defended by the Conservatives. Richmond Park, Kensington, Cornwall

Southeast and Cornwall North, and one being defended by the Labour

Party in Dudley North. While we wait for those results, let's cross to

David Henderson. What are you looking at now?

Let me bring you up-to-date with the situation in Scotland. It's been an

exciting night. We're close to the finish line. Let's remind you how

the election has turned out in Scotland. Remember where we started.

This was the electoral map for the last two years, all those SNP seats

in yellow. Let's bring you up to date. This is the way the election

has turned out, this is the new political map of Scotland. Labour

gained six seats from the SNP. The Lib Dems have gained three and the

Tories have gained 12 seats. You can see in the Borders and the

north-east and in Perthshire. Some high-profile losses for the SNP.

Alex Salmond losing his Gordon seat to the Tories, and the party's

deputy leader Angus Robertson also losing out in Moray. That was also

thanks to a strong surge from the Tories. Let's see how the parties

are faring after all that. The Lib Dems led by Willie Rennie have four

MPs in Scotland. Labour led by Kezia Dugdale now hold seven seats in

Scotland. It's been a great night for Ruth Davidson of the Tories.

They now have 13 seats. And the SNP, they have lost 21 seats, but there

still a long way in front of 35. So a disappointing night for Nicola

Sturgeon, but they are still far away the biggest Scottish party at

Westminster. Thanks, David. Let's cross live to

Glenrothes once again and speak to the last and be elected in Scotland

in this general election, by a margin of just two votes, he is

Stephen Gethins of the SNP. Re-elected in Fife north-east. As

your colleague Shirley-Anne Somerville said a short time ago,

your nerves must be short. Yes, it was quite a long night, but it was

ultimately a good night. And have pay full credit to the counters who

have been up all night, as well as the presiding officer here, and I'm

frankly grateful to everybody who re-elected me. Yes, it was a

nerve-racking night. You majority reduced dramatically, from more than

4000 to just two, as I mentioned. Is your victory secure, or do you

expect it will now be challenged by the Lib Dems? The people in North

East Fife made a decision. It's my job to represent them all,

regardless of how they voted. The presiding officer made a very clear

decision tonight, and I respect that decision. You respect the decision,

but there has been some suggestion that the Lib Dems may consider

challenging it, perhaps in the courts or by some other means. Would

you be happy to go through that process and defend the win that has

been declared? The people of North East Fife have made a decision. Yes,

it was tight that often happens in a first past the post system. The Lib

Dems and the SNP agree we want a more proportional system, but the

decision has been made. I've got a job to get on with, and in this

Parliament, that will be a lot of big decisions to be made, that will

affect everybody in North East Fife, not just on Europe, but on public

spending and pensions and I look forward to getting on with that job.

Congratulations on your win. Thanks very much taking the time to speak

to us. Stephen Gethins live from the count in Glenrothes. Let's go live

to Downing Street for the first this morning and speak to the BBC's

political editor. What do you make of it?

We're waiting to hear from the Prime Minister, who is now in number ten

Downing St behind me. She came from Conservative Party headquarters,

where Doctor party workers and closest advisers. The questions of

many people are asking is will Theresa May choose to soldier on as

Prime Minister after that most poetic of election victories, a

painful election victory, which has weakened her authority are acutely

mortally. It has shaken politics up in a dramatic way as we head towards

Brexit. Those negotiations due to begin in about 11 days' time. Will

she choose to take this woman to call for the removal van? We don't

know. I asked a contact in the party earlier and they said they had no

idea. It did sound a few hours ago that she was talking about

continuing stability, but we will see. This has been a mortal blow,

it's very difficult to see her recovering. Uncertainty lies ahead

and most uncertain time for the country.

The former cabinet secretary Lord Turnbull has gone on record to say

that she should resign, but what are people saying within the

Conservative Party? Because ultimately, they are really the only

people who could push her out, aren't they? It wouldn't take much

pressure, frankly from within the Conservative Party to make her go?

But if she is minded to stay. So far, we have heard from Anna simply

saying that is Theresa May should consider her future. That is called

for she thinks she should go. Anna Soubry is not isolated on this and

there will be other Tories of this in mind. Theresa May called this

snap election with the sole idea of taking the Conservative Party to an

unassailable position with the vastly increased majority. She may

have done it reluctantly after reflection, but she didn't. Some may

say she must answer for that. But it's not just that, the conduct of

the campaign did not go terribly well, did it? The manifesto launch,

the announcement of that big policy on social care for the elderly. An

announcement, then every street and then an attempt to pretend that

nothing had really changed and there had not been a U-turn. It looked

like MS, it was, frankly, a mess, and Theresa May will bear the burden

of that. The consequence of that will be a couple of things, one, if

the Prime Minister carries on, will be under pressure in her party to

change the way of leading things. To listen to more people when taking

decisions, to rely less on that tiny circle of advisers. Senior

officials, the so-called mandolins, they will want to see their

departments and their advice not just heard, but he did. Theresa May

will be under pressure from all sorts of different directions. Good

to hear from you, thanks very much. Let's speak to our political editor

here in Scotland, Brian Taylor. I said when I next get back to you, I

would ask you for names in the frame if there's a leadership contest in

the Conservative Party. Given that she has won her seat in difficult

circumstances and is regarded as relatively stable, Boris Johnson

would be a manoeuvre is once again. I think David Davis would be the

most likely of the contenders. He was tipped, if you remember, to win

the leadership when David Cameron took it perhaps with a single

speech, perhaps more with his flamboyant approach and open

approach and new approach to the Conservative leadership. I think he

will be seen as experienced individual, but above all, he is the

one who has emerged of the triumvirate of ministers gifted with

the joy of dealing with Brexit, it is David Davis who has emerged as

incontestably the prime figure in that triumvirate, because Boris

Johnson has been sidelined and so has Liam Fox. I think he would be

the one, but you have to look at the Chancellor Philip Hammond, given the

difficulties caused as a result of his budget overtaxation. I can't see

him winning. Michael Gove, not a chance. Let's go back to our

political panel and say hello to a new member, Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet

Secretary, SNP. We haven't heard yet from Morris called and James Kelly.

Morris, from a conservative point of view, who would you want to take

over from Theresa May, where the vacancy? I think you need to step

back from that for a minute. If you look at the options on the table, we

have Theresa May Jeremy Corbyn. Faced with that choice, the only

choice was strength and stability is ultimately Theresa May. And I don't

see any... She doesn't look very strong or stable, given that she

called an election we didn't need to have, in order to strengthen her

mandate, to get her own mandate to increase the Conservative grip on

power, and has completely failed to do so. If you look at where we are

now, from a Scottish perspective, it is bittersweet. I'm topping about

the UK perspective, where we have a hung parliament. Can Theresa May

really expect to carry on as Prime Minister in the circumstances? She

certainly can, and I'd encourage all of the UK parliamentarians to work

in the interests of the United Kingdom. We have to get the best

possible deal out of Brexit, and I believe that Theresa May is

certainly well positioned to do that, to negotiate the best possible

deal and reach out across Westminster to help deliver that for

the benefit of the United Kingdom. Let me bring in James Kelly. Labour

went into this election, there were no great expectations of your party

coming close, in the end, you have done better than perhaps many

expected, but you haven't won. You are well off the numbers the

Conservatives have achieved. Will there be questions over Jeremy

Corbyn's future as party leader? At the start of this election, there

were commentators who wrote of the Labour Party and said it was the end

of the party. From what we've seen, both in Scotland and in the UK, the

Labour Party have rejuvenated, the public have responded to Kezia

Dugdale and Jeremy Corbyn and the strong policies are putting across,

the investment in public services. Opposing the Tory and SNP cuts and a

second in defence. -- a second independence referendum. Jeremy

Corbyn was more equivocal about his opposition to the referendum, not

ruling out the Hollywood power to do so. Both Kezia Dugdale and Jeremy

Corbyn were very clear that the country didn't need a referendum and

didn't need independence, which would lead to double charged

austerity. The Labour Party comes out of this election with more

seats, mournful as and a much stronger position. You say that, but

in Scotland, you are the third-place party behind the Conservatives. They

have completed their overhaul of Labour, having done it in local

government and in Holyrood, and they have now done it in Westminster from

a Scottish point of view as well. It has been a remarkable performance

from Labour in Scotland who have been rejuvenated as a result. The

real questions in Scotland are for the SNP... That is where we're going

next. Fiona Hyslop has been sitting patiently waiting her turn. If you

haven't done so extraordinarily well in the 2015 election, because,

having won the selection, it doesn't feel like that. That was a

phenomenal, once a century election. Looking at the last two whistler

selections they have been the best results for the SNP in the history

of our party at Westminster. We have won the election and we are sorry to

see some standing colleagues at Pressman still lose seats, but the

people of Scotland have rejected Labour and Conservatives. Have more

seats than Conservatives, labour and the Lib Dems added together. That

puts is in a strong position with the above has to be put forward and

the mandate that Niklas vision has won to be part of the

Will mandate was secured barely a year ago. That is what we are taking

forward. The timing of this is for a whole variety of things. Most of it

is not in our control and the Brexit Jose certainly isn't. I'm about to

go to Austria to put forward the Scottish position in Europe. These

things happen very quickly indeed. We don't want to be paralysed by a

Westminster government that cannot get its act together. We are ready

to negotiate and discuss that. That Progressive alliance that has been

put forward. We are clearer on what we want from the European

discussions. That is something that we want to take forward very

quickly. We will move across once again to Glenrothes and speak to

Elizabeth Richards, the Lib Dem candidate in the Fife north-east

constituency. Good morning, Elizabeth, commiserations on the

result. Is it a result that you accept? We are incredibly proud of

this result because it shows how many people in North East Fife

accept our message that we do not see the necessity for a second

independence referendum, they accept our concern is that we need to be

working to minimise the effects of a hard Brexit and they also accept the

many positive aspects of our manifesto. You're saying that the

voters of Fife north-east accept all of that but actually they have

accepted, elected an SNP MP who are proposing a referendum on

independence. No, what I said was, we are delighted at the number of

people who have accepted our message, and the result had two

votes in it, and that is all. They have very narrowly accepted it. Do

you accept the outcome in Fife north-east, because there was a

suggestion that you and your party might seek to challenge it, because

it was so close? We, as a party made a logical request to the returning

officer for a further recount and this is a matter that will be

considered. What do you mean by that, considered, to what end?

Tonight, a la concentration is on the success of the campaign that he

ran. We are delighted in getting our message across to so many people. It

has been a very, very hard fought campaign. And it is fair to say it

has been a very amicable one with all the other contestants. I know

that you will say that there will be further considerations and we'll

watch this with interest. Elizabeth Richards, the Lib Dem candidate

finishing second in Fife north-east. finishing second in Fife north-east.

-- Elizabeth Riches. It is the morning after the election night

before, and what a dramatic night it has been. The election has resulted

in a hung Parliament with the Conservatives the largest party

across the UK, but short of the overall majority, the increased

majority, that Theresa May so desperately sought, when she called

this election. Big questions about her future. Jeremy Corbyn finishing

well behind the Conservatives but seems to be in a much more secure

position. In Scotland the SNP has won the election but with a much

reduced number of seats in this contest, and the Conservatives,

making big gains, along with gains also for Labour and the Lib Dems.

The Conservative Leader, with Davidson, suggesting that talk of a

second independence referendum is dead, although in the discussions we

have just had with SNP Cabinet Secretary Fiona Hyslop, it doesn't

sound like that is the case. The First Minister and SNP leader Nicola

Sturgeon has said she intends to reflect on this result before making

any decisions about the future of her wishes to have that second

independence vote. Lots of seats changing hands, not least in

Scotland, let's get all the big developments from overnight with our

political correspondent, Andrew care. James Clark, Scottish

Conservative and Unionist, 21,000 861. SNP might be the overall

winners but they have had the biggest losers, with the people of

Gordon ousting the former First Minister. Alex Salmond said that the

SNP had suffered a grievous blow but said they could still play a big

part at Westminster. The SNP might well find itself in reduced numbers

in the House of Commons but in a position of very substantial

influence indeed. I know that my colleagues will seek to use that

influence to keep the Conservative Party from power, and to build a

progressive alliance to take this country forward. And then a little

warning to his opponents. A phrase from an old Jacobite song, you have

not seen the last of my bonnet and mead. The biggest SNP loss was there

was Mr leader Angus Robertson. The Conservatives overturned his

majority in Moray 10,000. For the Scottish Conservatives an

unbelievable night, the best result since 1983, as they picked up the

fruits of their anti-independence message. We have seen the country's

reaction in a number of SNP seats that have fallen. Indyref2 is dead.

That is what has happened tonight. As the North East turned blue, the

SNP lost seats to the Tories in Ayr and in South Perthshire. We will not

rush to hasty judgments or decisions. There was thinking for me

to do about the SNP result. I'm not going to lose sight of the fact that

the SNP has won this election in Scotland, but clearly, equally, I am

not going to gloss over the fact that we have suffered some losses

this evening. Labour have been criticised for campaigning against

indyref2 but they have seen the benefit of that strategy and have

been buoyed up by Jeremy Corbyn bounce with the Labour Leader now

secure in his own position. They welcomed their return to Glasgow

North East, they won in East Lothian and made other surprising gains. It

has been an encouraging night for Labour with the prounion,

anti-austerity message cutting through, and I am delighted. The SNP

retain North East Fife by just two votes over the Lib Dems. The former

government minister Jo Swinson also took out the SNP's John Nicolson in

East Dunbartonshire. It is a resounding vote of confidence in me

and also to send a clear message on the views of East Dunbartonshire

residents about the idea of a second independence referendum. People here

do not want it and the SNP really need to think again on that. Back to

the Conservatives, and it was a tale of two Tory parties, joy in Scotland

but this pair down south with Theresa May's election gamble

proving disastrous with a hung Parliament. As we look ahead and we

wait to see what the results will be, I know that, as I say, the

country needs a period of stability. The people of the UK and the people

of Scotland have spoken. Loud voices have told the politicians exactly

what they think. Let's cross live to David Henderson now for an election

overview, David. It is tough at the top. It is hard to gain the keys to

Number Ten, and hard to hang onto them. Theresa May might have to move

house sooner than she expected, because that has to others in the

past. There is Margaret Thatcher, a towering figure during 11 years in

office, very controversial, but the poll tax riots and a report by

heroin party forced from office. She was replaced mid term by a gentler

figure, John Major, who got on his soapbox during the 1992 election

campaign and beat Labour against the odds. His later years in office saw

the Tories mired in infighting over Europe, and he was swept from power

by Tony Blair. A thumping majority allow them to deliver a Scottish

Parliament, but his second term was dominated by the Iraq war, and a

growing rift with his Chancellor, Gordon Brown. Mr Brown barely had

his feet under the desk at Number Ten win the world banking crisis

struck. He would lose his early election as Prime Minister. That

brought David Cameron of the Tories to power in partnership with the Lib

Dems, the first coalition government since the war. There are critics

oppose them -- criticise them for imposing austerity. Then David

Cameron won his second election outright so it was goodbye to the

Lib Dems and hello, EU referendum. Mr Cameron led the campaign to

remain in Europe, he lost and promptly resigned, which brings us

to Theresa May. She called this election early, in a bid to win a

strong mandate ahead of Brexit negotiations. That seems to have got

her into some trouble this morning, returning with the largest party at

Westminster, but with fewer seats than before. As we have seen in

politics, you don't always get what you want. It is a tough business.

The people decide and the power that is given to a Prime Minister can be

taken away. With the Conservatives the largest party, the expectation

is that they would form the lead in the next administration, perhaps

leading a minority government with support from the Democratic Unionist

Party in Northern Ireland, certainly, DUP figures have said

they would be willing to talk with the Conservatives. Let me bring in

Brian Taylor, our political editor, at this stage. From a later point of

view, the Shadow Chancellor Joe McDonnell saying that he wants

Labour to form a minority government and he is challenging parties

including the SNP, the Lib Dems and the Greens, to back that. Is that

even a possibility? It is not all that feasible. The way that these

things work, it is not a presidential election but a

parliamentary election. The palace, the Queen and her advisers will

invite an individual to be Prime Minister and that individual has to

be able to demonstrate that he or she can command a majority in the

House of Commons and form a stable government. The first indication

will go to Theresa May. It will be, Theresa May, how's it going, tough

luck and all that, but can you form a government, and you have two show

evidence that you can. Failing that perhaps someone else from the

Conservative Party will form a government and if Labour cannot form

a majority, guess what? Another election. That is quite a prospect.

The think that the Queen says tough luck? I doubt it very much, perhaps

it is what some of her advisers might say. Theresa May, one

suggestion coming out of Westminster at the moment is that she definitely

will not go in the short term, got somebody needs to answer the call

from the palace, and if it is not her, then the Palace might well

offer the opportunity to Jeremy Corbyn and allow Labour to seize the

initiative. A week on Monday, somebody needs to go and start

negotiations with the other 27 members of the European Union. I

would doubt if those members are enemy to postpone something that was

brought about by the UK Government and not brought about at the will of

those other 27. They will say, tough luck, you didn't need to call a

Brexit referendum. And you certainly didn't need to call an election in

the meantime. Be there, a week on Monday.

Fiona, what do you think a group of 35 SNP MPs, what kind of influence

might they have in this situation? And what will they be arguing for?

We have said we would want to see a progressive Alliance to make sure

that the Conservative programme, not least their austerity programme, can

be shelved. We want to see the cliff edge hard Brexit prevented. There

might not even be a deal, and they were talking about no deal is better

than a bad deal. Is that feasible? I remember the outcome of the 2007

election at Holyrood, when the SNP finished with one more seat than

Labour, and the assertion was made at that point that if you get the

most seats, you get a shot at forming a government. Do you accept

that the Conservatives get the first shot at forming a government? So

there is unlikely to be a Progressive Alliance. That is

dependent on Theresa May being able to form a government and weather she

has other parties, the DUP or others, to work with. And also her

own party. There may be people in her own party, because of this farce

than election that didn't have to happen, she had a court case and an

election shouldn't have to have, she has made a mess of that, so within

her party, there must be people asking if they will stay with

Theresa May when she has made such a mess. The pressure for her would

just be from other parties perhaps having a Progressive Alliance, it

may well be from her own party. We are not in a stable position at all.

As we heard from David Henderson, the Conservatives can be ruthless

when it comes to changing leaders. How much pressure do you think she

will come under in the coming days? I think but got to look at this

pragmatically. Theresa May is still the best person to lead the United

Kingdom into the negotiations. Talk from the owner of a Progressive

Alliance, with John McDonnell, it will be more like a Marxist

Alliance. There is Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the Labour Party, leading,

leaving his home in London. But supporters and lots of media

surrounding his car as he heads off, perhaps to the House of Commons,

perhaps to Labour headquarters. Not certainly at this stage to

Buckingham Palace. I don't think anybody has had that particular call

just yet. Morris, you would expect to Theresa May to get that call

unless she decides herself, having set herself the target of increasing

the Tory majority, and completely blowing that, she might think the

game is up, I need to go. The rationale for holding the general

election was to provide that strong and stable Westminster parliament. I

do you keep putting her mantra, but things don't look very stable now. I

fully accept that. In Scotland, it's a completely different scenario, but

across the UK, we are now in a position where we do not have that

strength. We have a hung parliament scenario, and we have got to, all of

us, work together to make sure we deliver the best deal for the UK. I

believe that is with Theresa May leading the government. Might we

need some kind of national government at this time, James

Kelly, where parties that disagree on so many things, come together and

try to hammer out some kind of compromise agreement on Brexit,

given that that is arguably the single biggest issue facing the

country as a whole? I think the first thing to say is that Theresa

May's reputation is in tatters because of this. Don't forget, she

went to the country with the political objective of achieving a

bigger majority in order to strengthen her hands in the Brexit

negotiations. She returns to Westminster with less seats and

diminished authority and therefore, the real question is as to weather

she is able to carry on or not. In terms of how you then move that

forward, I think that's going to leave a gap and therefore, it is

quite legitimate for the Labour Party to put forward the view that

we could fill that gap as a minority administration. That is what the

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell is proposing. Do you think that is

realistic? I think there's a gap in the political spectrum, because

Theresa May's reputation is in tatters. At this point she says

she's going to carry on, but I don't think that's credible. I do that we

actually know. I have suggested different scenarios. You didn't seem

to imply that. I'm explaining to you that I have heard different

scenarios from Westminster and elsewhere. We simply do not know

what Theresa May's one view is that at the moment. Jeremy Purvis for the

Lib Dems, your party has picked up some seats. You just lost the seat

you want in the by-election in Richmond Park, going back to the

Conservatives. And overall, you have not made the sort of progress in

this election that Tim Farren set out to come up with a distinctive

position you set out on Brexit. Will there be questions over his

leadership? I don't think so. We have seen some spectacular gains,

especially in Scotland, with the three additional seats and the

incredibly close result in North East Fife. Our gains in Scotland

means there are people with Lib Dem MPs and we will expect them not only

to fight for their constituents in the House of Commons, but to try and

add some form of sense to what is going to be a very uncertain period.

Across the UK, there are many many people, who voted Liberal Democrat,

who have new MPs, and our duty will be to act responsibly going forward.

But certainly, I am very pleased this evening that we are be gaining

seats, we are beginning around in Scotland and that shows we had a

good campaign, and Willie Rennie's leadership is beating fruit. Let's

just confirm the result from Richmond Park, which I suppose will

be considered as a conservative hold. They're describing it as a

Conservative win, because the Liberal Democrats took it at a

by-election. And now the Conservative Zac Goldsmith has taken

it back at this election. But it was very close, Zac Goldsmith had only

45 majority. Bleeper in third and Ukip in fourth. Here's how the vote

shares out. The top two parties are both on 45%. Labour on 9% and Ukip

on less than one. He'd is the difference between this election and

the last, by which I mean the 2015 general election. The Conservatives

down 13 and the Lib Dems up 26. That increase is not enough for them to

have this seat. The swing from the Conservatives to the Liberal

Democrats in Richmond Park, 19.4%. I think I'm right in saying that this

was the most Pro-remain constituency in the whole of the United Kingdom

and Zac Goldsmith was also a former candidate for the London Mayor ship

and he campaigned very hard. That is a phenomenal swing. In the last

column, you saw the Ukip vote going down, I suspect that would have been

watched just tipped it over for the Conservatives in that seat. I've

just been adding up, and that seat and North East Fife, less than 50

votes, a few extra hundred, and we would have a lot more MPs. But it's

first is post system. I know you are a strong supporter of proportional

representation. If you cannot persuade people in the most pro-EU

constituencies, to back the Liberal Democrats, when you're offering the

opportunity to cancel Brexit and have a second referendum on the

final deal, then that argument is gone. Part of the campaign was about

Brexit, other parts were not about Brexit. It wasn't an entirely

dominated campaign. It was the number one issue in your campaign.

In the by-election, it probably was, and in the general election, it

probably isn't. We've seen many times over the years that

by-election results are not always reflected in a general election, but

it's a phenomenal swing to us. You have to comfort yourselves with that

phenomenal swing, because you no longer in Richmond Park.

It has been a long and eventful election night, which has resulted

in not more political certainty, but in a hung parliament. Theresa May's

snap election has spectacularly backfired on her. Her party now has

no overall majority. I think her demeanour says it all there. To

achieve anything, she'll have to do some nifty negotiating in the

Commons. There was no shortage of drama in Scotland, as the SNP

remains the largest party, although its former leader lost his seat. But

the Conservatives made big gains. Here is how the parties stand. The

SNP still dominating and the Tories in double figures for the first time

in decades. Here is how that translates into a share. You can see

not much movement for Labour there. It stayed pretty much as it was in

2015, but the difference in seats results in a shift in support for

the SNP and Conservatives. Here is what their leaders have had to say.

I'm not going to take any rash decisions. Clearly, I have to

reflect on the results and I will take time to do that. But it would

be the wrong thing for me to do this hour, to take decisions before

having had the opportunity to properly think about it. We are

building on success last year, will be more than doubled our number of

MSP 's and night, the SNP majority. In the council elections, we more

than doubled our number of wards and we have carried that lament on into

tonight. But there was one big issue in this campaign and that was Nicola

Sturgeon tried to ram through a second independence referendum in

March, and the country's reaction to that. We've seen that in the number

of SNP seats at a fallen. I two is dead. The other issue is Brexit.

Let's look at what Twitter is saying.

George Osborne told my colleague that this means hard Brexit is in

the rubbish bin. Glenn, that's all from me. I'm off to Westminster.

Join us for reporting Scotland tonight for a special analysis of

what this means for Scottish politics.

Safe trip to London, we'll hear from you later. We'll keep the analysis

going here in the election studio in Glasgow. We'll pick up in a moment

with the suggestion there from George Osborne that the idea of a

hard Brexit is now in the bin. But right now, let's cross once again to

the election cafe, where Fiona as new guests.

What a night it has been and what a day we might have in store for us.

What happens is anyone's guess, but were going to have a go at that. We

have Jenny Davidson from Holyrood magazine, Paul Sinclair, and Angela

Hagerty. I'm going to ask you to look into your crystal balls. First

of all, Jenny, what do you see in the next ready for errors? Absolute

chaos. If you look into a crystal ball, you're going to see a green

mass of cloud or something. I wouldn't like to be a fortune-teller

and I wouldn't like to be Nicola Sturgeon or Theresa May at the

moment, because both had a tough night, they've both got really

difficult decisions ahead of them. Theresa May, what does she do? Does

she resign? Does she leave the country without a leader or her

party without a leader? It could take a long time to appoint a

replacement and is now one obvious standing by. Brexit negotiations are

coming up in ten days' time and then in Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, what

does she do about indyref2? Does she backed down? Does she do a U-turn

like Theresa May? I would like to be in either of their shoes this

morning. All, a prediction on your birthday? I can see how Theresa May

could last weekend, to be perfectly honest. You could understand why she

wanted an increased majority with Brexit coming up, and although the

maths suggest you could just about, with the DUP, have a kind of

majority, that might work in the short term, if it wasn't something

like Brexit. The negotiations are supposed to start in ten days. She

cannot go into those negotiations with any credibility at all. And I

don't see how she survives. And I think the question is, who does the

Tory party choose to be the interim Prime Minister before we are back at

the polls in six months' time? Who's going to be running the UK?

Your guess is as good as mine. I don't see how Theresa May can stay

in her position. She has to go. She called this election on the basis

that she would get her personal mandate to deliver her Brexit

vision. She has not done that. She has sent the Conservative Party

backwards. She has no tenable position, in my mind, so she

absolutely has to go. I agree, as well, that Nicola Sturgeon has also

had a tough night. In Scotland there is going to have to be some serious

thinking going on within the SNP as to what went wrong with this

campaign. Something clearly went wrong. It is not just about Unionist

voters making their play for it. Something went wrong within that SNP

campaign and the SNP needs to find out exactly what it is. They haven't

lost the election, that is the thing, we are talking as if the SNP

have lost the election, it almost feels that way because of the loss

of Angus Robertson, but why have they lost so many seats? The SNP

need to figure that out fast and what it means for the second

independence referendum. Do you think that we will be back for

another Election Cafe within the next few months? I don't think that

the voters can handle another election. Yes, I don't see how the

voters will have another election. I'm going to say no, but I think it

might be wishful thinking. Let's put your name is on your marks, and pop

them in case. If you want to give us your views, the hash tag

#ElectionCafe is still going strong. We are now just waiting for five

constituency results, some knives, is in Oslo, Kendal, Cornwall

Southeast and Cornwall North, sees that the Conservatives are

defending, but there is one more declaration to bring you from

Scotland, the Borders by-election caused by John Lamont's decision to

stand down from the Scottish Parliament, in order to fight,

successfully as it turned out, a Westminster constituency. Let's

bring you that declaration which was made in Kelso, a short time ago. I,

been the returning officer for the Roxburgh and Berwickshire

constituency say that the numbers of each candidate was as follows.

Rachel Hamilton, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party,

20,658. APPLAUSE

Gail Hennelly, Scottish National Party, 11,000 320. -- Gail Henry.

Sally Prentis, Scottish Labour Party, 3406. I hereby declare that

Rachel Hamilton has been duly elected to serve in a Scottish

Parliament as a member for the said constituency. Rachel Hamilton holds

Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire for the Conservatives, replacing

John Lamont. She was an MSP for the region but now has a Rimkus agency,

winning, but 20,658 votes over Gail Hendry of the SNP, sister of a

certain Alex Salmond. She finished second. Sally Prentice and third for

Labour and just ahead of the Liberal Democrats, the daughter of the

Liberal leader of all, David steel, Catriona Bhatia. That was an

all-female contest. And earlier, we were saying that there was just one

of those in the whole of the UK for the general election, this

by-election is a rare example of a contest at Holyrood with only female

candidates. Rachel Hamilton the winner for the Conservatives, the

turnout in that constituency, 70%. Lots to talk about following the

general election result. Let's pick up on the Holyrood position because

there was a knock-on effect, given against the Conservatives have made

in Scotland and given that some of those gains have been made by list

MSP is in a Scottish Parliament, what happens at Holyrood,

particularly in the North East region? If a list seat was vacated

you would normally go to the next person on the list, but such are the

successors of the Conservatives in the North East of Scotland, were

sitting list members of the Scottish Parliament have successfully stood

in the Westminster general election, that they are running out of space.

There is the option to maintain a dual mandate. You mean sitting in

both partners? Being a part-time member of both parliaments. But it

is a problem. I am sure that it is one that the Conservatives will

welcome because it is as a result of their success in the North East.

What will happen with those MSP 's who have been elected to

Westminster, if they stood down from Holyrood, how would their positions

be filled? If you run out of space on the list, you just go with the

next one, so the list will be 129, for the duration of this term. We

have a political panel changing all the time. We still have your nails

lop, the Cabinet Secretary for the SNP, and Jamie Dean has joined us

from the Scottish Conservatives. Do you know the answer to this question

given that it seems that you do not have enough spare candidates on the

North East list, or those elected carried on at Holyrood and try to

establish themselves at Westminster? I was hoping that was a question you

were not going to ask, because it is a conundrum, I guess. It is an

enviable position for any party to be in, so many people elected that

you almost run out of people, but there was a protocol in place at the

Scottish Parliament that will deal with this and internal party

processes, we will be looking at this as we speak. The party will be

working at the machinations of replacing people who move from one

Parliament to another. I'm not sure that we have had this particular set

of circumstances. What do you think happens, Fiona Hyslop? So many

Conservatives don't have much faith or belief in the Scottish

Parliament, they just see it as a stepping stone to the Westminster

Parliament. That is symptomatic of some things that I have got real

concerns about, it is important that the status and reputation of the

Scottish Parliament, not just in government, as the SNP, but many

people fought hard to have a strong Scottish Parliament and the

disregard that some Conservatives have, barely months into the role,

they want to go somewhere else. It says a lot about how the

Conservatives view the Scottish Parliament. Is that their comment?

We are not the only party where people are progressed from the

Scottish Parliament to the Westminster Parliament.

"Progressed". Moved from one Parliament to another, it has been

done before. There are still 29 of us who are Conservative MSP 's who

are in Holyrood and you stay there. And the notion that we have no

respect for the Scottish Parliament is nonsense. We are the second

largest party in Holyrood and we are doing an effective job of being a

strong opposition. I was going to say about Alex Salmond, he has moved

from one Parliament to the other and get both roles. He was an MSP

elected on a per Scottish Parliament then he chose to move back to

Westminster, so that is what he chose to do. And since 2001, the

principle has been that there are dual mandates, so this seat should

remain vacant, and actually, John Lamont, user constituency member,

but a conservative, stood down causing a by-election, in order to

present -- prevent a dual mandate. If the Conservatives are being

straightforward they should say that the dual mandate is not appropriate.

Downing Street, we were there talking to our Deputy political

editor. We can see Larry, the Downing Street cat. Larry has his

own account on social media and it has tweeted this morning to say,

what?! As it stands there was a fair chance that the Queen might have to

ask me, not me, but Larry the cat, to form a government. Let's hope it

does not come to that. We don't know who will be forming the next

government would Conservatives finishing as the largest party in

this hung Parliament, it looks most likely to be the Conservatives.

Whether it will be a government led by Theresa May or not is something

that we have been discussing and we will come back to in just a moment.

Coming back to the Holyrood picture, following the by-election and those

wins for Conservative MPs at Westminster, what would your advice

to then be, because the Conservatives have been quite firm

in the past on making their candidates pick one Parliament or

the other? The practical thing about it, if you go back to the situation

when Margo MacDonald passed away and she stood on heroin as an

independent and there was no alternative to replace, -- she stood

on her own. The implication with this situation is that we could up

with a situation where the Parliament is one MSP short over the

next four years and clearly, the Conservatives have not thought this

through before setting candidates up for election. We will hear later

today what the position of the Conservative Party is on that. Let

me bring in Brian Taylor on that. In terms of the general election,

Brian, 2015 not happen, the SNP would have had its best ever result.

It is its second best ever result, but the extent of their losses make

it look quite difficult. In terms of history this is a good result for

the Conservative Party. They previously gained a maximum of 11

seats and struggled to go beyond that in Westminster because it was

seen that they could not form the UK Government, so 2015 hadn't happened,

this would be an excellent result for the SNP. 2015 took them to a new

plateau, and they have descended from it. Politics is about winning

and losing but also about momentum and the momentum is probably not

with the SNP as a consequence of these results. We have heard it said

that indyref2 is now dead. I'm not sure whether I entirely endorse

that, but it appears to be ailing and struggling a little bit to the

extent that Nicola Sturgeon is now saying that she's going to have to

consider her position with regard to that. But she postponed indyref2,

maybe not, because she would say that it is already postponed until

beyond the period of Brexit. Is it, in practice, deferred for a

substantial period? I think, in practice, it is, because it is not

just for the Scottish Government or the SNP but for the UK Government,

whoever might be Prime Minister, to say that they are not particularly

keen on that going forward, at this time within the timetable of Brexit.

Another thing about the results in Scotland, Nicola McKeown, just how

many of them were really pretty close. Quite a lot of them. We saw

that dramatic result in North East Fife with just two votes in it.

There are 12 seats with majorities of less than 500. Some with less

than 100. Most of those are seats that the SNP have held onto, but not

all of them. There are one or two for the Conservatives and Labour as

well. Let's pick up with our political panel once again, Fiona

Hyslop, Brian Taylor has suggested that if indyref2 was not dead as

Conservative Leader Rick Dennison has suggested, then the idea of like

having that vote in next couple of years is fading. We will not be

having that, we agreed with Theresa May that now is not the time and we

will consider it at the appropriate time. We have to deal with the

Brexit situation. If you compare and contrast, the Conservatives went and

try to increase their mandate and they have got less than 50% of votes

across the UK. In Scotland the SNP has had its second best result ever

at Westminster. And we have received over 50% of the vote. In the

campaign it is quite interesting. You said that if that was the

outcome that would put a triple lock on your proposals for independence.

I have not heard you say that during the course of discussions this

morning. We have a mandate. The mandate for the independence

referendum was secured a year ago in the Scottish Parliament elections.

We said victory for the SNP, and it is a victory, we have received over

50% of the vote... It is a triple lock, then, you're going ahead with

the independence referendum? We have secured the mandate, over 50% of the

vote, which strengthens our position, and in terms of being part

of the Brexit negotiations, which is the immediate issue, we are the

third biggest party in Westminster, that gives us a very powerful

position any hung Parliament. We will have to identify with the UK

Government how we can take that forward, but, of course, we are the

party of independence, and we believe in that, and the

Conservative -- the Scottish people have rejected the single issue that

Labour and the Conservatives made that and they have been rejected by

the voters. Collectively those parties got the lion's share of the

boats. They stood individually. There are different ways of

interpreting the result and what the people of Scotland were trying to

communicate. We have traditionally been squeezed

at Westminster elections, because people know we don't have enough MPs

to form a government. People identified that the Conservatives

were struggling, Theresa May was struggling, Jeremy Corbyn was

appealing and had a social democratic programme very similar to

the SNP's, appealing to people in England. People had a choice as to

weather they wanted a clear result in the Westminster election and I

think it's quite remarkable in those circumstances, that we still managed

to get 35 MPs out of a total of 59. Quite remarkable. The party down

more than 20 seats at this election. James Kelly, some of those picked up

by the Labour Party, but you come out of this election in third place

in Scotland, behind the Conservatives at Holyrood and in

local government. In that sense, you have actually gone further back?

Even if you go back just a few weeks ago in the council elections, we

took 20% of the vote, and last night, we took up to 20% of the

vote, so we have moved on just in the space of the few short weeks. I

think the big story in the election, there are two strands. People on the

doorstep are really fed up with the SNP obsessing about the referendum.

Nicola Sturgeon completely misjudged the mood of the public. Remember

that press conference at Bute house, announcing, we're going to have

another referendum. They thought the public would going behind them. The

story of this election is that the public have rejected that. And that

also fed up, after ten years, they want to see action on the ailing

health service and the declining standards in schools. That's the

real lesson Nicola Sturgeon need to reflect on. Nicola Sturgeon launched

that back in March with a press conference at Bute house. That hung

over the local elections and it dominated this campaign. I've got an

important developed to bring new. The BBC now understands that Theresa

May has no intention of standing down as Prime Minister and party

leader. Weather that is a position that she will maintain, weather it's

a position that she will articulate at some point this morning, we will

wait and see, but certainly, the BBC's understanding is that she does

not intend to stand down. After this incredible election, let's pick up

with Brian Taylor on some of the key moments in Scotland. The key moments

in Scotland, the memory has got to be Alex Salmond losing his seat. He

did so with dignity and humour, which is to his credit, but

nonetheless, he lost. I've known Alex Salmond for ever and I think

it's the first election he is ever lost since he stood for office in

the student Representative Council at St Andrews University. It's

almost an icon of the evening for the SNP. Yes, they've won 35 seats,

but they have lost big names. They have lost ground. They have won the

election but lost ground. And the future of politics will depend upon

which of those narratives is more compelling, the victory in the

election or losing ground. I think in the short term, it's likely to be

losing ground that is compelling in terms of the impact on the

independence referendum. If I may talk about the UK briefly, this is

an appalling result for the Conservatives, given the nature of

the campaign. They created a completely unnecessary election and

they have had a swing away from them to the Labour Party. Away from them

to a leader whom the treated with contempt, and yet, he has managed to

gain faults at their expense. Yes, they are the largest party, but in

terms of momentum, who has got the smile early this morning? Is it

Jeremy Corbyn or Theresa May? It's Jeremy Corbyn. What do you make of

the suggestion that Theresa May has no intention to stand down as Prime

Minister and Conservative leader? I think it fits with her declaration

that the codes that there has to be form -- some form of stability. It

fits with the fact that the Brexit negotiations begin a week on Monday.

If she could have a leisurely handover and somebody could deputise

for a spell and then you have a leisurely period in which the

Conservatives choose another contender to be Prime Minister, then

that would be one thing, but that's just not available. Why? Because of

Brexit. This election was cold evidently because of Brexit. I think

it's an incredible irony. George Osborne says that hard Brexit, what

did he see? Hard Brexit is now in the bin. It is Philip, rather than

to Jesus who takes out the bins, so maybe will have something of a move

in that direction. But they mist interview on Though One Show and

talk of boy jobs and girl jobs in the household of Theresa May. Let's

just pick up on that suggestion from George Osborne that somehow this

result will change the course, the nature of the Brexit deal that we

get or perhaps the nature of the Brexit deal that we seek. What you

make of that? Is that a likely change from your point of view? It's

important to remember we haven't even started the Brexit

negotiations, so pre-empting the type of Brexit we're now going to

have versus the type we would've yesterday is impossible. You have to

know what you want to get in the first place. People talk about hard

and soft Brexit, the key difference between one and the other is

membership of the single market. If we are in, people say it might be a

softer Brexit. If we allowed, it might be defined as a hard Brexit.

Do you think the position of the government will shift on that? That

they seek to stay in. I think it will be to get the best deal

possible with Europe once we start the negotiations. I can't see any

particular thing that has jumped out of me. The people of the UK voted

for Brexit, so that is what the government of the day, the largest

party who will form the next government, they will get on with

that job. So I don't see any shift. One condition politicians in

Northern Ireland might be pushing really hard for, is to make sure

that the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland

stays very much open for trade and for free movement. Might that change

the nature of the deal that the UK negotiates? I think the election

changes everything. Clearly, Theresa May thought she could win the

election with an overall majority and then embark on a hard Brexit and

then come back and use her majorities pushed through

Parliament. She no longer has an overall majority and is well, with

the Irish situation, if the Conservatives do continuing

government, which is not certain, they will have to deal with the

other parties and open up discussions, which will mean looking

more seriously at the deal on the table. I have taken part in many

debates in the UK Parliament since the referendum, and the

Conservatives have been very clear on the choices they've been making

on leaving the single market, leaving the customs union, not

having a unilateral decision on EU citizens' rights. The Lib Dems in

the Lords and Commons pushed very hard on those points. I think the

government now has to move. The government does not have a majority

mandate to force through a hard, extreme Brexit. Part of the

difficulties the Conservatives had in this campaign as it was unclear

what the best deal for Britain is, and the people were confused. Now is

the opportunity for a degree of clarity. The Conservatives will

speak to other parties across the spectrum, because the Queen's

speech, delivered as Prime Minister, they need to know the legislative

agenda. Reassessing after this election is essential. There can be

compromised, and the plans we have put forward, membership of the

European single market, I think we can get a consensus but position,

not just with the Lib Dems and Labour and the SNP, but also with a

good number of conservatives. And I think that is one of the things, in

what has been a mixed night, what can happen as a result of this, is

that corporation, but those discussions have to start. Do you