:00:00. > :00:10.already called for an independent investigation.
:00:11. > :00:14.It was the election Theresa May called to increase her majority -
:00:15. > :00:18.to strengthen her hand in the Brexit negotiations - but it
:00:19. > :00:23.Here in the Midlands, there was plenty of drama,
:00:24. > :00:29.The results leave the Conservatives with 39 seats in our region -
:00:30. > :00:32.that's a net gain of just one on 2015 - they'd been
:00:33. > :00:38.Labour made a net loss of one, meaning they now have 24 seats
:00:39. > :00:45.Later in the programme, we'll have more on the picture
:00:46. > :00:48.in Stoke-on-Trent, Wolverhampton and Telford.
:00:49. > :00:51.First though, our Special Correspondent Peter Wilson brings us
:00:52. > :00:56.details on some of last night's other key contests.
:00:57. > :00:58.Even Labour big guns could hardly believe the
:00:59. > :01:03.Predictions of a Labour meltdown proved wrong.
:01:04. > :01:06.Deputy leader Tom Watson had warned that
:01:07. > :01:10.Theresa May could win a Thatcher style landslide.
:01:11. > :01:16.After holding West Bromwich East, he mocked her as weak and wobbly.
:01:17. > :01:23.Theresa May's authority has been undermined by this election.
:01:24. > :01:25.She is a damaged Prime Minister whose reputation may never recover.
:01:26. > :01:32.People in this country were crying out for
:01:33. > :01:39.something more than what the Tories have given us for the last
:01:40. > :01:50.Labour's vote across the city bigger than in Tony Blair's 1997 landslide.
:01:51. > :01:54.Jack Dromey easily saw off the Tory challenge.
:01:55. > :01:55.Erdington had been a key Conservative target.
:01:56. > :01:58.I always thought that we could win, because I
:01:59. > :02:00.have great confidence in the judgment of the people of Erdington.
:02:01. > :02:03.They've seen through Theresa May, and they've seen through Erdington
:02:04. > :02:05.Wolverhampton stayed with Labour, while back in
:02:06. > :02:07.Birmingham, Edgbaston chose Preet Gill to become
:02:08. > :02:12.It's a real honour, it's a real privilege
:02:13. > :02:13.to be representing the
:02:14. > :02:17.people in the place where I was born and raised and lived, and my family
:02:18. > :02:31.The Conservatives had targeted West Midlands cities, but all three
:02:32. > :02:33.Their MPs increased their majorities.
:02:34. > :02:35.It's decades since the Tories won here.
:02:36. > :02:42.We have seen election after election.
:02:43. > :02:45.The UK, Brexit, Trump, you know, where we've had results people
:02:46. > :02:48.So whether it's the country's polling, what people
:02:49. > :02:51.are saying, we had shy Tories last time, maybe we had shy Corbyn
:02:52. > :02:55.One shock, Labour's Matt Weston overturned a big Conservative
:02:56. > :03:08.majority, winning Warwick and Leamington.
:03:09. > :03:11.I always thought that Warwick and Leamington is a special place.
:03:12. > :03:16.A bright campaign by local councillor
:03:17. > :03:17.Eddie Hughes saw him seize Walsall North
:03:18. > :03:19.Eddie Hughes saw him seize Walsall North from Labour's
:03:20. > :03:27.And as the son of an Irish immigrant bus driver, I think on the
:03:28. > :03:31.doorstep, people felt I was a type of person they could go for a beer
:03:32. > :03:34.But it was a barren night for the Liberal Democrats.
:03:35. > :03:36.Martin Horwood failed to unseat the Conservatives in Cheltenham.
:03:37. > :03:38.24,000 would normally be enough to win a seat.
:03:39. > :03:42.And it was a lot more than we got last time, but it wasn't quite
:03:43. > :03:44.enough to overtake the Conservatives here this time.
:03:45. > :03:47.Theresa May gambled all on a snap election.
:03:48. > :03:50.No certainty, no stability now for her.
:03:51. > :03:53.Few Labour MPs expected to whole their seats,
:03:54. > :04:09.And our political editor Patrick Burns is here with us now.
:04:10. > :04:12.So much for the idea the Conservatives were going to make
:04:13. > :04:16.How have Labour held onto all but one of their seats
:04:17. > :04:23.in Coventry, Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Stoke?
:04:24. > :04:30.the Conservatives certainly tried to shift the front line right into
:04:31. > :04:33.those biggest cities. I was in the Birmingham Edgbaston, where the
:04:34. > :04:37.Conservatives needed a swing of just 3.5%. It was actually Labour who
:04:38. > :04:46.confounded predictions by doing best out of the previous UK poet, and to
:04:47. > :04:48.a lesser extent the decline of the Liberal Democrats -- the previous
:04:49. > :04:49.Ukip vote. The stand-out surprise - Labour
:04:50. > :05:01.regaining Warwick and Leamington. It was one of only two places in our
:05:02. > :05:05.county which voted to remain in the European Union. I picked up towards
:05:06. > :05:08.the end of this campaign a sense that Labour, surprisingly actually,
:05:09. > :05:14.while gaining support in places that were used to think of as Middle
:05:15. > :05:17.England. Warwick, yes, and they halved the Tory majority in
:05:18. > :05:21.Worcester as well. I wonder if it's something to do with the fact that
:05:22. > :05:24.these are places which have significant educational
:05:25. > :05:29.establishments. You know, progressive academics. Our own local
:05:30. > :05:30.version of the metropolitan intelligentsia, the Islington set,
:05:31. > :05:42.but in middle England. The key thing is that the
:05:43. > :05:46.Conservatives did actually do a little bit better in our part of the
:05:47. > :05:51.country than they did across England as a whole. Especially in those big
:05:52. > :05:55.Leave voting areas. They won their seats in Walsall North and
:05:56. > :05:59.Stoke-on-Trent South. Ukip by contrast, I think they are facing
:06:00. > :06:05.something of an existential crisis in this part of the country now. The
:06:06. > :06:10.Liberal Democrats, all right, they came within 2500 of the
:06:11. > :06:13.Conservatives in Cheltenham, but in their two other former
:06:14. > :06:18.constituencies, sorry Helen Yardley, they trailed in a very poor third
:06:19. > :06:23.place in both places. Maybe they need to go back to that old style of
:06:24. > :06:28.pavement politics. All interesting stuff. Thank you very much.
:06:29. > :06:30.As Patrick's just mentioned, the Conservatives didn't really make
:06:31. > :06:32.the breakthroughs in Labour's heartlands they'd hoped for.
:06:33. > :06:34.They did make one significant gain though, in Stoke-on-Trent.
:06:35. > :06:36.It's the first time the Tories have had an MP
:06:37. > :06:40.Lindsay Doyle was there to see history in the making.
:06:41. > :06:45.And I do hereby declare that Jack Brereton is duly elected.
:06:46. > :06:49.It was a night which made history in Stoke-on-Trent.
:06:50. > :06:51.The first Conservative MP to be elected in
:06:52. > :07:00.This area voted overwhelmingly to leave the European
:07:01. > :07:04.Union, and this is why a lot of people voted for me, because my
:07:05. > :07:10.commitment to ensure that we make a success
:07:11. > :07:14.For Labour, perhaps not totally unexpected.
:07:15. > :07:16.The Tories had been targeting this seat, convinced
:07:17. > :07:19.I will forever treasure the time I had as
:07:20. > :07:24.And Jack, I shall be looking over your
:07:25. > :07:26.shoulder making sure that you are indeed carry on fighting
:07:27. > :07:30.A dignified speech from the outgoing MP as he lost the
:07:31. > :07:33.seat he held for 12 years by just under 700 votes.
:07:34. > :07:36.He left the count abruptly, his aides preventing us
:07:37. > :07:46.Smiles from Labour in Stoke North and Stoke Central.
:07:47. > :07:48.Gareth Snell, MP for just four months since winning the by-election
:07:49. > :07:51.on the resignation of Tristram Hunt, held onto Central with a
:07:52. > :07:55.More people voted that in the last two elections, so I think
:07:56. > :08:01.that's a good endorsement of me as a candidate and as an MP.
:08:02. > :08:03.For Stoke North, it was a 21,000 majority for
:08:04. > :08:06.Labour's Ruth Smeeth, a victory which came after her very
:08:07. > :08:09.Last year saw her resign as Parliamentary
:08:10. > :08:13.Private Secretary to the shadow Northern Ireland and Scotland teams,
:08:14. > :08:18.It's been a very difficult 12 months for the Labour Party, and I got
:08:19. > :08:20.caught in the middle of that last summer.
:08:21. > :08:23.But we are where we are, and I'm still standing.
:08:24. > :08:25.And I got re-elected this evening, so I'm
:08:26. > :08:28.As a new day dawned in Stoke-on-Trent,
:08:29. > :08:35.it's no longer a city which Labour can claim to have a monopoly on.
:08:36. > :08:41.Lindsay, this was a big win for the Conservatives -
:08:42. > :08:43.probably their best of the night in the Midlands.
:08:44. > :08:49.Just give us an idea of its significance.
:08:50. > :08:59.Quite simply, it is as you said in your introduction, historic. Not for
:09:00. > :09:04.the past nearly over 80 years has Stoke had a Conservative MP. The
:09:05. > :09:10.other two seats in Stoke, they were Labour holds, and I'm joined now by
:09:11. > :09:17.the Labour MP for Stoke North. Great result for you, but very
:09:18. > :09:21.disappointing for Rob. He has been a fantastic constituency MP, a great
:09:22. > :09:25.advocate for the potteries since 2005. I'm really sad to be using him
:09:26. > :09:29.as a colleague, but let's be clear, this will be a temporary blip in
:09:30. > :09:33.Labour's history in the city. We will do everything we can to make
:09:34. > :09:37.sure that people in the south of the city no Labour is still with them
:09:38. > :09:40.and will be fighting back. You have been critical in the past of Jeremy
:09:41. > :09:45.Corbyn, but the have been significantly against Ashley. Ayew
:09:46. > :09:51.revising European Union? Our site was extraordinary for the Labour
:09:52. > :09:54.Party. -- are you revisiting your opinion, last night was
:09:55. > :09:58.extraordinary. What was clear last night was they didn't trust the
:09:59. > :10:04.Prime Minister to deliver. This was an unnecessary election. We didn't
:10:05. > :10:07.need it, and she has been incredibly responsible for even calling it. In
:10:08. > :10:11.11 days, we start negotiating Brexit and we have an unstable government.
:10:12. > :10:16.You just have to look at the back of this morning, see the impact of her
:10:17. > :10:20.actions. -- look at the markets. She has not proved to be strong and
:10:21. > :10:25.stable, so I am appalled she has not yet resigned. Briefly, big Brexit
:10:26. > :10:30.wrote here. What will you do to represent Brexit voters? I've been
:10:31. > :10:33.clear all the way through. This is how we make Brexit matter for the
:10:34. > :10:36.people in the potteries. My constituents were clear on what they
:10:37. > :10:40.thought, I have to deliver for them. Thank you for joining us. Back to
:10:41. > :10:45.you in Birmingham. There was high drama
:10:46. > :10:47.in Newcastle-under-Lyme last night. There were two recounts,
:10:48. > :10:49.the contest was settled by a handful of votes,
:10:50. > :10:51.with a Labour hold. Earlier in the day, students
:10:52. > :10:53.at Keele University posted angry messages on social media -
:10:54. > :10:56.claiming they had been wrongly Two recounts, and in the end it
:10:57. > :11:05.boiled down to just 30 votes. At just after six o'clock this
:11:06. > :11:08.morning - it was declared that Labour's Paul Farrelly had held
:11:09. > :11:11.on to his Newcastle seat. Narrowly beating the Conservative
:11:12. > :11:17.candidate Owen Meredith. I thought we were so marginal,
:11:18. > :11:22.the most marginal in the West Midlands that's the way
:11:23. > :11:24.the national polls were looking it would be really
:11:25. > :11:26.difficult to hang on. But Teresa May's plan has backfired,
:11:27. > :11:29.she wanted a landslide but the country didn't
:11:30. > :11:32.want to give her a blank cheque - and that included the
:11:33. > :11:34.people of Newcastle. Voting in the constituency hasn't
:11:35. > :11:37.been without controversy today. Many students at Keele University
:11:38. > :11:42.posted on social media It's thought at least
:11:43. > :11:55.100 of them were unable Some people also claiming they'd
:11:56. > :11:59.not had postal votes. The Borough Council says that just
:12:00. > :12:01.isn't the case and says it also wrote to those
:12:02. > :12:08.who didn't register properly. I've had a day here like never
:12:09. > :12:14.before. It's an absolute shambles and I'll
:12:15. > :12:25.be calling for an inquiry. Nobody should be denied a vote
:12:26. > :12:28.because of council incompetence. We need to get this right, and make
:12:29. > :12:38.sure we learn lessons from extensive at the public when they go to boat
:12:39. > :12:44.have confidence in the process. The Electoral Commission says it is
:12:45. > :12:47.looking into it. I want to thank everyone in my office, without whom
:12:48. > :12:51.I couldn't have served Newcastle for the last 16 years.
:12:52. > :12:57.It's now a fifth general election win for Paul Farrelly.
:12:58. > :12:59.A constituency represented by labour for nearly 100 years.
:13:00. > :13:02.Now, the Newcastle Labour MP says he needs to work hard to win more
:13:03. > :13:11.We're joined now by two of the victors from last night -
:13:12. > :13:12.straight from the election front line.
:13:13. > :13:15.Richard Burden, won in Birmingham Northfield for Labour -
:13:16. > :13:16.a seat the Conservatives thought they could win.
:13:17. > :13:18.Also here, is Eddie Hughes, the new Conservative
:13:19. > :13:23.He beat the Labour veteran David Winnick, who'd held
:13:24. > :13:36.Congratulations to you both. Eddie to you first. You said you'd always
:13:37. > :13:40.wanted to be an MP, always wanted to be in this position. I suspect you
:13:41. > :13:43.didn't imagine you would be in this situation, though. What do you make
:13:44. > :13:49.of the situation, and should Theresa May go? Well, what I make of the
:13:50. > :13:56.situation? Fascinating result last night in Walsall North and obviously
:13:57. > :14:00.I'm delighted, we fought very hard. Should Theresa May go? Absolutely
:14:01. > :14:05.not. We are starting negotiations in 11 days, and we need continuity. Her
:14:06. > :14:09.position is so weakened, how can she be taken seriously in Brussels? It
:14:10. > :14:14.still feels the Conservatives are in a strong position, the largest party
:14:15. > :14:19.in parliament. 500,000 votes more nationally than the Labour Party, so
:14:20. > :14:23.she's in a very strong position. Really? A strong position? No
:14:24. > :14:27.overall majority, a hung parliament, how can you say it's a strong
:14:28. > :14:31.position? Something went badly wrong. Strength is relative.
:14:32. > :14:35.Compared to anyone else in parliament, she's in the strongest
:14:36. > :14:39.position to lead the country. A hung parliament is not saying an awful
:14:40. > :14:44.lot! Richard, turning to you. You have been very critical of Jeremy
:14:45. > :14:47.Corbyn's leadership in the past. Do you owe him an apology? I think
:14:48. > :14:51.Jeremy Corbyn has really developed in the course of this campaign. What
:14:52. > :14:55.an interesting is that people have seen him rather than just hearing
:14:56. > :14:59.what other people say about him, I think he's come over as self assured
:15:00. > :15:07.and has certainly managed to connect with younger voters in a way that I
:15:08. > :15:10.think an awful lot of us politicians can learn from. What are people been
:15:11. > :15:12.sent you on the doorstep? Have they been talking about him, the
:15:13. > :15:16.leadership? Was this about people, politics or politics? It was about
:15:17. > :15:20.all of those things. People reacted against what was effectively an
:15:21. > :15:24.arrogance by Theresa May. Arrogance in calling the election when it was
:15:25. > :15:28.unnecessary, another three years left in the parliament to run. And
:15:29. > :15:31.arrogance in taking people for granted, of kind of demanding that
:15:32. > :15:38.she be given a blank cheque, that she be given an increased majority
:15:39. > :15:41.to continue to do what she wants. I think people just don't like being
:15:42. > :15:46.taken for granted in that way. We saw the results in that in the
:15:47. > :15:51.ballot boxes in Birmingham and elsewhere. OK, it'll be fascinating
:15:52. > :15:53.to see what happens in future. I hope you both managed to get some
:15:54. > :15:57.sleep eventually. Many thanks. We asked Britain's first female Sikh
:15:58. > :16:00.MP, Preet Gill to join us - but the new Labour MP for Edgbaston
:16:01. > :16:03.is on the school run. To another city -
:16:04. > :16:07.and another set-back. The Conservatives had been hoping
:16:08. > :16:15.to win in Wolverhampton South West. But on the night,
:16:16. > :16:17.they failed to take it as Labour held on to the seat
:16:18. > :16:20.they regained in 2015. Ben Godfrey has the details
:16:21. > :16:22.of what proved, once again, She's the NHS nurse who's given
:16:23. > :16:32.the Tories a bitter pill to swallow. Eleanor Patricia Smith,
:16:33. > :16:42.Labour Party, 20,899. Like a yo-yo, Wolverhampton
:16:43. > :16:46.South West tos and fros - in 2015, Labour took it
:16:47. > :16:50.by a mere 800 votes. So the smart money was
:16:51. > :16:54.on the Tories taking it back. A spectacular 2000 majority
:16:55. > :17:02.in a seat many say they People were tired, as I said
:17:03. > :17:08.in my speech, of the I'm a nurse, and I feel that
:17:09. > :17:14.that's what's said it. What's been happening
:17:15. > :17:17.to our NHS at the moment has been disgraceful,
:17:18. > :17:18.the lack of funding and everything
:17:19. > :17:20.else that went with it. And just people just
:17:21. > :17:22.got tired of it. Almost three quarters
:17:23. > :17:24.of the electorate voted - and for the second time in two
:17:25. > :17:28.years, the Conservative candidate and former MP Paul Uppal was left
:17:29. > :17:32.wondering what went wrong. It was always going
:17:33. > :17:36.to be a tough fight. But we did a good battle,
:17:37. > :17:42.and we were very close. There is no doubt there
:17:43. > :17:44.is uncertainty, and from everything we've had post Brexit,
:17:45. > :17:47.I think what the country needs more than anything else,
:17:48. > :17:49.and particularly young people, is going to need
:17:50. > :17:51.a period of certainty. And I'm not sure we've
:17:52. > :17:54.got that at the moment. And I do hereby declare
:17:55. > :17:56.that Pat McFadden is Both Pat McFadden and Emma
:17:57. > :18:05.Reynolds's majorities were dented in Wolverhampton South East
:18:06. > :18:07.and North East respectively - The Conservatives couldn't say
:18:08. > :18:13.the same, as Eleanor Smith denied Ben Godfrey, BBC Midlands
:18:14. > :18:24.Today, Wolverhampton. So it was an election result
:18:25. > :18:26.the opinion polls suggested The landslide hoped for by
:18:27. > :18:32.Theresa May failed to materialise - after a strong showing
:18:33. > :18:34.by Jeremy Corbyn's party. Nicola Beckford is in the centre
:18:35. > :18:39.of Birmingham for us. Nicola, what's been
:18:40. > :18:49.the reaction from people There's been a huge sense of
:18:50. > :18:55.surprise and shock amongst people making their way to work. They have
:18:56. > :18:57.woken up to find that we have a hung parliament. Here is what some people
:18:58. > :19:01.had to say to me earlier on. I think Theresa May got a surprise
:19:02. > :19:04.with how close the election came. I think she called
:19:05. > :19:06.it because she was expecting a landslide,
:19:07. > :19:08.and she didn't get it. I was expecting a bit more margin,
:19:09. > :19:13.but that's what we get, so I thought it would have been more
:19:14. > :19:18.towards the Conservatives Yeah, I'd rather it not
:19:19. > :19:30.been a hung parliament. Interestingly, this region is seen
:19:31. > :19:35.as a barometer for the rest of the country. Now, the Conservatives were
:19:36. > :19:37.expecting to win at least six seats here. Clearly, that failed to
:19:38. > :19:41.happen. Thank you for that. Never mind Brexit, the future
:19:42. > :19:44.of hospital services was top of the election agenda
:19:45. > :19:45.in Telford in Shropshire. Labour were hoping to win back
:19:46. > :19:48.the seat which they lost to the Conservatives two years ago,
:19:49. > :19:51.after a bitter row about downgrading And I do hereby declare that
:19:52. > :20:02.Lucy Allan is duly elected. Lucy Allan held her seat
:20:03. > :20:04.for the Conservatives in Telford with a slim
:20:05. > :20:08.majority of just 720. Down a little more from
:20:09. > :20:13.the narrow 730 two years ago. We've seen a very difficult national
:20:14. > :20:17.picture, so against that background, I had hoped for a slightly
:20:18. > :20:24.improved majority on last time, and we felt
:20:25. > :20:37.very much that we were on course for that,
:20:38. > :20:39.but quite clearly, something The former Wandsworth
:20:40. > :20:42.Council are now in just her second term in Telford,
:20:43. > :20:46.and had this to say about the Prime Minister's decision
:20:47. > :20:47.to call the election. She called that election
:20:48. > :20:49.against polls that indicated that she was going to have an increased
:20:50. > :20:52.majority, and I think in those circumstances, that was
:20:53. > :20:54.the right thing to do. However, we have seen
:20:55. > :20:56.that something has gone fundamentally wrong
:20:57. > :20:57.with the campaign. The Labour candidate had
:20:58. > :20:59.fought his campaign against possible downgrading of services at
:21:00. > :21:04.Telford's Princess Royal Hospital. The people have spoken,
:21:05. > :21:08.and I still feel that our hospital services
:21:09. > :21:11.need to be protected. Meanwhile, Conservative Mark
:21:12. > :21:17.Prichard held his seat. Well, I'm delighted and honoured
:21:18. > :21:20.and thrilled to have been re-elected You know, I just want
:21:21. > :21:27.to serve the people locally in the best way I can
:21:28. > :21:30.in the new House of Commons, whatever the complexion
:21:31. > :21:35.of the House of Commons. So, no change in Telford or
:21:36. > :21:38.the Wrekin on election night, which proved difficult elsewhere
:21:39. > :21:40.for the Conservatives. Let's finish up with
:21:41. > :21:42.analysis from Dr Matt Cole, This region voted strongly
:21:43. > :21:47.in favour to leave the EU, but how much did Brexit come
:21:48. > :22:00.into play in this election? Obviously Theresa May wanted it to
:22:01. > :22:06.be an election about Brexit, and in part it was. If you looked at the
:22:07. > :22:11.seats that changed hands, then clearly those people who voted for
:22:12. > :22:14.Ukip before in large numbers turned over to Conservative candidates and
:22:15. > :22:19.it helped them to win. In a combat is way, in Warwick and Leamington,
:22:20. > :22:23.people who voted Remain return to Labour to reassert that opinion. It
:22:24. > :22:28.wasn't just about Brexit. Halfway through the campaign, we got this
:22:29. > :22:31.surge of interest and concern about domestic social policy, about the
:22:32. > :22:35.treatment of the elderly and about education. And that became the
:22:36. > :22:38.agenda of the campaign. We are seeing the last results coming
:22:39. > :22:42.through, Labour holding in many cases. At the beginning of this
:22:43. > :22:47.campaign, Jeremy Corbyn was seen as being toxic. Clearly, that wasn't
:22:48. > :22:50.the case. That's right. To some extent, you might call this the
:22:51. > :22:54.Miliband syndrome. He was so badly off in the polls that the only way
:22:55. > :22:58.was up. The more people saw of him, the less likely they were to have
:22:59. > :23:05.the terrible perceptions they have through the media earlier. As well
:23:06. > :23:09.as that, he has campaigned very effectively, even in the perception
:23:10. > :23:15.of his critics within his own party. His rallies with young people, he
:23:16. > :23:19.may well have mobilised young people in a way that helped Labour in some
:23:20. > :23:22.of those marginal seats. What does this mean overall for the political
:23:23. > :23:27.picture in the West Midlands? Not many seats have changed hands, as we
:23:28. > :23:32.seen. But there has been a big sea change under the surface. For a
:23:33. > :23:36.start, it's a 2-party system again. The Liberal Democrats and the Greens
:23:37. > :23:41.and Ukip have not managed to make any impact, and in most cases have
:23:42. > :23:46.fallen back in the rankings. As well as that, the Conservatives have
:23:47. > :23:56.failed to capitalise in the way that they did in the mayoral election.
:23:57. > :23:58.The Conservatives have questions to ask themselves, and the other
:23:59. > :24:01.parties are looking for a role. Thank you.
:24:02. > :24:03.That's all from this special election edition of Midlands Today.
:24:04. > :24:05.Your next news from us will be from 1.30pm.
:24:06. > :24:08.Thanks for joining us - if you've been up all
:24:09. > :24:11.negotiations, I think duty calls and she will stay. Viewers are joining
:24:12. > :24:13.us from around the