on an election night with so expect on an election night with so many different sources coming into the bbc. we were talking about the mayors for the conservatives in tees valley in the west midlands. ben houchen and andy street both have very strong personal voters. mast very strong personalvoters. most --eole very strong personalvoters. most people will— very strong personalvoters. most people will be — very strong personalvoters. most people will be somewhere - very strong personal voters. i’e'ifisif people will be somewhere between the two. what we expect to see is a close contest in both. it will be interesting to see if the conservatives hold onto one and labour win one, a score draw would go down well with both sets of fans. but if the conservatives lose both it is a bad night for them. we saw the pictures _ it is a bad night for them. we saw the pictures from _ it is a bad night for them. we saw the pictures from plymouth. - it is a bad night for them. we saw the pictures from plymouth. that| it is a bad night for them. we saw i the pictures from plymouth. that is the pictures from plymouth. that is the south—west, a stronghold for the liberal democrats. what will they be looking for in terms of how well they do?

looking for in terms of how well the do? , ., they do? often they were the leading -a in they do? often they were the leading party in local — they do? often they were the leading party in local government _ they do? often they were the leading party in local government and - they do? often they were the leading party in local government and that. party in local government and that is how they presented themselves. it was on the basis of their support in local government they were able to build greater and greater seats won at national elections. that all changed in the 20005 and they have struggled recently. i am sure they will want to re—establish a foothold in certain places like dorset, a council that is entirely up for grabs this time around and it will be precisely the kind of target area they will be aiming for. those types of areas in a general election they will want to be winning from the conservatives. we will want to be winning from the conservatives.— conservatives. we have had a statement — conservatives. we have had a statement from _ conservatives. we have had a statement from the _ conservatives. we have had a statement from the liberal i conservatives. we have had a - statement from the liberal democrat leader, sir ed davey. he says he is very optimistic about the local election results and says across the country he has people are absolutely fed up of the conservatives and across the blue wall, lifelong conservatives are switching to the lib dems. they will be looking to do well in the south—west. we mentioned

with helen about reform uk. they are polling in that sort of ten to 13% nationally. what will they be hoping for in these elections? the?e nationally. what will they be hoping for in these elections?— for in these elections? they are only running — for in these elections? they are only running in _ for in these elections? they are only running in about _ for in these elections? they are only running in about 1596 - for in these elections? they are only running in about 1596 of- for in these elections? they are only running in about 1596 of the only running in about 15% of the contest, so really not a large showing in terms of candidates. so you would not expect them to do particularly well in terms of national results. but in those contests in which they are running they will want to match, if not exceed, their national vote share will stop i think crucially for them will stop i think crucially for them will be the blackpool south by—election. blackpool is particularly the kind of area that the brexit party, previously ukip, and now reform uk would aim for as the kind of target that if they were going to win anywhere it would be somewhere like that. more than two thirds of people, it is estimated, voted to leave in the brexit referendum. compared to the national

average it is more white british than the rest of the country. it is less well off. people there have fewer educational qualifications. all of these combined tend to be fruitful areas for reform, but no one expects them to win in blackpool south. it is widely expected labour will do well there. the question is how many votes will conservatives get and how many will they lose at the expense of reform? and then the story that generates moving forward over the coming days and months as backbenchers discuss what the conservative party should or should not do to deal with the threat of reform in a general election will be a really interesting story as well. joe, stay with us. i want to get a little bit from newsnight�*s political editor nick watt who has had his ear to the ground on what the parties are saying to him. i am in hartlepool. _ the parties are saying to him. i am in hartlepool, the _ the parties are saying to him. i am in hartlepool, the scene _ the parties are saying to him. i —n in hartlepool, the scene of the lowest point of keir starmer�*s leadership in the labour party when

he lost that by—election here three years ago. the reason why it was so bad is because it went backwards on labour�*s worst general election result since 1935. so will the labour party stage a comeback year in hartlepool? they think they will. tomorrow in this exact whole counting will be under way in the wider tees valley mayoral contest. that big hitter, ben houchen, the conservative incumbent mayor, will he be holding on? if he does, it is good for rishi sunak, if he does not, that will be a blow for the prime minister. what are the party saying about the national picture? labour are saying is they believe every incumbent mayor will hold on. so that means ben houchen for the tories in the tees valley. it means andy street for the conservatives in the west midlands. in london it means sadiq khan forced labour and in greater manchester it means andy burnham for labour. labour will say you cannot read anything about the

general election results into the mayoral contest because they are deliberately designed to be big, independent figures with those big economic powers. in the case of ben houchen and andy street, what have they been doing? they have been running in the opposite direction of their parties and have effectively been running as independents, or conservatives in name only. what the labour party are saying is if you want to know what is happening in the general election, they are confident blackpool south will win and the conservatives are confident they will lose it and it will go to they will lose it and it will go to the labour party. the labour party are saying look at the councils, thatis are saying look at the councils, that is much more significant, and they predict they will take three really important council, hartlepool, redditch and thurrock. they say the significance of that is those are parliamentary battleground seats and what is the conservative party saying? they are saying the tees valley mayoral contest,

reasonably 0k. west midlands, andy street, they think it is on a knife edge. they believe the conservative party are doing badly in their traditional shia areas but they are doing well in marginal seats. the liberal democrats are saying they will have to wait until five o'clock tomorrow before they start to see themselves in the areas where they are in contest in places like tunbridge wells. but what they are picking up is that in parliamentary battleground seats that they need to win the general election, they can see labour voters voting tactically for the lib dems.— for the lib dems. that is the olitical for the lib dems. that is the political editor _ for the lib dems. that is the political editor of _ for the lib dems. that is the | political editor of newsnight, for the lib dems. that is the - political editor of newsnight, nick watt, with his ear to the ground in hartlepool. these are the live pictures from hartlepool as the votes come in to be counted. i will bring injoe from dell to pull back in. talk to me about what will become quite a big thing tomorrow and into saturday, the projected national share. and into saturday, the projected nationalshare. explain and into saturday, the projected national share. explain what that is because a lot of people will start

talking about that during the day. for those who don't speak robo geek that figure takes all of the data that figure takes all of the data that we have gathered from these individual contests which are not run in the entire country, and then estimates what the figure would be where the contests run nationwide. so it is as good a comparison as we get compared to the opinion polls which are run nationally. all of the parties will be able to see whether they are up or down compared to where the opinion polls are. of course, we hear many times how politicians don't look at the opinion polls but we know that is not true. and while they may say they don't look at the opinion polls, they can't say they don't look at the election results. so this is very interesting for getting a gauge on where we might be if a general election were held today. of course general election is not held today and some will vote entirely based on local issues. some vote on

national issues, but most will be a mixture of the two. whenever the election takes place, this will be an interesting baseline and will provide parties with an idea of whether they need to be up or down in the areas where they need to improve. i in the areas where they need to im - rove. ., in the areas where they need to imrove. . ., ., , i. ., improve. i am going to put you on the sot. improve. i am going to put you on the spot- are _ improve. i am going to put you on the spot. are you _ improve. i am going to put you on the spot. are you expecting - improve. i am going to put you on the spot. are you expecting any . the spot. are you expecting any surprises tonight?— the spot. are you expecting any surprises tonight? there are always some surprises. _ surprises tonight? there are always some surprises. the _ surprises tonight? there are always some surprises. the party - surprises tonight? there are always some surprises. the party will- some surprises. the party will always be able to point to something. the fact that nuneaton is now labour, that is a sign that labour needs to be where it is. the fact that ben houchen has won in tees valley, that shows the conservative fightback is on. it is all about spin. inevitably there will be surprises somewhere, but where, we will have to wait and see. briefly, do you think the pressure will mount on rishi sunak if the conservatives have a bad night? it is all about expectation management. if compared to the expectations the conservatives underperform, 500

losses, if they lose both the mayoral contest, if susan hall falls well short in london, then i think the pressure will inevitably grow on rishi sunak and it may be the case that he wonders whether he can survive until the autumn when the election is suggested it will be. joe twynholm, thank you very much for your insight. if you looked at social media during the day, you will have seen one of the big trends was hashtag docks at polling stations because over the years it has become something of a tradition for people to post pictures of their dogs as they go to vote. here are a few. this is baxter who enjoyed a trip to a polling station in east sussex. this is poppy. it was her first time in leeds. next, two for the price of one. this is lunar and bu, who took their owners to vote in

nottinghamshire. paul garner says his cockapoo, rumble, but attention from everyone into doing in london. the next one is a rather distinguished spring a dog in cannock chase district. it looks like he is running for office. no barking at this next polling station, instead a couple of donkeys greeted voters casting their vote. finally, let's have a cat. this is the cat that greeted people at chertsey museum in surrey. that is pepper the cat. those are the animals at good evening. within the next few months, there will be a general election — you'll choose who leads the country for the next five years. but millions of you in england and wales have been voting today to decide who's in charge of roads, bins, care and crime where you live. those decisions make a huge difference to the communities round the country.

but they will give us a huge indicator of our politicians'