:00:38. > :00:41.It's Sunday morning and this is the Sunday Politics.
:00:42. > :00:44.The local election results made grim reading for Labour.
:00:45. > :00:48.With just a month to go until the general election,
:00:49. > :00:52.will promising to rule out tax rises for all but the well off help
:00:53. > :00:57.The Conservatives have their own announcement on mental health,
:00:58. > :01:00.as they strain every sinew to insist they don't think they've got
:01:01. > :01:07.But is there still really all to play for?
:01:08. > :01:11.And tonight we will find out who is the next
:01:12. > :01:15.President of France - Emmanuel Macron or Marine Le Pen -
:01:16. > :01:17.after an unpredictable campaign that ended with a hack attack
:01:18. > :01:19.And in the Midlands: are the Conservatives
:01:20. > :01:25.Whatever next in Labour's local Heartlands?
:01:26. > :01:31.elections but we are looking at the potential impact in marginals next
:01:32. > :01:38.month. If Ukip support continues to evaporate...
:01:39. > :01:41.And joining me for all of that, three journalists ready
:01:42. > :01:45.to analyse the week's politics with all the forensic
:01:46. > :01:48.focus of Diane Abbott preparing for an interview,
:01:49. > :01:50.and all the relaxed, slogan-free banter of Theresa May
:01:51. > :01:56.It's Janan Ganesh, Isabel Oakeshott and Steve Richards.
:01:57. > :02:03.So, the Conservatives are promising, if re-elected, to change mental
:02:04. > :02:06.health laws in England and Wales to tackle discrimination,
:02:07. > :02:12.and they're promising 10,000 more staff working in NHS mental health
:02:13. > :02:15.treatment in England by 2020 - although how that's to be
:02:16. > :02:17.Here's Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt speaking
:02:18. > :02:25.There is a lot of new money going into it.
:02:26. > :02:28.In January, we said we were going to put an extra ?1 billion
:02:29. > :02:32.Does this come from other parts of the NHS, or is it
:02:33. > :02:35.No, it is new money going into the NHS
:02:36. > :02:42.It's not just of course money, it's having the people
:02:43. > :02:45.who deliver these jobs, which is why we need
:02:46. > :02:49.Well, we're joined now from Norwich by the Liberal Democrat health
:02:50. > :02:52.This weekend, they've launched their own health announcement,
:02:53. > :03:01.promising a 1% rise on every income tax band to fund the NHS.
:03:02. > :03:07.Do you welcome the Conservatives putting mental health onto the
:03:08. > :03:11.campaign agenda in the way that they have? I welcome it being on the
:03:12. > :03:16.campaign agenda but I do fear that the announcement is built on thin
:03:17. > :03:21.air. You raised the issue at the start about the 10,000 extra staff,
:03:22. > :03:26.and questions surrounding how it would be paid for. There is no
:03:27. > :03:32.additional money on what they have already announced for the NHS. We
:03:33. > :03:36.know it falls massively short on the expectation of the funding gap
:03:37. > :03:41.which, by 2020, is likely to be about 30 billion. That is not
:03:42. > :03:44.disputed now. Anyone outside of the government, wherever you are on the
:03:45. > :03:53.political spectrum, knows the money going in is simply not enough. So,
:03:54. > :03:59.rather like the claim that they would add 5000 GPs to the workforce
:04:00. > :04:03.by 2020, that is not on target. Latest figures show a fall in the
:04:04. > :04:07.number of GPs. They make these claims, but I'm afraid they are
:04:08. > :04:11.without substance, unless they are prepared to put money behind it.
:04:12. > :04:21.Your party's solution to the money problem is to put a 1% percentage
:04:22. > :04:27.point on all of the bands of income tax to raise more money 20-45. Is
:04:28. > :04:35.that unfair? Most pensioners who consume 40% of NHS spending, but
:04:36. > :04:39.over 65s only pay about 20% of income tax. Are you penalising the
:04:40. > :04:45.younger generations for the health care of an older generation? It is
:04:46. > :04:49.the first step in what we are describing as a 5-point recovery
:04:50. > :04:55.plan for the NHS and care system. So, for what is available to us now,
:04:56. > :04:59.it seems to be the fairest way of bringing in extra resources, income
:05:00. > :05:04.tax is progressive, and is based on your ability to pay for your average
:05:05. > :05:09.British worker. It would be ?3 per week which is the cost of less than
:05:10. > :05:14.two cups of coffee per week. In the longer run, we say that by the end
:05:15. > :05:21.of the next Parliament, we would be able to introduce a dedicated NHS
:05:22. > :05:26.and care tax. Based, probably, around a reformed national insurance
:05:27. > :05:31.system, so it becomes a dedicated NHS and care tax. Interestingly, the
:05:32. > :05:36.former permanent secretary of the Treasury, Nick MacPherson, said
:05:37. > :05:39.clearly that this idea merits further consideration which is the
:05:40. > :05:46.first time anyone for the Treasury has bought into the idea of this.
:05:47. > :05:49.Let me ask you this. You say it is a small amount of tax that people on
:05:50. > :05:53.average incomes will have to pay extra. We are talking about people
:05:54. > :06:00.who have seen no real increases to their income since 2007. They have
:06:01. > :06:05.been struggling to stand still in terms of their own pay, but you are
:06:06. > :06:09.going to add to their tax, and as I said earlier, most of the health
:06:10. > :06:15.care money will then go to pensioners whose incomes have risen
:06:16. > :06:19.by 15%. I'm interested in the fairness of this redistribution?
:06:20. > :06:23.Bearing in mind first of all, Andrew, that the raising of the tax
:06:24. > :06:30.threshold that the Liberal Democrats pushed through in the coalition
:06:31. > :06:35.increased the effective pay in your pocket for basic rate taxpayers by
:06:36. > :06:40.about ?1000. We are talking about a tiny fraction of that. I suppose
:06:41. > :06:44.that you do have to ask, all of us in this country need to ask
:06:45. > :06:49.ourselves this question... Are we prepared to pay, in terms of the
:06:50. > :06:54.average worker, about ?3 extra per week to give us a guarantee that
:06:55. > :07:00.when our loved ones need that care, in their hour of need, perhaps
:07:01. > :07:04.suspected cancer, that care will be available for them? I have heard two
:07:05. > :07:09.cases recently brought my attention. An elderly couple, the wife has a
:07:10. > :07:13.very bad hip. They could not allow the weight to continue. She was told
:07:14. > :07:18.that she would need to wait 26 weeks, she was in acute pain. They
:07:19. > :07:22.then deduct paying ?20,000 for private treatment to circumvent
:07:23. > :07:26.waiting time. They hated doing it, because they did not want to jump
:07:27. > :07:31.the queue. But that is what is increasingly happening. Sorry to
:07:32. > :07:38.interrupt, Norman Lamb comedy make very good points but we are short on
:07:39. > :07:41.time today. One final question, it looks like you might have the chance
:07:42. > :07:46.to do any of this, I'm told the best you can hope to do internally is to
:07:47. > :07:52.double the number of seats you have, which would only take you to 18. Do
:07:53. > :07:56.you think that promising to raise people's income tax, even those on
:07:57. > :08:00.average earnings, is a vote winner? I think the people in this country
:08:01. > :08:05.are crying out for politicians to be straight and tenet as it is. At the
:08:06. > :08:12.moment we heading towards a Conservative landslide... -- tell it
:08:13. > :08:17.as it is. But do we want a 1-party state? We are electing a government
:08:18. > :08:21.not only to deal with the crucial Brexit negotiations, but oversee the
:08:22. > :08:25.stewardship of the NHS and funding of our schools, all of these
:08:26. > :08:29.critical issues. We need an effective opposition and with the
:08:30. > :08:32.Labour Party having taken itself off stage, the Liberal Democrats need to
:08:33. > :08:34.provide an effective opposition. Norman Lamb, thank you for joining
:08:35. > :08:38.us this morning. Thank you. Labour and Tories are anxious
:08:39. > :08:42.to stress the general election result is not a foregone conclusion,
:08:43. > :08:46.whatever the polls say. Order you just heard Norman Lamb say
:08:47. > :08:48.there that he thought the Conservatives were heading for a
:08:49. > :08:51.landslide... But did Thursday's dramatic set
:08:52. > :08:53.of local election results in England, Scotland and Wales give
:08:54. > :08:57.us a better idea of how the country Here's Emma Vardy with
:08:58. > :09:00.a behind-the-scenes look at how Good morning, it's seven o'clock
:09:01. > :09:04.on Friday, May 5th... The dawn of another results day.
:09:05. > :09:09.Anticipation hung in the air. Early results from the local
:09:10. > :09:14.elections in England suggest there's been a substantial swing
:09:15. > :09:17.from Labour to the Conservatives. While the pros did their thing,
:09:18. > :09:20.I needed breakfast. Don't tell anyone, but I'm
:09:21. > :09:23.going to pinch a sausage. The overnight counts had delivered
:09:24. > :09:25.successes for the Tories. But with most councils
:09:26. > :09:26.only getting started, there was plenty of action
:09:27. > :09:32.still to come. It's not quite the night
:09:33. > :09:34.of Labour's nightmares. There's enough mixed news
:09:35. > :09:36.in Wales, for example - looks like they're about to hold
:09:37. > :09:40.Cardiff - that they'll try and put But in really simple terms,
:09:41. > :09:47.four weeks from a general election, the Tories are going forward
:09:48. > :09:49.and Labour are going backwards. How does it compare being
:09:50. > :09:54.in here to doing the telly? Huw, how do you prepare yourself
:09:55. > :10:00.for a long day of results, then? We're not even on air yet,
:10:01. > :10:06.as you can see, and already in Tory HQ this morning,
:10:07. > :10:09.there's a kind of, "Oh, I'm scared this will make people
:10:10. > :10:12.think the election's just I think leave it
:10:13. > :10:15.like that - perfect. I want the Laura look.
:10:16. > :10:18.This is really good, isn't it? Usually, we're in here
:10:19. > :10:22.for the Daily Politics. But it's been transformed
:10:23. > :10:27.for the Election Results programme. But hours went by without Ukip
:10:28. > :10:39.winning a single seat. The joke going around
:10:40. > :10:45.Lincolnshire County Council today from the Conservatives
:10:46. > :10:48.is that the Tories have eaten We will rebrand
:10:49. > :10:51.and come back strong. Morale, I think, is inevitably
:10:52. > :10:57.going to take a bit of a tumble. Particularly if Theresa May starts
:10:58. > :11:00.backsliding on Brexit. And then I think we will be
:11:01. > :11:03.totally reinvigorated. There are a lot of good people
:11:04. > :11:05.in Ukip and I wouldn't want to say anything unkind,
:11:06. > :11:08.but we all know it's over. Ukip press officer.
:11:09. > :11:12.Difficult job. Ukip weren't the only ones
:11:13. > :11:17.putting a brave face on it. Labour were experiencing
:11:18. > :11:19.their own disaster day too, losing hundreds of seats
:11:20. > :11:23.and seven councils. If the result is what these
:11:24. > :11:28.results appear to indicate, Can we have a quick word
:11:29. > :11:32.for the Sunday Politics? A quick question for Sunday Politics
:11:33. > :11:40.- how are you feeling? Downhearted or fired up for June?
:11:41. > :11:45.Fired up, absolutely fired up. He's fired up.
:11:46. > :11:47.We're going to go out there... We cannot go on with another
:11:48. > :11:49.five years of this. How's it been for you today?
:11:50. > :11:52.Tiring. It always is, but I love elections,
:11:53. > :11:55.I really enjoy them. Yes, you know, obviously we're
:11:56. > :11:59.disappointed at some of the results, it's been a mixed bag,
:12:00. > :12:02.but some opinion polls and commentators predicted we'd be
:12:03. > :12:07.wiped out - we haven't. As for the Lib Dems,
:12:08. > :12:09.not the resurgence they hoped for, After a dead heat in Northumberland,
:12:10. > :12:17.the control of a whole council came The section of England
:12:18. > :12:26.in which we had elections yesterday was the section of England
:12:27. > :12:30.that was most likely to vote Leave. When you go to sleep at night,
:12:31. > :12:33.do you just have election results The answer is if that's still
:12:34. > :12:39.happening, I don't get to sleep. There we go.
:12:40. > :12:41.Maybe practice some yoga... Thank you very much
:12:42. > :12:46.but I have one here. With the introduction
:12:47. > :12:49.of six regional mayors, Labour's Andy Burnham
:12:50. > :12:52.became Mr Manchester. But by the time Corbyn came
:12:53. > :12:55.to celebrate, the new mayor We want you to stay for a second
:12:56. > :13:01.because I've got some I used to present news,
:13:02. > :13:04.as you probably know. I used to present BBC
:13:05. > :13:06.Breakfast in the morning. The SNP had notable successes,
:13:07. > :13:09.ending 40 years of Labour What did you prefer -
:13:10. > :13:15.presenting or politics? And it certainly had been a hard day
:13:16. > :13:22.at the office for some. Ukip's foothold in local government
:13:23. > :13:26.was all but wiped out, leaving the Conservatives
:13:27. > :13:28.with their best local So another election results
:13:29. > :13:33.day draws to a close. But don't worry, we'll be doing it
:13:34. > :13:39.all again in five weeks' time. For now, though, that's your lot.
:13:40. > :13:51.Now let's look at some of Thursday's results in a little more detail,
:13:52. > :13:54.and what they might mean for the wider fortunes
:13:55. > :14:06.In England, there were elections for 34 councils.
:14:07. > :14:08.The Conservatives took control of ten of them,
:14:09. > :14:09.gaining over 300 seats, while Labour sustained
:14:10. > :14:15.While the Lib Dems lost 28 seats, Ukip came close to extinction,
:14:16. > :14:20.and can now boast of only one councillor in the whole of England.
:14:21. > :14:22.In Scotland, the big story was Labour losing
:14:23. > :14:25.a third of their seats, and control of three councils -
:14:26. > :14:27.while the Tories more than doubled their number of councillors.
:14:28. > :14:32.In Wales, both the Conservatives and Plaid Cymru made gains,
:14:33. > :14:37.There was some encouraging news for Jeremy Corbyn's party
:14:38. > :14:39.after Liverpool and Manchester both elected Labour mayors,
:14:40. > :14:47.although the Tories narrowly won the West Midlands mayoral race.
:14:48. > :14:49.We're joined now by who else but elections expert John Curtice.
:14:50. > :14:53.You saw him in Emma's film, he's now back in Glasgow.
:14:54. > :15:06.In broad terms, what do these local election results tell us about the
:15:07. > :15:11.general election result? First we have to remember what Theresa May
:15:12. > :15:15.wants to achieve in the general election is a landslide, and winning
:15:16. > :15:19.a landslide means you have to win big in terms of votes. The local
:15:20. > :15:23.election results certainly suggest Theresa May is well on course to win
:15:24. > :15:27.the general election, at least with four weeks to go, and of course
:15:28. > :15:30.people could change their minds. We all agree the Conservatives were
:15:31. > :15:35.double-digit figures ahead of Labour in these elections. However, whereas
:15:36. > :15:43.the opinion polls on average at the moment suggest there is a 17 point
:15:44. > :15:44.Conservative lead, and that definitely would deliver a
:15:45. > :15:47.landslide, it seems the local election figures, at least in
:15:48. > :15:51.England, are pointing to something close to an 11 point Conservative
:15:52. > :15:57.lead. That increase would not necessarily deliver a landslide that
:15:58. > :16:01.she wants. The truth is, the next four weeks are probably not about
:16:02. > :16:05.who wins this election unless something dramatic changes, but
:16:06. > :16:08.there is still a battle as to whether or not Theresa May achieves
:16:09. > :16:13.her objective of winning a landslide. She has to win big. The
:16:14. > :16:17.local elections as she is not sure to be there, and therefore she is
:16:18. > :16:21.going to have to campaign hard. Equally, while Labour did have most
:16:22. > :16:26.prospect of winning, they still at least at the goal of trying to keep
:16:27. > :16:30.the conservative majority relatively low, and therefore the Parliamentary
:16:31. > :16:34.Labour Party are alive and kicking. Interesting that the local election
:16:35. > :16:39.results don't produce a landslide if replicated on June 8th, but when I
:16:40. > :16:44.looked at when local elections had taken place a month before the
:16:45. > :16:49.general election, it was in 1983 and 1987. The Tories did well in both
:16:50. > :16:52.local elections in these years, but come the general election, they
:16:53. > :16:57.added five points to their share of the vote. No reason it should happen
:16:58. > :17:01.again, but if it did, that would take them into landslide territory.
:17:02. > :17:05.Absolutely right, if they do five points better than the local
:17:06. > :17:11.elections, they are in landslide territory. We have to remember, in
:17:12. > :17:16.1983, the Labour Party ran an inept campaign and their support ballet.
:17:17. > :17:22.In 1987, David Owen and David Steele could not keep to the same lines. --
:17:23. > :17:25.their support fell away. That underlines how well the opposition
:17:26. > :17:29.campaign in the next four weeks does potentially matter in terms of
:17:30. > :17:34.Theresa May's ability to achieve their objective. It is worth
:17:35. > :17:38.noticing in the opinion polls, two things have happened, first, Ukip
:17:39. > :17:41.voters, a significant slice going to the Conservatives, which helped to
:17:42. > :17:44.increase the Conservative leader in the bowels. But in the last week,
:17:45. > :17:50.the Labour vote seems to have recovered. -- in the polls. So the
:17:51. > :17:56.party is not that far short of what Ed Miliband got in 2015, so the
:17:57. > :18:00.Conservative leader is back down to 16 or 17, as we started. So we
:18:01. > :18:06.should not necessarily presume Labour are going to go backwards in
:18:07. > :18:11.the way they did in 1983. I want to finish by asking if there are deeper
:18:12. > :18:14.forces at work? Whether the referendum in this country is
:18:15. > :18:18.producing a realignment in British politics. The Scottish referendum
:18:19. > :18:23.has produced a kind of realignment in Scotland. And in a different way,
:18:24. > :18:30.the Brexit referendum has produced a realignment in England and Wales. Do
:18:31. > :18:33.you agree? You are quite right. Referendums are potentially
:18:34. > :18:36.disruptive in Scotland, they helped to ensure the constitutional
:18:37. > :18:41.question became the central issue, and the 45% who voted yes our been
:18:42. > :18:45.faithful to the SNP since. Although the SNP put in a relatively
:18:46. > :18:50.disappointing performance in Scotland on Thursday. Equally, south
:18:51. > :18:53.of the border, on the leave side, in the past 12 months and particularly
:18:54. > :18:59.the last few weeks, the Conservatives have corralled the
:19:00. > :19:03.leave vote, about two thirds of those who voted leave now say they
:19:04. > :19:07.will vote Conservative. Last summer, the figure was only 50%. On the
:19:08. > :19:17.remain side, the vote is still fragmented. The reason why Theresa
:19:18. > :19:21.May is in the strong position she is is not simply because the leave vote
:19:22. > :19:29.has been realigned, but the remain vote has not. Thank you for joining
:19:30. > :19:33.us. You can go through polls and wonder who is up and down, but I
:19:34. > :19:38.wonder whether the Scottish and Brexit referendums have produced
:19:39. > :19:46.fundamental changes. In Scotland, the real division now is between the
:19:47. > :19:50.centre-left Nationalist party and the centre-right Unionist party.
:19:51. > :19:54.That has had the consequence of squeezing out Labour in the
:19:55. > :19:59.argument, never mind the Greens and the Lib Dems. In London, England,
:20:00. > :20:05.Wales, the Brexit referendum seems to have produced a realignment of
:20:06. > :20:14.the right to the Tories' advantage, and some trouble for the Labour blue
:20:15. > :20:20.vote -- blue-collar vote. It works for the pro Brexit end of the
:20:21. > :20:24.spectrum but not the other half. In the last century, we had people like
:20:25. > :20:27.Roy Jenkins dreaming of and writing about the realignment of British
:20:28. > :20:31.politics as though it could be consciously engineered, and in fact
:20:32. > :20:36.what made it happen was just the calling of a referendum. It's not
:20:37. > :20:39.something you can put about as a politician, it flows from below,
:20:40. > :20:45.when the public begin to think of politics in terms of single issues,
:20:46. > :20:49.dominant issues, such as leaving the European Union. Rather than a broad
:20:50. > :20:54.spectrum designed by a political class. I wonder whether now Remain
:20:55. > :20:59.have it in them to coalesce behind a single party. It doesn't look like
:21:00. > :21:01.they can do it behind Labour. The Liberal Democrats are frankly too
:21:02. > :21:07.small in Parliament to constitute that kind of force. The closest
:21:08. > :21:11.thing to a powerful Remain party is the SNP which by definition has
:21:12. > :21:17.limited appeal south of the border. It is hard. The realignment. We
:21:18. > :21:21.don't know if it is permanent or how dramatic it will be, but there is
:21:22. > :21:25.some kind of realignment going on. At the moment, it seems to be a
:21:26. > :21:30.realignment that by and large is to the benefit of the Conservatives.
:21:31. > :21:33.Without a doubt, and that can be directly attributed to the
:21:34. > :21:36.disappearance of Ukip from the political landscape. I have been
:21:37. > :21:41.saying since the referendum that I thought Ukip was finished. They
:21:42. > :21:45.still seem to be staggering on under the illusion... Some people may have
:21:46. > :21:49.picked up on Nigel Farage this morning saying that Ukip still had a
:21:50. > :21:53.strong role to play until Brexit actually happens. But I think it's
:21:54. > :21:57.very, very hard to convince the voters of that, because they feel
:21:58. > :22:00.that, with the result of the referendum, that was Ukip's job
:22:01. > :22:05.done. And those votes are not going to delay the party -- to the Labour
:22:06. > :22:11.Party because of the flaws with Jeremy Corbyn's leadership, they are
:22:12. > :22:15.shifting to the Tories. I agree. The key issue was the referendum. It has
:22:16. > :22:20.produced a fundamental change that few predicted at the time it was
:22:21. > :22:24.called. Most fundamental of all, it has brought about a unity in the
:22:25. > :22:28.Conservative Party. With some exceptions, but they are now off
:22:29. > :22:34.editing the Evening Standard and other things! This is now a party
:22:35. > :22:40.united around Brexit. Since 1992, the Tories have been split over
:22:41. > :22:42.Europe, at times fatally so. The referendum, in ways that David
:22:43. > :22:47.Cameron did not anticipate, has brought about a united front for
:22:48. > :22:51.this election. In a way, this is a sequel to the referendum, because
:22:52. > :22:55.it's about Brexit but we still don't know what form Brexit is going to
:22:56. > :23:01.take. By calling it early, Theresa May has in effect got another go at
:23:02. > :23:05.a kind of Brexit referendum without knowing what Brexit is, with a
:23:06. > :23:07.united Tory party behind her. We shall see if it is a blip or a
:23:08. > :23:10.long-term trend in British politics. Now let's turn to Labour's big
:23:11. > :23:12.campaign announcement today, and that was the promise of no
:23:13. > :23:15.income tax rise for those earning less than ?80,000 -
:23:16. > :23:18.which of course means those earning more than that could
:23:19. > :23:20.face an increase. Here's Shadow Chancellor John
:23:21. > :23:29.McDonell on the BBC earlier. What we are saying today, anyone
:23:30. > :23:34.earning below ?80,000, we will guarantee you will not have an
:23:35. > :23:37.increase in income tax, VAT or national insurance contributions.
:23:38. > :23:42.For those above 80,000, we are asking them to pay a modest bit more
:23:43. > :23:46.to fund our public services. A modest bit. You will see it will be
:23:47. > :23:53.a modest increase. Talking about modest increases, so we can have a
:23:54. > :23:55.society which we believe everyone shares the benefits of.
:23:56. > :24:00.We're joined now by Shadow Justice Secretary Richard Burgon, in Leeds.
:24:01. > :24:07.Mr McDonnell stressed that for those earning over 80,000, they would be
:24:08. > :24:11.paying more but it would be modest. He used the word modest 45 times.
:24:12. > :24:19.But there is only 1.2 million of them. -- 4-5 times. So that would
:24:20. > :24:25.not raise much money. This is about the key part of this tax policy for
:24:26. > :24:28.the many, not the few. We are saying that low earners and middle earners
:24:29. > :24:33.won't be paying more tax under a Labour government, which is not a
:24:34. > :24:36.policy the Conservatives have committed to yet. As John McDonnell
:24:37. > :24:44.also said in his interview earlier, if there is a tax rise on the top 5%
:24:45. > :24:48.of earners, earning over ?80,000, it would be a modest rise. I am trying
:24:49. > :24:55.to work out what that would mean in terms of money. If it is too modest,
:24:56. > :24:58.you don't raise much. What will happen is the Labour Party's
:24:59. > :25:03.manifesto, published in the next couple of weeks, wilfully set out
:25:04. > :25:13.and cost it. I can't make an announcement now. -- will fully set
:25:14. > :25:16.out and cost it. Moving on to the local elections, Mr Corbyn says he
:25:17. > :25:22.is closing the gap with the Tories. What evidence is there? John Curtis
:25:23. > :25:27.just said there was an 11% gap in the results, Labour 11% behind. The
:25:28. > :25:33.polls before that suggested Labour were anything up to 20% behind. Was
:25:34. > :25:38.it a great day for Labour? Certainly not. Is there a lot to do between
:25:39. > :25:43.now and June? Sure, but we are relishing every moment of that.
:25:44. > :25:47.Comparing equivalent elections in 2013, the Tories increased their
:25:48. > :25:57.share of the vote by 13%. You lost 2%. That's a net of 15%. In what way
:25:58. > :26:04.is that closing the gap? We have gone down to 11 points behind. Am I
:26:05. > :26:08.satisfied? Certainly not. Is Labour satisfied? Certainly not. A week is
:26:09. > :26:13.a long time in politics, 4-5 weeks is even longer. The local elections
:26:14. > :26:17.are over, the general election campaign is starting, and we want to
:26:18. > :26:22.put out there the policies that will improve the lives of low and middle
:26:23. > :26:27.income earners. And also many people looking to be well off as well. You
:26:28. > :26:33.lost 133 seats in Scotland. Are you closing the gap in Scotland? The
:26:34. > :26:37.journey back for Labour in Scotland, I always thought, wouldn't be an
:26:38. > :26:41.easy one. Since the council election results and Scotland that we are
:26:42. > :26:45.comparing this to, there has been an independence referendum and the
:26:46. > :26:49.terrible results for Labour in the 2015 general election. So it is a
:26:50. > :26:54.challenge, but one hundreds of thousands of Labour members are
:26:55. > :26:56.determined to meet. That is why we're talking about bread and butter
:26:57. > :27:04.policies to make people's lives better. These local elections took
:27:05. > :27:10.place midtown. Normally mid-term was the worst time for a government. --
:27:11. > :27:16.took place midterm. And the best for an opposition. That is a feature of
:27:17. > :27:21.British politics. So why did you lose 382 councillors in a midterm
:27:22. > :27:25.election? As Andy Burnham said when he gave his acceptance speech after
:27:26. > :27:31.his terrific first ballot result win in Manchester, it was an evening of
:27:32. > :27:36.mixed results for Labour. Generally bad, wasn't it? Why did you lose all
:27:37. > :27:40.of these councillors midterm? It is not a welcome result for Labour, I
:27:41. > :27:45.am not going to be deluded. But what I and the Labour Party are focused
:27:46. > :27:49.on is the next four weeks. And how we are going to put across policies
:27:50. > :27:55.like free school meals for primary school children, ?10 an hour minimum
:27:56. > :28:00.wage, the pledge not to increase tax for low and middle earners, 95% of
:28:01. > :28:04.earners in this country. And saving the NHS from privatisation and
:28:05. > :28:08.funding it properly. These are just some of the policies, including by
:28:09. > :28:13.the way a boost in carers' allowance, that will make the lives
:28:14. > :28:19.of people in Britain better off. Labour are for the many, not for the
:28:20. > :28:23.few. But people like from political parties aspiring to government is to
:28:24. > :28:27.be united and to be singing from the same song sheet among the leaders.
:28:28. > :28:32.You mentioned Andy Burnham. Why did he not join Mr Corbyn when Jeremy
:28:33. > :28:37.Corbyn went to the rally in Manchester on Friday to celebrate
:28:38. > :28:41.his victory? First of all, Andy Burnham did a radio interview
:28:42. > :28:44.straight after his great victory in which he said Jeremy Corbyn helped
:28:45. > :28:51.him to win votes in that election. Why didn't he turn up? As to the
:28:52. > :28:57.reason Andy Burnham wasn't there at the meeting Jeremy was doing in
:28:58. > :29:00.Manchester, it was because, I understand, Andy was booked into
:29:01. > :29:04.celebrate his victory with his family that night. I don't begrudge
:29:05. > :29:08.him that and hopefully you don't. The leader has made the effort to
:29:09. > :29:12.travel to Manchester to celebrate one of the few victories you enjoyed
:29:13. > :29:17.on Thursday, surely you would join the leader and celebrate together?
:29:18. > :29:21.Well, I don't regard, and I am sure you don't, Andy Burnham a nice time
:29:22. > :29:28.with his family... -- I don't begrudge. He made it clear Jeremy
:29:29. > :29:35.Corbyn assisted him. I can see you are not convinced yourself. I am
:29:36. > :29:40.convinced. The outgoing Labour leader in Derbyshire lost his seat
:29:41. > :29:45.on Thursday, you lost Derbyshire, which was a surprise in itself... He
:29:46. > :29:50.said that genuine party supporters said they were not voting Labour
:29:51. > :29:56.while you have Jeremy Corbyn as leader. Are you hearing that on the
:29:57. > :30:01.doorstep too? I have been knocking on hundreds of doors this week in my
:30:02. > :30:04.constituency and elsewhere. And of course, you never get every single
:30:05. > :30:10.voter thinking the leader of any political party is the greatest
:30:11. > :30:14.thing since sliced bread. But it's only on a minority of doorsteps that
:30:15. > :30:19.people are criticising the Labour leader. Most people aren't even
:30:20. > :30:24.talking about these questions. Most people are talking about Jeremy
:30:25. > :30:30.Corbyn's policies, free primary school meals, ?10 an hour minimum
:30:31. > :30:33.wage. Also policies such as paternity pay, maternity pay and
:30:34. > :30:37.sickness pay for the self-employed, that have been hard-pressed under
:30:38. > :30:40.this government. So I don't recognise that pitch of despondency,
:30:41. > :30:46.but I understand that in different areas, in local elections,
:30:47. > :30:50.perspectives are different. That was Derbyshire. The outgoing Labour
:30:51. > :30:53.leader of Nottinghamshire County Council said there was concern on
:30:54. > :30:59.the doorstep about whether Jeremy Corbyn was the right person to lead
:31:00. > :31:03.the Labour Party, and even Rotherham, loyal to Mr Corbyn, won
:31:04. > :31:09.the mail contest in Liverpool, he said that the Labour leader was more
:31:10. > :31:13.might on the doorstep. -- the mayor contest. Does that explain some of
:31:14. > :31:17.the performance on Thursday? I am confident that in the next four
:31:18. > :31:22.weeks, when we get into coverage on television, that people will see
:31:23. > :31:26.further the kind of open leadership Jeremy provides. In contrast to
:31:27. > :31:30.Theresa May's refusal to meet ordinary people. She came to my
:31:31. > :31:34.constituency and I don't think that a single person who lives here. And
:31:35. > :31:38.also she is ducking the chance to debate with Jeremy Corbyn on TV. She
:31:39. > :31:44.should do it and let the people decide. I don't know why she won't.
:31:45. > :31:49.Finally, the Labour mantra is that you are the party of the ordinary
:31:50. > :32:02.people, why is it the case that among what advertisers call C2s, D
:32:03. > :32:08.and E', how can you on the pulse of that social group, how can you do
:32:09. > :32:12.that? Our policy is to assist, protect and improve the living
:32:13. > :32:16.standards of people in those groups and our policy is to protect the
:32:17. > :32:20.living standards of the majority... They do not seem to be convinced? We
:32:21. > :32:22.have four weeks to convince them and I believe that we will. Thank you
:32:23. > :32:25.for coming onto the programme. But the wooden spoon from Thursday's
:32:26. > :32:31.elections undoubtedly went to Ukip. Four years ago the party
:32:32. > :32:33.won its best ever local government performance,
:32:34. > :32:35.but this time its support just Ukip's share of the vote
:32:36. > :32:38.plunging by as much as 18 points, most obviously
:32:39. > :32:42.benefiting the Conservatives. So is it all over for
:32:43. > :32:45.the self-styled people's army? Well we're joined now
:32:46. > :32:46.by the party's leader in the Welsh Assembly,
:32:47. > :32:57.Neil Hamilton, he's in Cardiff. Neil Hamilton, welcome. Ukip
:32:58. > :33:01.finished local elections gaining the same number of councillors as the
:33:02. > :33:07.Rubbish Party, one. That sums up your prospects, doesn't
:33:08. > :33:13.it? Rubbish? We have been around a long time and seemed that I'd go
:33:14. > :33:18.out, go in again, we will keep calm and carry on. We are in a phoney
:33:19. > :33:22.war, negotiations on Brexit have not started but what we know from
:33:23. > :33:25.Theresa May is that in seven years, as Home Secretary and Prime
:33:26. > :33:29.Minister, she has completely failed to control immigration which was one
:33:30. > :33:35.of the great driving forces behind the Brexit result. I'm not really
:33:36. > :33:39.looking for any great success in immigration from the Tories, and a
:33:40. > :33:43.lot of people who have previously voted for Ukip will be back in our
:33:44. > :33:49.part of the field again. They don't seem to care about that at the
:33:50. > :33:54.moment, your party lost 147 council seats. You gain one. It is time to
:33:55. > :33:58.shut up shop, isn't it? You are right, the voters are not focusing
:33:59. > :34:01.on other domestic issues at the moment. They have made up their
:34:02. > :34:07.minds going into these negotiations in Brussels, Theresa May, as Prime
:34:08. > :34:11.Minister, needs as much support as she can get. I think they are wrong
:34:12. > :34:17.in this respect, it would be better to have a cohort of Ukip MPs to back
:34:18. > :34:23.her up. She was greatly helped by the intervention of Mr Juncker last
:34:24. > :34:27.week as well, the stupidity in how the European Commission has tried to
:34:28. > :34:30.bully the British government, in those circumstances the British
:34:31. > :34:35.people will react in one way going the opposite way to what the
:34:36. > :34:39.Brussels establishment one. She has been fortunate as an acute tactician
:34:40. > :34:43.in having the election now. I struggle to see the way back for
:34:44. > :34:48.your party. You aren't a threat to the Tories in the south. Ukip voters
:34:49. > :34:52.are flocking to the Tories in the south. You don't threaten Labour in
:34:53. > :34:56.the north. It is the Tories who threaten Labour now in the north.
:34:57. > :35:02.There is no room to progress, is there? The reality will be is that
:35:03. > :35:06.once we are back on the domestic agenda again, and the Brexit
:35:07. > :35:12.negotiations are concluded, we will know what the outcome is. And the
:35:13. > :35:15.focus will be on bread and butter issues. We have all sorts of
:35:16. > :35:21.policies in our programme which other parties cannot match us on.
:35:22. > :35:25.The talk is putting up taxes to help the health service, we would scrap
:35:26. > :35:28.the foreign aid budget and put another ?8 billion in the health
:35:29. > :35:34.service, no other party says that. These policies would be popular with
:35:35. > :35:38.the ordinary working person. Is Paul Nuttall to blame on the meltdown of
:35:39. > :35:41.what happened, no matter who is leader? These are cosmic forces
:35:42. > :35:43.beyond the control of any individual at the moment, it is certainly not
:35:44. > :35:47.Paul Nuttall's .com he's been in the at the moment, it is certainly not
:35:48. > :35:52.job for six months and in half that time he was fighting a by-election
:35:53. > :35:57.-- certainly not Paul Nuttall's fault. We have two become more
:35:58. > :36:02.professional than we have been recently. It has not been a
:36:03. > :36:07.brilliant year for Ukip one way or another, as you know, but there are
:36:08. > :36:10.prospects, in future, that are very rosy. I do not believe that the
:36:11. > :36:15.Tories will deliver on other promises that they are now making.
:36:16. > :36:19.The Welsh assembly elections are not until 2021, you are a member of
:36:20. > :36:25.that, but at that point you will not have any MEPs, because we will be
:36:26. > :36:29.out on the timetable. With this current showing he will have no
:36:30. > :36:38.end', you could be Ukip's most senior elected representative. That
:36:39. > :36:42.would be a turnout for the books! -- no elected MPs. The Tories are not
:36:43. > :36:46.promoting the policies that I believe them. You will see that in
:36:47. > :36:51.the Ukip manifesto when it is shortly publish... Leaders talk
:36:52. > :37:02.mainly about the male genital mutilation and is -- female and
:37:03. > :37:07.burqas. No, when the manifesto launched, we have a lot of policies,
:37:08. > :37:14.I spoke moments ago about it, but also on foreign aid. Scrapping green
:37:15. > :37:18.taxes, to cut people's electricity bills by ?300 per year on average.
:37:19. > :37:26.There are a lot of popular policies that we have. We will hear more from
:37:27. > :37:31.that in the weeks to come. Paul Nuttall said "If the price of
:37:32. > :37:36.written leaving the year is a Tory advance after taking up this
:37:37. > :37:41.patriarch course, it is a price that Ukip is prepared to pay". That
:37:42. > :37:46.sounds like a surrender statement? It is a statement of fact, the main
:37:47. > :37:52.agenda is to get out of the EU and have full Brexit. That is why Ukip
:37:53. > :37:57.came into existence 20 years ago. When it is achieved, we go back to
:37:58. > :37:58.the normal political battle lines. Niall Hamilton in Cardiff, thank you
:37:59. > :38:02.very much for joining us. It's just gone 11.35am,
:38:03. > :38:05.you're watching the Sunday Politics. We say goodbye to viewers
:38:06. > :38:07.in Scotland, who leave us now Hello again.
:38:08. > :38:21.we'll be talking about the French Welcome to the Sunday Politics
:38:22. > :38:23.in the Midlands as Labour's local The Conservatives sweep
:38:24. > :38:31.clean, with a Metro Mayor Are they really streets ahead,
:38:32. > :38:39.with just 32 days to go, We may not have a Parliament
:38:40. > :38:42.at the moment. But the Conservative
:38:43. > :38:44.Harriett Baldwin is still And Jack Dromey remains
:38:45. > :38:48.Labour's Labour spokesman, And of course we'll be joined
:38:49. > :38:58.here by all the other main parties during the course of this
:38:59. > :39:00.month of Sundays. They've been staging
:39:01. > :39:03.the National Karate Championships at Birmingham's Barclaycard Arena
:39:04. > :39:07.this weekend. But only after that giant indoor
:39:08. > :39:09.stadium had witnessed some real martial arts,
:39:10. > :39:13.a gladiatorial epic, in which the Conservative Andy
:39:14. > :39:19.Street defeated Labour's Sion Simon by less than 1% of the vote,
:39:20. > :39:32.to become the Midlands In a nonpartisan way, it is a very
:39:33. > :39:38.significant departure at this. This is a historic moment. It is because
:39:39. > :39:42.we have devolved a lot of power to a West Midlands Metro Mayor and it is
:39:43. > :39:46.going to be very good for our region to have more of the budget and
:39:47. > :39:51.decision making major locally. I could not be more thrilled that the
:39:52. > :39:56.electorate chose Andy Street. It is not on the lips of most people and
:39:57. > :40:02.the turnout was one in four. Having said that, it offers next potential
:40:03. > :40:06.at the next ages. If the region works together to build a strong
:40:07. > :40:12.economy in the next region, which is what we badly need to do. What went
:40:13. > :40:21.wrong for a Labour? Was Sion Simon the right candidate? He fought a
:40:22. > :40:26.good collection. I knew Andy Street and he was an impressive candidate.
:40:27. > :40:31.The next test for Andy, he was helped with the expenditure of ?1
:40:32. > :40:36.million, the next test and is that he has to be more of the Metro Mayor
:40:37. > :40:40.first Solihull. He has got to stand up for the region. The concern was
:40:41. > :40:45.that he would put his party and number ten Downing St first. The
:40:46. > :40:50.test of home, is he a champion for the west midlands at the next age?
:40:51. > :40:55.He said he would represent London to the Midlands rather than the other
:40:56. > :41:02.way around. Andy Street was a great candidate and it was ugly for the
:41:03. > :41:06.unions to spend the same money backing Sion Simon. It was a close
:41:07. > :41:11.election. We will take this up again in a minute or two. -- OK for the
:41:12. > :41:14.unions. No wonder Theresa May beat a path
:41:15. > :41:17.to the West Midlands so soon after an election victory which,
:41:18. > :41:19.she hopes, will help Unlike in Manchester,
:41:20. > :41:23.the Midlands new Metro Mayor was on hand to welcome his party
:41:24. > :41:26.leader, when she met business Andy Street says his win confirms
:41:27. > :41:29.the Conservatives' urban agenda, 30 years after the first woman prime
:41:30. > :41:33.minister said her party still needed to rebuild its support
:41:34. > :41:35.in the cities: a mission largely Elizabeth Glinka witnessed the great
:41:36. > :41:38.mayoral drama as it unfolded. There are flashing
:41:39. > :41:43.images in her report. After months of campaigning,
:41:44. > :41:47.the moment of truth. Street, Andy, the Conservative Party
:41:48. > :41:50.candidate is duly elected as mayor for the West Midlands Combined
:41:51. > :41:57.Authority. Second preference votes took
:41:58. > :42:08.Andy Street over the line The transformation of businessmen
:42:09. > :42:11.to politician complete. A lot of people have
:42:12. > :42:15.put their trust in me and that is a very moving thing,
:42:16. > :42:17.actually, paticularly for someone who has not been
:42:18. > :42:19.involved in politics before. So I feel a huge sense
:42:20. > :42:26.of resonsibility for Do I think we can do it together,
:42:27. > :42:32.build a team together? Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Coventry
:42:33. > :42:36.and Sandwell all voted Labour. Dudley, Walsall and Solihull
:42:37. > :42:38.backed the Conservatives And it was that big vote
:42:39. > :42:42.in Solihull, combined with a big-money campaign
:42:43. > :42:44.by the Tories, which Labour We lost this election partly
:42:45. > :42:51.in the Conservative heartlands of Solihull where the Conservatives
:42:52. > :42:58.spent millions of pounds, to which we don't have access,
:42:59. > :43:01.or access to even a fraction of the millions of
:43:02. > :43:03.pounds that they spent. As a result of which expenditure,
:43:04. > :43:06.the turnout in Solihull - overwhelmingly Conservative -
:43:07. > :43:07.was a third higher than The spending gap was
:43:08. > :43:11.an issue also highlighted Coming third was not
:43:12. > :43:14.a bad performance. There was a big resource
:43:15. > :43:17.differential in terms of what we were all able to invest
:43:18. > :43:19.in the campaign. So I feel really proud
:43:20. > :43:23.and tremendously thankful to everyone in my team
:43:24. > :43:26.for all their hard work and effort. But on a tour of the TV studios,
:43:27. > :43:30.the new mayor said it was a victory We said at the beginning of this
:43:31. > :43:34.campaign that we would reach every And if you look at the results, yes,
:43:35. > :43:46.we won big in some traditional Conservative areas but we did very
:43:47. > :43:48.respectably in every borough. So I can look back on that and say
:43:49. > :43:52.the results today are actually telling us that we have connected
:43:53. > :43:55.with every area and the job of the mayor is to pull the leadership
:43:56. > :43:58.from the whole region together. There are also lingering
:43:59. > :44:00.concerns about the turnout. Barely one in four voters took part
:44:01. > :44:04.in Thursday's mayoral election. One of Mr Street's first
:44:05. > :44:06.jobs could be convincing a sceptical public they need
:44:07. > :44:13.a Metro Mayor at all. Elizabeth Glinka, on a day that
:44:14. > :44:17.will live long in the memories Now, as promised let's hear
:44:18. > :44:21.from Andy Street himself. He now becomes arguably the most
:44:22. > :44:25.influential local politician since Joseph Chamberlain almost
:44:26. > :44:27.a century and a half ago, the leader of nearly
:44:28. > :44:29.three million people. So I began by asking him
:44:30. > :44:32.if a turnout of little more than one in four,
:44:33. > :44:35.was enough of a vote of confidence Actually, as you say, it is far more
:44:36. > :44:43.than we thought it would be If you compare it say
:44:44. > :44:47.with the first turnout in London when Ken Livingstone
:44:48. > :44:49.was establishing the mayor, it is What has happened in London is every
:44:50. > :44:58.time the turnout has gone up at subsequent elections and I have
:44:59. > :45:01.got to make sure in three years' important role and I want to go
:45:02. > :45:05.and vote next time. But there are still plenty
:45:06. > :45:07.of people out there, convinced that we need
:45:08. > :45:10.a Metro Mayor. They think it's a vanity project
:45:11. > :45:13.and they really rather wish we hadn't gone down
:45:14. > :45:15.this road at all. I do know that but equally
:45:16. > :45:19.I know I have know got the opportunity to prove the value
:45:20. > :45:21.of the role and that is exactly You've said on several occasions
:45:22. > :45:25.that he would not have achieved this if you had not won
:45:26. > :45:28.suport among all sections of the community and indeed in all
:45:29. > :45:31.seven areas of the West Midlands Up to a point that is
:45:32. > :45:35.the case of course but you did concentrate a lot of this nearly
:45:36. > :45:39.?1 million that you raised and spent in Solihull to pile up support
:45:40. > :45:42.and that has led to suggestions that maybe there should tighter limits
:45:43. > :45:44.next time on spending. OK, on the funding, we did not spend
:45:45. > :45:48.quite ?1 million first of all. But we did spend more than others,
:45:49. > :45:51.I fully accept that. All the money was raised
:45:52. > :45:54.for this campaign and we had The huge majority of
:45:55. > :45:59.it was raised locally. What we think we have done
:46:00. > :46:01.across the region actually, is draw the key issues
:46:02. > :46:03.to everyone's attention. And actually, going back
:46:04. > :46:06.to your previous question, the fact the turnout was much better
:46:07. > :46:07.than people predicted is possibly
:46:08. > :46:13.a reaction to that. So we have tried to inform people
:46:14. > :46:16.about what is really at stake. Campaigning with Theresa May,
:46:17. > :46:18.requesting an early meeting the charge against you by
:46:19. > :46:22.Sion Simon, your Labour opponent that you're basically London's
:46:23. > :46:25.man in the Midlands? And, as you know, I have rejected
:46:26. > :46:31.that charge on the campaign trail, because what the mayor has got to do
:46:32. > :46:36.is champion the region first. And that does mean working with
:46:37. > :46:38.central Government. I do not accept the Labour
:46:39. > :46:40.approach to this which might be described as West Midlands
:46:41. > :46:43.fortress, to some extent. The reality is, yes,
:46:44. > :46:51.we have got some powers ourselves and must use those
:46:52. > :46:54.and do that confidently, further powers and further financial
:46:55. > :47:00.support from central Government and that is what I will be doing
:47:01. > :47:03.when I talk to Theresa May. The West Midlands is at
:47:04. > :47:06.the wrong end of some very I'm thinking of affordable housing,
:47:07. > :47:13.job creation, skills. Is there enough money
:47:14. > :47:15.in this mayoral pot to address these very
:47:16. > :47:20.significant challenges? There is enough money to make a good
:47:21. > :47:23.start on some of these issues but it is not just
:47:24. > :47:26.about the money, Patrick. What we also have to do
:47:27. > :47:28.is think about a regional creative thinking and also
:47:29. > :47:30.use the resources that If we think about youth
:47:31. > :47:38.unemployment, for example, we have already across the West
:47:39. > :47:41.Midlands as a whole reduced that That was not necessarily
:47:42. > :47:45.about lots of new money. That was about growing
:47:46. > :47:46.the economy and some creative new schemes
:47:47. > :47:52.being put in place. We do though have to
:47:53. > :47:55.continue to make case for further investment
:47:56. > :48:06.and that There are obvious dangers of reading
:48:07. > :48:10.across from one set of elections to the general election. It is
:48:11. > :48:15.something that really does stand out as you think of Walsall where labour
:48:16. > :48:23.have two intentionally vulnerable marginal seats to defend. Andy
:48:24. > :48:26.Street one Walsall. We are looking forward to the general election. We
:48:27. > :48:32.are into the general election campaign. It will be very
:48:33. > :48:36.challenging for us. We have yet to convince the country that we are
:48:37. > :48:45.incredible opposition. It is about holding this Prime Minister to
:48:46. > :48:49.account. She said she would cut the police and what she did was cut
:48:50. > :48:53.people use by 20000 and increased crime. She said she would protect
:48:54. > :49:01.mental health services and she is saying that again but we have seen
:49:02. > :49:06.expenditure fall... 19% ahead in the polls. 15% fewer mental health
:49:07. > :49:10.nurses. Now is the time to hold her properly to account at the next
:49:11. > :49:15.ages. That is what we will do, including on the big issues that
:49:16. > :49:21.affect to be people that I represent. Health, education... Andy
:49:22. > :49:24.Street has used this expression, the Conservatives knew our been a
:49:25. > :49:31.agenda. That means Theresa May, despite what you say, is turning out
:49:32. > :49:37.to be an asset and reaching out to strong Labour strongholds. I have
:49:38. > :49:40.seen that first-hand but what it is is old paper politics on the one
:49:41. > :49:44.hand but it is also pretending to be a friend and champion of working
:49:45. > :49:49.people when they record shows they are nothing of the kind. To get back
:49:50. > :49:53.to your question, I think all elections are different but what is
:49:54. > :49:59.crucial in the mayoral election, it was about leadership who was best to
:50:00. > :50:03.beat the West Midlands Metro Mayor contest and in terms of the general
:50:04. > :50:07.election, it is going to be about leadership and shows how close the
:50:08. > :50:12.selection was in the west Midlands. How important it is to get out and
:50:13. > :50:16.fought. It is going to be who we want to lead the country on these
:50:17. > :50:22.issues. Is it Theresa May at a conservative team? On Andy Street's
:50:23. > :50:29.leadership, isn't there an inevitability that the mayoral role
:50:30. > :50:32.will project beyond the limits on to the surrounding shire counties where
:50:33. > :50:37.there isn't a vote for this role? Something has got to change, maybe
:50:38. > :50:41.the footprint on enlarging the region, for example? I would not be
:50:42. > :50:46.considering that at this point. I think it is important for was to
:50:47. > :50:52.show, where I am standing as a candidate, because a lot of my
:50:53. > :50:56.candidates do work in the Metro area. It is important. I think at
:50:57. > :51:02.this point we have got to recognise it is insignificant size area. Did
:51:03. > :51:07.Andy Street by the election giving the spending gap between him and the
:51:08. > :51:10.other parties? Particularly with Solihull in mind? It is all raised
:51:11. > :51:17.from donations from people who want to see him to win. Hugely outspent.
:51:18. > :51:23.No, hang on... Usually outspent all of the other parties. All of the
:51:24. > :51:28.other parties put together. ?1 million. You were free to spend that
:51:29. > :51:34.amount with union money. You spent ?1 million on the campaign. It was
:51:35. > :51:37.under that and it was an electorate that was 3 million. It is important
:51:38. > :51:41.to inform the electorate for this role and make the case for Andy
:51:42. > :51:45.Street being the best candidate. I am pleased it worked. I think we got
:51:46. > :51:47.the message on that. Thank you very much indeed.
:51:48. > :51:54.That's how one Conservative council leader hailed the party's
:51:55. > :51:55.emphatic performance in our five shire counties.
:51:56. > :51:57.The Tories were already in control of Shropshire,
:51:58. > :52:02.They completed a clean sweep by taking Warwickshire
:52:03. > :52:05.With a general election coming so soon, we wanted to know
:52:06. > :52:10.what all this meant for those key local marginal seats.
:52:11. > :52:12.Would the Liberal Democrats sustain their "Brexit Bounce"?
:52:13. > :52:17.Kathryn Stanczyszyn, has the answers.
:52:18. > :52:20.They dared hope for a good night but it was even better than that.
:52:21. > :52:28.The Conservatives were confident they would gain the two
:52:29. > :52:34.seats needed to take full control of Warwickshire.
:52:35. > :52:36.In the end, they bagged nine more than in 2013.
:52:37. > :52:38.A storming victory, particularly in areas
:52:39. > :52:41.This map of the north of Warwickshire now
:52:42. > :52:46.Where there was red, there is now blue.
:52:47. > :52:48.The Conservatives say the results here have been more
:52:49. > :52:52.They've won the popular vote in the Bedworth area
:52:53. > :52:57.Really I was hoping that we would tip over the 30
:52:58. > :53:07.That gives us a brilliant working majority.
:53:08. > :53:10.It was a picture repeated across the county shires of the Midlands.
:53:11. > :53:17.Local county maps turning bluer than they have been for some time.
:53:18. > :53:19.Increased majorities across the board meant control taken
:53:20. > :53:20.back in Gloucestershire and in Staffordshire, an
:53:21. > :53:28.I think it is Theresa May and the bold vision she is putting
:53:29. > :53:32.The Conservatives at the moment are seen on the doorstep and around
:53:33. > :53:35.the county as a party that can be trusted to deliver services
:53:36. > :53:38.for residents and make sure that the job gets done.
:53:39. > :53:42.Jubilance on one side and despair on the other.
:53:43. > :53:45.Labour lost dozens of seats in areas previously considered solid.
:53:46. > :53:48.And in places like Staffordshire, they have to win people back to have
:53:49. > :53:56.For some, there is no doubt what played a part.
:53:57. > :53:59.People do not like divided parties and there are all sorts
:54:00. > :54:02.of divisions within the party which are unhealthy.
:54:03. > :54:04.I think it is important the leadership take note of these
:54:05. > :54:07.election results across the whole country, not just in Staffordshire,
:54:08. > :54:11.and make sure they are listening to what are the people's priorities.
:54:12. > :54:13.For the Liberal Democrats, the breakthrough did not happen.
:54:14. > :54:22.But they put more than a brave face on it.
:54:23. > :54:24.They have more local seats than any other party
:54:25. > :54:27.Their membership is through the roof.
:54:28. > :54:30.I think they will do pretty well in the generals as well.
:54:31. > :54:35.That brave face was a little harder to maintain for Ukip,
:54:36. > :54:36.who lost every contest they stood in.
:54:37. > :54:39.After the referendum, there has been a lot of underfunding
:54:40. > :54:42.Some candidates have struggled to get a full amount
:54:43. > :54:49.So, yeah, that is one of the reasons why we have had such
:54:50. > :54:52.The Greens managed to up their numbers by two.
:54:53. > :54:56.They say local is where they are best.
:54:57. > :54:59.People like to be listened to and we were out there for one
:55:00. > :55:02.year and a half finding out what local concerns were and working
:55:03. > :55:10.As Conservatives up and down the region survey a sea of blue,
:55:11. > :55:13.they start to wonder just how much more of it they can
:55:14. > :55:25.You can understand the suspicions that the Tories will be managing
:55:26. > :55:30.expectations down among their supporters to try and keep them
:55:31. > :55:35.that reading across from one set of that reading across from one set of
:55:36. > :55:39.because you get the ticket affect, because you get the ticket affect,
:55:40. > :55:44.turnout will be different, the turnout will be different, the
:55:45. > :55:49.Paul's, we know about the polls. You display of caution. He may have good
:55:50. > :55:53.reason to be cautious. I think it is important to recognise that every
:55:54. > :55:57.election is different that what is important in the general election it
:55:58. > :56:02.is about who do you want to be reading the country through this
:56:03. > :56:06.very important time? Who do you want to be in charge of negotiations with
:56:07. > :56:10.the European Union over Article 50? Who do you want to be in charge of
:56:11. > :56:16.the economy at this crucial time? And who do you want to be in charge
:56:17. > :56:20.of important public services? She is being very uncomfortable with some
:56:21. > :56:25.of the economy's spending squeeze that your Government has inflicted
:56:26. > :56:29.on her. It has been a resounding endorsement that county councils
:56:30. > :56:35.have managed that situation and delivered good public services and a
:56:36. > :56:38.growing economy to find those public services. The general election is
:56:39. > :56:46.going to be about an endorsement of food we want to lead the country.
:56:47. > :56:51.How would you respond to that? What I am finding is that people will be
:56:52. > :56:56.voting differently. A conservative voter who will be voting for me will
:56:57. > :57:00.be saying to me, Jack, I will be voting for you because you let the
:57:01. > :57:08.campaign to save the nursery school but also I do not want to see a Tory
:57:09. > :57:12.territory. What we are seeing is a general election by a party who
:57:13. > :57:17.wants to act in the best interest of the Conservative Party and not the
:57:18. > :57:21.country. You voted for this general election. There are profound
:57:22. > :57:26.questions about what kind of country do we become? It is best for Britain
:57:27. > :57:31.to get out of Brexit, that is for certain. I am talking to nurses who
:57:32. > :57:35.are despairing about what is happening within their hospitals. I
:57:36. > :57:39.am talking about people who are disabled who are despairing about
:57:40. > :57:43.the treatment they have suffered. I am talking to teachers who are
:57:44. > :57:47.saying they are going to have to cut classroom assistants and cut back on
:57:48. > :57:54.our curriculum. What kind of country for the future? It is not just about
:57:55. > :57:58.Brexit. What Jack did not vote for is his current leader. He is someone
:57:59. > :58:03.who does not think that Jeremy Corbyn ought to be able to lead the
:58:04. > :58:08.Labour Party, let alone the country. This general election on the 8th of
:58:09. > :58:13.June is who we want to be leading the country. You candidate in
:58:14. > :58:15.Nuneaton is one of those Labour councillors who lost the seat. He
:58:16. > :58:23.braves the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn. -- blames. Any Labour
:58:24. > :58:26.Government is better than any Conservative Government. He have to
:58:27. > :58:30.look at the history of the National Health Service. She wants to make it
:58:31. > :58:32.a presidential campaign when this is about the future of our country. For
:58:33. > :58:34.the moment, thank you. Let's remind ourselves
:58:35. > :58:37.what else has been happening Our round-up in 60 Seconds is
:58:38. > :58:42.brought to us today by Nick Watson. Paul Dadge, who shot to fame helping
:58:43. > :58:44.the wounded in the wake of the 7/7 bombings in London,
:58:45. > :58:48.has been selected to fight the Tory-held Cannock Chase
:58:49. > :58:53.seat for Labour. Elsewhere, Labour has
:58:54. > :58:55.picked former the Telford and Wrekin Council leader,
:58:56. > :58:57.Kuldip Sahota, as their candidate in marginal seat of Telford
:58:58. > :58:59.which is currently held Ukip leader Paul Nuttall was out
:59:00. > :59:05.on the campaign trail in Dudley. He failed in his bid to win
:59:06. > :59:08.the Stoke Central by-election. No, I don't. I think there has been
:59:09. > :59:18.days behind them? No, I don't. I think there has been
:59:19. > :59:22.a small movement towards the Tories. I think what you will see during the
:59:23. > :59:24.next five weeks is that people will come back to Ukip once they realise
:59:25. > :59:28.we are the real Brexiteer 's. a German-owned factory
:59:29. > :59:32.in the Erdington area of Birmingham which supplies many
:59:33. > :59:34.of the region's top manufacturers. And Neal Stote, the leader
:59:35. > :59:37.of the now disbanded Save the Alex hospital campaign,
:59:38. > :59:40.is to run in Redditch in the General Election campaign
:59:41. > :59:57.for the National Health Action Health can really cut to the core of
:59:58. > :00:04.the local community and make a mockery of parties. I was thrilled
:00:05. > :00:08.that Rachel McLean has been selected to be the Conservative candidate for
:00:09. > :00:12.the Redditch constituency in the general election. A range of
:00:13. > :00:17.candidates will become known later this week. The health service is on
:00:18. > :00:21.its knees under the Tories. The next age is, good luck to Paul because he
:00:22. > :00:26.is a health hero and good luck to Corbyn. In fact it makes the point
:00:27. > :00:30.that Brexit is not the only issue. It is a critical issue for the
:00:31. > :00:36.future of our country but it is also about what kind of country button
:00:37. > :00:40.should be. Sooner or later, Labour Government is run out of other
:00:41. > :00:41.people's money and we need a strong Government... I am afraid the clock
:00:42. > :00:42.has been the final arbiter. My thanks to Harriett
:00:43. > :00:46.Baldwin and Jack Dromey. MPs no longer with
:00:47. > :00:47.Parliament dissolved. And yet we don't know for sure
:00:48. > :00:50.who all the candidates will be Like Westminster itself,
:00:51. > :00:55.we're in limbo. Because nominations don't
:00:56. > :00:57.close until Thursday. So if you're still thinking
:00:58. > :01:00.of throwing your hat in the ring, In an uncertain world,
:01:01. > :01:09.you can at least count on us to be This, though, is where
:01:10. > :01:15.we rejoin Andrew Neil. housing associations and investment,
:01:16. > :01:26.but we have run out of time, thank you. Andrew.
:01:27. > :01:32.Four weeks to go until polling day on the 8th of June, what will the
:01:33. > :01:36.party strategies be for the remaining four weeks? Let's begin
:01:37. > :01:42.with the Conservatives. Do they just try to continue to play it safe for
:01:43. > :01:47.four weeks? Yes, with this important qualification. Theresa May Corp this
:01:48. > :01:51.election to get her own personal mandate partly, partly because she
:01:52. > :01:57.thought she would win big but to get her own personal mandate. Therefore,
:01:58. > :02:01.she needs to define it. In her own interests and to do with
:02:02. > :02:05.accountability to the country. So clearly, they will not take risks
:02:06. > :02:07.when they are so far ahead in the polls. What they do say in the
:02:08. > :02:14.manifesto matters in terms of the space that she has in
:02:15. > :02:18.the coming years to define her leadership against David Cameron 's.
:02:19. > :02:23.She is a free figure, partly on the basis of what she says as to how big
:02:24. > :02:33.she wins. They cannot just play it safe and repeat their mantra of
:02:34. > :02:39.strong and stable leadership, if she is going to claim her own mandate,
:02:40. > :02:42.they need the top policy? Yes, and what is unusual about this is that
:02:43. > :02:46.the manifesto matters far more because of what they need to do with
:02:47. > :02:51.it afterwards, than in terms of whether it is going to win anybody
:02:52. > :02:55.over now. Clearly, the strategy is yes, we do have two layout out a few
:02:56. > :02:59.things, there are interesting debates as to whether, for example,
:03:00. > :03:02.they will still commit to this ambition of reducing immigration to
:03:03. > :03:06.the tens of thousands, we do not know the answer yet. It is a
:03:07. > :03:12.question on whether she is setting herself up for difficulties later
:03:13. > :03:18.on. It will be a short manifesto, I would venture to guess? It is in her
:03:19. > :03:22.interests to be as noncommittal as possible, that argues for a short
:03:23. > :03:26.manifesto but what does strike me about the Conservative campaign,
:03:27. > :03:31.aside from the ambiguity on policy, is how personal it is. I think
:03:32. > :03:35.Theresa May, in her most recent speech, referred to "My local
:03:36. > :03:39.candidates", rather than Parliamentary candidates, very much
:03:40. > :03:45.framing it as a presidential candidate in France or the USA. Not
:03:46. > :03:50.a rational on her part. Everything I hear from the MPs on the ground and
:03:51. > :03:54.the focus groups being done by the parties, is that a big chunk of the
:03:55. > :03:58.population personally identify with her. If you can wrap up Middle
:03:59. > :04:02.England into a physical object and embody it in a person, it would be
:04:03. > :04:06.her. Although Jeremy Corbyn's unpopularity accounts for a big
:04:07. > :04:10.slice of her popularity, she has done a good job of bonding with the
:04:11. > :04:15.public. We never saw that coming! But you may well be right. That is
:04:16. > :04:19.happening now. Labour say it wants the Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell
:04:20. > :04:22.to play a more prominent role in the Labour campaign, he was on The
:04:23. > :04:26.Andrew Marr Show this morning and he was asked if he was a Marxist, he
:04:27. > :04:32.denied that he was. It surprised me as I had seen tape from before
:04:33. > :04:39.saying that he was proud of it. Let's look now and then. Are you a
:04:40. > :04:43.Marxist? I believe that there is a lot to learn... Yes or no? I believe
:04:44. > :04:48.that there is a lot to learn from reading capital, that is recommended
:04:49. > :04:52.not only by me but measuring economists as well. I also believe
:04:53. > :05:00.that in the long tradition of the Labour Party... We need to demand
:05:01. > :05:05.systemic change. I am a Marxist. This is a classic crisis of the
:05:06. > :05:10.economy. A capitalist crisis. I've been waiting for this for a
:05:11. > :05:15.generation! That was from about four years ago. No, I'm not a Marxist,
:05:16. > :05:19.yes, I am a Marxist... I've been waiting for the Marxist revolution
:05:20. > :05:24.my whole life... Does this kind of thing matter? Yes, but in fairness,
:05:25. > :05:30.I think he is a really good interviewee. The Shadow Cabinet have
:05:31. > :05:34.untested figures in a national campaign. None have ever been
:05:35. > :05:38.exposed at any level to a national media campaign that they are about
:05:39. > :05:43.to experience. He is the best interviewee. In fairness to him,
:05:44. > :05:48.when he gave that clip four years ago, I bet he never dream that he
:05:49. > :05:53.would be in a senior front bench position. But the background is
:05:54. > :05:56.clear. They are of the left, and I think they would all have described
:05:57. > :06:02.it. Jeremy Corbyn would have done, he is close to being like Tony Benn.
:06:03. > :06:08.There are about four Labour campaign is being fought in this election.
:06:09. > :06:11.Their campaign, the old Shadow Cabinet, campaigning in
:06:12. > :06:16.constituencies, but not identifying with that campaign. There is the
:06:17. > :06:22.former Labour leader Tony Blair. Is it damaging? I think so, if they
:06:23. > :06:26.could be damaged any further, I could see all of the Labour MPs with
:06:27. > :06:29.their heads in their hands. What I am hearing from Labour MPs is that
:06:30. > :06:33.there is not one of them who do not feel that they have a horrendous
:06:34. > :06:37.battle on their hands. These will be very individual local campaigns,
:06:38. > :06:42.where local MPs are winning despite the party leadership and not because
:06:43. > :06:48.of it. Already, talk is turning to what happens next. Is there anyway
:06:49. > :06:54.that Jeremy Corbyn, giving a horrendous set of general election
:06:55. > :06:59.results as many anticipate, may stay on all the same? It is not clear
:07:00. > :07:04.that even if the polls are right, that Mr Corbyn will go? John
:07:05. > :07:08.McDonnell implied it might not be the case but previously, he said it
:07:09. > :07:13.would be. What do you make of reports that the Labour strategy is
:07:14. > :07:17.not, I cannot quite believe I am saying this, not to win seats but
:07:18. > :07:22.maximise a share of the vote. If they do better than Ed Miliband with
:07:23. > :07:27.30.5% of the vote, they believe they live to fight another day? Yes, it
:07:28. > :07:31.reminded me of Tony Benn's speech after the 1983 election where they
:07:32. > :07:35.said as bad as the Parliamentary defeat was there were 8 million
:07:36. > :07:44.votes for socialism. A big section of public opinion voted for that
:07:45. > :07:49.manifesto. I wonder whether that is Corbyn's supporters best chance of
:07:50. > :07:54.holding onto power. Whether they can say that those votes are a platform
:07:55. > :07:57.on which we can build. That said, even moderate Labour MPs and
:07:58. > :08:01.desperate for a quick leadership contest. I hear a lot of them say
:08:02. > :08:06.that they would like to leave it for one year. Maybe have Tom Watson as
:08:07. > :08:09.an acting Labour leader. He would still have a mandate. Give the top
:08:10. > :08:14.party a chance to regroup and get rid of some of its problems and
:08:15. > :08:17.decide where it stands on policy. Most importantly, for potential
:08:18. > :08:20.candidates to show what they are made of, rather than lurching
:08:21. > :08:26.straight into an Yvette Cooper Coronation. 30 seconds on the
:08:27. > :08:33.Liberal Democrats, their strategy was to mop up the Remain vote.
:08:34. > :08:40.Uncertain about the Brexit party in demise. Ukip. The remain as have a
:08:41. > :08:46.dilemma, the little Democrats are not a strong enough vessel with 89
:08:47. > :08:51.MPs to risk all ongoing for them -- the Liberal Democrats. Labour do not
:08:52. > :08:56.know where they stand on Brexit. There is not a robust alternative
:08:57. > :09:04.vessel for what is now a pro-Brexit Conservative Party. At the moment.
:09:05. > :09:07.Four weeks to go, but not for France...
:09:08. > :09:09.France has been voting since early this morning, and we should get
:09:10. > :09:12.a first estimate of who will be the country's next President
:09:13. > :09:16.Just to warn you there are some flashing images coming up.
:09:17. > :09:18.The choice in France is between a centre-left liberal
:09:19. > :09:20.reformer Emmanuel Macron and a right-wing nationalist
:09:21. > :09:23.Marine Le Pen - both have been casting their votes this morning.
:09:24. > :09:25.The two candidates topped a field of 11 presidential
:09:26. > :09:27.hopefuls in the first round of elections last month.
:09:28. > :09:29.The campaign has been marked by its unpredictability,
:09:30. > :09:35.and in a final twist on Friday evening, just before
:09:36. > :09:38.campaigning officially ended, Mr Macron's En Marche! group said
:09:39. > :09:43.it had been the victim of a "massive" hack,
:09:44. > :09:45.with a trove of documents released online.
:09:46. > :09:48.The Macron team said real documents were mixed up with fake ones,
:09:49. > :09:50.and electoral authorities warned media and the public that spreading
:09:51. > :10:01.details of the leaks would breach strict election rules.
:10:02. > :10:03.I'm joined now from Paris by the journalist
:10:04. > :10:16.As I left Paris recently, everybody told me that there was the consensus
:10:17. > :10:21.that Mr Macron would win, and win pretty comfortable you. Is there any
:10:22. > :10:26.reason to doubt that? -- pretty comfortably. I don't think so, there
:10:27. > :10:31.have been so many people left and right, former candidates who have
:10:32. > :10:35.decided that it was more important to vote for Macron, even if it was
:10:36. > :10:41.agreed with him, then run the risk of having Marine Le Pen as
:10:42. > :10:45.president. I think the spread is now 20 points, 60% to Macron, 40% to Le
:10:46. > :10:51.Pen. So outside of the margin of error that it would take something
:10:52. > :10:55.huge for this to be observed. If the polls are right and Mr Macron wins,
:10:56. > :11:02.he has to put together a government, and in May there is a Coronation,
:11:03. > :11:08.then he faces parliamentary elections in June and could face a
:11:09. > :11:13.fractured parliament where he does not have a clear majority for his
:11:14. > :11:17.reforms. He could then faced difficulties in getting his
:11:18. > :11:22.programme through? I think that right now, with how things are
:11:23. > :11:26.looking, considering you have one half of the Republican party, the
:11:27. > :11:33.Conservative Party, they are making clear sides, not only that they want
:11:34. > :11:38.to support Macron but are supporting him actively. It means looking at
:11:39. > :11:42.the equivalent of the German party, the great coalition. Depending on
:11:43. > :11:46.how many seats established parties keep in the house committee may very
:11:47. > :11:58.well have a Republican Prime Minister, rather than having an
:11:59. > :12:06.adversarial MP, he may have someone who is relatively unknown outside of
:12:07. > :12:11.France, and a young woman. Contended that lost the Parez mayorship three
:12:12. > :12:17.years ago. She is a scientist and has been secretary of state. She
:12:18. > :12:23.would be an interesting coalition Prime Minister. Finally, Marine Le
:12:24. > :12:29.Pen, if she goes down to defeat a night, does she have the stomach and
:12:30. > :12:36.ambition, and the energy, to try it all again in 2022? She has all of
:12:37. > :12:43.that. The question is, would they let her? How badly would she lose?
:12:44. > :12:50.Her niece, now 27, a hard-working and steady person, unlike Marine Le
:12:51. > :12:55.Pen, who flunked her do paid -- debate, her niece may decide that
:12:56. > :13:02.2022 is her turn. Yet another Le Pen! All right, we will see. Just
:13:03. > :13:04.five years to wait, but only a few hours until the results of the
:13:05. > :13:09.election tonight. And we will get the exit polls here
:13:10. > :13:13.on the BBC. Given the exit polls will give as a pretty fair
:13:14. > :13:16.indication of what the result is going to be tonight. That will be on
:13:17. > :13:19.BBC news. That's all for today. The Daily Politics will cover every
:13:20. > :13:22.turn of this election campaign, And we're back here on BBC One
:13:23. > :13:26.at our usual time Next Sunday. Remember - if it's Sunday,
:13:27. > :13:29.it's the Sunday Politics. Our crack team of experts
:13:30. > :14:14.use pioneering research