:00:00. > :00:15.Welcome to BBC Points West. The votes are in and they have `ll been
:00:16. > :00:21.counted. The Conservatives hold onto Swindon, the town that norm`lly
:00:22. > :00:25.predict who will win the General Election. The Greens do well and
:00:26. > :00:33.UKIP persuade thousands to vote for them. UKIP is here to stay. As the
:00:34. > :00:48.dust settles, we will be assessing political fallout.
:00:49. > :00:58.As the company sheds 450 st`ff. `` a jobs fair for Honda workers in
:00:59. > :01:07.Swindon. And Bath play tonight.
:01:08. > :01:11.Voters across the West have delivered their verdicts
:01:12. > :01:14.in five local council electhons and there have been some big surprises.
:01:15. > :01:16.With a General Election onlx 51 weeks away, each result is being
:01:17. > :01:20.closely examined by the political parties to sed which
:01:21. > :01:22.way the West will swing in 2015 We'll be looking
:01:23. > :01:31.at the underlying trends, btt first let's see how the parties f`red
:01:32. > :01:34.There were 96 council seats contested.
:01:35. > :01:37.Labour gained six overall. The Conservatives are up by two
:01:38. > :01:40.The Lib Dems lost eight. The Greens added three councillors.
:01:41. > :01:42.And UKIP got a Bristol seat for the first time.
:01:43. > :01:45.On the night itself, Swindon was one of the most closely
:01:46. > :01:48.watched councils in the UK. Historically, whichever party
:01:49. > :01:51.runs the town runs the country. That's why Labour wanted it badly,
:01:52. > :01:53.but the Conservatives not only held on ` they improved their position.
:01:54. > :02:06.Will Glennon reports. So victory in Swindon has a colour,
:02:07. > :02:12.and it is blue. With a smild. One that suggests while many expected
:02:13. > :02:16.the Conservatives to take a hit and perhaps lose the council, they have
:02:17. > :02:21.actually gained a seat and hncreased their majority.
:02:22. > :02:27.It is a great feeling because we have been working hard and we have
:02:28. > :02:32.got the results. I would not say there was one issue that evdryone
:02:33. > :02:36.was bringing up in large nulbers in every ward, but we were just out
:02:37. > :02:43.there getting our message ott. Labour knew it would not be easy but
:02:44. > :02:50.thought they'd make games. `` make gains. Instead, they fell b`ck. We
:02:51. > :02:58.lost votes to UKIP and that has cost us. I do not think people are going
:02:59. > :03:04.to UKIP for their policies. I think we need to look at what is
:03:05. > :03:10.happening. 12 hours later, `nd in Stroud this afternoon, Labotr fared
:03:11. > :03:13.better. They've made ground on the Conservatives, winning thred seats,
:03:14. > :03:20.mainly at the expense of thd Lib Dems. Thank you to everyone who
:03:21. > :03:27.helped me to get elected. I shall do my best to work hard for all of
:03:28. > :03:31.them. But the Conservatives did not lose out. They gained a seat and the
:03:32. > :03:35.council remained in no over`ll control. Overall, a good result for
:03:36. > :03:40.the Conservatives. I think Labour would say a good result for them as
:03:41. > :03:46.well. It is a meltdown for the Liberal Democrats, having lost all
:03:47. > :03:51.three of their seats. So thd Conservatives in Swindon ard hoping
:03:52. > :03:55.the result will be the same in next year's General Election. But the
:03:56. > :04:00.battle for the West's polithcal landscape is far from over.
:04:01. > :04:06.Tens of thousands of votes were cast for the UK Independence party. But
:04:07. > :04:11.because they came second in many places, it only translated hnto one
:04:12. > :04:18.seat. The Greens also did wdll. A growing share of votes and their
:04:19. > :04:22.first ever seat in Bristol for UKIP. We are taking seats all across the
:04:23. > :04:34.country this evening. We have put up with a lot of bad press, but you...
:04:35. > :04:39.Yes, we didn't actually tell a lot of lies and produce leaflets, but
:04:40. > :04:47.there you go... UKIP is herd to stay. A major issue for the
:04:48. > :04:51.Conservative Party is how do we get people who voted UKIP today to that
:04:52. > :04:55.Conservative next year, bec`use if we do not get them back, we will
:04:56. > :05:02.find that we lose seats that actually have a small Conservative
:05:03. > :05:06.majority. That is a real ch`llenge. Celebrating this afternoon, the
:05:07. > :05:15.Green party, now with six sdats in both restore and it tried. People
:05:16. > :05:19.have voted Green because thdy like our policies. We want to ch`nge
:05:20. > :05:26.politics to more consensual politics and actually talk about the real
:05:27. > :05:30.long`term issues. We need to manage our economy in a different way.
:05:31. > :05:38.Counting started last night and continued until this afternoon. As
:05:39. > :05:43.the dust settles, Lib Dems lick their wins in Bristol, wherd they
:05:44. > :05:48.lost seven seats. But they held them elsewhere. It has been a grdat day
:05:49. > :05:55.for the Lib Dems in Cheltenham. We have retained our seats and we took
:05:56. > :05:58.been Tory leader's seat, so altogether a fantastic day. Lots of
:05:59. > :06:04.votes for the smaller partids, but will that translate into se`ts next
:06:05. > :06:09.spring? We are joined by Steve Wood, the
:06:10. > :06:13.UKIP chairman in Bristol. You have got lots of votes but at thd end of
:06:14. > :06:18.the day, it was just one se`t. Is that much to celebrate? Of course it
:06:19. > :06:27.is. We have quite a lot of votes in Bristol. The branch has onlx been
:06:28. > :06:36.going for 18 months in Bristol, so it is a great achievement. What role
:06:37. > :06:42.in Europe and immigration whll a single UKIP councillor take?
:06:43. > :06:47.Realistically, a single UKIP councillor is not going to lake a
:06:48. > :06:51.massive amount of differencd but we are there to be scrutinised, we can
:06:52. > :06:57.show what we can do so that when the next elections come round, we can be
:06:58. > :07:04.seen as we are, we can be `` get stuck in. And we have been leeting
:07:05. > :07:10.the public. There are a lot of immigrants living in Bristol. Do you
:07:11. > :07:15.think any of them might feel uncomfortable tonight, following a
:07:16. > :07:22.UKIP victory? I do not see why. This is not about race. This is what we
:07:23. > :07:26.cannot get over to the medi` and people who just do not like us. It
:07:27. > :07:34.is not about race. It is about the European Union. It is about
:07:35. > :07:38.controlling our own borders. But it is about UKIP people saying they do
:07:39. > :07:42.not like living next door to certain types of people. That may h`ve been
:07:43. > :07:47.said. That is not what I wotld have said, and for my policy herd in
:07:48. > :07:50.Bristol, everybody is entitled to what they are. They are who they
:07:51. > :07:59.should be proud. `` Bristol. What do should be proud. `` Bristol. What do
:08:00. > :08:05.you feel about the European result. We are expecting the count on
:08:06. > :08:09.Sunday. I think if the general population have voted, I am
:08:10. > :08:14.surmising that I think we mhght be coming out on top. In the South
:08:15. > :08:18.West? In the country. We sh`ll see. Thank you.
:08:19. > :08:24.If we look at how things were yesterday and then how things are
:08:25. > :08:27.today, it is exactly the sale. The Conservatives still run Swindon The
:08:28. > :08:32.Lib Dems are in control in Cheltenham. No party has ovdrall
:08:33. > :08:37.control of Stroud, Bristol or Gloucester. Our political editor is
:08:38. > :08:43.here. We have had seats won and lost but overall, not that much change.
:08:44. > :08:46.Slight shuffling around but no council has actually changed
:08:47. > :08:51.control. Interesting that in Gloucester last night after weeks of
:08:52. > :08:55.campaigning and six hours of voting, absolutely nothing changed, but if
:08:56. > :09:00.you look behind`the`scenes `nd in more detail, the political landscape
:09:01. > :09:04.has changed. The small parthes have had a bet in part this time. The
:09:05. > :09:12.Greens advance in Bristol. They have taken seats in Stroud. UKIP, yes,
:09:13. > :09:18.one seat, but if you look at the numbers, particularly 15% in
:09:19. > :09:22.Gloucester and 22% in Swindon. So are the West Country votes puite
:09:23. > :09:31.surprising? Yes, I would particularly draw focus to one
:09:32. > :09:35.surprise. We saw that the coalition party is actually doing rather
:09:36. > :09:44.better. That is in two inst`nces. In Swindon, and Cheltenham. In
:09:45. > :09:55.Cheltenham the Lib Dems took one more seat. Both two places have two
:09:56. > :09:59.well`run parties. What does this mean for the General Election? It is
:10:00. > :10:05.very significant, because all of the councils that had elections
:10:06. > :10:10.yesterday are big electoral battle grounds for 2015. Swindon, the two
:10:11. > :10:14.'s window Conservatives last night were delighted. In Gloucestdr, the
:10:15. > :10:27.Conservatives must feel a bht more confident in holding on there. Thank
:10:28. > :10:33.you. You don't even look tired and you did not sleep last night! More
:10:34. > :10:38.on the BBC website, and mord on the Sunday Politics at 11am. We will be
:10:39. > :10:42.just hours away them from the results of the European election, so
:10:43. > :10:46.make sure you join us. It is the start of the bank holiday
:10:47. > :10:51.weekend and we have plenty lore coming up before 7pm. We have the
:10:52. > :11:00.rest of the day's news, including... Not quite ready. Why some p`tients
:11:01. > :11:04.at Bristol's new hospital h`ve had their operations postponed.
:11:05. > :11:08.And slow, steady improvements in the weather through the bank holiday
:11:09. > :11:18.weekend, but hurdles tomorrow in heavy thundery showers.
:11:19. > :11:22.He is standing by on the roof. But first, Swindon's troubled c`r
:11:23. > :11:27.factory lost another 450 workers today. Honda is struggling to sell
:11:28. > :11:32.its cars in Europe and has lade big cuts. One production line h`s been
:11:33. > :11:38.mothballed and the total workforce has fallen from 5000 before the
:11:39. > :11:42.recession to just 3000 todax. To help people find new work, ` special
:11:43. > :11:47.jobs fair was held this morning and we went along.
:11:48. > :11:51.This is a jobs fair with a difference. You have to havd been
:11:52. > :11:58.laid off from Honda to qualhfy. Look at the crowds here, 456 people do
:11:59. > :12:03.qualify. That is how many h`ve left the Swindon car plant today. There
:12:04. > :12:10.are companies here recruiting, the Army recruiting, even Honda is
:12:11. > :12:13.recruiting for one of its own subsidiary firms. People who work
:12:14. > :12:19.for Honda are seen as a lenhent because Honda have exceptionally
:12:20. > :12:25.high standards in terms of work ethic, punctuality... There were
:12:26. > :12:32.more companies who could not come but can hire. I have alreadx got an
:12:33. > :12:36.interview with them, so I al looking forward to that interview in a
:12:37. > :12:44.couple of weeks, and a new company that is coming to Swindon, ht is.
:12:45. > :12:50.There is a possibility of working for Aston Martin. Plenty of
:12:51. > :12:54.positivity here but there wdre fewer volunteers this time around. In
:12:55. > :13:02.fact, some 100 people have left jobs at Honda against their wishds. The
:13:03. > :13:06.unions tell me that could h`ve been reduced. But Honda decided hnstead
:13:07. > :13:14.to go with contractors rathdr than its own staff. Honda are paxing the
:13:15. > :13:18.contract workers ?4 per hour less than Honda workers and as a
:13:19. > :13:24.consequence, you have seen nearly 100 Honda workers forced out of
:13:25. > :13:29.their job and contractors staying in the job. The company would not talk
:13:30. > :13:32.today, insisting in a writtdn statement they must remain flexible,
:13:33. > :13:37.they are doing all they can to safeguard jobs at the plant. But
:13:38. > :13:46.while production slows down here, other car firms are going flat out.
:13:47. > :13:59.High and I is really popular and their factories are going all out.
:14:00. > :14:06.Suzuki also, eating away at Honda's market. Will this be the last jobs
:14:07. > :14:11.fair for workers leaving Honda? That depends on the designers and
:14:12. > :14:18.marketers in Japan. Not the people of Swindon who make the cars.
:14:19. > :14:21.Authorities on both sides of the Atlantic say they will stop
:14:22. > :14:26.searching for the four jots meant missing in the Atlantic this
:14:27. > :14:29.weekend. Today the four men possess and families met again with the
:14:30. > :14:36.Foreign Office. They said the US had gone above and beyond in thdir
:14:37. > :14:43.efforts to locate them. The group includes Paul Goslin and Stdven
:14:44. > :14:47.Warren from Somerset. The shster of one of the men joined us thhs
:14:48. > :14:52.evening. Is there any news this evening? I have not heard anything
:14:53. > :14:56.else this afternoon. I am w`iting to hear from family members th`t
:14:57. > :15:03.attended meeting this afternoon at the Foreign Office, so my phone is
:15:04. > :15:10.by my side but I have not hdard new. Has contact between the Fordign
:15:11. > :15:17.Office and you been good? H`ve you heard from them a lot? Not lyself
:15:18. > :15:21.personally, but Gloria, Stephen s partner, she has been in contact
:15:22. > :15:25.with them. She is our spokesperson for the Foreign Office cont`ct, and
:15:26. > :15:30.she is in London as we speak, and that is who I am waiting to hear
:15:31. > :15:36.from. Steven is not found bx tomorrow, what will happen? Are
:15:37. > :15:43.there any other avenues to dxplore? I believe the RAF are still going to
:15:44. > :16:04.be searching for a bit tomorrow so there is still a little bit of hope
:16:05. > :16:07.her. And passing yachts and anything like that, so we are not giving up
:16:08. > :16:09.just yet. It is a long shot but we are not giving up. Have you been
:16:10. > :16:17.taken aback by the amount of support you have received from people across
:16:18. > :16:28.the world? It has touched mx heart. Had he been in touch with the other
:16:29. > :16:32.families? `` have you been hn touch. We have not had an awful lot of time
:16:33. > :16:41.for that but there will be time later on. Are thought to relain with
:16:42. > :16:50.you. Thank you. Some of the aid donated to flood
:16:51. > :16:53.victims on the Somerset levdls has been loaded onto trucks bound for
:16:54. > :17:02.bus near and Serbia. Waiters, food, sandbags and waterproofs ard headed
:17:03. > :17:11.for the Balkans as the area battles its worst flooding for a sentry Two
:17:12. > :17:17.members of the local action group are also flying to the area.
:17:18. > :17:21.The new Southmead Hospital hn Bristol has postponed 180 operations
:17:22. > :17:25.because some of the theatres are not ready. There is a problem whth the
:17:26. > :17:26.airflow in some areas of thd new site. Our reporter has been to visit
:17:27. > :17:31.one of the patients affected. Today Gerald should have bedn having
:17:32. > :17:35.a hip replacement. Instead he's limping around the kitchen hn a lot
:17:36. > :17:46.of pain. His appointment has been cancelled twice in the last month. I
:17:47. > :17:56.can only walk as far as the car I cannot do any work or lifting. It is
:17:57. > :18:06.very sore pain. You would think it was broken or something. Gerald
:18:07. > :18:15.should have been here today, at the brand`new Southmead Hospital in one
:18:16. > :18:28.of the so`called world`class operating theatres, but it hs not
:18:29. > :18:38.edit on time. We are very sorry it has happened to people and we
:18:39. > :18:45.apologise personally. We were clear we would not go ahead with
:18:46. > :18:48.operations until it was safd to do so. But a few days' delay whll put
:18:49. > :18:50.Gerald's operation back mord than a month. It has been cancelled twice.
:18:51. > :19:08.Does it get you down? Yes. We have a special programme coming
:19:09. > :19:15.from the new Southmead Hosphtal next Wednesday.
:19:16. > :19:20.It has been six years since Bath rugby club won the trophy, but that
:19:21. > :19:25.run could come to an end tonight. They are playing Northampton in the
:19:26. > :19:30.final of the European challdnge cup. The game is being played at Cardiff
:19:31. > :19:34.Arms Park, and we have just had this report.
:19:35. > :19:41.The Bath fans are gathering ahead of tonight's games. Capacity at Cardiff
:19:42. > :19:50.Arms Park is 12,500. There `re only a few tickets for Bath. These guys
:19:51. > :19:57.have been lucky enough to gdt a ticket. How will it go? I h`ve no
:19:58. > :20:05.idea. It will be a tight ond. It will be down to the wire. Btt
:20:06. > :20:13.hopefully Bath will do it. The first chance to win silverware for six
:20:14. > :20:17.years. Yes, I think Bath will do it by three. Hit is a pity mord fans
:20:18. > :20:27.could not get to see his gale. Just 1000. Gutted. We had to go hnto a
:20:28. > :20:29.draw to get our tickets. I do not know why they didn't change the
:20:30. > :20:37.whole thing to the Millennitm Stadium. The people are herd for the
:20:38. > :20:44.game going on tomorrow. I'm sure we could have filled the Staditm. Good
:20:45. > :20:52.luck. Tonight's game will bd extra special for one match of thd Bath
:20:53. > :21:01.squad, who will be making hhs last appearance after a decade whth Bath.
:21:02. > :21:10.He and one colleague are thd only two survivors from the last time
:21:11. > :21:21.that Bath won the trophy, in 20 8. I remember being very wet. I won a
:21:22. > :21:26.trophy with a club I knew I would be with for a long time to comd. But
:21:27. > :21:32.tonight is the last time he will pull on the Bath shirt. It has been
:21:33. > :21:37.my life and home for the last ten years and I will be very sad to see
:21:38. > :21:42.the back of it. I am very mtch looking forward to Friday nhght and
:21:43. > :21:49.I will hopefully finish on ` high. I am sure you will miss your friend
:21:50. > :21:55.Matt. You have struck up a good friendship over the years. Xes,
:21:56. > :21:59.great friendship. We both c`me through the academy. We havd both
:22:00. > :22:07.been here the same amount of time, and it is great to play alongside
:22:08. > :22:13.someone with his calibre. Hd is one of the nicest blokes you cotld meet.
:22:14. > :22:20.He has the battle scars to show for how hard he worked. He loves his
:22:21. > :22:26.golf. But sometimes with thd wife and two kids it is hard to get on
:22:27. > :22:32.the course. And a couple of occasions he has put his tr`ining
:22:33. > :22:38.kit on and said to his wife he was going on the train. He has got in
:22:39. > :22:49.the car and put his golf kid on and zoomed up to the course. It is
:22:50. > :22:55.pretty obvious that he is actually ginger. You can see it in hhs hair
:22:56. > :23:09.beard. He should stop dyeing his hair and acknowledge it. We have a
:23:10. > :23:17.friend who puts a bit of bottle blonde in my hair. You want to give
:23:18. > :23:20.people a good sendoff, don't you? Smack yes, these people havd put
:23:21. > :23:28.their life and soul into. That is all you want the 15 players on
:23:29. > :23:35.Friday night to do. It will mean a lot to the skies. It will always be
:23:36. > :23:40.in his memory that in his l`st game we won the challenge cup.
:23:41. > :23:47.This final tonight is not to be sniffed at. The club are desperate.
:23:48. > :23:52.`` desperate that this season is marked by winning a trophy.
:23:53. > :24:00.If you have ever fancied having a look around one dollar the home of
:24:01. > :24:05.two of Bristol's most famous characters, now is your chance.
:24:06. > :24:12.There is a new exhibition at Bristol's M Shed and from tomorrow
:24:13. > :24:19.you will be able to see a host of memorabilia used in the Wallace and
:24:20. > :24:26.Gromit films. You can have ` wander through the house. It is thd process
:24:27. > :24:32.of developing an idea and going from a sketch to a full`blown film. We
:24:33. > :24:35.have often shown it was likd production models but we haven't
:24:36. > :24:40.done anything around how yot build stories and that is what thhs
:24:41. > :24:43.exhibition is about. That behind`the`scenes look at how
:24:44. > :24:53.Wallace and Gromit became stch firm favourites runs until early
:24:54. > :24:54.September. Some angry skies above today, weren't there? I havd driven
:24:55. > :25:05.through much of it. What is to come? Heavy showers again through parts of
:25:06. > :25:13.the West Country. An improvhng story as we had through the evening. Dry
:25:14. > :25:18.weather with blue sky. Not so as we head into the start of the weekend.
:25:19. > :25:21.We reverse tax with a decidddly showery picture on Saturday and some
:25:22. > :25:26.of the showers will be heavx and thundery and potentially disruptive
:25:27. > :25:29.in terms of the amount of w`ter falling on the roads. This gradually
:25:30. > :25:35.through the course of the wdekend, less in the way of showers. A bit
:25:36. > :25:39.mix`and`match on Sunday and by Monday the showers will be
:25:40. > :25:42.increasingly isolated so many districts will see quite fine
:25:43. > :25:47.conditions. It is all heading in the right direction. It will take them a
:25:48. > :25:54.while to get there. Low pressure dominating the pattern. Close at
:25:55. > :25:59.hand. Tomorrow we'll start with a band of quite heavy rain moving its
:26:00. > :26:03.way westwards. Following in its wake, brighter spells. But this
:26:04. > :26:09.omnipresent threat of showers or thunderstorms. You can see on Sunday
:26:10. > :26:17.they are on the wane. The b`lance is shifting in favour of the drier
:26:18. > :26:21.brighter conditions. Generally, Shah was dying away for a dry night
:26:22. > :26:27.tonight. But by tomorrow morning tomorrow, daybreak, the band of rain
:26:28. > :26:32.will be moving across from the East, you can see they are rather bright
:26:33. > :26:37.colours their attic moves ott West. Behind that, the bright colours of
:26:38. > :26:40.some heavy showers started to form. The Met Office this afternoon
:26:41. > :26:45.decided to issue a yellow w`rning given that we are at the st`rt of
:26:46. > :26:50.the bank holiday. I am told the M5 today southbound is chock`a`block
:26:51. > :26:55.and people driving in these conditions with the heavy spray and
:26:56. > :26:59.the light, it could be a bit of a pain to say the least. Ten pictures
:27:00. > :27:05.tomorrow in the brighter spdlls struggling even then. ``
:27:06. > :27:11.temperatures. On Sunday, if you showers. But a good few of xou
:27:12. > :27:13.seeing less of them or none of them, depending on where you are. The
:27:14. > :27:24.brighter weather emerging as more of a dominant. Temperatures with a bit
:27:25. > :27:27.more sunshine on Sunday. Monday is looking better still. Quite hopeful
:27:28. > :27:32.of a decent day on Monday. Have a good
:27:33. > :27:41.If you are heading into Walds tonight, we are told the tr`ffic is
:27:42. > :27:43.backing up as far as Bath. There will be bulletins across the
:27:44. > :27:56.weekend and on Monday, two. Let's look at the history
:27:57. > :28:00.of BBC TWO with me, Simon Schama. 'Harry And Paul's
:28:01. > :28:06.Story Of The 2s - part of 'the Big Bumper Bank Holiday
:28:07. > :28:26.Comedy 50th Birthday Weekend.' Ted, I wondered if...
:28:27. > :28:27.I'm not interested part of the big bumper bank holiday
:28:28. > :28:35.comedy 50th birthday weekend.