those topics to fall out over those topics and many more, my friday a team tv news legend nicholas owen ex bbc radio superstar liz kershaw and the founder of the electoral calculus polling expert martin baxter. so my reaction to today's political drama is coming in my friday feeling . but coming in my friday feeling. but first, the news headlines and sam francis . sam francis. >> mark, thank you very much . >> mark, thank you very much. and good evening to you. it's just gone 8:00 and we will start with the latest developments in the local elections. the conservatives have suffered their worst results in decades, conceding hundreds of seats to opposition parties across england. so far, labour's gained more than 170 seats and taken control of now eight more councils in england. sir keir starmer claims those gains are a direct message. he says to the prime minister as he's renewed

demands for rishi sunak to call a general election . however, the a general election. however, the party failed to win back control of oxford after nine councillors there defected to independent last year over the labour leader's stance on gaza . well, leader's stance on gaza. well, the liberal democrats have also made some gains , with party made some gains, with party leader sir ed davey pledging to make the conservative government. he says history people from around our great country have had enough of this out—of—touch conservative government . government. >> they've had enough of being taken for granted and being let down. it's time for change. anas sarwar . and across this country , sarwar. and across this country, from cheltenham to dorset, from west oxfordshire to here in winchester, so many people , winchester, so many people, including lifelong conservatives, are switching to the liberal democrats to make that change happen . that change happen. >> meanwhile, the prime minister insists he's focusing on the job

at hand after those disappointing local election results for the conservatives. the party have lost control of a number of councils and more than 350 seats across england. however the party have managed to retain tees valley, with ben houchen being re—elected there. rishi sunak has said that that result is evidence that people will stick with the conservatives. come the general election. >> keir starmer came here twice. rachel reeves came here three times, but even they couldn't dislodge ben and the fantastic conservative team. right. and they also threw a lot of mud. it needs to be said in this election because they were angry. angry that ben has delivered more for this region in seven years than labour party managed in 30 years. >> well, let's take a quick look at those latest council results from across england. as counting continues tonight. if you're watching on television , you can watching on television, you can see there the number of councillors confirmed so far fewer than ten councils out of 107 are still to declare tonight . some will also follow into tomorrow, including the west midlands . and the result for

midlands. and the result for london's mayor in other news, the family of murdered schoolboy alfie lewis have thanked him for making them smile every day. he was stabbed to death by another schoolboy outside a primary schoolboy outside a primary school in leeds last november. the teenager, who can't be named, was 14 at the time of that attack and he's admitted stabbing alfie with a 13 centimetre long kitchen knife in full view. the court heard of other pupils but he has denied murder. he instead claimed he was scared for his life when he pulled out the weapon, but that was disputed by prosecutors . was disputed by prosecutors. lord david cameron has warned that the world is facing a tipping point and the outcome of the war in ukraine, he says, is crucial for western security . crucial for western security. he, during a visit to ukraine, the foreign secretary said the uk will appoint a new envoy to oversee a plan to ramp up production of weapons. he says kyiv must defeat russia or else europe faces a very dangerous future. the kremlin, though, has

accused lord cameron of direct escalation when he said that ukraine could use british weapons to hit targets inside russia . and finally, the latest russia. and finally, the latest from wales, where unions representing workers at tata steel say that talks over plans to shut down blast furnaces. there have broken down community, the gmb and unite say there's disregard for the impact of proposed changes on staff and local communities. it comes as the steel giant wants to switch to a greener way of working, resulting in the potential loss of 2800 jobs. those are the headunes of 2800 jobs. those are the headlines from the newsroom. i'll be back at 9:00 with another update. until then, you can sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the code on your screen, or go to gbnews.com slash alerts. now though, it's back to . mark. back to. mark. >> well, a busy morning for mrs. starmer, the leader of the

opposition's wife, who hit john lewis early to measure up red curtains for number 10. yes, labour has won control of a string of councils across england and wales. string of councils across england and wales . among the key england and wales. among the key council gains, labour took rushmoor in hampshire, which is bluer than a roy chubby brown stand up routine, and a council which the tories have run since mick jagger was a virgin . the mick jagger was a virgin. the real headache for rishi sunak is that six areas that overwhelmingly voted leave in the brexit referendum swung back to labour, including hartlepool, peterborough and thurrock and had labour won blackpool south in the by—election with an eye—watering 26% swing, normally tory high command quite like middle class swingers, but not today. but it seems that those who voted labour did so without any great enthusiasm. yes, rishi sunakis any great enthusiasm. yes, rishi sunak is beginning to look like a species so extinct. david

attenborough will make a documentary about him, but replacing sunak with starmer is like replacing your rubbish boyfriend with someone. even worse, someone with tattoos who rides a motorbike and still lives with his mother . and lives with his mother. and looking behind the headlines. it's not all great news for labour turnout across the board was anemically low. where is the fervour , the excitement about fervour, the excitement about a labour government that we saw in 1997 before the blair landslide and other smaller parties did well, particularly the greens, god help us and the liberal democrats remember them. the other winners were independent candidates, proving that much of the public have had enough of everyone. forget about tory or laboun everyone. forget about tory or labour. just the word politician is a turn off for many. labour have also been stung by their support for israel following the october 7th attacks. labour saw support dip in some of its

traditional heartland areas, with large muslim populations losing seats in newcastle and overall control in oldham . the overall control in oldham. the british muslim vote is going to be a key electoral factor in the years ahead. and what about reform uk.7 well, years ahead. and what about reform uk? well, as predicted, they've made things worse for they've made things worse for the tories as election guru sir john curtice points out in the telegraph today. in those areas where reform fielded a candidate, the conservative vote fell more quickly than harry kanein fell more quickly than harry kane in the penalty box. but whilst things look terminal for rishi sunak , let me issue a word rishi sunak, let me issue a word of caution. turnout was low, which means it's all to play for among the don't knows. in fact, among the don't knows. in fact, a don't know prime minister leading a don't know government made up of don't know mps would be the most popular administration in 100 years. but here's the point governments

generally lose by elections , and generally lose by elections, and whilst local elections should be about potholes , street lighting about potholes, street lighting and bins, they often serve as a chance to give the incumbents a bloody nose . now, of course, the bloody nose. now, of course, the tories have suffered more than a bloody nose. but in a few months time, when the country goes to the polls, will support for reform uk fall away and will moderate minded and undecided voters baulk at the idea of listening to sir keir starmer. wang on for five years. on papen wang on for five years. on paper, the tories face certain defeat at the next election, but the scale of that defeat is yet to be decided . i'd never met a to be decided. i'd never met a sir keir starmer fan , so why are sir keir starmer fan, so why are the tories standing by and letting him scoop the top prize ? letting him scoop the top prize? stop the boats, tackle the nhs, sort out that waiting list, turn the economy around and anything is possible. but right now those red curtains are heading

straight for number 10. unless the tories pull themselves together . tv news legend together. tv news legend nicholas owen, bbc radio superstar liz kershaw and the founder of the electoral calculus, martin baxter, on my friday friends, martin baxter. what's the headline from today's? >> i think the headline is that labour have got a very large amount of grudging support. >> and >> and that >> and that earlier >> and that earlier when >> and that earlier when you mentioned what drinks labour should be having i think is probably not good enough for champagne, but certainly prosecco. right. and the conservatives are the worst it could have been tap water. i think they get an upgrade to filtered tap water. yeah. so it's not quite as bad as it could be in for the conservatives. and not quite as good as it been could have been for labour. >> yeah, well, the tories have got themselves in hot water with red wine in the past, so best to stick to the tap water or maybe the slimline tonic. >> the bottom line is that you mentioned people have begrudgingly voted labour in the last 24 hours. i do not feel

that this is 1997 and the excitement around tony blair really ? yeah. yes. i mean, that really? yeah. yes. i mean, that could be right in other words, be right. in other words, the popes are catholic. voters believe themselves in the word so. so do you think if you're rishi sunak sat in your number 10 office tonight, is there a of for hope him? >> there's two chinks, i suppose. a lot of his voters haven't gone to labour as such. they've gone over to reform and the or the apathy party. if he can pull those back, if he can make our people think there's a reason to vote conservative, then then there could be hope. the, the overall the figures from the local elections were not as bad as they could have been. and so there is there's a little bit of hope, or at least that it's not a catastrophe coming down the track, but but how does he win back disgruntled conservatives? because he's been trying for a year and he's not got very far. >> nicholas owen well, yes, a lot of tory traditional tory voters probably not voting at all, isn't it? judging by those

figures today, yes. >> lots of traditional conservative supporters staying at home. yeah. >> and they will vote. they will vote conservative in november, won't they, nicholas? they're not going to vote for keir starmer. >> i would have thought they would vote. this is not to say i don't. i agree entirely that keir starmer is the you know, next pm. let's get used to that idea, but i it's not quite as disastrous for the tories certainly as labour would like to make out as ever. >> no liz kershaw, labour did well yesterday, but could have done better yesterday. >> today. >> today. >> well, yeah. with the votes yesterday and the results today. >> sorry. yeah, well a couple of things. first of all, as you mentioned, the word kicking , i mentioned, the word kicking, i was brought up in a household where my mum was a councillor for 50 years, and it was just received wisdom that if she was laboun received wisdom that if she was labour, if the tories were in government, you'd not win . you government, you'd not win. you know, you'd lose seats in rochdale and vice versa. so that's the first thing. secondly, i think only 30% of the borough's were voting for

councillors yesterday. i know we all we could vote for in leafy northamptonshire was a new police and crime commissioner. more on that exciting result last year. yeah. and, and also people vote, with their hearts in a, in a by—election in a local elections like this and by elections perhaps. yeah. but when it comes to who's going to be in government and they go in the box, you know, the booth and pencil and piece of paper , it's pencil and piece of paper, it's all about the wallet. that's it's the economy , stupid. and it's the economy, stupid. and they'll just people, you know, people be shy tories or whatever. but i think at the end of the day with if inflation is going in the right direction, then and we get a few people on a plane to rwanda agree with it or not, it'll be a major symbolic event , then i think

symbolic event, then i think that, people will come out. i mean , as you say, more people mean, as you say, more people stayed more conservative, stayed at home yesterday than than voted for reform , than switched voted for reform, than switched to reform. people just decided it wasn't worth it. i've never seen our village also deserted. is that right? and by the way, it was a bit ridiculous. i've lived there 31 years. it's a population of 1200. past sport, please. and this guy that's known me for 30 odd years studied this passport and then kept i was like, oh, come on, you know why he studied it? >> why? because your mugshot is so beautiful and he couldn't take his eyes off it because nothing beats liz kershaw in a photo booth. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> nicholas. no a couple of results still to come, which are crucial to this whole thing, i think northamptonshire crime commissioner. >> who are you getting, inspector clouseau. >> that's a very important. but let's say sadiq khan in london. oh, yeah? how is he going to get on? that's going to. >> oh, and a&e street in west midlands. andy street.

>> now there are noises. there are noises that, susan hall is doing better than expected and that khan is under pressure numbers wise. don't know if that's wishful thinking or not. we won't find out till tomorrow. >> any clues on that at all? >> any clues on that at all? >> there's some suggestive turnout figures that turnouts a bit higher in the outer boroughs than the inner boroughs, and the outer boroughs, obviously a bit more ulez worried about sadiq khan, but which, of course, we saw in uxbridge, when the tories hung on to that seat. yeah, indeed, indeed. but, the race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that's the way to bet. and so i'd still bet on sadiq khan, but it might bet on sadiq khan, but it might be closer than people think. >> and ben houchen getting it, that that was a stunner, wasn't it? >> was andy street in the west midlands is more of a, could go either way because he's personally popular there and the gaza muslim voter issue, plays against labour as we saw. >> well, this is a new headache for keir starmer, a new electoral constituency that he had taken for granted, which was the british muslim vote. nicholas yes, that's absolutely that.

>> and it was it was rochdale, i think, isn't it, where oldham's, oldham's, oldham , labour's lost oldham's, oldham, labour's lost oldham's, oldham, labour's lost oldham but kirklees had lost seats in rochdale as well, that is going to be very, very difficult situation for him. >> i mean one thing, that one, his me, nicholas owen is actually the idea of a labour government with a very slim majority because i think that would place power in the hands of the likes of diane abbott, potentially, john mcdonnell, richard burgon, rebecca long—bailey. richard burgon, rebecca long—bailey . the corbynites long—bailey. the corbynites would be sort of the erg times 100 for labour government, wouldn't they? >> well, i don't know about that. it's also the other view, which i'm interested to hear what people think, that even with a very, very big majority, that also makes trouble because people think, we can get on, we can have all our plots and it's not, you know, we can't we're not, you know, we can't we're not going to topple the prime minister or anything, but we can make life very difficult for him. trade unions out there expecting to get their dividend from when a labour government comes in. all sorts of big sort

of outside forces are going to come to bear on keir starmer when he's prime minister. >> would you agree with that, liz? >> well, there's i think the big issue here is we can tinker about with who lost. there's so many seats in oldham who gained them or whatever happened in seaside. the big thing going on and you you mentioned powerful forces is that our democracy is under attack. two reasons george galloway is the most dangerous man in britain. he is harvesting , supports for another nations business. is using ideology as a weapon, is using race. i'm talking very personally because i come from rochdale and he's putting neighbour against neighbour and he's dividing like not not like , you know number 35 not not like, you know number 35 is a tory. i won't speak to her. it's it's, it's race. and because you think he's leveraging the british muslim he is of course he's and the british muslim vote, which used

to be got to labour. i know that from my mum's days canvassing or what have you because it the labour party represented working people, people who were being exploited in factories or whatever. now it's a different matter because the, because the communities are being whipped up to, invest more in what's going on at the far end of the mediterranean than they are in rochdale. so that's the first thing. and the second one is intimidation of mps. why is it that 70? i think around 70 so far? tory mps are leaving before the next election. it's not because they think, oh, we're going to lose. no. you know, people have have faced that forever. >> politicians always backed themselves. >> they are being i went out for a coffee with an mp the other day because i wanted to support something. he was fighting for, and he told me that he gets bomb threats, he gets personal

threats, he gets personal threats , you know, 2 or 3 a week threats, you know, 2 or 3 a week to himself , threats, you know, 2 or 3 a week to himself, his family, his his constituency office and also the other problem, if he tries to get something done in the in the city he represents, nobody in the council offices will cooperate with them because it's this left wing enclave, you know , a groupthink and they just refuse to deal with. well, it's because he's a tory. >> and you're right to mention the mps who are afraid to do theirjob. look at mike freer, their job. look at mike freer, their job. look at mike freer, the mp for golders green in north london, who's stepping down because of death threats , down because of death threats, look, george galloway is not here to defend himself. he would argue he's been duly elected. he enjoys popular support and he wants to end the carnage in gaza. but it's all about opinion . next up is rishi sunak goose. now cooked? if so, who replaces him before the election ? and is him before the election? and is nigel farage? sir keir starmer's number one political asset? we'll debate that

next. we'll be discussing nigel farage in just a moment. but first is rishi sunak's goose. now cooked? should the tories chuck him out? and if so , who replaces him? and if so, who replaces him? well, let's get reaction from my friday friends. yes, my friday, a team of tv news legend nicholas owen, ex bbc radio superstar liz kershaw when the beeb was brilliant and the founder of electoral calculus , founder of electoral calculus, the man with the biggest poll in the man with the biggest poll in the building, martin baxter, martin, what do you think? a change at the top . does that fix change at the top. does that fix the tories problems? >> i think conservatives would be bull goose crazy to change the prime minister at this stage. that all the polling evidence suggests that every time they change the leader, it gets worse. and if they want to gets worse. and if they want to get down to zero seats, then just change the leader every

month until december and that's the way to do it. so but if they'd stuck with boris johnson, i think they might well be in a better place now than they are. well, would you agree with that liz kershaw? >> yeah, because boris johnson was elected by the membership in the jew fashion, the proper fashion . and then he was ousted fashion. and then he was ousted by a coup and a lot of cooked up charges, well, they weren't cooked up. he did stand in a room where there was a cake and possibly a sandwich in a warm glass of prosecco. whether or not he drank, it was never proved in court. but anyway, he was elected. and one of the reasons i think so many conservatives will have stayed at home yesterday is because they were . they're just they were. they're just disgusted because then what happened , liz truss was elected happened, liz truss was elected and she had to resign, but then it was just another coup in slipped, rishi sunak not democratically elected and people are just fed up with it. so i think it's, a real dilemma because i think even his own

constituents hate rishi sunak. hate is a strong word. >> that's a very strong because in the in the quite a popular local mp, the mayor of the new mayor of north yorkshire . mayor of north yorkshire. >> counterterm northallerton, he's gone nc is labour and for the. i just saw that and i was astonished this teatime i thought how can such a beautiful and fabulously wealthy part of england all suddenly decide to vote labour? >> you have to wonder, nicholas owen. the tories have nothing to lose. so getting rid of rid of rishi is a no brainer, isn't it? >> oh no, there's no question at all. they're going to do that. no. no way. as you said, there will be absolute madness. >> but if you know armageddon is certain, why not? >> well i think kitchen sink time. no, no, i no question at all that the sunak will lead them into action. i was interested you said december. did you, did you. was that just a thought or do you think

they'll really play the game that long, who can say? perhaps a friend of mine said that perhaps sunak wants to be prime minister for at least two years, and that would take it. >> you've got a sort of target. >> you've got a sort of target. >> 2nd november. >> 2nd november. >> i get through this, i've been told. >> october. yeah before. >> october. yeah before. >> would a november poll give him two years as prime minister? >> i think so, so why do you reject the idea of replacing sunak so readily, nicholas, given the fact that you know, the writing's on the wall? >> well, i think, as you say, it would be absolutely crazy. first of all, the steam has gone out of all, the steam has gone out of the idea of there being a rebellion among conservative mps. >> apparently they're getting drunk tonight. according to the guido fawkes website . guido fawkes website. >> is that right? >> is that right? >> yeah, although that doesn't really make much of a difference. >> politicians getting drunk. thatis >> politicians getting drunk. that is a shocking story. >> i like the idea of a new pm, you know, in leathers on a motorbike with tattoos and then you went and spoilt it by mentioning keir starmer. i was thinking , mentioning keir starmer. i was thinking, who is this hero you were quite excited about? i was friend , i was going to vote for him. >> yeah, but so, so you don't think you think you're certain that sunak fights the next

election? >> absolutely. yeah. >> absolutely. yeah. >> but what's the point in that. >> but what's the point in that. >> well, i mean because i think he he's not going to turn around and say okay guys we're throwing in the towel now is he. come on. no way, no way. no politician ever does that at all, things can change quite quickly. i don't think it's going to be a huge we're talking about a huge labour majority. i don't think it's going to be that huge. frankly. i think things could change quite quickly here. and when it comes to the election, the folk people focus on the absolutely different things, do they not? we're all talking as if the very thing that we're told not to do, which is draw enormous lessons from local elections and we're always told that's the wrong thing to do. and here we are all doing it like martin, i think there's two reasons why he's not going to go the first one is when you say there's nothing to lose, absolutely is nothing to lose. >> the conservatives might win 100 to 200 seats under sunak. if they change leader again, they could win so few seats that they aren't even the opposition ed davey could be the leader of the opposition if the tories mess up further, the second big reason

is that there's no obvious successor that when theresa may had problems, boris johnson was an obvious successor, and we saw it in the polling that he was very popular with the public, the conservatives do not have a bofis the conservatives do not have a boris to mark around at the moment to take the helm. >> martin, full disclosure i am a sunak spartan. i called for him to be prime minister in january of 2021, and i think that he's an underrated prime minister. i think he's quietly and slowly working his way through the problems in the country. he ended the brexit deadlock in northern ireland with the winds of framework. the proof that that has been successful is that we have power sharing in stormont. the dup are on board, inflation is coming down. we had the shallowest of recessions. interest rates will hopefully creep down later in the year. i think he's a good prime minister. could that help him in a few months time ? him in a few months time? >> not on the basis of today , or >> not on the basis of today, or the opinion polls, but the pubuc the opinion polls, but the public aren't stupid , are they? public aren't stupid, are they?

>> can't they see that sunak was handed a difficult set of cards with some of the things liz was saying that they voted for boris. >> they had boris taken away. they've had another prime minister they didn't vote for. since the economy is not doing well, many things are not doing well. i it feels like a sea change moment. >> but what about this choice between starmer and sunak in our increasingly presidential system? is that not something that will factor into the end result, the fact that there are no big, great cheerleaders for starmer out there, only people fed up with the tories. >> but i turn that around and say there's not big cheerleaders out for sunak either. they're much of a muchness in that sense. neither one's got a big advantage over the other. starmer has the advantage that he's not been in power for 14 years. >> yeah, briefly, liz, there's just nobody big is there. >> they're both short is aren't they. you know. and you've got your choice between a bloke who suits don't fit him and a bloke who was pumps to go north and a

hoodie because he thinks he's going to be down with the working class . he. oh going to be down with the working class. he. oh yeah. and a pint. didn't he have a pint when he went before? was that ed miliband and a bacon butty? >> he's pint sized. yeah. nicholas. yeah. briefly. before we get on to nigel farage, i happen to think that shares in rishi sunak are too low and that shares in keir starmer are too high. am i deluded? >> no. i think you're absolutely right . i agree with absolutely right. i agree with absolutely what you said. i think sunak i think things will are beginning to turn round a lot of things, frankly, that you know, inflation. well that's nothing to do with politicians really. but he will reap the benefits of that eventually, but i think he's very hard working and diligent and applied and beavering away behind the scenes. scenes. >> scenes. >> i don't think his comms are very good. no i don't people can see that. >> he's rolled his sleeves up and he's getting on with the job, chipping away at it. >> hang on a minute. the exact opposite of boris exact opposite is boris. chaotic couldn't do anything wrong. >> boris. why? >> boris. why? >> boris. why? >> boris was a leader. boris was was charismatic. if we'd had all

that lockdown rubbish and, you know, covid and everything else with well which somebody with theresa may as prime minister. oh my god, this nation would have been miserable . have been miserable. >> you're quite right. >> you're quite right. >> it kept us jolly, mostly . he >> it kept us jolly, mostly. he might have been still be most definitely disingenuous . definitely disingenuous. >> well, that is half the battle, isn't it, speaking of jolly, let's talk about nigel farage now. reform uk kept their promise and demonstrated that they are indeed a thorn in the side to the tories . although, as side to the tories. although, as predicted and based upon last night's local election results , night's local election results, any success they have will all but guarantee a labour government. it's strange that a party government. it's strange that a party of the right, government. it's strange that a party of the right , with government. it's strange that a party of the right, with a far more conservative policy offering than the actual tories, should be so enthusiastic about installing sir keir starmer into number 10 for five years, with a bumper majority . in fact, the bumper majority. in fact, the man who set up the party, the formidable nigel farage, told me on this channel three months ago

that we might have labour in office for ten years. reform uk risks falling between two stools, damaging the conservatives but not fatally keeping them out of power. but not winning seats or gaining power themselves. if isolating the tories, only to see sir keir starmer running the country for a decade sounds like a hollow victory to me. what is reform uk for, if not to ensure that a fiscally and socially conservative party is in power ? conservative party is in power? if nigel farage is expecting a possible decade of labour rule, when exactly will reform uk start winning seats and form a government? pop starlet taylor swift will be drawing her state pension by the time that happens . now i'm an admirer of those involved in the reform uk project and plenty of their policies make sense. but other than their stated objective to nuke the tories, their wider

plan doesn't add up. if nigel farage takes a frontline role and becomes leader of the party, then yes, their support will grow. but the irony is that the stronger reform uk become, the larger a labour majority becomes as well. reform uk voters, many of whom watch and listen to this channel, detest everything about the labour party and particularly sir keir starmer. and yet their support for this insurgent force only guarantees him more years in power. nicholas owen nigel farage is keir starmer's greatest political ally. >> yeah, the analysis was great actually, i loved it, i just actually, i loved it, ijust think if you look back in history, all this business about party's rise ukip rose, or weren't they saying the same things about that? and ukip, i think at the same stage, was doing rather better. am i right? >> is that right, martin? i think that at this stage that ukip had suddenly ukip did very well in european elections , but

well in european elections, but remember those. but neither neither ukip nor reform are very big. it's running in local council elections, but they got 4 million votes in the general election , didn't they, without election, didn't they, without even achieving one. >> but it makes you wonder quite what their strategy is. >> are they trying to replace the conservatives? in which case you want to do what the lib dems do and run lots of candidates locally and build up support and overtake the conservatives in a way like labour did in overtook the liberal party at the start of the 20th century? or are they slightly confused? and they think they're in america that farage can run as the conservative candidate for president and win the primary vote. but that isn't how the system works here. listen, listen . listen. >> the most important thing with the two parties that have dominated politics in this country since, what, 19 oh, whatever it was, when the liberals finally fell away, the conservatives and labour is that they are both. i hate these political cliches, but it's true, isn't it? broad churches, broad churches, reform . you may broad churches, reform. you may love this party, but it's only about sort of one set of right

wing, dare i say it, policies, isn't it? hum. population won't go for that at a general election. i just absolutely certain of that . the way that certain of that. the way that starmer has pulled his party together away back from the sort of crazy corbyn years and so on, and the tories represent this enormous broad thing. that is what people, when they sit down in a polling booth or stand in the polling booth, show their passport, which i think you had a bit of trouble with today. they didn't believe you were who you said you were. >> sort of a delusion. >> sort of a delusion. >> and in rural northamptonshire, very sorry because but you go in and you put your cross, you are you going to say to them, oh yes. they're really going to be tough on immigration. yeah. but what are they going to do about the housing problems that young people face? what are they going to actually going to do about inflation. that's what matters. >> well, yes. and martin, again, the british people are not stupid. and when it comes to the election, they look at the reform option and they'll think, well, i agree with those policies. i love nigel farage, i admire richard tice, but they're not going to win in this area. so it's got to be tory.

>> well, the will and the conservatives will bang the drum for that message i guess. >> but against that you get people either not voting ex—conservative or reform, voters who say the conservative party is not conservative anymore. it's conservative in name only. and why should i vote for them? why should i get labour policies from a so—called conservative government? i'm going to vote for how many people? >> martin, are going to vote labour because the tories aren't conservative enough. make it make sense. >> yes, the some voters are voting green because labour are not left wing enough. >> so keir starmer has a little bit of problem on his left flank. but it's much smaller than the conservatives problem on their right, their right flank, fascinating debate, martin, can i thank you for coming in. really enjoyed your input. martin baxter there, who is a top polling expert. he's the founder of the electoral calculus. and of course, he will be returning to the channel as we build up excitement around the next general election. delighted to hang on to nicholas owen and liz kershaw. we've got lots to get through coming up as voters at milton road library in

cambridge had to get into a nissan leaf car in to order cast their vote yesterday. is britain now a failed state? also, is emmanuel macron right that , that emmanuel macron right that, that brexit has been bad for the uk? we'll discuss that and much, much more. see you in two.

a sign, if you needed it. of broken britain as voters at milton road library in cambridge . had to get into a nissan leaf car , which is an electric car. car, which is an electric car. it'll probably broken down in order to cast their vote. it's enough to drive you round the bend. is britain becoming a failed state? >> liz kershaw, well , i wish the >> liz kershaw, well, i wish the trains could run on time and they're going to be on the running late today. maybe it's the weather. there are going to

be on strike from monday. go slow at heathrow airport. terrible, smart motorways. they're not, are they? not really. just try. get into your show on a friday. >> you said that you like doing this show. >> i love it. could you move it? could you move it to a wednesday? yeah let's do that. >> let's move the weekend forward and move it to milton keynes, i think, is what you like. yeah. well, listen, it's a funny story, but listen, who cares by which means we vote. all that matters is we have the franchise . franchise. >> yes yes, yes. thank goodness. >> yes yes, yes. thank goodness. >> and when needs must i mean, that was just british resourcefulness wasn't it? using a nissan. >> absolutely extraordinary. i don't know about that. why a nissan leaf? i mean they all had to sort of climb the front seat, the back seat. i mean, what was that all about? yeah. well i think they got the people who voted to push it in the end because it had run out of battery. >> but listen, well done to those in cambridge that managed to have a polling station so that democracy could prevail. now, france's emmanuel macron has said that brexit has impoverished the uk, and he's warned that populist leaders in

europe to pipe down, saying that they are all closet brexiteers. well that's quite the flex for macron to claim that brexit has been bad for the uk. since the pandemic, britain has largely avoided recession. unlike france, germany and the eurozone , our national debt is a fraction of france's , as is the fraction of france's, as is the uk rate of unemployment. forget about those famous three hour lunch breaks these days , the lunch breaks these days, the french never go to work. oh, and it was earlier this year that britain leapfrogged. france leapfrogged, no pun intended , to leapfrogged, no pun intended, to become number eight in the world for manufacturing . the lesson of for manufacturing. the lesson of brexit is the opposite, mr macron. in fact, if france are to blossom economically, have control of their borders and save vast monthly payments so that they can eat croissant instead, they should get out as well and bring back the french franc . when france had the franc. when france had the french franc, their pop music was so much better. remember vanessa paradis, joe le taxi , vanessa paradis, joe le taxi, taxi. for mr macron, their cars

were better too. look at this funky citroen and their most famous actor, gerard depardieu behaved like an absolute angel all around women. he was such a good boy. then frexit is coming. that's right. frexit is coming. you heard it here first. will the last person to leave the eu please remember to switch the lights out or avoid brussels? what do you think, liz kershaw? i mean, if you've got strong thoughts about emmanuel macron , thoughts about emmanuel macron, i have, but, you know, i had a bit of a letter this week because the new daily show , i because the new daily show, i beg your pardon? the we've all had a drink live chuckle. >> the new french dictionary was out. don't google latitude. and i remember there being a great thing when i was doing french a—level. our french teacher was, really disgusted that lee kuan yew gum chewing gum had made it into the french language anyway. oh no no no, guess what now in new french dictionary baillon say is that right? that's what french she's got in because she

had french creole heritage. and it means above and beyond the rest. so that's in also i mean le click and collect. is that right? yeah so they hate all this basically. so they hate so germans have das marketing classics about the only german word you can actually pronounce. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> but, so this is up against we could say, oh, our culture's invading us, but he's, he's said some sensible things in the last week and things that need saying looking at the bigger picture, he said europe is under threat existentially, culturally , existentially, culturally, security wise. he said, we've got to stop buying oil and gas off russia. we've got to stop using china to outsource all our manufacturing . we've got to stop manufacturing. we've got to stop just taking for granted and relying on the americans to defend us. we've got to start flying the flag and saying, made in europe. well, that's radical,

isn't it? i've been saying that for about 30 years. you know, it's such a short term solution to get stuff made so cheap in china, which it's not anymore because their economies, people have got rich there. but yeah. so good for him. so his is a bit pompous and he's trying to style himself as the president of europe, i think. but he is trying to be the statesman and he's trying to say i think the brexit is a side issue basically. come on lads, come back. we need you. you've got your defence mechanisms, you missiles as well, your nuclear subs. let's, you know, strength in numbers. let's all stick together because we shouldn't be fighting amongst ourselves. together because we shouldn't be fighting amongst ourselves . we fighting amongst ourselves. we should be defending this europe against the rest of the world. >> most definitely. nicholas. yeah. >> okay. defending getting together with us on migration , together with us on migration, immigration and all those boats across the channel. can he persuade those policemen on the french beaches? exactly. actually get up and do a bit of today's work? well, they've been doing more. >> they've been slashing boats and spraying tear gas, haven't

they? >> and escorting boats across the channel as well. >> yeah, well, that's maritime law, isn't it? you've got to be careful there. but anyway, the thing about macron is he's got, he got le pen and whoever the current is it marine i forget marine, marine le pen or a sister or a cousin or. >> yeah i mean she's obviously the daughter of, of. >> yeah, yeah. >> yeah, yeah. >> dad . >> dad. >> dad. >> le pen. >> le pen. >> no. what was he was he was le grand negron le pen. >> yeah. yeah, exactly. but he's got that to worry about. i mean, that's what he's, he's really up against much the same sort of forces that are at work here. and so that's what he's forces naked politics wasn't it, to attack britain and say we've been impoverished by brexit? >> even the archest remainer couldn't say that. >> no, everything. everything in france. nicolas. >> well, yes. i'm sorry, i we've discussed this beforehand. i don't i'm afraid i'm not with you on this. i do think this country has suffered as a result of impoverished st nicholas owen. yeah, i think so, to some extent, yeah. i think it has. it's certainly narrowed us down as the focus of things. we got all these things coming, people coming up who seem to frankly think, you know, everything sort

of has to be concentrated on this country, ignore our closest neighbours and all the other things. what do people voted brexit for? they voted in brexit, voted for brexit because they thought it would put an end to illegal immigration. >> oh no. no no no. people thought no, no i you know why i voted brexit? because i thought like macron. i thought europe is imploding and all great civilisations eventually do. and i don't want i'm getting off this sinking ship . i'm staying this sinking ship. i'm staying on the lifeboat of the british isles. fascinating last word nicholas. >> well, i don't think a lot of people would agree with you. the poland, for example, saying they're going to overtake the uk in terms of gdp and everything else. i'm sorry, i do not think the brexit has done this country any favours. >> there you go. listen, let me tell you listeners and viewers, no, no, no, listen, half our viewers would agree with you and friday night live with mark dolan. it's the home of diverse opinion. lots more to come. poor old prince harry won't be staying at buckingham palace when he visits the uk next week. should he go budget and stay in a premier inn? find out about

harry's travel plans and his glorious return to britain

next. poor old prince harry won't be staying at buckingham palace when he visits the uk next week. should he go budget and stay in a premier inn? well, let's discuss that, this is an issue for prince harry because he's on his way over to the uk when he touches down in sadiq khan's lawless london, he'll no doubt be mugged for his watch, wallet and phone before he steps off the heathrow express. now i happen to think that harry should have full royal protection because it wasn't his choice to be the king's son, but that's not the view of the courts who have ruled out his request for armed cops. but the prince's worries don't stop there. we're hearing that harry will not be accommodated at

buckingham palace, even though it's emptier than a branch of wilkos. so where is he going to stay? the ritz , the dorchester? stay? the ritz, the dorchester? well, his media gigs are drying up, so he might have to go budget. he might like the premier inn where he can bunk up with the face of that hotel chain, comedian lenny henry. what a laugh a minute those two would make. how about a holiday in express, where he can enjoy the wide ranging choice offered by the vending machine if he gets peckish in the middle of the night? and i'm delighted to say that britain's favourite pub chain, jd wetherspoons , now have chain, jd wetherspoons, now have rooms available in some of their venues. rooms available in some of their venues . the hotel wetherspoons, venues. the hotel wetherspoons, where you can check out any time you like, but you can't leave until you've drunk 12 pints of old speckled hen and got into a fight with an off duty electrician. if harry times it right, he could be at his wetherspoons hotel just in time for curry thursday. chicken tikka masala and a pint for

under a tenner. in the company of some common sense, brexit supporting customers. yes, if 24 hours in a wetherspoons doesn't reverse harry's woke brainwashing, nothing will. prince harry's budget tour to the uk might just be the making of him. nicholas owen yeah . do of him. nicholas owen yeah. do you think that he should be accommodated in the palace? there are plenty of spare rooms and no, i don't think so. >> no, this is a family rift that's too deep for all that now. no, but i do gather that he's. i mean, the real problem, isn't it? that he . there was isn't it? that he. there was some talk that he wanted to bnng some talk that he wanted to bring some of his family over. now, don't do any of that. but the king is there going to get together and meet and say hello together and meet and say hello to each other. but that's quite enough. >> now, does it strike you as odd, though, in that capacious house that they can't accommodate? yeah, maybe their famous son. >> i just don't think he wants to be there at all. and one completely understand it. i mean, if you think of actual any other families when there's been a huge rift like this, would we want to go, oh, we're actually

going to be staying round at my mother's again? no way. he won't want to do that. no, no. >> briefly, liz, i quite like the sound of the wetherspoons hotel. >> yeah, i love that big fry up in the morning. for starters. i just think, you know, i can imagine any family, you know. hey, are you having a harry staying when he comes over? you're joking. i won't give him house room. that's right . and house room. that's right. and there's. it's been really bitter and nasty and it's made people ill, i think. and, you know, i can't see how that can be easily healed. >> so you don't think charles should say, look, take room 377. >> it's all. look, there's big top totty from chelsea lining up. hello. how are you ? i'm very up. hello. how are you? i'm very well. how are you? it'll be, it'll be. it'll have loads of offers. >> i tell you what. and so will liz kershaw after those brilliant impressions . thank you brilliant impressions. thank you to nicholas owen and liz kershaw. well done to aaron and george for a busy day. i'm back tomorrow at nine patrick christys is next. >> that warm feeling inside and

from boxt boilers. sponsors of weather on gb news. >> evening. welcome to your latest weather update from the met office here on gb news. a mixed may day bank holiday weekend. some places having warm sunshine, but there will be a fair few showers around as well. i had a real mixed picture today. cracking day in western scotland . dull and damp over the scotland. dull and damp over the central areas. the rain here slowly edging northwards. clearer skies in the south could allow it to turn quite chilly actually. may not be far off freezing in some rural parts of the south, whereas the cloud and the south, whereas the cloud and the rain over northern england , the rain over northern england, southern scotland, northern ireland will keep the temperatures up in double digits here. it does make for a pretty dismal start to the long weekend. a lot of cloud and rain and drizzle on and off through the day. north east england may well brighten up a much brighter day tomorrow for the midlands, east anglia and many southern counties of england and wales. fine tomorrow with some sunny spells and again the west coast of scotland doing okay for sunshine. not quite as warm as

today, but 1718 likely here. cool on some of these north sea coasts, particularly the far north—east, where it stays fairly murky . that's north—east, where it stays fairly murky. that's going to be an issue, i think, on sunday as well. mist and low cloud around the coast in the north—east could be some heavy showers developing through the day over central and eastern scotland, but again, many areas fine on sunday, some spells of sunshine increasing chance of seeing cloud and showers coming up from the south. but with a bit of sunshine. temperatures getting into the high teens once more, that'll feel pretty pleasant. so a brighter day on sunday. certainly across northern england. we'll keep that mixture of some places staying fine and sunny on monday, but it will still be some showers around . still be some showers around. >> looks like things are heating up boxt boiler as sponsors of weather on

gb news. >> good evening. you're watching and listening to gb news. i'm sam francis. the headlines at 11. the conservatives are on

track for their worst set of local election results in 40 years. the party's lost hundreds of seats across england, with laboun of seats across england, with labour, the liberal democrats and independents making gains. reform uk also put in a strong showing in the blackpool south by—election, coming in third place. sir keir starmer claims labour's results are a direct message to the prime minister, as he renewed demands for rishi sunak to call a general election . well, the liberal democrats have also made gains, with party leader sir ed davey pledging to make the conservative government history. >> people from around our great country have had enough of this out of touch conservative government >> they've had enough of being taken for granted and being let down. it's time for. taken for granted and being let down. it's time for . change. and down. it's time for. change. and across this country from cheltenham to dorset, from west oxfordshire to here in winchester , so many people,

winchester, so many people, including lifelong conservatives , are switching to the liberal democrats to make that change happen. >> meanwhile, the prime minister insists he's focusing on the job at hand after those disappointing local election results for the conservatives. despite losing control of a number of authorities , as the number of authorities, as the conservatives did hold on to the mayoral seat in tees valley. ben houchen, re—elected in that seat . well, despite the evidence that people will stick with the conservatives, rishi sunak says the general election will prove positive for his party. >> keir starmer came here twice, rachel reeves came here three times. but even they couldn't dislodge ben and the fantastic conservative team , right. and conservative team, right. and they also threw a lot of mud. it needs to be said in this election because they were angry. angry that ben has delivered more for this region in seven years than labour party managed in 30 years. >> well, let's take one final look tonight at the latest council results from across

england. counting has now finished the final