:00:00. > :00:11.Their share of the vote was down, reflecting the swing
:00:12. > :00:16.Hello and welcome to your special Look East election programme
:00:17. > :00:20.with all the results from Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk on what has been
:00:21. > :00:22.a disappointing night for the Conservatives which has left
:00:23. > :00:27.many in the party shocked and stunned.
:00:28. > :00:30.In contrast it's been a good night for Labour with some
:00:31. > :00:34.Here in the studio, guests from the three main political
:00:35. > :00:36.parties and our correspondent, Andrew Sinclair, to shed
:00:37. > :00:45.You can send us an email or leave a comment on our Facebook page.
:00:46. > :00:47.We'll be featuring some of them later.
:00:48. > :00:53.The Conservatives have gained one, Clacton.
:00:54. > :00:59.Labour made a significant gain in Ipswich, taking
:01:00. > :01:02.the seat from Ben Gummer, a Conservative minister and a man
:01:03. > :01:04.responsible for helping write the party's manifesto.
:01:05. > :01:12.The Lib Dems held their one seat in North Norfolk, Ukip have none.
:01:13. > :01:15.So this is how the map of the region looks now - still dominated
:01:16. > :01:20.Ian Barmer has a roundup of the night where in some
:01:21. > :01:28.The political map of the East might still be a sea of blue,
:01:29. > :01:34.but this morning the party celebrating will be Labour.
:01:35. > :01:42.than doubled his majority. For that, than doubled his majority. For that,
:01:43. > :01:47.he thanked Theresa May. If you're going to say, I am the greatest,
:01:48. > :01:50.Muhammad Ali style, you turn around and trip over your own feet on the
:01:51. > :01:55.way to the ring and don't show up, the British public, if you are going
:01:56. > :02:00.to say I am the big I am, strong and stable, the best leader, and you
:02:01. > :02:04.don't show those qualities, you are in trouble. The best result for
:02:05. > :02:08.Labour was in Ipswich, one of the authors of the Conservative
:02:09. > :02:13.manifesto, Ben Gummer, was one of their biggest scalps. I leave not
:02:14. > :02:19.just with a great deal of pride, but with an enormous sense of gratitude
:02:20. > :02:22.to the people of the town of Ipswich. After the declaration, you
:02:23. > :02:32.didn't stay around for interviews. The story for the Liberal Democrats
:02:33. > :02:34.was Norman Lamb holding on in North Norfolk,
:02:35. > :02:36.despite a concerted campaign by the Conservatives to take
:02:37. > :02:44.the seat he's held since 2001. James Wild left without speaking to
:02:45. > :02:48.journalists. Our cameraman was jostled out of the way.
:02:49. > :02:50.You help people through personal crises in all sorts
:02:51. > :02:53.In so many cases, they come back to you to say,
:02:54. > :02:57.It's often years and years after the event.
:02:58. > :02:59.But that personal loyalty that they have shown, I think,
:03:00. > :03:05.This has been the biggest and most intense campaign we have ever fought
:03:06. > :03:11.In Colchester, Lib Dem Sir Bob Russell failed
:03:12. > :03:16.The story there was another Conservative hold.
:03:17. > :03:20.For the Tories, that was the picture in seat after seat across the East.
:03:21. > :03:22.The party held on, often comfortably, but often
:03:23. > :03:31.Its one big success and only gain in the east was Clacton,
:03:32. > :03:34.I had a sneaking feeling it was going to go my way.
:03:35. > :03:37.But this huge majority I seem to have got today is just
:03:38. > :03:42.I am going to work very hard for you.
:03:43. > :03:58.Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex were strongly conservative before the
:03:59. > :03:59.election. Overall, it stayed that way, but the story of the night was
:04:00. > :04:09.a much better showing for Labour. Let's see what our guests have to
:04:10. > :04:14.say about that. Therese Coffey, you held onto your seat, but it was a
:04:15. > :04:18.gamble that did not pay off for the Conservatives? The prime Minister
:04:19. > :04:20.set up the reasons why she wanted the election, the Brexit
:04:21. > :04:24.negotiations that are due to start in the next two weeks. That is why
:04:25. > :04:28.she made the choice she did. This is not the night you wanted or were
:04:29. > :04:32.expecting? I won't pretend we wanted to lose seats across the country,
:04:33. > :04:36.not at all. What we saw was a significant increase in our vote
:04:37. > :04:40.nationally, but also regionally. It has been an extraordinary election.
:04:41. > :04:44.Labour has moved up and the other parties have been squeezed out,
:04:45. > :04:49.almost out of existence. But Norman did well to continue on in North
:04:50. > :04:55.Norfolk. The Conservatives increased their share locally. But Labour did
:04:56. > :05:00.even better, Sandy Martin? Congratulations, new Labour MP for
:05:01. > :05:04.Ipswich. Again, it wasn't the night you were expecting? It wasn't the
:05:05. > :05:08.night I was expecting when the campaign started, no. We were all
:05:09. > :05:12.taken aback slightly by the Prime Minister's sudden announcement of an
:05:13. > :05:15.early election. She said she wanted to produce a Government that was
:05:16. > :05:22.strong and stable. Instead I think she has ended up looking weak and
:05:23. > :05:25.wobbly. Over the course of six weeks, I think we found that more
:05:26. > :05:29.and more people were looking at the issues, that Labour was discussing,
:05:30. > :05:33.looking at what the Conservatives were promising in their manifesto
:05:34. > :05:38.and they just didn't like it. So it was the issues, then? I think so,
:05:39. > :05:42.yes. Norman Lamb, tough fight for you in North Norfolk. You held on,
:05:43. > :05:48.but it was tough? Absolutely. It felt like an endurance test. They
:05:49. > :05:51.threw everything at me. When you have thousands and thousands of
:05:52. > :05:56.letters coming from the Prime Minister, seeking to persuade people
:05:57. > :06:01.to desert me, it feels rather special that is all failed. People
:06:02. > :06:06.have shown an enormous loyalty to me, which I appreciate enormously.
:06:07. > :06:09.And it was a failure on behalf of the Conservatives, because you tried
:06:10. > :06:13.very hard? Five Cabinet ministers, they have never shown so much
:06:14. > :06:18.interest in North Norfolk. It is fair to say, as people may know,
:06:19. > :06:20.James Wild is married to a member of the cavernous and don't be surprised
:06:21. > :06:27.if some Cabinet ministers come to visit. -- to a member of the
:06:28. > :06:34.Cabinet. James Ward a local lad, a candidate that only became candidate
:06:35. > :06:38.very recently. The snap election, and I understand why people may say
:06:39. > :06:41.the Conservatives were trying to use it for their advantage, you can see
:06:42. > :06:46.what has happened across the East of England, the benefit of incumbency,
:06:47. > :06:52.largely. Of course Sandy did do well in Ipswich. This will go down as an
:06:53. > :06:55.historic miscalculation by the Prime Minister. I think it is that old
:06:56. > :07:00.thing of taking people for granted, assuming that there was going to be
:07:01. > :07:05.a significant majority. People chose differently. I think the big mistake
:07:06. > :07:09.that Theresa May has made is to call the election to make the case at the
:07:10. > :07:15.start, then not be willing to debate it. I want to bring in our political
:07:16. > :07:18.correspondent, is that how you see it? Well, a lot of people are
:07:19. > :07:22.scratching their heads, trying to work out what has happened. If you
:07:23. > :07:29.look at the share of the vote in this region, the Conservatives are
:07:30. > :07:32.up 6%, Labour up 11%. Both parties picked up new voters. Both parties,
:07:33. > :07:35.you could say, have had a good election campaign. No change in the
:07:36. > :07:41.Lib Dem share of the vote, the Ukip is down 14%, the Greens down 2%. We
:07:42. > :07:45.are returning to 2-party politics. Two other things have played in this
:07:46. > :07:47.election. The first is the Conservative manifesto, all of the
:07:48. > :07:52.parties are telling me the minute it came out, the policies on social
:07:53. > :07:55.care in this region, which has a large elderly population, really
:07:56. > :08:04.played big and affected the Conservatives. We will talk more
:08:05. > :08:07.about that in a minute. We think a large number of young people voted
:08:08. > :08:09.yesterday for the first time, that probably benefited Labour. More from
:08:10. > :08:12.all of you in a moment. I just wanted to turn to one of the Labour
:08:13. > :08:15.success stories, Norwich South MP Clive Lewis, who has more than
:08:16. > :08:18.double his majority, which now stands at more than 15,000.
:08:19. > :08:19.I caught up with him shortly after the declaration
:08:20. > :08:22.and he admitted it was a complete shock.
:08:23. > :08:25.We thought that we were going to have a real fight on our hands
:08:26. > :08:29.So when I was telling people, you know, this could go either way,
:08:30. > :08:32.people were going, "Of course it's not, Norwich South isn't..."
:08:33. > :08:36.And we know the Tories definitely thought it could.
:08:37. > :08:46.Well, obviously a fantastic local team.
:08:47. > :08:49.We had people, I've never seen as many people
:08:50. > :08:54.So, people from across Norfolk, Labour activists coming out to help.
:08:55. > :08:56.Not just on the day, but throughout the election.
:08:57. > :09:00.I think it captured people's imagination on the doorstep.
:09:01. > :09:03.A lot of people said, "We get it, we like this manifesto."
:09:04. > :09:06.And then I think our super weapon was Theresa May.
:09:07. > :09:08.You also paid tribute in your acceptance speech
:09:09. > :09:10.to the Lib Dem voters and the Greens as well.
:09:11. > :09:16.Lib Dem and Green voters played a massive part in this.
:09:17. > :09:19.Look, I understand that many of the people that voted for me
:09:20. > :09:23.So you benefited from an anti-Conservative vote,
:09:24. > :09:32.There were people that were saying, given a choice
:09:33. > :09:34.between Jeremy Corbyn and Clive Lewis, and the Labour
:09:35. > :09:36.Party, their manifesto, and Theresa May and the Tory party,
:09:37. > :09:39.their candidate, and the politics of despair, people had made a clear
:09:40. > :09:41.choice between those two very different manifestos,
:09:42. > :09:52.So is your very much increased majority because of Jeremy Corbyn,
:09:53. > :10:02.I would say that the majority I have today is, in part,
:10:03. > :10:05.because of Jeremy Corbyn and the manifesto that he and
:10:06. > :10:08.Yet still, when you look at our region, when you look
:10:09. > :10:11.at Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex, it is still a sea of blue.
:10:12. > :10:14.You have a long way, Labour has a long way to go?
:10:15. > :10:20.And I think we shouldn't get carried away with the result.
:10:21. > :10:23.I think people understand that there has been a bit of a turning point.
:10:24. > :10:26.This manifesto, this leader, was meant to bomb and be wiped out.
:10:27. > :10:28.He's actually prospered and done better than anybody
:10:29. > :10:33.And you, of course, have been a supporter from the start.
:10:34. > :10:36.Does that mean now you are looking at another job
:10:37. > :10:39.If I'm offered something, of course I'll look at it.
:10:40. > :10:44.You know, it would be churlish not to.
:10:45. > :10:47.At the moment, for me, I'm going to go and have a couple
:10:48. > :10:50.of drinks now, I'm going to celebrate, I'm going to spend
:10:51. > :10:53.time with my wife and then we'll see what happens on Monday
:10:54. > :11:09.Clive Lewis, saying it was because of Jeremy Corbyn, not in spite of
:11:10. > :11:12.him. For you, on the doorstep, it was policies, was it, that people
:11:13. > :11:17.cared about, not personalities involved? It was policies, but first
:11:18. > :11:20.of all because people are enthusiastic about the Labour Party
:11:21. > :11:22.in a way that maybe they haven't been in the past. Secondly, because
:11:23. > :11:28.the policies that they have been putting forward have been clear. We
:11:29. > :11:32.haven't been hedging around. We said we would abolish tuition fees, we
:11:33. > :11:36.didn't say we would reduce them or anything like that. That was playing
:11:37. > :11:39.well with younger voters? Very much so. It wasn't just things for
:11:40. > :11:44.younger voters, it was also the pledge to abolish the bedroom tax,
:11:45. > :11:48.it was the pledge to raise the minimum wage, it was the pledge to
:11:49. > :11:52.build 1 million new houses. What you're talking about is the
:11:53. > :11:58.anti-austerity vote. Is that important? Absolutely vital. People
:11:59. > :12:01.are fed up austerity. They can say it is not working, it is not
:12:02. > :12:08.bringing the deficit down, it is not actually enabling our economy to
:12:09. > :12:16.grow. They were very taken with the Labour manifesto. It was an Antaeus
:12:17. > :12:20.-- and he vote? People were astonished by the magic money tree.
:12:21. > :12:25.The idea of writing of student debt really boosted Labour, especially in
:12:26. > :12:31.Norwich and university towns around the country. It played a massive
:12:32. > :12:34.role in that, while a lot of my voters were saying we have got to
:12:35. > :12:40.still continue to try to improve the economy and balance the books, and
:12:41. > :12:47.the deficit is down from ?156 billion to close to ?50 billion, but
:12:48. > :12:49.we still have a way to go. The other thing played a massive role was the
:12:50. > :12:53.social care plan by the Conservatives. In our region, a lot
:12:54. > :12:59.of older voters, quite frankly they didn't like it? I saw various
:13:00. > :13:04.reactions. I think the timing of the postal votes coming out so quickly
:13:05. > :13:09.after our manifesto launch, there was a clear reaction. I think our
:13:10. > :13:13.policy, we should continue, and we did continue to try to explain what
:13:14. > :13:17.it was, given that a lot of people had not realised the policies of
:13:18. > :13:21.today, in terms of funding social care. I think there was that timing.
:13:22. > :13:25.Nevertheless, as I say, across the region, our share of the vote
:13:26. > :13:28.continued to rise. I'm not trying to say that there was one particular
:13:29. > :13:32.thing here or there that particularly swung the election
:13:33. > :13:35.either way in Ipswich or, indeed, Norwich South, to get the majority
:13:36. > :13:39.we did. I do think student tuition fees were a big factor in many seats
:13:40. > :13:43.around the country. Is this something you feel you will have to
:13:44. > :13:47.respond to now? A lot of people worry about student tuition fees. Is
:13:48. > :13:54.this something the Conservatives need to revisit? It is the Labour
:13:55. > :13:57.Party that introduce them. And you kept them going? Vince Cable made
:13:58. > :14:02.the decision for the Liberal Democrats, while in coalition, to go
:14:03. > :14:08.together on that, and Vince was defending these decisions during the
:14:09. > :14:11.election this time. You know, we now need to work today about what we're
:14:12. > :14:16.doing about forming a government, with Theresa May still as Prime
:14:17. > :14:20.Minister. But I suspect we will have to try to continue to do our bit
:14:21. > :14:24.about still trying to work towards reducing the deficit, which we had
:14:25. > :14:32.already set out our plans to do. I want to ask you about social care.
:14:33. > :14:34.Was that something people were talking to you about? Did the
:14:35. > :14:40.Conservative plan play into your hands a bit on the doorstep, do you
:14:41. > :14:44.think? Was a massive mistake. The policy is and thought through. Where
:14:45. > :14:51.people talking about it? Totally, it was shifting votes. I met a man
:14:52. > :14:55.saying, I was intending to vote Conservative, I am not any longer.
:14:56. > :14:58.That kept being repeated. The interesting thing was that it was
:14:59. > :15:05.interplay between a policy issue, which is that, but then the U-turn,
:15:06. > :15:11.unprecedented for a Prime Minister to disown her own manifesto. That
:15:12. > :15:18.led to her priority leg authority being massively diminished. You can
:15:19. > :15:21.see her ratings plummet. The challenge for you, you represent a
:15:22. > :15:26.pro-Europe party. You also represent a constituency that returned a very
:15:27. > :15:34.large Brexit vote. Where did that go? It is interesting, when we are
:15:35. > :15:38.talking about the danger of making assumptions nationally, there was
:15:39. > :15:41.also a danger locally. Many commentators assumed that block of
:15:42. > :15:43.Ukip voters were transferred to the Conservatives. It is a lot more
:15:44. > :15:48.complicated than that. Each person makes their own judgment about how
:15:49. > :15:52.they want to exercise their democratic vote. We got a lot of
:15:53. > :15:54.people who previously voted for Ukip. I have very pleased that I
:15:55. > :15:59.managed to persuade us people to come to me. I think my perception
:16:00. > :16:03.was that we went into the campaign convinced that Brexit would be a big
:16:04. > :16:08.deal. I picked up on the doorstep that most voters would really
:16:09. > :16:15.bothered about Brexit. That was last year's battle and they wanted to
:16:16. > :16:16.talk about the other issues. The NHS and funding of schools, they all
:16:17. > :16:17.came to the fore. Want to go live now
:16:18. > :16:20.to our Chelmsford newsroom because we can talk Kemi Badenoch,
:16:21. > :16:22.the newly elected Conservative One of the safest Tory
:16:23. > :16:28.seats in the country, held for 40 years by Sir Alan
:16:29. > :16:31.Haselhurst. So the result is not
:16:32. > :16:43.a surprise for you? Well, that is what everybody says.
:16:44. > :16:50.But I had no idea what was going to happen. On the doorstep, you hear
:16:51. > :16:53.all sorts of things. It is not empirical, the canvassing data you
:16:54. > :16:59.get back. But I am very pleased we have held our vote, increased our
:17:00. > :17:04.vote share. I am delighted to have been elected. It was a good night
:17:05. > :17:10.for you. Not so good in other places across the region. Your conservative
:17:11. > :17:18.colleague in Norwich North has really only just held on. What do
:17:19. > :17:24.you put that down to? I think that this time around our manifesto was
:17:25. > :17:29.about tough decisions and tough choices that the country needed to
:17:30. > :17:34.make. I think that is why this election was called, so that Mrs May
:17:35. > :17:38.would have a mandate to carry out some difficult decisions. We have an
:17:39. > :17:43.opponent that was offering lots of freebies and people decided to go
:17:44. > :17:49.for that, unfortunately. Do you admire Theresa May? I do, I do. I
:17:50. > :17:53.think she has got a lot of guts. I think she's very brave, very strong.
:17:54. > :18:01.Many people would just have carried on as is and not taken the risk to
:18:02. > :18:04.get their own personal mandate. She has been looking long term at the
:18:05. > :18:08.problems that are coming down the line. Social care is something that
:18:09. > :18:12.is talked about in every council up and down the country. No other party
:18:13. > :18:16.have a solution to deal with it, but we did. People just did not want to
:18:17. > :18:22.accept that it is a tough problem. I am interested, as far as Saffron
:18:23. > :18:26.Walden is concerned, Sir Alan Hazelhurst held it for 40 years.
:18:27. > :18:38.What will you be offering that is fresh and different? Well, Sir Alan
:18:39. > :18:42.and I, the only key difference would be Brexit, I was Leave and he was
:18:43. > :18:46.Remain. But we worked together closely on the campaign. I'm going
:18:47. > :18:50.to be carrying on with a lot of the hard work he had been doing. As you
:18:51. > :18:55.know, I am currently a member of a London assembly. I will be stepping
:18:56. > :18:59.down shortly. I have been working on transport, which is a big issue in
:19:00. > :19:04.the constituency. Commuters wanting more train capacity into London,
:19:05. > :19:10.into Cambridge. You know, lots about Stansted airport. Airports are one
:19:11. > :19:13.of the things that falls into my remit in London. We are going to be
:19:14. > :19:17.doing a lot of work there. I do bring a lot of political experience
:19:18. > :19:25.to the seat. Thank you for joining us and congratulations again.
:19:26. > :19:30.Therese Coffey, we heard her priorities were, what are yours? I
:19:31. > :19:34.always said I want to try to continue to make it an even better
:19:35. > :19:38.place to live and work. That is about continuing our investment. We
:19:39. > :19:40.are getting new trains coming through, which then and Chloe have
:19:41. > :19:48.been instrumental in, in securing network. -- Ben and Chloe. We are
:19:49. > :19:54.seeing more broadband, we are continuing to roll that out.
:19:55. > :20:02.Focusing on continuing improving education skills. Hopefully we will
:20:03. > :20:06.be getting Sizewell C. The party in general, should Theresa May stay on?
:20:07. > :20:09.I think she should, she is the Prime Minister, she has increased his
:20:10. > :20:11.share of the vote for the Conservatives nationally. She
:20:12. > :20:16.absolutely has my support and I hope she will continue to finalise her
:20:17. > :20:21.government. Norman Lamb, as we have been saying, you did hold on. It is
:20:22. > :20:24.now down to this 2-party politics, isn't it? Things have changed and
:20:25. > :20:30.things are not looking great for the Lib Dems? You are the only MP? We
:20:31. > :20:34.have more seats than we started with, up to 12, compared to eight in
:20:35. > :20:38.the last general election. That is an advanced nationally. You know, I
:20:39. > :20:44.am not trying to claim this is a great success. This election is a
:20:45. > :20:47.blip on the long-term trend. Over the long term, we have seen a fall
:20:48. > :20:51.in the share of the vote going to the main parties. I think it is
:20:52. > :20:54.dangerous to assume that is now what the situation will be for the
:20:55. > :20:58.future, because I think the electorate is far more volatile.
:20:59. > :21:02.Does the future of the Liberal Democrats include Tim Farron, or
:21:03. > :21:07.would you like to have another go at leadership? I am just focusing on
:21:08. > :21:13.North Norfolk, I am proud to represent... Tim Farron is the right
:21:14. > :21:19.man to lead the party? Will wait to see what happens. You talk about
:21:20. > :21:22.priorities. It is about going back to the case I have been making for
:21:23. > :21:25.the last 18 months, for the parties to work together on the future of
:21:26. > :21:29.the NHS and care, rather than coming up with daft ideas in the middle of
:21:30. > :21:34.an election. Sandy Martin, after celebrating, what is your first
:21:35. > :21:37.thing to do? Congestion is one of the main thing is holding back
:21:38. > :21:41.economic growth in Ipswich. My first priority will be to try to persuade
:21:42. > :21:44.the Department of Transport to transfer the money they have pledged
:21:45. > :21:50.for the wet dock bridge to the North Ipswich bypass. I have looked up the
:21:51. > :21:53.wet dock bridge, and a lot of my colleagues have done so as well,
:21:54. > :21:58.including those that are fairly expert in transport. We cannot see
:21:59. > :22:02.the point of it. A bridge that magnitude would cost an enormous
:22:03. > :22:08.amount of money, we think about ?100 million. A Northern bypass is sorely
:22:09. > :22:12.needed. You didn't back Jeremy Corbyn in the beginning. Have you
:22:13. > :22:16.changed your mind? Is he the man to lead? He is the leader of the Labour
:22:17. > :22:20.Party. We have a Democratic party. I don't know about the other parties,
:22:21. > :22:24.but we have a Democratic party. We have proper leadership elections. We
:22:25. > :22:27.choose the people we want to vote for for the leadership. But once the
:22:28. > :22:33.leader is chosen, we back the leader. That is the situation. We
:22:34. > :22:39.have been united. One of reasons the I wanted to stand in the election in
:22:40. > :22:45.Ipswich was because I knew that I could get support from right across
:22:46. > :22:51.the party. And I did. What do you make of it all? Lets not forget that
:22:52. > :22:57.the Conservatives have done very well in this region again. They hold
:22:58. > :23:03.30 out of 33 seats in the east. Some with enormous majorities, John
:23:04. > :23:06.Whittingdale, 23,400. The supreme confidence that the Tories have had
:23:07. > :23:09.throughout this campaign that they were going to make massive games and
:23:10. > :23:13.not lose anything, that has gone this morning. This is a rather
:23:14. > :23:17.shaken party. A quick word about Labour, they have done well. They
:23:18. > :23:22.have still got four seats, but they have lots of second place is now. If
:23:23. > :23:24.we have another election, when we have another election, that could
:23:25. > :23:29.put them in good stead. Thank you all very much indeed. You can get a
:23:30. > :23:32.detailed breakdown of the results where you live and more detail on
:23:33. > :23:38.what Andrew was talking about by logging onto your local BBC website.
:23:39. > :23:42.I can tell you that Suzy will be here at 1:30pm with an extended
:23:43. > :23:46.lunchtime news and more analysis on that as well. I would like to thank
:23:47. > :23:49.all of my guests, many of whom have had little or no sleep at all. And
:23:50. > :23:53.thank you for getting in touch. Coming up, some of your comments,
:23:54. > :23:55.together with the most memorable moments from what we can only call
:23:56. > :25:00.MUSIC an election of surprises.
:25:01. > :25:03.negotiations, I think duty calls and she will stay. Viewers are joining
:25:04. > :25:04.us from around the