:00:00. > 3:59:59to change? Will they? Can they? Thank you. That is all from us for
:00:00. > :00:08.Good evening. this evening. It
:00:09. > :00:11.UKIP has emerged as the biggest party in the European elections,
:00:12. > :00:16.gaining three of the seven seats contested in the West Midlands.
:00:17. > :00:19.The Conservatives lost one seat, ending with two.
:00:20. > :00:23.Labour gained a seat and now have two MEPs in the region.
:00:24. > :00:25.But it was a miserable night for the Liberal Democrats,
:00:26. > :00:34.As the piles of ballot papers rose, so too did the confidence
:00:35. > :00:47.Very happy. Ecstatic. Confident? Very confident.
:00:48. > :00:50.But for others it was a painful night at Birmingham's
:00:51. > :01:00.I am not feeling confident but we fought a very hard campaign.
:01:01. > :01:03.The Liberal Democrats left empty`handed as UKIP won three
:01:04. > :01:08.seats, coming top in 20 of the West Midland's 30 local authorities.
:01:09. > :01:16.We will not be swayed by money, political posturing, faceless
:01:17. > :01:21.committees and quangos. Our only desire is to be made redundant by
:01:22. > :01:25.She was heckled loudly by both Conservatives and Labour activists
:01:26. > :01:35.We are happy to double the number of our MEPs in the West Midlands. It is
:01:36. > :01:41.a good result. Of course we wanted to be first. An interesting figure
:01:42. > :01:47.is if you look at the British National Party last time, they lost
:01:48. > :01:50.100,000 votes. Those 100,000 went to UKIP. That saddens me greatly.
:01:51. > :01:54.Two former UKIP MEPs who stood on their own independent anti`EU
:01:55. > :02:04.Is your political career over or are you planning on coming around? It is
:02:05. > :02:09.too early to say. I am 46 years old and in the second half of my life is
:02:10. > :02:13.half as eventful as the first, have got a lot to!
:02:14. > :02:16.More than four million people are eligible to vote in the
:02:17. > :02:22.The political and media obsession with Europe isn't one that's shared,
:02:23. > :02:26.But nothing dampened the celebrations, with UKIP describing
:02:27. > :02:28.their victory as a turning point in British political history.
:02:29. > :02:30.Cath Mackie, BBC Midlands Today, Birmingham.
:02:31. > :02:32.I'm joined now by our political editor, Patrick Burns.
:02:33. > :02:47.It could be. We will only know in a year's time, after the general
:02:48. > :02:51.election. Five years ago, UKIP polled well enough to gain two seats
:02:52. > :02:55.in the West Midlands in the European Parliament. One year later, in the
:02:56. > :03:01.general election, the sheer shrank back to 4%. This time, it is
:03:02. > :03:05.different. It is three seats and that makes them the undisputed
:03:06. > :03:08.winners in the West Midlands. I was talking to a senior politician the
:03:09. > :03:12.other day and he said he had been talking to people on the doorstep
:03:13. > :03:16.and many of them say that they were pro`European and yet still on the
:03:17. > :03:22.board UKIP because they are sick and tired of machine politics. Moving
:03:23. > :03:29.away from UKIP and we have to say the other main parties, what will
:03:30. > :03:34.they take away from last night? Labour gained a seat at the polled
:03:35. > :03:37.strongly in the population centres. The Conservatives were not as far
:03:38. > :03:42.behind the labour 's share of the vote as some observers have
:03:43. > :03:44.suggested that both of the biggest parties will take something out of
:03:45. > :03:49.these as the build`up to the general election. For the Liberal
:03:50. > :03:54.Democrats, there is no disguising how serious the situation is, which
:03:55. > :03:58.is why the Liberal Democrat MP for Yardley is taking soundings among
:03:59. > :04:05.his activists about what the future support for Nick Clegg. At the local
:04:06. > :04:13.level, news for a challenge in Birmingham City Council? Labour
:04:14. > :04:19.Party rules allow challenge every year but he has lived for 15 years.
:04:20. > :04:22.Two leading experience councillors think that is quite long enough.
:04:23. > :04:26.They are challenging for a leadership and deputy leadership,
:04:27. > :04:27.respectively, because they say that there are such big challenges that
:04:28. > :04:32.you need fresh leadership. The owners of Birmingham City
:04:33. > :04:34.Football club suspended An announcement was made by the
:04:35. > :04:38.Hong Kong stock exchange. The Championship club has been
:04:39. > :04:41.in talks with a number The suspension
:04:42. > :04:43.of trading means confirmation Thousands of Burton Albion fans are
:04:44. > :04:48.travelling back from Wembley The Brewers were beaten 1`0
:04:49. > :04:52.by Fleetwood Town in the League Two Burton had
:04:53. > :05:10.their chances didn't they? They certainly did. Winning
:05:11. > :05:15.promotion through the play`offs is the best. It is like winning a cup
:05:16. > :05:20.final and you get to go to a higher division. The flip side is what
:05:21. > :05:24.Burton says this evening. The whole season boils down to one match and
:05:25. > :05:29.it can be defined by one mistake. With 15 minutes to go, that is what
:05:30. > :05:35.happened. The goalkeeper misjudged a free kick and that was the only goal
:05:36. > :05:38.of the game. Burton did not respond. The goalkeeper was very upset at the
:05:39. > :05:42.time but the manager defended him afterwards, saying he is the on and
:05:43. > :05:47.has played well until man and that is football. It looks pretty wet and
:05:48. > :05:54.miserable. Anything positive for plans to takeaway? You would be
:05:55. > :06:00.surprised. He was miserable that it was miserable for the match and the
:06:01. > :06:07.fans looked downbeat about the mood was upbeat. They said that they were
:06:08. > :06:08.a small club and there was always next season.
:06:09. > :06:14.But it was a shame we didn't get the win today.
:06:15. > :06:20.It is just a silly goal but there you go.
:06:21. > :06:23.They have been a great team, played well this season.
:06:24. > :06:28.They played well and let's see what they do next year.
:06:29. > :06:35.So the message is let's not be downbeat. Let's get promoted next
:06:36. > :06:36.season and make sure we do it automatically so we do not need the
:06:37. > :06:38.play`offs. Absolutely.
:06:39. > :06:40.Birmingham City Council has signed a multimillion pound deal
:06:41. > :06:43.to increase outdoor activities in the city's parks.
:06:44. > :06:45.The new investment will help extend the Active Parks scheme
:06:46. > :06:54.And not just fun but part of a multimillion pound scheme to
:06:55. > :06:57.get more of us to get fit by using parks.
:06:58. > :07:00.Coca Cola has chosen Birmingham as one of three cities in
:07:01. > :07:14.We could all do with moving about more and having a bit more activity
:07:15. > :07:17.in our lives. It is all about making it fun, more accessible. All of
:07:18. > :07:21.these activities are free. Local also. It is literally right on the
:07:22. > :07:25.It follows on from Birmingham's Active Parks scheme,
:07:26. > :07:28.which began last year, from rowing at Edgbaston Reservoir or immaculate
:07:29. > :07:31.and maintained paths for running in Handsworth Park, the new investment
:07:32. > :07:44.Funding is very tight. We are having to look at different ways of working
:07:45. > :07:46.in partnership and different ways of drawing money in and getting
:07:47. > :07:50.The initiative will take in 50 parks in the city.
:07:51. > :07:53.It is hoped the events planned will appeal to all ages and
:07:54. > :08:01.New research shows that just a third of people in Birmingham get involved
:08:02. > :08:07.in activities outside. 40% of the West Midlands is made up of green
:08:08. > :08:10.and open spaces. I think it is a good thing they get some more money
:08:11. > :08:19.for a park so that local people can enjoy it. If we get more plays for
:08:20. > :08:24.playing football and playing with balls or cricket, that is good. It
:08:25. > :08:26.is hoped that the event will appeal to all ages.
:08:27. > :08:29.Thousands of people turned out in Gloucestershire today
:08:30. > :08:30.for the annual cheese rolling competition.
:08:31. > :08:34.This year, real cheese was back on the menu ` after it was banned last
:08:35. > :08:42.Instead of a plastic substitute, the fearless runners from all over
:08:43. > :08:47.the world chased some Dutch Gouda down the famous Coopers Hill.
:08:48. > :08:54.The winner of the race does not like cheese. You could not make it up!
:08:55. > :09:07.The band of rain stalls but nevertheless it is not going to get
:09:08. > :09:11.any better as we head into tomorrow. It is a cold day with plenty of
:09:12. > :09:15.cloud and unfortunately we have some rain. That is slowly working at the
:09:16. > :09:19.way up from the side. It will clear away for a time tonight. Behind
:09:20. > :09:23.that, we have more are waiting in the wings. That cloud and rain will
:09:24. > :09:28.help to keep our temperatures relatively high. Quite a mild night.
:09:29. > :09:36.We start tomorrow with the stream. There will be some heavy pulsars,
:09:37. > :09:38.particularly in the North Midlands. That really sticks with us
:09:39. > :09:43.throughout the day. Underneath that, winds are picking up and it will
:09:44. > :09:47.feel rather chilly. Where we get some value spells we might do a
:09:48. > :09:50.little better. That rain continues right through the night into
:09:51. > :09:54.Wednesday morning. It is looking rather unsettled for the next few
:09:55. > :09:54.days. As we head into the end of the week.
:09:55. > :09:58.I'll be back with your next news at 10:30.
:09:59. > :10:17.Good evening. If I were to conduct a straw poll about the weather events
:10:18. > :10:22.today, I suspect we would get a split decision. There were
:10:23. > :10:27.significant differences around, we have sunshine and some warmth, but
:10:28. > :10:32.also this cloud and rain coming up through the Channel into the north
:10:33. > :10:36.of England. On top of that, some showers in the north-west, some of
:10:37. > :10:42.them thundery from Northern Ireland and Scotland, so a real eclectic
:10:43. > :10:47.mix. This will drift away over the next few hours, we will keep the
:10:48. > :10:51.cloud overnight, and we will see more significant rain pushing in off
:10:52. > :10:52.the north sea. There is