:00:10. > :00:12.Our headlines tonight: Rolling out the big guns.
:00:13. > :00:15.The Lib Dems vow to bounce back in the West after
:00:16. > :00:21.But could it be curtains for the West's last three Labour MPs
:00:22. > :00:26.Also tonight: After this incident, Avon and Somerset Police are warned
:00:27. > :00:42.The countdown is on, and we in the West could be
:00:43. > :00:49.at the very centre of the political battle to come.
:00:50. > :00:51.The landscape here is currently blue with just three Labour seats.
:00:52. > :00:54.Tonight, we'll assess the prospects for the three main parties
:00:55. > :01:02.Teresa May addressed the nation from Downing Street, London.
:01:03. > :01:05.I have just chaired a meeting of the Cabinet, where we agreed
:01:06. > :01:10.that the Government should call a general election.
:01:11. > :01:13.And Brenda from Redland, Bristol, answered right back.
:01:14. > :01:24.Today's surprise announcement caught everyone on the hop.
:01:25. > :01:34.I'm not sure I can take it again after the referendum.
:01:35. > :01:37.The Labour mayor of Bristol watched on the telly with the rest of us.
:01:38. > :01:40.The city has three Labour MPs at the moment, but the polls
:01:41. > :01:46.It is a Westminster conversation and agenda taking place without any
:01:47. > :01:52.regard for the very real-life impact we have at a local level.
:01:53. > :01:55.I find it irritating, to put it mildly.
:01:56. > :02:01.In fact, it was 2015 that the West delivered its verdict.
:02:02. > :02:03.We've got one big argument about the economy,
:02:04. > :02:11.He said he was all pumped up and held rallies,
:02:12. > :02:18.He scored a solid victory across the West - at the expense
:02:19. > :02:21.He wiped them out - every one of them here.
:02:22. > :02:25.Ben Howlett took Bath from the Lib Dems.
:02:26. > :02:28.What I don't want to see is people thinking that this
:02:29. > :02:37.People shouldn't be under any other misinterpretation that that could be
:02:38. > :02:40.the case and unfortunately I think the Liberal Democrats have been
:02:41. > :02:46.Labour had a new woman on the block, Thangham Debonnaire -
:02:47. > :02:49.she won Bristol West, once more at the expense
:02:50. > :02:56.And we're going to be in every part of Britain over the next weeks!
:02:57. > :02:59.But soon, she fell out with Jeremy Corbyn, clashing
:03:00. > :03:02.with his Momentum followers who backed him to the hilt.
:03:03. > :03:05.All three of the city's Labour MPs refused to serve with him
:03:06. > :03:12.Now they'll have to campaign for him to enter the door of Number 10 -
:03:13. > :03:17.that is if they're chosen by the party to be candidates again.
:03:18. > :03:22.The Lib Dems see this is as a huge opportunity to make a comeback.
:03:23. > :03:25.After the bruises of Brexit plus the toil of the local
:03:26. > :03:28.and mayoral elections, the politicians will soon be
:03:29. > :03:35.Some of them will be as weary of all this as Brenda from Bristol.
:03:36. > :03:43.Well, the polling organisation YouGov says the West Country will be
:03:44. > :03:49.one of the major battlegrounds in this election.
:03:50. > :03:51.I asked their head of Political and Social Research, Joe Twyman, why.
:03:52. > :03:55.It's because it's important to so many different parties.
:03:56. > :03:58.It of course was a heartland for the Liberal Democrats for some
:03:59. > :04:03.time but, in 2015 the Conservatives did extremely well in winning back
:04:04. > :04:07.some of those tight seats in the region that propelled them
:04:08. > :04:11.to the unexpected majority that they achieved.
:04:12. > :04:13.And this time around, some of those seats in areas
:04:14. > :04:17.like Bristol and Bath are the kind of areas that the Lib Dems will need
:04:18. > :04:21.to win if they are going to have any chance of electoral success.
:04:22. > :04:24.What about the pollsters themselves, people like yourself?
:04:25. > :04:27.You've kind of got it wrong in the past, haven't you?
:04:28. > :04:32.Well, we are not always right, we are certainly not always wrong,
:04:33. > :04:36.and we've made a lot of changes to ensure that we have an accurate
:04:37. > :04:41.I expect that, this time around, certainly on current polling,
:04:42. > :04:44.it won't be as close as a result as the EU referendum
:04:45. > :04:48.or the 2015 general election, and so we shall see exactly
:04:49. > :04:55.Our political editor, Paul Barltrop, has been watching
:04:56. > :05:02.The last time there was a general election in the West,
:05:03. > :05:07.The Conservative success here was a key factor
:05:08. > :05:10.in their winning an overall majority in Parliament.
:05:11. > :05:13.The only seats they didn't win were in Bristol.
:05:14. > :05:16.Labour will need to hold onto their three MPs in the city.
:05:17. > :05:19.But if they're to make progress, they've got to make gains.
:05:20. > :05:23.Places like Swindon and Stroud, which they failed to take in 2015,
:05:24. > :05:29.As for the Liberal Democrats, the only way is up.
:05:30. > :05:31.Having lost all their seats last time, they'll be gunning to take
:05:32. > :05:36.back places like Thornbury and Yate, Bath and Wells.
:05:37. > :05:37.Restoring their fortunes across the South West
:05:38. > :05:43.Party leader Tim Farron has been touring the region today.
:05:44. > :05:45.The focus was meant to be the local elections taking
:05:46. > :05:52.They're optimistic of making gains then,
:05:53. > :05:58.Doubled in size since the general election, it's added another 5000
:05:59. > :06:00.since Theresa May called the election earlier this morning.
:06:01. > :06:03.Bear in mind in the last quarter, for the first time in history,
:06:04. > :06:05.the Liberal Democrats had more donations than the Labour Party.
:06:06. > :06:08.We are in a position where we are the only credible,
:06:09. > :06:10.decent alternative to the Tories, not just in the West Country,
:06:11. > :06:13.but around the country, and we are up for this election.
:06:14. > :06:16.Britain needs us to do well otherwise, even if you are a Tory,
:06:17. > :06:19.surely it's awful for us to have a 1-party state
:06:20. > :06:26.But setting up and running a full general election in just 50 days
:06:27. > :06:30.Election officials across the West have been rushing to draw up
:06:31. > :06:32.new plans to have polling stations and counts functioning
:06:33. > :06:38.And for the parties, it's a huge challenge.
:06:39. > :06:41.Some like UKIP have been hard pressed to find enough candidates
:06:42. > :06:46.One senior figure told me calling an election was "a cynical and even
:06:47. > :06:51."irresponsible maneouvre for political advantage."
:06:52. > :06:54.And even Labour will have to hurry to fill some key gaps; the important
:06:55. > :06:56.Swindon seats are among places where they've yet
:06:57. > :07:01.It's going to be a very, very busy seven weeks.
:07:02. > :07:07.On to some other news tonight and Avon and Somerset Police have
:07:08. > :07:10.admitted they need to improve race relations in the West.
:07:11. > :07:13.It follows the high-profile tasering of a campaigner two months ago
:07:14. > :07:15.and warnings that the relationship between the black community
:07:16. > :07:24.Here's our home affairs correspondent, Charlotte Callen.
:07:25. > :07:44.This video made headlines around the world.
:07:45. > :07:47.The man is 63 and a grandfather, he's tasered by an officer
:07:48. > :08:02.He was a race relations adviser to the police.
:08:03. > :08:06.I think what happened has taken any sort of relationship with the police
:08:07. > :08:12.and the community and has taken it back 20 years.
:08:13. > :08:22.Michael Jenkins worked with the police three years ago
:08:23. > :08:24.to make this video about stop and search
:08:25. > :08:31.The idea was to break down the fear and reduce the number of stop
:08:32. > :08:36.In 2013, black people were nearly four times more likely to be
:08:37. > :08:39.Now in 2016, they are over six times more likely to be stopped.
:08:40. > :08:45.Their Chief Constable is unable to comment on the incident
:08:46. > :08:51.It is being formally investigated by the IPCC,
:08:52. > :08:54.but he says he is pleased with the performance of his force.
:08:55. > :09:00.There are too many black men being stopped and searched
:09:01. > :09:03.but it is something we are taking great steps to ensure fairness
:09:04. > :09:07.Her Majesty's Constabulary have reviewed stop and searches
:09:08. > :09:10.across the whole country and found that 96% had reasonable grounds
:09:11. > :09:20.Social media makes this kind of incident very public and very
:09:21. > :09:22.high profile and shines a new light on how officers police
:09:23. > :09:33.There's more news on the BBC website and on your local BBC radio
:09:34. > :09:36.We're back with you in breakfast tomorrow from 6:30am.
:09:37. > :09:39.But for now, I'll say goodnight and leave you with Ian,
:09:40. > :09:56.Tomorrow should be a fine day and dry conditions all underpinned the
:09:57. > :10:00.forecast throughout this week. A number of you are desperate for rain
:10:01. > :10:06.but one thing you are not desperate for is frost, and that will be a
:10:07. > :10:11.quite wide risk across southern England. We could well see
:10:12. > :10:14.temperatures drop down below freezing in a few spots and all of
:10:15. > :10:20.us are in the chilly start tomorrow morning. A bit of fog back-ups and
:10:21. > :10:25.one or two spots all clear, good deal of sunshine to get us underway
:10:26. > :10:29.on Wednesday. We will find more cloud developing through the second
:10:30. > :10:34.half of the day but still sunny conditions either side of that.
:10:35. > :10:38.We're not expecting any rain at all. A dry day with a light breeze and
:10:39. > :10:47.temperatures higher than today. After that cold start, 13-14 C. As
:10:48. > :10:51.we look further into the rest of the week, temperatures will climb up as
:10:52. > :10:56.we get through towards Thursday, on into Friday, but likely to be
:10:57. > :10:58.accompanied by cloud. On Thursday morning, a few spots of light rain
:10:59. > :11:14.in the air but not much of it. The weather hasn't been too dramatic
:11:15. > :11:17.of late. That is not say it's not without problems. One of those could
:11:18. > :11:20.occur as early as tonight. There could be a sharp rural frost around
:11:21. > :11:21.especially so in