�*failure and decline and iii years of failure and decline and we have chaos and division from the tories. obviously it's disappointing to lose good, hard—working conservative councillors, and i'm grateful to them for all their service in local government. but some cheer for the conservatives as ben houchen hangs on in the mayor's office in tees valley. diary election results are becoming a dangerous habit for the conservatives, but tonight there is no sign it is prompting more tory mps to want to get rid of rishi sunak. —— dire. so what could the results mean for a general election? also on the programme: after the killing of the teenager mikey roynon in somerset last year, three other teenagers, are sentenced. cheering and singing the excited young ipswich town fans praying for promotion tomorrow to the premier league. will you marry me? what? marry me. and...will he or won't he? the last ever episode

of gavin and stacey, is coming this christmas. coming up on bbc news, can luton move out of the premier league's relegation zone tonight? victory over everton could put them on the road to survival. hello there. rishi sunak says it's "disappointing to lose good, hardworking councillors," after a painful night for the conservatives, in the local and mayoral elections. the losses are some of the worst the party's suffered in england for decades. just look at this, the latest election figures as they stand, with the conservatives having lost more than 340 councillors. and labour have gained more than 140 so far. chris mason has followed all of the developments through the night, and he's

at westminsterfor us. after a lot of coffee! hi, chris. hello, good evening. since we chatted last night there has been lots of noise, numbers and not a lot of sleep. and here is the picture as things stand with still more than 2a hours worth of results still to come. the conservatives are in a rut, a trend of doing very badly in elections. 12 months ago we were reporting on directions for the conservatives. since then there has been a whole slew of parliamentary by—elections that have been pretty dire in this set of results on top of that. as far as labour are concerned, they seem to have developed a knack for being able to win in places where the need to win to win a general election and not merely stack up lots of votes in places where they were winning already. —— reporting on dire

elections. the smaller parties are also cheaper. here is the story of the night and the story of the day so far. cheering northallerton in north yorkshire this afternoon. the prime minister lives a few miles away, and look who has turned up to rub his nose in it, york and north yorkshire of the wider county so often rock—solid conservative, has elected a labour mayor. we conservative, has elected a labour ma or. ~ . . ._ conservative, has elected a labour ma or. ~ . . . , mayor. we have had really good results across _ mayor. we have had really good results across the _ mayor. we have had really good results across the country - mayor. we have had really good results across the country all- mayor. we have had really good| results across the country all day long. but this is a very special moment, david to become the mayor here, thank you to all the team for all the fantastic work they have done. because through the villages and the towns of north yorkshire people have voted for change. there have been smiles _ people have voted for change. there have been smiles and _ people have voted for change. there have been smiles and red _ people have voted for change. there have been smiles and red rosettes all over the place, taking the council of the military town in aldershot in hampshire. labour did the same in hartlepool in the north—east of england. and on the

south coast in west sussex where they have never won before. but, five independent candidate standing on a pro—gastric platform cost labour control in oldham in greater manchester as evidence labour's stance on gaza has had an impact particularly in places with a significant muslim population. earlier, keir starmer was in blackpool to celebrate winning a westminster seat there. winning wasn't surprising, the scale of labour's victory was. the mood music for the prime minister pretty dire, then. rishi sunak was in catterick garrison in north yorkshire. obviously it is disappointing to lose good, hard—working conservative councillors _ lose good, hard—working conservative councillors and i'm grateful to them for all_ councillors and i'm grateful to them for all their— councillors and i'm grateful to them for all their service in local government keeping council tax low and delivering services for local people — and delivering services for local people. but we still have lots of results — people. but we still have lots of results to — people. but we still have lots of results to come.

one _ results to come. one of theirfew results to come. one of their few islands of optimism in a sea of gloom, the tees valley, the conservative ben houchen wearing victory but not a tory rosette. he won by1 million miles last time, it was much closer this time, and he had this message for the prime minister. , ., , . �* minister. the people that i'm heafina minister. the people that i'm hearing that _ minister. the people that i'm hearing that may _ minister. the people that i'm hearing that may not - minister. the people that i'm hearing that may not be - minister. the people that i'm i hearing that may not be thinking about voting conservative or are currently thinking whether they want to vote conservative at the next general election, they want progress, we need to give them the excuse to vote for us and we haven't give them that excuse yet. find excuse to vote for us and we haven't give them that excuse yet.— give them that excuse yet. and in mar: inal give them that excuse yet. and in marginal harlow _ give them that excuse yet. and in marginal harlow in _ give them that excuse yet. and in marginal harlow in essex - give them that excuse yet. and in marginal harlow in essex the - marginal harlow in essex the conservatives managed to cling on, just. the liberal democrats' delight in the less than subtle photo opportunity, here they are in winchester in hampshire. let’s opportunity, here they are in winchester in hampshire. let's make this conservative _ winchester in hampshire. let's make this conservative government - this conservative government history! cheering suggestion is conservatives are soon to be as dead as, yes, the dinosaurs, and point to gains they are making at the tories' expense. in so many parts of the country, it

will be conservative mps worried about liberal democrats, across the south—east of the blue wall, the south—west, in many other parts of the country where we are the challenges to the conservatives, people know that if you want to get rid of this awful conservative government and make them history they should vote liberal democrat. reform uk, the successor to the brexit party, gives some conservatives the collie wobbles. they came within a whisker of beating the tories in the blackpool by—election. beating the tories in the blackpool by-election-_ by-election. what is rapidly becoming — by-election. what is rapidly becoming clear _ by-election. what is rapidly becoming clear is _ by-election. what is rapidly becoming clear is basicallyl by-election. what is rapidly i becoming clear is basically as by-election. what is rapidly - becoming clear is basically as more people hear about reform, we are becoming the real opposition to the labour party in the north, in the midlands, in wales. we are on the way up and it's quite clear the tories are on the way down. find way up and it's quite clear the tories are on the way down. and the green party — tories are on the way down. and the green party is _ tories are on the way down. and the green party is volunteering - tories are on the way down. and the green party is volunteering a - tories are on the way down. and the green party is volunteering a bow. l green party is volunteering a bow. this is hastings in east sussex. the trend of the greens' steady rise in global politics continues. b, global politics continues. fantastic set of results for the green party, the fifth local election in a row where we scored a record number of green councillors

being elected, winning seats in all corners of the country from labour and the conservatives, in rural and urban areas alike. the and the conservatives, in rural and urban areas alike.— urban areas alike. the democratic rocess urban areas alike. the democratic process comes — urban areas alike. the democratic process comes with _ urban areas alike. the democratic process comes with certain - urban areas alike. the democratic| process comes with certain rituals. colour, stamina and sleep deprivation. and winners clutching babies. there are yet more results to come tomorrow. chris mason, bbc news. here's a quick reminder of where each party stands so far. so, what can we take away from all the results that have come in? here's nick eardley. let's start with the projected national share. this is what the bbc team thinks would have happened if the whole country had voted yesterday and voted in the same way. this is bad for the conservatives, their joint lowest. it's good for labour, a similar lead to last year.

but it's not tony blair 1997. let's drill a bit in to the specific numbers from last night. the conservative had lost half of theirs. labour are labourare up140. this is the change from 2001. but labour say they are particularly heartened in key areas and i want to pick one example, milton keynes. it is a bellwether seat, it often votes the same way as the rest of the country. at the top it has gone from grey, a hung parliament, hung council, to read, i live again and thatis council, to read, i live again and that is a result that would hearten labour hq. but what does it all mean for the general election? there was one westminster seat up for grabs last night, blackpool south. in 2019

had voted conservative but a thumping win for labour last night. have a look at this. the conservatives onlyjust beat the reform party into second place and this is one of the most striking graphics of the day, the swing from the conservatives to labour in blackpool south. 26%. that is the third biggest swing of its kind since world war ii and that will leave a lot of conservative mps rather nervous. so, some consolation for the tories in tees valley where ben houchen was re—elected mayor for a third term. but labour have won all the other mayoral counts today. danny savage is in norton, in stockton on tees. clive, this is one of ben houchen's leaflets that his supporters put three doors in the days before the vote. if you looked at it you would probably guess it was for the

conservatives but there is no mention of the conservatives until you get to the very small print on the back page, which is all a bit of a contrast to events in teesside this afternoon. good afternoon, everybody. it's absolutely great to be here with your reelected mayor of teesside! it's the patch that's provided a rare win on a bad day for the conservatives, one worthy of a visit from the prime minister. ben houchen was reelected as mayor, a conservative mayor. so, so relieved. humbled, proud to get a third term as the tees valley mayor. ben houchen is a local lad. he was born here on teesside and has campaigned for things like improvements to local hospitals and the local airport. but the question now is can votes for a local conservative politician stay with the party when it comes to a general election? it's a different dynamic, isn't it? the local politics are a lot different to westminster. j i think i forget that he's a tory. in a local pub this afternoon, they were happy to talk politics. did you vote for ben houchen? yes, idid.

does that mean that you would necessarily vote for the conservatives in a general election scenario? no, definitely not. why? cos i have different views of conservatives in the general election to what i do to ben. again for what he's done for the area in teesside,j the airport and in the freeport, the jobs, bringing lots- of employment and generallyjust, you know, helping teesside. - it was a warm afternoon in the north. time for a reflective pint. do you think the people that voted conservative for ben houchen will necessarily vote conservative at the general election? most certainly. you think they will? yeah, i think they probably will. yeah, i do, as a matter of fact, yeah. the boost to the economy in my opinion by what he's done to the airport has been marvellous. mum and daughterjill and rebecca run a business together. when it comes to the next vote, it's going to be the economy that keeps them sweet. |the national living wage hasjust|

gone up, but then i've got to find that in my business to pay my staff. food's going up, the cost of everything's going up.| petrol's going back up again. ben houchen's majority has fallen, though. if the conservative—to—labour swing was repeated across the north—east of england at a general election, the conservatives in all of their seats could be vulnerable. a good local campaign succeeded for the tories here. can they learn lessons from it? danny savage, bbc news, teesside. labour have taken control of redditch council in worcestershire from the conservatives with a thumping majority, winning 21 of the 27 seats up for grabs. the incoming labour council leader says he's overwhelmed by the size of the majority. leila nathoo has been speaking to voters there. with the weather in redditch as bleak as the result for the tories here, it's little wonder that few braved it to the shops today. how best to breathe new life into the town centre

was one of the key issues at the local elections. labour secured a resounding victory, seizing the council from the conservatives. at the three cooks cafe, business has slowed. managerjanine thinks redditch has been short—changed by those who've been in charge. it feels like this town's rotting, and it doesn't feel like we're going forward. something needed to happen because it's like it's stuck in a rut. and i think change is only good when you're in that position. her customers, too, want to see fresh thinking. they didn't listen to the people. they didn't listen to us when we said we wanted it they didn't listen to us when we said we wanted the library to stay where it is. nobody's doing nothing| throughout the country. there are homeless . people on the streets. people are working just - to pay their bills just to survive. here in redditch, labour have promised voters it would restore an outdoor market that used to be here and to try to stop the libraryjust down there from being demolished and relocated.

this is exactly the kind of place that will decide the outcome of the next general election. it's somewhere labour will need to win back to get into government. down the road, a bit of light rain isn't knocking practice of course isn't knocking practice off course at the redditch bowling club. the town has had a conservative mp since 2010. labour now has its eye on that prize. redditch used to be labour many years ago, so i think that swing back is how people in this country are feeling. and i think the challenges, the issues that we've got in redditch mirror what's going on in the rest of the country. i think 14 years of the conservatives, they've tried austerity, they sort of almost imposed brexit, they sort of partied through covid and i think people are just about fed up with it now, really. i will vote for who's - going to put this country into the strongest position it can be _ so there's still time for parties to make their case to you? yeah, i think parties have still got time. i i definitely think- they've still got time. the conservatives insist it's at still to play for, but as today's results show, it's proving hard to persuade

voters to choose them. leila nathoo, bbc news, in redditch. it hasn't all gone labour's way overnight. they lost control of oldham council in greater manchester. there's now no overall control there, with a swing in favour of independent candidates and away from labour. the change is blamed in part on sir keir starmer�*s stance on the war in gaza, which labour says may have been a factor in areas like oldham, which have a large muslim population. kevin fitzpatrick is there for us. is that what did it, kevin? events thousands of miles away affecting goings on in oldham?— goings on in oldham? well, it certainly contributed. - goings on in oldham? well, it certainly contributed. this - goings on in oldham? well, it certainly contributed. this is l goings on in oldham? well, it certainly contributed. this is a borough where labour has been struggling politically over a number of years, losing council seats and even leaders, but it does appear that anger over the conflict in gaza and labour's initial reluctance to call for a ceasefire has done real damage and cost it control of this

council. it's also had an impact elsewhere in labour strongholds across greater manchester, places like tyneside and bolton, rochdale, evenin like tyneside and bolton, rochdale, even in the city centre, one or two council seats have gone to independents, or parties standing on a programme as a platform, and over in lancashire in blackburn, darwin eight council seats have been taken today by independents standing in support of gazza but four have been lost by labour in four by the conservatives. there isjust a scattering of seats being affected in this way at the moment, but it does appear now that the main parties can be affected by their response over the ongoing conflict at the ballot box locally. —— gaza. thank you, kevin fitzpatrick in oldham. let's chat with chris again. would you take away from these results? particularly this idea around the national vote share?

let's try and unpick things. when rishi sunak became prime minister, he inherited a mess. the first aim was to stabilise things, and you could argue he was successful in that. the second was to try and revitalise conservative fortunes, and frankly, he has not managed to do that. he has pulled all sorts of policy levers, of which he is proud, and yet his electoral record last year, throughout the last 12 months and today, is pretty grim. the mood within his party, there is perhaps not as bleak as you might imagine. speaking to senior folks, they acknowledge that it is bleak but perhaps no more bleak than they were anticipating. maybe even a smidgen better than they had feared, whilst many of them acknowledging that it does point, they fear, towards the prospect of general election defeat. when you speak to the labour party, they think that these results do point to them being able to be confident that they can win a

majority, come the general election. and then you have the smaller parties that tend to perform relatively well in local elections, and they are pretty chipper, whether that be the liberal democrats, the greens, or indeed reform uk. it brings us to the big picture point here. the conservatives, yes, are in pretty dire straits when you look at election results and opinion polls, or perhaps slightly better in results than the opinion polls might hint at. labour are in a buoyant place but labour have to do astonishingly well by any historic metric to win the next general election. that has always been the case and remains the case, and will shape all of the conversation between now and that general election. a, ,., . between now and that general election. . . , , election. mason at westminster, thank you- _ and you can stay up to date with all the latest results and analysis on the bbc news website. that's at bbc.co.uk/news, visit via the bbc news app.

the time is 6:19pm. our top story this evening: it's been a good night for labour in local elections and mayoral races. the conservatives suffered their worst results, in decades. # step into christmas, step into christmas... of? christmas... # one _ christmas... # one last - and coming up in sport on bbc news, it's all square between david gilbert and kyren wilson — level at eight—all after a thrilling second session in their world championship semifinal at the crucible. a former lawyer for the post office has been accused at the inquiry today of telling "a big fat lie" about not knowing that there was a bug in the horizon it software. jarnail singh was directly involved in prosecuting a pregnant sub—postmistress back in 2010.

the bug was not disclosed at the trial of seema misra, who was falsely jailed on fraud charges. mr singh denies the allegations made against him. emma simpson sent this report. mr singh, are you going to tell the truth today? the questions are mounting for the former post office senior lawyerjarnail singh, beginning with this one. you were covering it up in 2013 and in 2015, weren't you? no, i wasn't covering it up. you were covering up your own guilty knowledge. no, i wasn't. he helped prepare the case against seema misra. she was sent to prison in 2010 eight weeks pregnant. she blamed horizon for her losses. but shortly before her trial came this report written by fujitsu engineer garethjenkins about a bug affecting branch accounts and how he could use remote access to fix it. and then here's a note about the meeting that followed warning about the potential impact

upon ongoing legal cases. the inquiry saw how it was all forwarded in this e—mail to jarnail singh, the header showing it printed minutes later. i don't recall seeing it, don't recall printing it... it was saved in your drive, wasn't it? i don't even know what you're talking about. i don't know how these things worked. you don't know how to save a document? no. this was just three days before seema's trial. the material was never disclosed. it could've stopped her wrongful conviction and many others that followed. all of this, "if i received it, if i read it," is a big fat lie, isn't it? no, it's not. and you know it, mr singh. i didn't come here to lie. i'm at an age where i've come to assist the inquiry. he said he didn't know about the bug for anotherfew years. a hard watch for seema and her husband here today. did you believe him? no.

they didn't care they were sending |an innocent person to the prison. | all they were ever concerned about, the horizon name to be saved. - butjarnail singh did say this. i admit mistakes were made. and i'm ever so sorry that mrs misra suffered, and i am ever so embarrassed to be here. a bruising day for a lawyer who says he can't remember many of the details. emma simpson, bbc news, at the post office inquiry. a teenager who stabbed 16—year—old mikey roynon to death with a large hunting—style knife at a birthday party in bath has been detained for life at bristol crown court. shane cunningham was ordered to serve a minimum term of 16 years before being considered for parole. two others, cartel bushnell and leo knight, who were 15 at the time of the attack, were sentenced to nine years for manslaughter. danjohnson was in court. mikey roynon's family came here

every day of the four—week trial. today, they were in court to hear how long his teenage killers will serve. love you, too. love you... wait, love you. mikey was just 16 years old. he was a live wire, so he loved, you know, being out on a bike or a scooter. lastjune, he went to a party in bath with friends. there, they came across this group from wiltshire. this is the ambulance service. is the patient breathing? there was a violent confrontation, and mikey was stabbed in the neck. someone's been stabbed at a house party, please! i had loads of missed calls. i rang mikey's phone, and his friend answered. and he said, "mikey's been stabbed." i was like, "is he ok, is he ok?" and he said that, "he's gone, hayley, he's gone." and i put the phone down on him because i didn't want to... ..i didn't want to hear that. i didn't believe it. it was shane cunningham who stabbed mikey, he claimed in self—defence,

but he was convicted of murder. cartel bushnell and leo knight were given nine years for manslaughter for encouraging and supporting the attack. why would you take a knife to a 16—year—old's birthday party? why would you need to have a knife at a house party? yeah, that is shocking. was it you that stabbed him in the neck? - shane cunningham didn't give any answers in custody or in court, so we may never know what sparked the confrontation. thejudge passed a life sentence and said he must serve at least 16 years. bristol and its surrounding areas are in the middle of a plague of knife crime. the plague has continued since this trial finished. the lives of young boys who carry knives continue to need to be taken at the hands of other boys who carry knives. how do you feel about the sentences that were given today? my immediate reaction was it doesn't make any difference, but it does make a difference.

but mikey's life's gone forever, and, you know, they'll get theirs back at some point. this family's campaigning now to highlight knife crime and how many children are armed and prepared to take lives. danjohnson, bbc news, at bristol crown court. the government has been defeated again in court for not doing enough to meet its targets on cutting greenhouse gas emissions. environmental campaigners argued that the energy minister signed off the government's climate plan for reaching net zero by 2050 without evidence it could actually be achieved. the high court has now ruled that the government must redraft its plans. it's a big day tomorrow for ipswich town's footballers, on the brink of promotion back to the premier league. a win or draw against huddersfield will seat the deal with the whole town willing on the side to succeed. here's laura scott. cheering they haven't had to wait, but it seems these schoolchildren

more than understand the weight of what this weekend could mean for the whole of ipswich. they haven't been in the premier league for, like, 22 years, so that would be a very good achievement. it's going to be really cool be back in the premier league playing with all these really cool clubs. on the eve of the final promotion push, a plea from the club's chief executive in their morning assembly. and make as much noise i as you can tomorrow for us. can you do that for us? we are trying to rebuild a monsterl of a football club that has been run down and at times neglected. but what we have found - is an incredible fan base that shocks and surprises us. and, tomorrow, we've got to go once more. i ipswich is where sir bobby robson made his name as a manager. his triumphs here inspired the current man in charge, kieran mckenna, whose side needs just one more point to reach the top flight. we know that the next step is a huge one and it will take an awful amount of work again, but, you know, that's exciting. it's exciting to be part of this project, to be leading the project, and, you know, we want

to continue that. helping the club go global is local lad ed sheeran, who sponsors the front of their shirts and is actually named as a member of the playing squad. and he's not the only one bringing their star power to portman road. he does it because he loves the club, and the same with me. i represent them on my shorts and take them around the world and however i can because i'm a hometown boy, same as him, and we all support our own. as the tractor boys try to plough their way to the premier league, the players might be keeping their feet on the ground. not sure the same can be said for the rest of the town. laura scott, bbc news, ipswich. there's good news for the millions of fans of the tv comedy, gavin and stacey. one of the stars, the actor, james corden, has announced there'll be one more episode of the show, to be aired on christmas day. the big question of course is will smithy accept nessa's marriage proposal? tomos morgan is on the famous barry island, to tell us

"what's occurin'. at the end of the day, when all is said and done, it is tidy, clive. the news that gavin & stacey will be back on our screens after that tantalising question you mentioned there has got fans jumping forjoy. viewers will be hoping for more classic scenes such as smitty ordering a takeaway, some singing and dancing, and also possibly an answer to what actually happened to uncle bryn on that fishing trip. there is no doubt about it, gavin & stacey has put barry island on the map. today i've met fans that travelled from southampton, birmingham and cornwalljust for one birmingham and cornwall just for one photo birmingham and cornwalljust for one photo here because of their love for this iconic british sitcom. i loves you with all my heart. five years ago, almost 19 million watched on as nessa put it all on the line. will you marry me? a finale has been

rumoured for some time. in february, though, the show�*s writer and cast member ruthjones brushed it off. today, however, in a social media post alongside fellow starjames corden they confirmed that cliffhanger would be resolved. a cult favourite, it's brought viewers to this welsh seaside town. i'm so excited! i'm just excited to find out what's occurrin'. do you think it's a yes? i hope so. and let's hope they have a nice big curry after! the success of the show has been based on not only the main characters gavin and stacey, but the role of the supporting cast, the likes of nessa, smithy and uncle bryn. i wake up in the morning and think, lush, i'm in barry. i'm not going to lie, it has been lush for barry. the slot machines, ice cream parlours and the beaches have become stars in their own right. over the years the programme has won multiple awards, with that historic proposal scene winning a bafta voted for by the public in 2020.

gavalar, indeedy! so those catchphrases... oh, what's occurrin'? ..and that cast will grace our screens once more for one final time. i won't lie, you're not everyone's cup of tea. but at the end of the day, when all's said and done, you're tidy. tomos morgan, bbc news, barry island. frankly, the weather is not lush or tidy, it is a big fat mess, darren bett. all right! calm down! i'm going to take you back, actually, till yesterday when all four home nations had their warmest day of the year, clive. and today in western scotland and northern ireland, temperatures were much the same. but in suffolk and north wales temperatures were an awful lot lower today because it's been raining, we have had lots of low cloud, it is misty and murky, that's the radar of the past few

hours, a few