07/06/2017 The Election Wrap

Hello and welcome to The Election Wrap, our guide

And the countdown is on, with just 12 hours until the polling

booths open for the 2017 General Election.

Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn criss-cross the country in a frantic

last push for votes in the Battle for Number 10.

We'll tell you what the other parties have been doing

on the campaign trail on the eve of the election.

They separate us into two groups, I want you to unify the country.

They may be too young to vote, but children from the BBC

School Report ask what the next Prime Minister can do

Theresa May called this snap election 50 days ago.

We'll tell you how things developed in our campaign highlights

We'll hear a plea from Simon Brown, a British soldier who was injured

in Iraq and saved the lives of six of his colleagues,

about the importance of voting tomorrow.

It's so important that you use your voice and your opinion. You might

not think it matters, but it truly does. And at the very least, honour

the sacrifices made to ensure that you will always have a vote.

And our election gurus in the studio this evening,

for this last Election Wrap of the campaign, are Caroline

Crampton, the Assistant Editor at the New Statesman,

and Tim Shipman, who's Political Editor at the Sunday Times.

Let's bring you up to date with the latest developments from

The leaders treated the British public to a re-run of their best

hits today, trotting out plenty of old favourites

After seven weeks of campaigning, Theresa May told voters

she still needs help with her Brexit hand to become

Every vote for me is a vote to strengthen my Brexit hand.

And a vote for a fairer and more prosperous Britain for us all.

Jeremy Corbyn set his sights closer to his London home,

visiting Watford, Harrow and Islington to emphasise that his

I'm proud of this document, for the many, not the few. I'm very proud of

the input into it. And it is a manifesto that can transform our

politics and change our attitudes in this society.

It was 'back to the future' for Tim Farron in his speech

to supporters in Bath ahead of a rally in Oxford.

I've my back to you, because we are facing forward and facing a massive

day. Not just in Bath, but across the west country and an opportunity

to change the direction of the country.

And Nicola Sturgeon criticised Theresa May's 'strong

and stable' message, but fell back on her own catchphrase

when she insisted her candidates could be strong for Scotland.

Do not wake up on Friday morning and find that Scottish votes have

boosted Theresa May's majority and thrown her a lifeline. Let us wake

up on Friday morning having re-elected strong SNP voices who

will stand up for Scotland. Well, those were the party leaders

with their latest messages, but let's have a look at the last

dash that started Ridiculously early o'clock

and the Prime Minister was taking the phrase meat and greet quite

literally by visiting Smithfield

Market in London. Obviously not courting

the vegan vote. But listen carefully

and you can hear a Liberal Democrat leader, Tim Farron,

was in Solihull to continue He whipped up sausages

and sauerkraut as warning against In Glasgow, the Labour leader

held the first of six Behind the scenes shadow

police minister Lynne Brown took over from

the shadow Home Secretary, Actually, Jeremy's been

sounding a bit croaky. Mid morning and Theresa May

was at a bowling club in Fresh from the revelation

that she ran through wheat fields as a child, we learned

another personal gem about the Prime By this point he was

in a pub in St Alban's Paul Nuttall took

you Ukip's message to They do love a market

these politicians. Paul Nuttall was one party leader

trying to get a message out. We are not a single issue party, we stand

for putting more into the NHS, slashing the foreign aid budget,

investing in our defence and our boys and girls in the armed forces

and of course reducing immigration which would be good for community

cohesion and the economy. We are feel we are at a fork in the road F

you don't want to waste money on Trident and look at ideas to make

the country fit for the 21st century and want more investment in the NHS,

then vote for the Green Party. We face a number of threats from a Tory

Government with an increased mandate. Threats to people in our

communities, threats to our NHS and threats to the process of leaving

the EU to jobs and livelihoods. It is only by having a strong team of

Plaid Cymru MPs that we can make su wail's voice is taken seriously.

Well, to have a look at the last day of campaigning in more detail I'm

joined by Caroline Crampton, the Assistant Editor

of the New Statesman and Tim Shipman, Political Editor

Does this last day matter, the final push to get the message over? It is

important for narrative purposes bgs you want to give your story the

crescendo before voting day. I'm not sure it matters so much to voters.

People have already decide or they will decide in the ballot box in the

last 24 hours. I don't think anything will change their minds. It

has been such a strange election. From the moment Theresa May called

it, with almost nobody expecting that, a surprise? Yes the whole

thing has been bizarre. A month ago, this was probably the most boring

general election I have covered. And now I'm thinking it is one of the

most interesting and we have seen two parties taking control of the

landscape and the small parties have faded and you're the two visions

taking each other on and it is a proper clash of ideologies and of

personalities. How do you see the personalities having fared? I think

it has been very revealing for both. Both leaders who haven't led into an

election before and although we do have a Parliamentary system there is

a discussion about increasingly presidential we are becoming, your

voting for local candidates, but you feel like you're voting for the

national outcome and we have had greater scrutiny on Theresa May and

Jeremy Corbyn and I think Jeremy Corbyn's come out the better. He

loves the local detail of campaigning and meeting people. I

think Theresa May that is not her for Tay and it comes across. Is that

how you see it? Yes, Theresa May became Prime Minister without even

going through a proper Tory leadership contest and elections

reveal the individuals. The Americans complain they have this

agonising two year process to pick a president. But by the end of it, you

know everything there is to know about that person. This has been a

revealing process for Theresa May. She didn't even make a virtue of it

by saying this guy is a great campaigner let him be a protester,

I'm the serious Prime Minister. Even that she has not been able to frame

and shown she is not comfortable in the spotlight and can't wait to get

back into No 10 as she hopes. Is that how she sold herselfers

somebody who gets on with the job. That is how she was selling ourself

to start with and how she is today. It has been cliche day on the

campaign trail. They want people going into the ballot box thinking

through Theresa May's virtues. But they have seen a woman who has

changed her mind about a couple of things and has looked uncomfortable

with some questioning. She called it presumably hoping for a landslide.

If she doesn't get one, how disappointed will she be and how

disappointed with the Conservative Party be? When the expectations are

set high, there is only one way. You feel like you have lost. Before we

know the result people are arguing over what victory looks like and the

day after traichl call -- Theresa May called the election, we were

talking of a 100 strong majority. We are not in that ball game. The polls

and what we are hearing... To be fair was that just journalists

talking? I think the Conservative Party themselves had expectations in

that realm as well. I think the Tory MPs did. I think the one good thing

for Theresa May is they have had that knocked out of them now. When

they started the campaign, if you believed people who work for Theresa

May, she went in hope, thinking it was worth calling the general

election to get a majority of 50 or 60. Now most Tory MPs would be

satisfied with that. I'm struggling to find many that think they will

have a majority of much less than that. They're relatively confident,

but what has changed appears to be the chance for Theresa May and the

Tories to ruck up the score in a way we haven't seen since Tony Blair's

victories 20-odd years ago. But a majority of 50 would be the best

Tory performance for a generation since 1987. So they will take that.

Not long to wait until we find out. Thank you.

The election has been dominated in recent days by security issues

in the aftermath of the terror attacks in London and Manchester.

Today's final day of campaigning has seen party leaders return

to their core messages - for the Conservatives -

Brexit and the economy andfor Labour - the NHS and schools.

Christian Fraser has been looking at each of the main parties

manifesto commitments in three key areas - the economy,

Have you made up your mind or do you need a bit of help?

Let's have a fast and furious guide to some of the policies

The Conservatives say they'll balance the budget by 2025.

They are ruling out any increases to VAT but they will stick

with current plans to raise personal tax allowances, those they have set

Labour say they'll inject ?250 billion into the economy

There'll be no increase in personal National Insurance but there will be

a top rate of 50p and higher income taxes for those who

If there is a hung Parliament, the SNP will play a bigger role,

of course, they would support any plans to balance the UK budget over

Again their pledge is to protect the low-paid but there would be

And the Liberal Democrats, again, pledges to balance the budget.

This is really the marquee policy for the Liberal Democrats.

Everybody would spend an extra penny in the pound in income tax

for a world class NHS service and they would inject

an extra ?100 billion into infrastructure,

house building, broadband, schools, etc.

Let's look at a devolved issue, health care.

They would give the NHS an extra ?9 billion every year for the next

This one was there in 2015, cracking down on foreign nationals

Labour would commit more than ?30 billion in extra funding

This is really a key one, they would guarantee access to NHS

And the Tories say they would increase spending by ?8 billion over

And the Liberal Democrats, we have seen that one,

but this one is maybe important, ensuring mental health care

is similar to the standards in physical health care.

Quite a big one that on the doorstep.

Let's look at housing, another devolved issue.

Rent controls, a big issue for younger voters.

The Green Party making commitments on that.

The Conservatives say they would build fixed-term council

houses that could be sold after 15 years under the right-to-buy scheme.

Labour say they will, again, control rent rises

and they are promising to build at least 100,000 council houses

a year and the Liberal Democrats, 300,000 new homes every year.

Can't get through all of them, but please do

All the manifestos are there, from all the parties -

They may not be old enough to vote tomorrow -

but many teenagers across the UK will be directly affected

BBC School Report have asked some of them what the next Prime Minister

Dear Prime Minister, make Wi-Fi free. Myself and other young people

want to go to university, reduce tuition fees. I want a free day week

so, I don't have to dread Monday. I would like to make fees cheaper for

people like me. Make rights between men and women equal. I want you to

lower the voting aiming so we have a fair chance of deciding the future.

Now young voters they can't vote, but many can and Jeremy Corbyn has

been targeting them with tuition fees. It is a major planks of Jeremy

Corbyn's idea of how he would win an election. First non-voters, people

who stay at home and young voters, which historically don't turn up. Or

doesn't even register. The older you get, the more likely you are to vote

and it has been the older you are the more likely you are to vote

Conservative. So hence the strategy. I remain sceptical, but if he turns

out many young people he will have changed the landscape of British

politics. Is that enough to win him an election? If it happened on the

scale some people in the Labour Party hope, it might be enough to

remove the Conservative majority and if you look at opinion polls, some

of the companies are predicting high turn out among young people, up to

08%. Traditionally they vote in the low 40s and in a good election up to

the low 50s. That would seem to be ambitious. But he splurged ?11

billion on the tuition pledge and some think it was an attempt to

target those people in the university towns and cities at the

expense of the working class, the traditional Labour voters, they

wanted commitments on benefits. We did some work at the weekend and a

lot of young people who are registering appear to be doing so in

seats that Labour already holds. The problem for Jeremy Corbyn is he may

get more votes than Ed Miliband, but may not get more seats. Looking

ahead, if Corbyn does reasonably well, loses, but does well, is he

then safe? It seems so. There doesn't seem, what I pick up is that

there isn't much appetite for a second coup as the phrase was last

year. But it comes back to what victory look like. If we have either

an equal or a better vote share than what Ed Miliband achieved, but fewer

seats, that is possible, if as it looks like, Jeremy Corbyn is piling

up votes in places where Labour already hold seats or seats that

would have gone to them any way, he is not making inroads in difficult

areas, then it is a kind of semantic argument. He can argue, I'm a

popular leader and I turned out so many people and those in the Labour

Party who are critical of him and they can say we have fewer seats and

the Conservatives have more. That is the opposite of what you want to

achieve. It is going to be a summer of Labour wrangling, but I think

Jeremy Corbyn will stay where he is. I agree, his position looks like it

will be enhanced. He has a huge amount of support from the

membership and may have more votes than Ed Miliband from the party at

large. From the country at large. Tony Benn hailed eight million votes

for socialism. There might be ten or 11 this time and they can point to

the opinion polls and say a lot of this stuff is popular. For the

moment, we will thank you. We are going to look back.

It's been 50 days since Theresa May called a snap General Election.

Here is a round-up of the 2017 General Election campaign

The government should call a general election to be

You can only have strong public services when you have the strong

and stable leadership that delivers a strong economy.

Strong leadership is about standing up for the many, not the few.

I will give you the figure in a moment.

Debates where the politicians are squabbling among themselves

Where do you think Theresa May is tonight?

I think the first rule of leadership is to show up.

I believe leaders should walk the walk.

Absolutely shocked and horrified at what happened.

We need to ensure that our police and our security and intelligence

The police and security services must get the resources they need.

With me is Caroline Crampton of the New Statesman and Tim Shipman

Let's give Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn marks out of ten for their

campaigns. Why don't me? Tim. I will give Jeremy Corbyn 7. He has

outperformed expectations that were very low. He had a couple of

wobbles. The interview with the Woman's Hour was one a low and had

die yacht Abbot not -- Diane Abbot not performed worse it may have been

the worst of campaign. But he has given a good account of himself and

wh he believes. Theresa May I would give 4. She has held her own, got

back to the messages she wanted, but ultimately whether she wins or not,

a lot of people in the Conservative Party think she is a diminished

figure. Is that how you see it? Yes, I would go further and give Jeremy

Corbyn 9 out of 10, given he went into the campaign on 1 or minus

something. He has made tremendous... What about Tim Farron? He has had a

terrible campaign. I would put him on 2. Really dreadful. In what

sense? I think you know he was hampered at the start with all the

stuff about his personal opinions on social issue, gay marriage and this

stuff and he didn't shut that down quickly and allowed it to drag on

and taint the Liberal Democrats' message and it became about his

personality. After that, nothing else seemed to compete. They haven't

cut through as Tim said, we are operating a two-party system it

feels like. Tim Farron, is his leadership of the Liberal Democrats

under threat? Depending on the results, but if it doesn't go

brilliantly? I think so we will have three succession battles in all

three of the main parties. Perhaps all four if you include Ukip, if

there still a Ukip. I could give Farron 2 or 3. His campaign has been

more disastrous than Theresa May's, because it is rendering his party

irrelevant. He made a misjudgment in assuming the vast number of remain

voters would rush to the Liberal Democrats, because they wanted to

re-open the question around Brexit. It looks like most of Remain voters

would like to move on. Even if they don't, there is nothing compelling

about the Liberal Democrats with Tim Farron. We may end up with Vince

Cable again. It was supposed to be the Brexit election, but it has not

been exclusively? No, Theresa May's made her best attempts to make it

so. Because she feels that is her point of authority and strength. But

I think astonishing as it may feel not even a year on, we have moved

on, most people accepted our exit from the EU as a reality and now its

just a question of who does it best and how do we negotiate and on what

terms do we leave. And in a word, your prediction? Tory majority of

about 60. I've put in a prediction of 66. You must have been talking to

each other. 60 and 66. It would surprise me if it was lower. It

wasn't surprise me if it was nearer 100. You're keeping your options

open. Thank you. Well, that's it from

The Election Wrap. But before we go, we wanted

to leave you with the Simon was shot while

serving in Iraq in 2006. He saved the lives of

six of his colleagues and has these thoughts for you ahead

of polling day tomorrow. Hi there, my name is

Simon Brown and I am a former soldier in the British

Army. I was fortunate to survive

the incident on the battlefield. I woke up in Birmingham

after 18 days in a coma. To the knowledge that I'd

lost my left eye and my right I had very little hope

of retaining any sight. Although I survived my injuries,

I have colleagues that didn't. And it changed my

perspective on life. I suddenly realised

I was a survivor, And it made me think

about the things I have kept and not I think that some values

that I carry forward I've served in places around

the world where the people I really feel that

the biggest freedom that we have is to have

a voice and an opinion. It is so important that

you use your voice and your opinion. You might not think it

matters, but it truly does. And at the very least honour

the sacrifices made to ensure I'm sure most of us would agree the

weather's been much better today compared