West Results Election 2017

Welcome to our election studio on a bright morning.

The sun has risen on a new political landscape here, one that few -

We're saying goodbye to a few familiar faces,

For the first time in 16 years, Bristol is 100% Labour,

and the majorities are eyewatering - 30,000 in Bristol West.

Whatever the reason, people in Bristol West

voted for progressive politics and for hope.

The Conservatives are still the biggest party,

but they're wounded with losses in Bath, Stroud and

I think people wanted a change, obviously, and I would say good luck

The Lib Dem resurgence didn't happen, but there was some

Over the next 30 minutes, we'll have the full West Country

You will ask what it means and we will be speaking to our guests in

the studio. This is how the West

Country looked last night And now, the political

geography has changed. Labour hold all four Bristol seats

for the first time in 16 years, the sitting MPs all increasing

their majorities in some style. And in Bath, a seat we had been

keeping a close eye on throughout the campaign, has turned

back to the Lib Dems. The Conservatives are still by far

the biggest party here. 25 of our 31 constituencies will be

sending Tory MPs When the election was called, there

was talk of every seat in the West are being conservative, so it has

been quite a surprising night. So let's go straight to one

of the big winners of the night. David Drew first won Stroud

for Labour when Tony Blair swept to power in '97,

but lost his seat an So when Theresa May called

the snap election, Mr Drew, He joins us first, though,

from his home in Stonehouse. I have come back. I have no voice,

so you will have to accept that. Your majority is fairly slim. Were

you expecting to win? I never expect to win at Stroud, anything can

happen. It is a small majority, but the two of us had just shy of 30,000

votes, so it was quite exciting last night. What do you think swung it

for you? There was a mood on the doorstep that people did not want

the snap election. That was the main thing. Brexit did not play much. All

the normal factors that come into play in an election, the economy,

NHS, education, particularly the education cuts, they all played, but

I think there was a slight mood for a change. I don't think people

wanted this election and they have ... The Prime Minister will decide

what to do right now, the do think there is a case for Mr Corbyn

leading a minority Government? We will have two C. It depends on

numbers. I have not seen the latest figure. The Conservatives are

clearly the largest party, but the do not have a majority. They must

have a chance to see if they can form a Government. We could be into

a very interesting time of a hung parliament and MPs doing their job.

Thank you, David. That was David Drew, the MP for Stroud.

In case you missed it, here's our political reporter

Robin Markwell with the story of the night.

The morning after the night before. Good morning Doctor Reza may's

decision to hold a snap election has backfired. A night that saw the

Tories held back whilst Labour hopes are bloomed. Is that a promise

promisingly for the Tories. CHEERING

Justin Tomlinson held the north of Swindon. Robert booklet and held on

to the south. Swindon leads, so goes the country for. I hope I win is a

signal that the Conservatives will have a successful election and a

successful parliament. But the Corbyn surge was beginning to show.

Labour's vote up by around 10%. In Bristol, the swing was even bigger.

Experts had suggested Bristol East might fall to the Tories, but what

do experts know any more? Labour won in the east, they soared in the

south, and how about this for a majority in Bristol West? 47,000...

She received over 47,000 votes. More than Jeremy Corbyn. She also crushed

green hopes of winning their second MP here. Quite emotional, because it

is a great honour to be given that amount of trust by the people here.

Labour took from the Tories here, at the candidate admitting he never

expected to win. To my constituents and the country of a whole, I say

good luck. The Labour bandwagon rolled on, to Stroud, with an MP

that bout never to run again. This is the seventh time I have done

this. I should retire more often. The Lib Dems were also fighting

back. They had thrown all their results that winning Bath, a seat

they held two years ago. And it's paid off. Exciting, a little bit

unreal, but it is a big responsibility. Equipped comment for

us? I'm heading off. If the Conservatives left disappointed

here, their vote held up elsewhere against their old rivals. You will

use to be a Lib Dem fortress, but now it is solidly blue. Wales and

solidly and fruit also went the same way. It is really quite

overwhelming. Things were closer in Cheltenham, but the conservative

Alex Chalk held on with a reduced majority. Liberal Democrats, 24000

and 46. For the election as a whole, Theresa May has scored the biggest

own goal in British political history. She called an election in

order to get a landslide majority, and she has not got a landslide all

lost her majority altogether. She has deluded instability where she

wanted to strengthen the Brexit negotiations, she has cast doubt

over them. Most of the West by black mark is still blue, but the big...

We sat down to watch the exit poll, and I think once we were, no one had

spoken about it, we thought that by 5am it would look like a great night

for the Conservative Party. It is not being there. The hopes of a

landslide proved to be a. For Theresa May, but her position as PM

is anything but strong, her grip on Government, anything but stable. It

was quite a night. Lovely to see Swindon declaring so early and being

on the national news. Highlights for you? An extraordinary

election. Across the West Country, it is a mixed fixture. We are seeing

Labour picking up votes in places where they may be did not expect to.

Weston-Super-Mare doing well. That is a seat doing conservative. Labour

have done well where they did not make a great deal of effort, and

they have done extremely well in places like Stroud, Bristol moth

West. Then we see the Lib Dems, who will be disappointed overall,

because they wanted to come back. They have got Bath, but they have

fallen so far short, they went backwards in some constituencies.

Your bill now has a bigger majority than Paddy Ashdown had. The

Conservatives can draw some solace. 25 out of our 31 seats our scratch

by our blue. Overall, they are disappointed, MPs have seen

majorities clipped a little bit. Swindon was close for comfort, but

they're still the dominant party in the West Country. Thank you, Paul.

We will talk later on. So what's been the reaction

to the Labour success in Bristol? This has been the most stressful

election I can remember. I did not know which way to vote,

and it is very interesting Theresa May is not going

to be very pleased. Hopefully it will make her realise,

because she is still leading, I think, what she needs to do to be

a leader that more represents A bit disheartened that

Corbyn didn't just get It is quite hard for him

to persuade the other parties to try and join forces,

but it is what it is. I had about an hour's sleep

between four and five. Not realy sure what

is going to happen. I'm gutted that I have got to go

to work and I cannot watch the news. Well, let's catch up with another

of the night's winners, Alex Chalk held onto Cheltenham

for the Conservatives. What was the experience like? It was

extraordinary. It was so dependent, I do not think anyone in Cheltenham

knew what was going to happen until the end. It was all taking place in

the context of extraordinary results nationwide, so a dramatic evening.

When did you sense that the mood was changing, because we had this huge

lead expected for Mrs Meg, and then something changed, didn't it? I

think it did. On the doors, it seemed like there wasn't any

particular problem, then I think in the last 48 hours, something did

seem to change, and I think this is an election that will be picked over

for many weeks and months and people will try to work out what happened.

Something shifted late in the day. Here, in 20s team, it was very

different. You must have been aware as he went round that Mrs May was

offering the voters and very little compared to the Labour and Lib Dem

offers? In fact, I thought what was offered was the sensible and was

focusing on what was the key issue, because when Theresa May was saying

Brexit is going to affect everything, the economy, health and

education and those things, I think she right, and we will see soon that

that is the case. But it is right to say that the message that Labour was

coming out with did have an appeal, and that is something the

Conservatives are going to have do reflect on.

Thank you. Congratulations on your win in Cheltenham.

I'm delighted to be joined by a few bleary-eyed politicians.

former Bristol MP, of course, and now a Baroness.

Stephen Williams, a Lib Dem who lost his seat in 2015, and James Heappey,

the Conservative MP for Wells who held onto his seat last night

Don, where you a fan of Mr Corbyn? Has he come through for you? What we

can see from the campaign is backed Jeremy ran a brilliant campaign. He

offered hope against Theresa May saying vote for me, on a big

majority, and get a hard Brexit. The electorate responded by saying to

Jamie that the election is not about had Brexit, we do not like that.

That is now been damaged. Such a huge number of people across the

country have actually voted for a future Britain which is about public

services, investment and a different route to austerity and a different

style of politics. What the Labour Party has to do is build on that to

give us the majority. Talking to Alex Chalk, Jeremy Corbyn was

offering many free stuff, more bank holidays, no cap on public sector

pay, more money for the NHS, free tuition fees, it is not surprising

that it was a popular manifesto. The electorate has spoken. They looked

at what the Conservatives were offering and said, this is an

election we did not need, the prime ministers said, give me a bigger

majority because that will strengthen my negotiating for

Brexit, and the electorate has said no. Jeremy said, this election is

about our future, our future Britain, what are our basic values

and principles? And that is what people voted for, investment in

public services, a different style of politics and against had Brexit.

Now we have got to go through what seemed like a very difficult period,

because Theresa May has blown it and her position is now untenable. You

are talking as if Labour won. No, I have not said that. I said to reason

has blown it. She said, if I lost six seats, I would have to go. Give

me a bigger majority. I need the strong negotiating hand. The country

said no. James is itching to come in. Before we come to you, let's go

to Stephen Williams. You have had a rough night. Used to be the MP for

Bristol West. Used it again this time and it was... Yes, it is quite

extraordinary. The Labour Party, Conservative Party and Lib Dems have

gone for a second and third in the elections, and now a former MP has

come for. Extraordinary. I do not think people foresaw this. You kept

on and on about Brexit during the campaign. You are anti-Brexit commie

want to thwart it if you can, what will happen now? I think what is

frustrating about this election was that every time we tried to raise

Brexit, and I raised it with people on the doorsteps, they said, well,

it has happened, it is a done deal, we have to move on. I think what

will happen now over the next 12 months, it will be more difficult

for the Government to negotiate the future with Europe, giving that BP

-- Theresa has a weakened hand. There is a lot at stake. Maybe

Theresa May does not have the mandate to go for it. Labour was

expecting we would leave the single market as well, so they may amend

their position on that, but we said we should stay in the single market

and the customs union and we should have a final referendum on the deal

itself. That did not resonate in this election. In eight years' time,

people will be open to that message, -- in a year's time. Mrs May blew

it, as Don said. I think that is a reasonable assumption. There was a

life-saver called to the campaign. When we stepped out in the first

week from Parliament, people were infused about the need for a

referendum, particularly those that voted for Brexit. They saw it as she

was picturing it, the opportunity to give her a stronger hand in

Brussels. I think we, our campaign lacked a human touch. We were not

engaging in the debate nationally and when it got to the stage in the

to week where our key squeeze message of votes for us or it is

Corbyn, people were saying, probably would not be that bad. We fought a

campaign that managed to very nearly snatched defeat from the jaws of

victory. Due think she should go? I do not think that is in the national

interest right now. We look at what is going on in the markets this

morning, it is pretty apparent that she is the Prime Minister, needs to

try and form a Government and we need to get the Brexit negotiations

underway. What comes in the future will be a discussion in the next few

months. My view is to May needs to do in the days ahead is seek to form

a Government, probably with the DUP. We need to bring... And hang on? In

the short term, that is the right thing to do. Her aim is for the

election were twofold. First, have a mandate of her own, which she has

got, she is the largest party, she has won the election. Second, she

needed a commanding majority in the House of Commons to take to the

Brexit agenda. She has not achieved that. She said we have do have an

election so we can have strong and stable Government. She is not a

strong Prime Minister. She is weakened, and her credibility is

shredded and we have no prospect of a stable Government because,

already, the Conservatives are talking about coalitions. Should she

go? I think she has to consider her position. Should Mr Cobb in step up?

I think if he is asked to form a minority Government on a confident

basis, he is making it clear that if EE is asked to do that, we will try.

Do think he would make a good Prime Minister? I think he would, and I

think the people of this country believe it. It is all well to laugh,

but everyone thoughts to reason may was a good PM, and the electorates

resounded Lee said she is not. Three out of four of the Bristol MPs,

three resigned and would not work with him. Jeremy Hunt is shown in

the campaign that he is an excellent campaign, the manifesto was popular,

and I think against the odds, through the campaign, he improved,

developed and developed a method which millions of people voted for.

I think Theresa May's division is untenable. She did not have to call

this election, she was in a powerful position of Prime Minister to go

ahead with negotiations, so this is her fault that she is in this

situation, so she should take some responsibility. Due think you should

perhaps going into coalition again? We said we would not do that. She

might be on the phone to Mr Farren now. It would be a very short

conversation. What is Theresa May said, the flip side of being strong

and stable was a coalition of chaos. Yet she is probably going to lead a

coalition of chaos with the DUP. What are the Lib Dems for if they do

not want to go in coalition with anybody? Tim Farron said his

manifesto was not a programme for Government, they wanted it

themselves in some sort of perpetual opposition. That is because we are a

very large party and we just missed the majority. James, would you like

a coalition with the Lib Dems? That is down to the Lib Dems. I'm not

convinced that many in the Wells constituency would like that.

Appreciate you all coming in this morning. Thank you.

Throughout the campaign, there's been talk of a Lib Dem revival,

particularly in those areas which voted to remain in the EU.

In reality, though, they only managed to claw back a single seat,

The victorious Wera Hobhouse was positive about the party's

performance when Madeleine Ware spoke to her soon after three

It shows that we are on the up again, and that makes me more

happy than anything, than possibly my own election win,

And Britain would be the poorer without the Liberal Democrats.

So I am pleased that we are on the up again, we will fight

Do you think Brexit played a big part in your win here?

I think probably it made a difference, but I think

the biggest difference was, or the weakest issue was,

the anger of the people about the cuts that the Tories have

been proposing, and I think I will respond to that

and understand very much it is about making sure

that our public services are properly funded,

our education is properly funded, and those other things that really

Underlying is, of course, the Brexit issue.

If we don't have a prosperous economy, our public office would be

empty and I am worried that a bad Brexit deal might make our

So, yes, fighting for a good Brexit deal and being a vociferous

opposition against anything that looks like a bad deal

The new MP for Bath talking to us earlier.

Paul, it's a time of great uncertainty for the West

I honestly do not know. It looks as though it will have to be a

conservative run a Government, but how they will pull that together,

who they will work with, the DUP professionally. -- potentially.

University places, Bristol, Bath, where young voters are, for the

cinemas act cynicism of young voters. The generational difference

is showing through. Younger people showing they are not getting a good

deal and the old people have maybe had it a bit too much their own way.

Now if Brenda "What another one?!" from Bristol is watching,

There's talk of another election later in the year.

The Prime Minister, we understand, is due to speak in around

And Alex and I will be back with you for a special programme

Until then, have a lovely morning, and thank you for joining us.

at a crucial moment in the Brexit negotiations, I think duty calls and

she will stay. Viewers are joining us from around the