Transcripts For BBCNEWS Election 2019 20240713

Were expecting to hear from the Prime Minister shortly outside number ten. Labour performed poorly, losing 59 seats, many of them in places theyve held for decades. Jeremy corbyn says hell stand down as leader early next year. I think the responsible thing to do is not to walk away from the whole thing, and i wont do that. I will stay here until there has been somebody elected to succeed me and then i will step down at that point. A strong result for the snp, who now hold 48 seats out of 59 in scotland. Leader Nicola Sturgeon says it sends a clear message for a second independence referendum. Liberal democrat leaderjo swinson quits, after she loses her own seat to the snp and the party fails to improve its position at westminster. Iam i am proud to have been the first woman to lead the liberal democrats. Iam even woman to lead the liberal democrats. I am even more proud that i will not be the last. We will go original this hour, looking at the West Midlands, where the tories had a good night, picking up the tories had a good night, picking up nine seats, a pattern replicated across labour areas in the north of england. Right here in the West Midlands, in the library of birmingham, we have some depressed labour voters who say it appears communism is dead and we have some very relieved and upbeat conservative voters, who say they cant wait for the country to get moving again. Labour voters who say it appears corbyn ism is dead. The result of the election means big change in the house of commons and for the country. The uk will now leave the European Union by the end of next month. Well be speaking to the main parties and will bring you reaction from here throughout the afternoon. Good afternoon and welcome to viewers here in the uk, on bbc one and the bbc news channel, and around the globe on bbc world news. The conservative party has secured an overwhelming win in the general election. The Prime Minister, borisjohnson, now has a majority of 80 the largest since Margaret Thatcher in 1987. Earlier today, he went to Buckingham Palace to ask the permission of the queen to form a new government. He has promised to work flat out and lead a peoples government and said the uk will leave the European Union at the end ofjanuary, no ifs, no buts. After losing many seats in their traditional heartlands, Jeremy Corbyn said labours result was disappointing and that he would not fight a future general election. The liberal democrats had a terrible night as the party leader, jo swinson, lost her seat and quit. But the snp did well, coming close to sweeping the board in scotland. Lets take a look at the results. The conservatives won 364 seats, up a7. Labour took 203, down 59. The snp have 48 mp5, an increase of 13. This is the vote share in Great Britain. Well bring you all the reaction and speak to all the main parties, and look at what at the result means for westminster and for brexit. Stay with us throughout the day. Right now, we go to downing street, and clive myrie and what looks like Dominic Cummings on the steps. He has already spoken. Hello. He has already spoken to party activists. I think you can see some of the conservative team out on the pavement here. We are just waiting for the Prime Minister to leave number ten to address the nation. He has spoken to Party Supporters this morning and activists. He has met with the queen and formally asked her if he could form the next government. Now, he is preparing to address the nation, and here he is. Good afternoon. Afternoon, everybody. This morning, i went to Buckingham Palace and i am forming a new government and, on monday, mps will arrive at westminster to form a new parliament, and i am proud to say that members of our new one nation government, a peoplesgovernment, will set out from constituencies that have never returned a conservative mp for 100 yea rs. Returned a conservative mp for 100 years. Yes, they will have an overwhelming mandate from this election to get it done, and we will honour that mandate by january the sist. Honour that mandate by january the 31st. In this moment of national resolution, i want to speak directly to those who made it possible and to all those who voted for us for the first time and those whose pencils may have wavered over the ballot, and you heard the voices of their pa rents and you heard the voices of their parents and grandparents whispering anxiously in their areas. I say, thank you for the trust you have placed in us and in me, and we will work around the clock to repay your trust to deliver on your priorities with a parliament that works for you. And i also want to speak to those who did not vote for us or for me and who wanted and perhaps still wa nt to me and who wanted and perhaps still want to remain in the eu, and i want you to know that we in this one nation conservative government will never ignore your good and positive feelings of warmth and sympathy towards the other nations of europe, because now is the moment, precisely as we leave the eu, to let those natural feelings find renewed expression in building a new partnership, which is one of the Great Projects for next year, and as we Work Together with the eu, as friends and sovereign equals, in tackling Climate Change and terrorism, in building academic and scientific cooperation, redoubling our trading relationship, scientific cooperation, redoubling ourtrading relationship, i scientific cooperation, redoubling our trading relationship, i frankly urge everyone on either side of what are, after three and a half years, after all, an increasingly arid argument, i urge everyone to find closure and to let the healing begin. Because i believe, in fact i know, because i have heard it loud and clear from every know, because i have heard it loud and clearfrom every corner of know, because i have heard it loud and clear from every corner of the country, that the overwhelming priority of the british people now is that we should focus above all on the nhs. That simple and beautiful idea that represents the best of our country. With the biggest ever cash boost, 50,000 more nurses, a0 new hospitals, as well as providing better schools, safer streets and, in the next few weeks and months, we will bring forward proposals to transform this country with better infrastructure, better education, better technology. If you ask yourself, what is this new government going to do with the extraordinary majority . I will tell you, that is what we will do, you write and level up, unite and level up, bringing together the whole of this incredible United Kingdom, england, scotland, wales, Northern Ireland, together, taking us forward , ireland, together, taking us forward, unleashing the potential of the whole country, delivering opportunity across the entire nation. Since i know that, after five weeks, frankly, of electioneering this country deserves a break from wrangling, electioneering this country deserves a breakfrom wrangling, a breakfrom politics and a permanent break from talking about brexit, i want eve ryo ne talking about brexit, i want everyone to go about their christmas preparations happy and secure in the knowledge that here in this peoples government the work is now being stepped up to make 2020 a year of prosperity and and hope and to deliver a parliament that works for the people. Prosperity and growth and hope. Thank you all very much and hope. Thank you all very much and happy christmas. Thank you. Prime minister there with that address, and he is still soaking up the applause of the step of number ten, as he goes back into begin what he hopes, i am sure, will be five yea rs of he hopes, i am sure, will be five years of government, to his right on the step Dominic Cummings, the architect, many would of this remarkable Election Campaign. He spoke to the Party Faithful earlier this morning. He has had a chat with the queen and now he has spoken to the queen and now he has spoken to the nation, and he made it clear that this was a one nation government, a peoples government, that he will honour the mandate given to him to leave the eu by january the 31st, and he wanted to address voters to say thank you for the trust that they have put in him, and he also wanted to address those in this divided country, and we all know that, a8 voted to stay in the European Union, 52 voted to leave and it was a divisive Election Campaign, and he said he wanted to address those people who did not vote for him, and he wanted to make it clear they would not be ignored. He said wanted to build a new partnership that urges everybody, after three and a half years, to find closure and let the healing begin. He said his overwhelming priority would be to focus on some of those issues that came up during the campaign, principally the nhs. He wished everyone a merry christmas. The Christmas Tree is out behind me. The first election in december that we have had up to 1923. Back to you, emily. Thank you, clive. I dont know what you felt, jo coburn, whether you got the sort of borisjohnson that we all remembered back again, like the straitjacket has come off, and it reminded me a bit of what happens in american president ial elections, where they end up always making roughly the same speech, which is, this is not about blue or red states, its about the United States, and it was that sort of pitch. Yes, at the first time weve heard it, and admittedly he has only just found out he has this big majority, and he can be magnanimous in that victory. He talked about one nation toryism and also said he has to thank all those labour voters labour voters, those heartland labour voters, those heartland labour voters, those heartland labour voters, who took a punt on borisjohnson to get brexit done, to use his mantra. For the first time, we heard to reach out to those who didnt vote for him, who didnt want to be Prime Minister, those who wa nted to be Prime Minister, those who wanted to remain in the eu, and that will be a difficultjob for him to bridge, but he has got time. He has time to think about this. So, to some extent, he can push towards that end of january date to take the uk out of the eu, as he pledged, no ifs, no buts. And then we will see what sort of government he does actually put forward. He will do a much bigger reshuffle then and no doubt he will shape it in the way he would like to take a domestic agenda forward , would like to take a domestic agenda forward, too. The only thing i would say is the clock will start ticking again, the famous eu clock, on the trade talks, as soon as the eu and uk part. Then they have to get this trade deal, and again there could be a hard enter that at the end of next year if they dont have that comprehensive dealfor year if they dont have that comprehensive deal for the pressure of the nhs right now, it featured hugely in this election, labour wa nted hugely in this election, labour wanted to make it front and centre and it didnt work for them in the right way, and there will be questions asked about whether they spent too much time talking about selling it off to donald trump and not enough about the waiting times and the crisis in the nhs, as many people see it. President trump is the one person who has had this kind of silent presence in the whole Election Campaign, brought to the front by labour as a way of winning votes for their party, and not by borisjohnson as a way of winning votes for the conservatives, but this morning donald trump has congratulated borisjohnson, and said britain and the United States will never be free to strike a big trade deal after brexit, and i think we can talk to the Us Ambassador to the United Kingdom, woodyjohnson. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. What do you think is on President Trumps mind . He works well with Boris Johnson, does he . Ithink mind . He works well with Boris Johnson, does he . I think he does. I wa nt to johnson, does he . I think he does. I want to congratulate Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister. I heard his speech, tremendous, and it is what he pledged during his campaign, and he pledged during his campaign, and he ended with that today, when he talked about what he was going to do for the country, putting it in a different place, and congratulations. Does this now mean that britain is at the front of the queue for trade deals . As far as this president is concerned, they have never been anything but the front of the queue, and the president has said it will stay, and stated in his tweet which i read, reiterating what he has been saying for the last couple of years, wants to do for the last couple of years, wants todoa for the last couple of years, wants to do a free trade deal, free, fair and balanced, something that both sides have to sign, and he wants to get it done quickly. So it will be on his desk and he wants to get it done, and genuinely if the president wa nts to done, and genuinely if the president wants to get something done he gets it done. But its not that simple because, from britains position, we have to decide whether we still want to be aligned with the eu and any of their regulations and standards, which would prohibit anything that allows for a fast and furious trade deal with the us, which might be on very different standards. I dont think its going to be that complicated. You can make it complicated. You can make it complicated or you can make it simple and at this stage it has to bea simple and at this stage it has to be a very freeing experience for your country. Because you have been in the eu and subject to all of this for the last a0 years. Now you can be very creative and look forward to a new world in many respects. Whether its just the us, canada, five eyes, japan and other countries, you can look at it much more creatively and perhaps create a little more leveraged in terms of negotiating the best deal you can for the people of the country. We know that President Trump has a very good friend in nigel farage. Do you expect to see nigel farage on the 2020 president ial campaign . This day is all about, you know, an historic moment in your history with your new Prime Minister. And this overwhelming landslide victory. Really, i think the president gets that. He recognises the importance of our special relationship and our mutual security and prosperity. I think thats going to be foremost on his mind. This is the first time we have spoken since that extraordinary nato visit with President Trump just over a week ago. Tell us what happened there because we all expected a press conference with the president and then he sort of turned on his heels and went and we couldnt work out whether he had been offended by that bit of video tape that suggested other leaders had been possibly laughing at him, or whether he was tipped off by the conservative party that it would be better if he left early without saying too much. Did he share with you why he suddenly went . |j saying too much. Did he share with you why he suddenly went . I think neither one of those are correct. Farfrom neither one of those are correct. Far from it. Neither one of those are correct. Farfrom it. He had done almost three hours of interviews to that point. So he was kind of interviewed out. The three interviews he had, the bilateral at winfield house, ended up at all of those with no questions. He said, are there any more questions and the press said no. It kind of stunned me in a way. I think the president felt he had a nswered i think the president felt he had answered every possible question until they ran out of questions, so the idea of having yet another press conference was a bit unnecessary. Woodyjohnson, thank you. Let us bring in the panel here who have been waiting patiently. Former conservative mp ed vaizey and current labour mp david lammy, re elected. Starting with david. I guess you would say labour s problem tonight isnt that it couldnt become a credible government, its that it had never proved itself a credible opposition. They were never scared of you and certainly never scared of Jeremy Corbyn. I think the new theme across much of the developed world in terms of centre right and right wing politics is a sort of authoritarianism in relation to immigration and those sorts of issues. And they cut through where there is, take our country back, lets get brexit done, and its true that social democratic and socialist parties have struggled to get a grip on that in heartland areas. Why is that . Your party didnt have a clear message on immigration. It was one of the most frustrating things. I would interview people from your front bench and they couldnt tell us front bench and they couldnt tell us whether they thought immigration was a good or bad thing, whether it was a good or bad thing, whether it was right. Everything was always about. Everything sounded like a trick or trap, but we were trying to understand the labour position. You are right in the sense that what you cant do is triangulate on the big issue of our times. We were triangulating on brexit. I think that was very difficult. We have struggled, and i dont think its just underJeremy Corbyn, it goes back to ed miliband and even before that. We have struggled to reconcile a more liberal position in places like london, and a small seat conservative view of the world in some places that voted leave and have now voted for borisjohnson. Thats a big challenge for the labour party but we have to wrestle with that in the months ahead. Why hasnt it been a problem for the conservative party then . They took a big punt with borisjohnson. I think in london we know boris and that perhaps reflects some of the votes you saw in london, but the rest of the country, i found you saw in london, but the rest of the country, ifound knocking on doors, labour were talking about borisjohnson, they doors, labour were talking about Boris Johnson, they were saying, doors, labour were talking about borisjohnson, they were saying, he has only been in power a few months so lets let him stay there and the brexit message was cutting through. Ed vaizey, are you thinking now, i shouldnt have left the party, if i was going to be part of the biggest majority since 1987. I Left Parliament for personal reasons and im glad, because i knew parliament for personal reasons and im glad, because i knew i would never get into government again and i wanted to move on and do something different. It wasnt anything personal about borisjohnson different. It wasnt anything personal about Boris Johnson or the party. I know borisjohnson in that he won two mayoral elections in a labour city, if you like the stop he delivered the leave vote. Whether you are a leave or remain, he was possibly the difference in that referendum and has now delivered and 80 seat majority for the conservatives, so it is pretty inarguable that he is an effective politician despite the slings and arrows of caricature is that he has endured in the campaign. Will he move to the centre and what will he do about tories on the right of the party and those voters who would like to see a tory agenda with tax cuts, raising the threshold, they will not be the sort of things he might do now. Boris johnson has more power now than he will probably have at this moment in time, and i think he and his advisers are canny enough to know how to use that. He has a lot of authority but he also recognises, as he has said in his two public speeches since the election, that to a certain extent he has borrowed votes in terms of winning the majority, just as he said he had borrowed votes when he became mayor of london, so he will reach out to those voters he has newly won for the conservatives and i think you will govern from the centre, and dare i say it even the centre left centre, and dare i say it even the ce ntre left because centre, and dare i say it even the centre left because a lot of these communities that voted for brexit are the communities that feel left behind and they have given their trust to borisjohnson behind and they have given their trust to Boris Johnson and the conservatives. And boris out of pure self interest alone will know he needs to deliver for them. And once you have done it once, and you have broken that taboo, if you like, of mining towns voting tory, they are no longer the places that would never vote for thatcher, they are the places that have now voted for borisjohnson. You might not get them back. At some point the rubber will hit the road. If borisjohnson sticks to the brexit he has set out, a hard brexit on his own governments analysis, it is an immediate drop of 6. 7 in growth in this country. The idea it will not hit those towns is peter tinley ridiculous. If he sticks to his path,it ridiculous. If he sticks to his path, it also means tariffs on manufacturing the goods. Is patently ridiculous. But those hotlines have not listened to that message. That is not my message, thatis message. That is not my message, that is the governments facts. But there was heartlands. He might change tack and we might see a different course. But those communities will be asking, has he delivered for us. Myjudgment is the empirical evidence would suggest they will be hurting. Empirical evidence would suggest they will be hurtinglj empirical evidence would suggest they will be hurting. I know if ask you if you will be standing for leading, you wont answer. But will you rule yourself out . leading, you wont answer. But will you rule yourself out . I will not rule myself out. People like me who have been in the party of 20 years have been in the party of 20 years have a lot of heavy lifting to do to get the place to an electable place. I will be listening to Party Members andi i will be listening to Party Members and i am not immune to what is said online. I will be listening to what people say, but in the end we have two elect a leader that can appeal not just to a two elect a leader that can appeal notjust to a group within the party but to the country as a whole. Unite the party, the factions have to stop fighting and we have to appeal to the country once more. That will guide thejudgment the country once more. That will guide the judgment i the country once more. That will guide thejudgment i make the country once more. That will guide the judgment i make and the country once more. That will guide thejudgment i make and i hope other colleagues as well. Do you accept the left of the party has control of all the apparatus in the labour party so they will have a majority view in terms of who succeeds. I hope some of the fixing and factions that we have seen stop. That is not the way to unite the labour party or to bring the country together. We will have local elections in may. We were badly beaten in the europeans, beaten badly last night, and unless we want to be beaten badly again in may we have to sort out what happened last night and get on with the business of finding night and get on with the business offinding a night and get on with the business of finding a new leader. Thank you to your both. Lets talk to the veteran conservative and former father of the house, ken clarke, whos in nottingham. Give us your reflections this afternoon. Its quite a remarkable victory. Boris has got an amazing opportunity now. He has powerfor the next five years and he could exercise an immense amount of discretion on what he can do. The labour party is in a crisis that will take a year or two to resolve. The liberal democrats havent broken through. Part of the big problem is scotland. Boris is now quite clear to decide what he wants to do. I very much hope he will stop campaigning, fewer photo opportunities, try to get as rapidly as possible a plan for where he is going that will deliver recovery for the economy and better distribution of it. He has a lot of tough and difficult things to do that are best donein difficult things to do that are best done in the first couple of years of parliament. Its a bit like Margaret Thatcher in 1979. But we had done a lot more preparation before Margaret Thatcher won in 79. The question we a lwa ys thatcher won in 79. The question we always ask of large majorities, who keeps them in check . Because you have been part of a house of commons that was nothing if not vibrant and argumentative in the last couple of yea rs, argumentative in the last couple of years, that pulled strongly in different directions, that arguably couldnt move for the different voices within it. But when you have such a large majority and an opposition that as you said may possibly take months or longer to come together, who keeps that party and check . You have a lot of new members who will be quite loyal and obedient and will follow the partys lead for the first two or three yea rs. Lead for the first two or three years. I think we have an extreme right who were the allies of boris six months ago, who got rid of theresa may and delayed brexit sufficiently to put him in power, he is free of their influence if he is prepared to be so. I think his authority is such that he wont have too much trouble. But the deadlock has been broken. He can get his Withdrawal Agreement at the end of january, no difficulty. And by then he will be governing seriously. Economic policy is vital. We had zero growth in the economy in the last quarter and we are teetering on the edge of recession. The deal, proper grown up negotiations with the eu are vital. There will be no other trade deals until we know where we are and that must keep borders and trade open between Great Britain and ireland on the one hand and the continent on the other. We dont want tariffs or barriers at dover. That all has to be tackled quite quickly, alongside policies. Neither party had great policies on anything other than brexit at the election. What are you going to do about social care . You cant wait foran about social care . You cant wait for an all Party Solution because there isnt one. Difficult decisions to do with social care, thats the way to relieve pressure on households. I wont go on. But going back to the key thing, these amazing votes in the north of england, we have to demonstrate that if we can get the economy on its feet again thenit get the economy on its feet again then it will benefit all parts of then it will benefit all parts of the country. The left behind have voted conservative in protest, you have to demonstrate that in four or five years time, they are sharing and benefiting from technological change and the Digital Economy and that requires enormous things, not just a few more bypasses being built and things. It means skills training, it means education standards geared to a modern economy. All that has to be achieved. All i am saying is, boris, you have a marvellous victory. I hope you know what you are going to do. To be a successful Prime Minister there is a lot of very hard work to do very quickly to get those tough and difficult things over in the first two or three years. And a lot of detail as well. Kenneth clarke, thank you. The greens have one mp caroline lucas. Lets talk to the former leader of the green party, natalie bennett, who is in sheffield. Would you accept that the remain alliance broadly failed this time . We are working within the current framework of british politics. I think its worth looking at what happened with the tory vote. Boris johnson only got 1. 3 more than theresa may did in 2017, about 300,000 more votes, but that is the practicality now, and i think we have to look for positives, and one is that this was a climate election, climate, the collapse of nature, these Environmental Issues came front and centre as never before, and we as the green party have a greatly increased vote, 60 up on 2017, and we will really be pushing to hold the government to account on these issues, as well as social justice. I wonder if you think that now that job justice. I wonder if you think that now thatjob is being done by much louder activism, like Extinction Rebellion and the crowds that we see. Maybe it has left the greens behind. You do everything for a democratic process, and they call it an emergency and tell us your house is on fire, and that tends to stop the traffic. Very much agree it is an emergency, and i would regard us as the political wing of the much broader green movement. The Climate Emergency isnt going away. In sheffield a couple of weeks ago, we saw big rainfall and floods in doncaster and rotherham. This is the reality of the state of our world, and we need action on this. That means that everybody, from the youngest climate striker campaigning for change. We need hope at the moment, and a vision of the future very different to the tory one. I think people are fed up with the chaos of our politics and the fact that a third of voters didnt vote, they are the people we need to think about as well, who are feeling really disillusioned and really disenfranchised. Weve got a political system that doesnt see a parliament that reflects the views of the people. We got 850,000 votes. Inafair, of the people. We got 850,000 votes. In a fair, proportional system, we would have 18 mp5. In a fair, proportional system, we would have 18 mps. But people have looked at those parties for collaboration, and i wonder if you have any regrets that the greens stood againstjo have any regrets that the greens stood against jo swinson have any regrets that the greens stood againstjo swinson in East Dunbartonshire without you, she probably would have won it. You have to acknowledge people vote in lots of different ways you can simply add up of different ways you can simply add up the numbers. We dont regret standing anywhere. In england and wales, we made deals, you not to remain, the grown up thing to try and increase the number of mps in parliament. We didnt succeed, but we got increased votes in seats like west bristol, seats like bury st edmunds, and that is something we can build on for the future. Thank you. With me now are ken loach, the labour campaigner and film maker, and baroness fall, former chief of staff to David Cameron. Welcome, both. Ken, to start with you, because you featured in one of the prominent tweets i saw today saying, is this the moment that labour realise that actually it is not all a ken loach film, that there was such a not all a ken loach film, that there was such a narrow not all a ken loach film, that there was such a narrow tunnel vision of what they were trying to achieve, and it didnt reach the country . think you are right, rather patronising, but i think you are right in that labour didnt get its message across, and it is a disaster because we have now got the biggest existential crisis humanity has faced with Climate Change, and it is being left to a bunch of free marketeers to sort out but you were backing a very divisive side of the labour party that were pushing a corbyn agenda, and that hasnt reached out to the rest of the country. It made many labour voters feel isolated enough to vote conservative. I dont feel that is divisive. The founding principle is not divisive. To say the inequality is grotesque is not divisive, because it wants to remove that. To say that people are working in the gig economy 12, 1a hours a day to get a living wage, with nojob security whatsoever, that cant be divisive. If it is not the message, was it the messenger . Do you to you, it seems totally reasonable and rational, the way you explain it. Why did it not seem that, even in your heartlands . Thats a good question. I dont know the answer totally, and i think there are a may be labour wasnt clear in presenting it. This isnt whinging, but i think they are facts, and the whole press, almost the whole press was pro tory, and we can run through the papers, we know them all, and they are owned by rich men who live abroad, mainly, and go to pay their taxes, so the bias within the press is overwhelming. I have to say, the bbc and itn generally were an echo chamberfor that, and itn generally were an echo chamber for that, so the agenda was taken from the press. There was not a night where we didnt invite the front bench of labour to come and make their point where the journalism at a time allowed, and it was always up to them if they chose not to, and there were very few interviews with Jeremy Corbyn. agree with you on that. Would you call yourself a friend ofjeremy . have known him for many years. I dont see him often, but i would certainly count him as a friend. 0n cue have you talked to him in the last 2a hours . Know, and im a friend withjohn last 2a hours . Know, and im a friend with John Mcdonnell, last 2a hours . Know, and im a friend withJohn Mcdonnell, and i hope he stays. What do you think is going through their heads now . Sadness, sadness and anger. Anger thatjeremy has sadness, sadness and anger. Anger that jeremy has had sadness, sadness and anger. Anger thatjeremy has had a torrent of abuse, every labour lead is abused, but not to this extent. He is a man of peace who has been called a terrorist. He has been arrested against racism and being called racist. These are the lies. So he feels victimised by jon . Racist. These are the lies. So he feels victimised byjon . racist. These are the lies. So he feels victimised by jon . I wouldnt say he feels victimised, but how it seems to many labour people. There has been a torrent of abuse has been off the scale. Do you mean abuse when people have pointed out his failure to get on top of anti semitism . Is failure to get on top of anti semitism . Is that failure to get on top of anti semitism . Is that abuse . think there was no way anybody could, because i think it was a campaign that was going to run and run. A campaign . There is a twitter account that has been leading it, and the previous tweet said, why are we not making any further attempts on this issue, and the reply was, wait until there is an election, we have got all the ammunition then. So you see there was an orchestrated attempt to make him look anti semitic . Attempt to make him look antisemitic . There will be anti semitism in the labour party, as there is in other parties and there is in society. But right at there is in society. But right at the beginning, and i am quoting jewish members here, jewish socialist groups said, anti semitism is being weaponised to undermine the corbyn led labour party. Can i suggest that might not have been representative of the jewish as a whole . These are jewish people, that isnt for me to say. That is point of view. And, you are talking about jewish labour . Yes, people in the labour party who are jewish. But jewish labour. There are many people in jewish jewish labour. There are many people injewish groups who vote for labour and say this is not our experience. I would defer to them. It is not my position to say. But, deferring to them, there are many people who struggle to feel represented on television, and i dont think this issue should cloud everything. What we are left with todayis everything. What we are left with today is the great inequality, the great poverty, increase in food banks there will be. 130,000 kids homeless this christmas, like last christmas. Its a tragedy. It is a tragedy for them, a tragedy for them, and tragedy for them, a tragedy for them, and i weep for them. Should them, and i weep for them. Should the next labour leader be the head ofa the next labour leader be the head of a socialist movement . Well, is defining the terms. I think the elements of the policy are popular, soi elements of the policy are popular, so i dont think. There has been widespread sorrow by and from labour mps who were returned to those who lost their seats. Do you think that the responsibility for this catastrophic defeat for labour lies squarely at the door ofJeremy Corbyn and John Mcdonnell and those that put that manifesto together . Absolutely not. Remember, we are the Biggest Party in western europe, the Biggest Party in western europe, the biggest Political Party. In terms of members. Yes, and this was a very popular manifesto. So a huge party that people chose not to vote for. It was a popular manifesto in 2017. But you lost in 2017. With a massive increase in the vote, as you know. It had a massive increase in the vote is what i am saying it was not unpopular. Tell me which of the social programme would be unpopular, restoring the nhs, building houses for the homeless . Why didnt people vote for it . You are the pundits. If you break it down point by point, i think the policy was not unpopular. The point alan johnson think the policy was not unpopular. The point alanjohnson made overnight was that labour couldnt. Labour couldnt come along and just offer free things. It was a patronising offerjust to say, here is broad mind, here is nationalisation, here is this, of offering something that was a new vision. Do you accept that . offering something that was a new vision. Do you accept that . I accept that may be the priorities are not fair, to lap are not clear, but the planks of the policy are sound. wonder what the cameron istas are feeling. Is there a sense of, how did borisjohnson feeling. Is there a sense of, how did Boris Johnson pull that feeling. Is there a sense of, how did borisjohnson pull that off . Feeling. Is there a sense of, how did borisjohnson pull that offlm was an incredibly impressive victory, it really is, and all victories build on previous victories. David cameron won an extra 98 mps in 2010, which was an amazing result and, built on that, again in 2015, and now we have boris building on it still. We all wish him well and really hope he will unite the party, which has been divided, and we want to hear a bit more of this one nation, softer approach from boris. With a big majority, we hope he will bring people together, notjust in the party but in the country. Is David Cameron breathing a sigh of relief that the focus is now off him . havent, and im sure he will be. I know he wishes boris well and is proud of him, and i think he feels that britain has been divided and we all want to see a country that comes together and feels more tolerant and respectful of each others views, coming into next year. Do you think this is the point at which people who led the calls of remain will start saying, actually, brexit is going to be fine, its going to be great . I support remain and i think it is the right direction, but it isnt the decision of my country to ta ke isnt the decision of my country to take it in that direction, and i think a lot of people like me feel that we live in a democracy and we have to respect other peoples views, and people are fed up. A lot of people who voted for boris feel that we have been arguing about this for three years and we need to move on. I for three years and we need to move on. Lam for three years and we need to move on. I am sure we for three years and we need to move on. I am sure we can make for three years and we need to move on. I am sure we can make it work, whatever we choose to do. What approach do you think we should take when it comes to scotland . That was the other resounding victory, the snps impressive performance. We have to leave it there, because we are coming up to a small break. You are watching election 2019. Thank you all very much and happy christmas, thank you. Borisjohnson urged Boris Johnson urged everyone borisjohnson urged everyone to find closure and let the healing begin. If you are watching on bbc one, coverage continues on bbc two and the bbc news channel. We also say goodbye to viewers on bbc world news. The Prime Minister is back inside downing street after addressing the cameras and getting ready for the business of government. We are continuing our special coverage of this historic general election result, with the conservatives having secured an 80 Strong Majority in the house of commons. Annita mcveigh is in belfast for us. Thank you very much. Yes, a really interesting story here from Northern Ireland overnight in this election, the democratic unionist vote is down, sinn feins vote is down, although they remain the two biggest parties. The other really interesting story is coming from the sdlp, with two mps, back to those green benches in the house of commons, and the Alliance Party, the Cross Community Alliance Party, with one mp, their vote up in every constituency here bar one, so really a move towards the centre. Lets chew over all of this now with brian rowan, chairman, and somebody else. Good to have you both here. Brian, first of all, the dups influence in westminster diminished, gone, some would say, because of Boris Johnsons majority, but they would beg to differ. What is your assessment of how they are doing here . I think their influence has gone and borisjohnson has a significant majority. The results for the dup here reflect a friday the 13th election nightmare. I think its the price they are playing in their involvement in the brexit project in this place of remain, for what people consider their part in the brexit mess. I think interesting their focus in the election before their focus in the election before the Election Campaign was very much focused on stormont and trying to restore that. They were wanting to talk about Everything Else bar brexit. That day of reckoning, that influence gone, and new negotiations due to begin here on monday. Duncan, you were reflecting on this interesting fact, every constituency bar one now mirrors the way people in the constituency mirrors how people voted in the eu referendum. You can see the influence of brexit all over than Northern Ireland in this election. The constituencies that change to all constituencies that change to all constituencies that moved from being represented by leave mps but having voted remain in the referendum. There is now only one constituency in the whole of Northern Ireland that doesnt directly mirror that and even there there was a big shift. That influence and in a sense the opposite direction in england, happen strongly here. A may be a move away from green and orange politics and an obvious sense. What does all this mean, if anything, for stormont and the Northern Ireland assembly that has been in the deep freeze for almost three years now. Three years next month. Is there any possibility of it soon being brought off the ice . I think the dup needed now more than the other parties. Now their westminster influence has gone. The problem is they are going into this negotiation on monday with the wounds of this election wide open. They have worked a sense in their own community now that the union is under threat, that the kingdom is disunited, if you like. And having tried to manage all of that during the Election Campaign, they are now going to have to go to their community to ask for further compromises on things such as an Irish Language act, if you are to restore stormont. If we dont get stormont by the middle ofjanuary then we are into the prospect of an assembly election, and given this set of results, that sinn fein and the dup have had overnight, would they really want a stormont election at this stage . I think there will be at this stage . I think there will be a pressure on them to try to get the deal over the line at this time. Duncan, with Nicola Sturgeon saying she will bring forward next week a detailed democraticjustification for a second indyref there, what are the prospects for Northern Ireland moving closer to dublin and the prospect for a border poll . There is no automatic move between these Election Results and a United Ireland. 0n the other hand, that issue has been raised for the first time ina issue has been raised for the first time in a very real sense through the brexit debate. It will be part of the background conversations, the scottish issue and the whole constitutional flux and arrangements for Northern Ireland under brexit. Note that for the First Time Ever since 1920 there are now more nationalist representatives in westminster from Northern Ireland than unionists. And that the whole of Northern Ireland exist to support the union, and that is a significant historical watershed. All of those factors are at play and they will be negotiated in the next five years undoubtedly. Thank you both very much. With Boris Johnson undoubtedly. Thank you both very much. With borisjohnson declaring outside number ten today that he is a one nation conservative and that he represents a one nation conservative party, many people will be asking, which nation or nations is he talking to . Is he talking to Northern Ireland . Is he talking to . Is he talking to Northern Ireland . The votes perhaps suggest not, because at the moment is not one mp here, neither nationalist, unionist nor the Cross Community alliance mp accepts Boris Johnsons current brexit deal. Studio an interesting conundrum, thank you to annita mcveigh. Victoria derbyshire is with voters in birmingham. We were watching borisjohnson on the steps of downing street as he talked about a one nation government. He mentioned it multiple times. He mentions his people government. Katie is a student who voted lib dems. Sam works at aston university, a conservative voter. Sam isa university, a conservative voter. Sam is a history curator who voted labour. And liz is a gp who voted for labour. Katie, did you feel borisjohnson was including you . For labour. Katie, did you feel Boris Johnson was including you . No. I feel like he should Boris Johnson was including you . No. Ifeel like he should include more about what he can do for people with learning difficulties, but also people with physical disabilities. I dont feel like there is enough recognition of people with disabilities in this world and society. He said, we will work round the clock for a parliament that works for you. Two women here who voted labour. Did you feel he was talking to you . Itsjust words. Until we really do feel included and until he is speaking, genuinely speaking, to everybody. I have watched many tory Party Politicians stand on the steps of ten downing st and make promises in the last nine years and so far virtually nothing they have said on that first speech has come to pass. He said he wanted to focus on the nhs. What do you think, michelle, as a labour voter . Obviously i am really disappointed but there is a little bit of me that is still the Eternal Optimist. I will go a little bit zen and hope its ok. But like you said, we have heard these promises before. But there is always the chance they might be some substance to back up the words and i can only hope we see some of those things coming to light, but i agree with what was said before, there are so many groups that havent been discussed, and we dont know what will be done for certain parts of society. What does one nation mean to you . What do you think it means, sam . Ending this division. Brexit will move forward, as the vote shows, i think. Hopefully that means people can stop having the tired old debates that have divided society and we can start working together as a people again as opposed to two separate camps again as opposed to two separate ca m ps co nsta ntly again as opposed to two separate camps constantly bickering. That will be massively important moving forward. Is that possible . When i came here today i was distraught and distressed, but sitting next to a conservative, so theoretically we should be talking to each other and arguing but what i have found is there are so many common things between us. I think it comes down to trust. I have a huge difficulty trusting what was said just then because there have been so many lies and broken promises. I am a gp and i have watched many promises, the 5000 gp promise, that fell flat. I have watched promises of more spending on the nhs, which incidentally isnt necessarily what is needed as a stand alone, there needs to be fundamental change in how we deliver health care. Until i really see him meeting those things, meeting the needs of people with disabilities and the most marginalised in our society, i will keep an open mind. felt like what he just said on the doorstep was just words. Obviously with the nhs, he wants to do anything, for people with disabilities. Until i hear what he wa nts to disabilities. Until i hear what he wants to do for people with disabilities, i dont believe what he says is true. He needs to demonstrate and do it now. He needs to demonstrate, not just demonstrate and do it now. He needs to demonstrate, notjust say it. You mention nine years of tory government but i do protest slightly, we had five years of a coalition. Then we had a year of a tory government and the brexit referendum and then exit dominated. This will be the first time we have had a massive tory majority who can get on with doing the things they keep saying they will do. I am Eternal Optimist as well. I want to see what he does and i am inspired by his words but the proof will be in the pudding. Let the healing begin . Absolutely. What does that mean . We dont have a choice but its about accepting the situation we are in. It concerns me that people claim to be tolerant but they are making Death Threats and threatening to go on rampages. Its not constructive. Considering the conversations we have had today, we have proved our common ground. It has been fascinating. Thank you to all of you. Studio thank you, victoria derbyshire. Lets look at the markets and what business make of what has happened to us in the last 2a hours. With me now is our business editor, simonjack. With me now is financier and campaigner dame helena morrissey. Let me get to you to set out the response first of all . The markets we re response first of all . The markets were expecting a boris win, but they we re were expecting a boris win, but they were not expecting such a thumping majority. They like that for a couple of reasons to stop firstly, its now a government that can do its business, parliament is not paralysed and the markets generally like that. If they are a government committed to delivering brexit, something a lot of markets dont wa nt to something a lot of markets dont want to but i think the markets decided a long time ago, resigned themselves to the fact that brexit would happen. An 80 seat majority means Boris Johnson can would happen. An 80 seat majority means borisjohnson can effectively neutralise the hard brexiteers in his party and those people who were prepared to or even agitate for a ha rd prepared to or even agitate for a hard brexit, something the markets think its a very bad outcome. There isa think its a very bad outcome. There is a bit of blue water between them and that. You also saw the shares of all those politically sensitive stocks like banking, house builders, the utility isJeremy Corbyn want to nationalise, had a relief rally, up 10 and more because of the threat of nationalisation vaporising overnight. The one question that is still on the table that i have heard traders argue about this morning was, is no deal brexit still on the table, yes or no . Although technically it is because we have one year to do a trade deal and without that we go back to wto terms, a so called hard brexit, people say practically borisjohnson and michael gove do not want that and michael gove do not want that and they will find a way to avoid that. Helen, i know you will reject labels of hard and soft, but this is where real life hits now. We could still leave in a years time with no deal. In theory, but still leave in a years time with no deal. In theory, but i think, as simon said, the practicalities are such now that you have a government with a high majority and Strong Political leadership is likely. The markets and the capitol city have hated the idea of prevarication and nobody having control of the situation. We might not have such a big rally every day, but this is a seminal moment and of course people will be thinking, what are the terms of trade with europe and the terms of trade with europe and the terms of trade with the us . Thats a big pa rt of of trade with the us . Thats a big part of our future, but we can start the next phase now. One slightly depends on the other. What is your sense now, because we have heard a lot, ever since the exit poll came out, that this would be softer and it would have to do, if you like, pay more duty of care to parts of the country, the red wall, that is now a blue wall, that have been heavily dependent on Government Support in the past. Everything i have seen from the Prime Minister, he has always portrayed as being quite to the right of the party, but looking at the evidence of what he has done, i believe he wants to unite the country. He spoke eloquently in one of his acceptance speech is about having been lent the votes of those who might not normally be tory voters. I think he will attempt to earn that trust and pay that back. Obviously people will be cynical about it and say, i heard your representatives in the north saying, we dont believe a word he says. They are saying we havent had any details. We have been taken into this on a three word slogan and people are starving and crying out to understand what happens now to trade. I think now the Prime Minister has an opportunity not just to do trade with the eu and developer deal with the us, but to developer deal with the us, but to develop his stamp as Prime Minister with a Strong Majority that he has. As the dust settles we will hear more detail, but its the reality that he hasnt had a chance to set that he hasnt had a chance to set that for himself yet. I think you will spend big in the north. He has to reward those voters whose grandfathers would be turning in their graves. People i know close to government say he will honour those Infrastructure Spending pledges up north. I think over the weekend we will see some semi choreographed business announcements of Big Investments that people like sajid javid have been working on that they have lined up and now here is the reward will stop i think we will see that very soon. That is a way of saying, i understand you have lent me your vote and you might take it back if it goes wrong. me your vote and you might take it back if it goes wrong. I think businesses need to step up at this stage will stop since the referendum in the last few years, businesses have been asking for uncertainty to be taken have been asking for uncertainty to be ta ken off have been asking for uncertainty to be taken off the table. Give us those wish lists. Now its time for business to match the Political Leadership we could have. Thank you both very much indeed. Good afternoon. If yourejustjoining us, were at westminster, where borisjohnson is beginning a new term as Prime Minister after the conservatives won a majority of 80 seats. In the last hour, the tory leader made a statement in downing street and urged the country to unite. I urge everyone to find closure and let the healing begin. Labour performed poorly, losing 59 seats many of them in places theyve held for decades. Jeremy corbyn says hell stand down as leader early next year. I think the responsible thing to do is not to walk away from the whole thing, and i wont do that. I will stay here until there has been somebody elected to succeed me, and then i will step down at that point. A strong result for the snp, who now hold a8 seats out of 59 in scotland. Leader Nicola Sturgeon says it sends a clear message for a second independence referendum. The election result for the snp renews, reinforces and strengthens the mandate we have from previous elections to offer the people of scotla nd elections to offer the people of scotland a choice over their future. Liberal democrat leader jo swinson steps down after losing her own seat to the snp and urges her party to regroup. In the next hour at the results centre, we will talk about the defectors, those who left their party and stood as independents or new parties, 18 in total, none of them won seat and two of them left their deposits. In birmingham, we have conservative voters who are so relieved at the decisive victory from borisjohnson, and they hope thatis from borisjohnson, and they hope that is an end to the constant bickering, and we have one or two labour voters saying Jeremy Corbyns terrible performance was down to a savage Media Campaign against him. All the results are in. Attention now turns to what next for brexit and what next for the United Kingdom. Good afternoon and welcome to viewers here in the uk on bbc one and the bbc news channel and around the globe on bbc world news. The conservative party has secured an overwhelming win in the general election. The Prime Minister borisjohnson now has a majority of 80 the largest since Margaret Thatcher in 1987. Speaking outside downing street in the last hour he said the country deserves a permanent break from talking about brexit and that he would deliver a parliament that works for the people. For the labour party, its been bad news, losing many seats in their traditional heartlands. Jeremy corbyn called the result disappointing and said he would not fight a future general election. The liberal democrats had a terrible night as the party leader, jo swinson, lost her seat and quit. But the snp did well, coming close to sweeping the board in scotland. Lets take a look at the results as they stand. This is the vote share in Great Britain. Well bring you all the reaction and speak to all the main parties and look at what the result means for westminster and for brexit. Stay with us throughout the rest of the day. In his first statement outside downing street since winning the election, the Prime Minister thanked the public for placing their trust in him and vowed to repay them. I am forming a new government and, on monday, mps will arrive at westminster to form a new parliament, and i am proud to say that members of our new one nation government, a peoples government, will set out from constituencies that have never returned a conservative mp for 100 years. Yes, they will have an overwhelming mandate from this election to get it done, and we will honour that mandate by january the 31st. In this moment of national resolution, i want to speak directly to those who made it possible and to all those who voted for us for the first time and those whose pencils may have wavered over the ballot, and who heard the voices of their parents and grandparents whispering anxiously in their areas. I say, thank you for the trust you have placed in us and in me, and we will work around the clock to repay your trust to deliver on your priorities with a parliament that works for you. Borisjohnson, the Boris Johnson, the prime borisjohnson, the Prime Minister, speaking in the last hour. Our Political Correspondent ben wright is in downing street. You saw as the Prime Minister was speaking, at the corner of the shot, Dominic Cummings, and i guess this is the point at which you can say that was an extraordinarily disciplined campaign, whatever people thought of it, along the way. It was largely free of gaffes, it was ruthlessly focused on that single three word slogan that Boris Johnson neverfailed to insert into any question, any answer he gave in response to a question, get brexit done. It was a tightly ran campaign by the people behind the vote leave campaign, and many of them are now in numberten campaign, and many of them are now in number ten running things behind the scenes, and i think Boris Johnson exercised huge self control, with none of the buffoonery and clowning around from previous incarnations of Boris Johnson. Clowning around from previous incarnations of borisjohnson. He had his eye on the price and didnt waver. Tight to that was a manifesto that was pretty sparse in details. Yes, the pledge to take britain out of the eu next month, the pledge not to extend the transition beyond an end of next year and get a full trade deal in the meantime, and other than the promise to build new hospitals, the Police Number pledge, it was pretty thin if you are looking for some sort of guidance as to what a borisjohnson premiership with a big majority will look like. He will have to fill in the detail now. It is interesting, the visuals are all there, you start to understand the narrative, which is that this was a vote leave win in 2016 and then it became a temporary government, if you like, a minority government, if you like, a minority government, and now they have a majority and they are going to carry out a vote leave brexit. That is basically the beginning and the end of the plan. It is, framed with a slightly cameron esque message. This wasnt a triumphalist Prime Minister. Im sure he is thrilled that he has a majority of this size, the biggest for 30 years, but there was none of that. He wants to try and bea was none of that. He wants to try and be a healing Prime Minister, he said, restore some trust in politics, but i think the paralysis we have seen in politics for the last year or two will now stop, certainly in parliament, because he has this majority, but the uncertainty doesnt, and there are massive questions over what he does next. During the campaign, he refused to talk about whether he would countenance a no deal brexit at the end of 2020, simply saying he would never ask for an extension was confident a deal could be done. Asked what sort of trade deal he wa nts, asked what sort of trade deal he wants, he says, wed start from a point of close alignment and it will be easy, which isnt an answer to the serious questions around the sort of deal he envisages. We dont know the level of alignment and the trade offs he is prepared to make, because he didnt want to get into that sort of detail in the cut and thrust of the campaign, and he knew all the way through it was his to lose. Absolutely right. Let me bring in our guests here. With me now is james brokenshire, conservative mp for old bexley and sidcup and former cabinet minister, and former labour minister lord falconer. Ifi if i can just continue thought with you, james, when you look at the narrative, theresa may and those two yea rs narrative, theresa may and those two years in the middle looks like the aberration, doesnt it, the bit of the jigsaw that never quite fitted. I think, when we look at the history of this, clearly theresa may managed to get a deal, it didnt pass through parliament and we got locked into this hiatus period that got us stuck, and borisjohnson coming in, getting changes to that deal, so it is not that it was a lost period, rather it was part of the transition to where we are now, with a majority government but i hope well see that we give effect to the referendum, that we leave at the end of january, and clearly the new government, i am sure, well be moving quickly to see the introduction of the Withdrawal Agreement bill, to give effect to that, and effectively continue to make that happen. I wonder how you feel, seeing the way this campaign was fought, and we touched on it there, the Dominic Cummings strategy, which is that you get borisjohnson out, strategy, which is that you get Boris Johnson out, you strategy, which is that you get borisjohnson out, you do photo ops, you try not to let him meet the public, he isnt allowed to talk about anything else, he isnt allowed details, he sticks to three words. Do you think, god, i wish wed try that or do you think, thats dirty and i dont want politics to be like that . Boris did 120 individual interviews, was out there across the country underlining so much. Plank could you have seen a theresa may strategy that ran like that . Clearly, we had a fantastic result. Now, moving forward, and how we use the opportunity to deliver on that, but clearly a very well executed campaign to ensure that people understood, yes, get brexit done, underlining how we now want to move forward, but equally some of that positive agenda on investing in public services. That is the distinction you see from Boris Johnson on this one nation agenda he talks about and i want to now see that moving into the issues of social justice. That moving into the issues of socialjustice. And social care, which was totally absent from the ma nifesto. Which was totally absent from the manifesto. As you, lord faulkner, who last time we spoke was looking at the manifesto and picked up this very odd paragraph which became known as page a8, didnt it, which looked at reworking the whole constitutional arena of the balance between the Legal Framework and the political framework, between the Legal Framework and the politicalframework, with between the Legal Framework and the political framework, with a slight sort of finger wagging atjudges who got involved in the Supreme Court decision. Nick because i know charlie will want to try to make a case in relation to that, but fundamentally we abide by the rule of law, and i am sure we can have a cut and thrust of these issues. Absolutely, the constitutional settle m e nt absolutely, the constitutional settlement we have, and we have had the challenges of the last few months with all of the logjam we have had here, but i am positive about this what this government can do, particularly our adherence to the rule of law, which is fundamentalfor all the rule of law, which is fundamental for all governments. Your current version of what happened, we will do it and we are not saying anything else and we are, in effect, removing from our Parliamentary Party anybody who will stand in our way, that was the pitch, and he didnt let anything else deflect him from that. We offered a party that had been pusillanimous on europe, offered lots and lots of free stuff without choosing between eight, and we were a party that appeared to be very functional and was tainted with anti semitism. That was the choice in the election. Inevitably, the country made a chase, notjust in the labour tory marginal is but in our hotline as well. They wanted the person who could say he would get something done. So anyone watching this election would save that was the strategy that worked, even if you dont have to explain what you are doing, even if you dont have to give details, even if youre ma nifesto give details, even if youre manifesto is thinner than the beano, you dont. I think manifesto is thinner than the beano, you dont. I think that is unfair. There actually are a number of things. That is very unfair. Equally, you look at investment in public services, and also other issues like housing, abolishing things like no fault evictions, things like no fault evictions, things to do with rough sleeping. There was a lot in there if you want to try and characterise it in a particular way. Page 48 has very little. There page 48 has little significance if it had been a hung parliament. There page 48 has huge significance with a majority of 80, because what that page 48 said, as you identify root identified some days ago, we will readjust the balance between the courts, house of lords and the government and we will, in particular, ensure that the courts do not become a means by which politics are pursued by other means. In other words, which politics are pursued by other means. In otherwords, if which politics are pursued by other means. In other words, if the courts do things like stop us doing the prorogation. Do things like stop us doing the prorogation. Charlie, i think do things like stop us doing the prorogation. Charlie, ithink you are reading far too much in relation to that, and clearly, as a government, there is scrutiny and challenge, rightfully, but all governments should have, and i appreciate in the cut and thrust of campaigns opponents will try and paint that picture on but actually. There is no functioning opposition, as things stand, for the next six months, is there . There has to bea next six months, is there . There has to be a functioning opposition. We have a leadership that has effectively been quite significantly repudiated by the country. We have to have, as quickly as it is reasonably possible to do, get a new, permanent leader of the labour party. I would say it is reasonably possible to do that by, say, next spring, march, april. On cue but thatis spring, march, april. On cue but that is four months. You cantjust do it like that. What was the mcdonnell line over the weekend that, if we lose, and i thought he had manoeuvred himself quite suddenly into being the caretaker leaderfor labour. Suddenly into being the caretaker leader for labour. Do you think that will happen . My understanding of the leadership, and i make no criticism of this, is thatJeremy Corbyn is in he will not lead the party into a general election, and as long as he stays for as long as it takes to do a leadership election and no longer, thatis a leadership election and no longer, that is a reasonable, responsible position to take, because somebody has got to leave the party for the time it takes to do the leadership election. If we delay, there are two consequences, no functioning opposition, but, secondly, if we wa nt to opposition, but, secondly, if we want to get our heartland back, the longer we delay, the harder it will be to get them back. Obviously, labour will have to reflect and do what they do, but i think charlie is right in saying there has been that repudiation, and it has been hearing the narrative that it was not about the narrative that it was not about the offer that we were making, simply that there was a choice on brexit. That is not what we were hearing, people saying no, Jeremy Corbyn is an issue, we are scared about what this will mean, the issue of economy and jobs and jobs and what it would mean for living standards, and actually that has been the firm message that we were seeing in what were labour heartlands because of the clear offered that we were giving. Thank you very much indeed. A blue wave swept across the midlands as the conservatives gained a string of seats. Lets talk to the businessman and conservative mayor of the West Midlands, andy street. Hes in birmingham for us. When i asked some hours earlier, andy, if the conservatives were now the party of the working class, there was a certain amount of outrage from labour voters and labour campaigners who felt that was a complete mischaracterisation. Would you call the conservatives the party of the working class . would you call the conservatives the party of the working class . I would describe the conservatives as a party for all groups, we did incredibly well in some of our traditional areas, solihull, an affluent area, but also an area we havent had for 100 years, so the appeal has been very broadly based. It is interesting that even people that have described themselves not as conservatives, they would never call themselves tories, they have clearly decided to vote tory this time round, and borisjohnson used that language of lending a vote. So what does he have to do with that vote now to keep it . I think that was actually a very honest statement this morning, so i met lots of people across the West Midlands over the last few weeks who said, i am very farfrom a the last few weeks who said, i am very far from a traditional tory, but im going to vote for you because we need something to be done. Obviously, the first part of that sentence was usually around brexit, but the second was that we need to invest in these places that perhaps have not had for a share of investment. So to answer your question head on, he needs to keep his word that he is going to invest in public services, particularly the police, that comes time after time, of course the Health Service, we have seen a big commitment to a brand new hospital in birmingham, and of course to education. In five yea rs and of course to education. In five years time, we will be judged as to whether we have done what we said we would do. He needs to pull off brexit, as a businessman you will know how important that is, the conservatives have to own brexit com pletely conservatives have to own brexit completely and utterly and thoroughly, so if the economy doesnt grow or we do not get the trade deals, or if europe turns its back on us or donald trump does not provide quite as much in terms of sustainable trade as we were hoping, then borisjohnson sustainable trade as we were hoping, then Boris Johnson is sustainable trade as we were hoping, then borisjohnson is responsible for that. Yes, one word sums that up, delivery, and if you look in the West Midlands, if you look in the north east, you would actually say that these regions, particularly teesside, for example, whether gains we re teesside, for example, whether gains were massive, these were regions where the conservatives have delivered on the ground, local level trends have been going with us and it is the same at national level. Voters were saying that these people are capable of delivering, they have are capable of delivering, they have a plan, a vision, but it is notjust about that, it is about saying who will provide a high qualityjobs of the future, who will make the Infrastructure Investments that enable us to do well and compete internationally so we have got now to deliver on what we have said we will do, and that is why, of course the Prime Minister said he will take his time with his plans, but it also has a sense of urgency to do exactly that. Let me ask you one more thing, a lot of muslim communities in your pa rt a lot of muslim communities in your part of the West Midlands, in birmingham, and we have heard from the Muslim Council of britain that there is a palpable sense of fear amongst muslim communities following this tory victory, and this is a statement in the guardian saying, this is from aaron khan, mrjohnson, there is a palpable sense of fear in there is a palpable sense of fear in the muslim community, bigotry and politics, and now we worry that islamophobia is oven ready, to coin his phrase, for government. Mr johnson has been entrusted with huge power, we pride is exercised properly for all britons. Is that a fear that you share on of your communities . Absolutely not, i could not be more clear about this, the way in which i have tried to lead this region of the last two and a half years is to reach out to every single community, the muslim community, the hindu community, the sikh community, and it is the most diverse place in britain, so it is critical that we do that. We have just elected i muslim in one of the safest seats in the West Midlands, and im confident, as the next five yea rs go and im confident, as the next five years go through, we will demonstrate that we can really deliver for each demonstrate that we can really deliverfor each and demonstrate that we can really deliver for each and every Community Across the West Midlands. That is not just about faith, it is across the West Midlands. That is notjust about faith, it is about affluence, background, and that is the test of this new one nation government. Andy street, thank you very much indeed. Now we are going to sweep across our newsroom to our Election Results centre with christian fraser, who has been looking at the results for those mps who stood as independents. Christian has shown an extraordinary amount of stamina over the last 24 hours, and he has been looking at mps who stood as independents, many of them familiar names, certainly in the last parliament, that we might not see again. No, quite, i am going to call them the defectors, which could be the title of a new christmas movie, and im going to split them up into different groups, talking first about the conservatives standing as independents, john major was urging people to get behind them, the goal codes rod, dominic grieve, the former attorney general, former justice secretary and anne milton as well. Dominic grieve, did pretty well, 20 of 1 of the vote but he was never going to take what is a very conservative seat. They are both on the 25 30 bracket, the difficulty always in these first past the post system is taking on the established parties who have the ground game, and that was true in birkenhead for someone that westminster will mess, frank field, who stood as an independent in birkenhead, he had seen of challenges in birkenhead before, the militants in the 1980s, a passionate campaignerand militants in the 1980s, a passionate campaigner and freethinker, but not this time. What about anna soubry . Not a particularly good night on broxtowe, 80 of the vote there, and if we look at chris leslie, even worse in nottingham east, there you 90, worse in nottingham east, there you go, he didnt even get a , and he lost his deposit. Sarah wollaston, dr Sarah Wollaston joined the liberal democrats, she did pretty well, 29 , but that is a pretty safe seatin well, 29 , but that is a pretty safe seat in totnes, and the conservatives held on. You were talking, emily, in the last hour, about whether the remain and i instead enough, whether the labour party and the liberal democrats did enoughin party and the liberal democrats did enough in those overwhelming remain seats. Chuka umunna stood for the liberal democrats, did really well, look at the share, but taking from labour and the conservatives, would labour and the conservatives, would labour have won . Maybe, i dont know. This is the most egregious example in kensington, Emma Dent Coad, you will remember, took the seat when a shock after the Grenfell Tower disaster, she had a narrow majority, sam gyimah took 21 of the vote, but look how close it was, just going back to that, if he had stood aside, you would have had to think that Emma Dent Coad would have taken that one, so i had scratcher that there two sides will look at. This only occurred to me a few minutes ago as we were going through the numbers, emily, look at that, seats did change hands, but exactly as you were in 2017. We could have all stayed at home, stayed out of the ring, emily , some of us did, im sure christian, thanks very much indeed. We are going to get the view from brussels of this conservative landslide, sirjonathan faull is a former british official in the european commission. What is your sense of how this result will have been received in brussels . Well, i think people will be saying to themselves that now we have a British Government with the full authority of parliament and we can get down to business, and assuming that, as planned, the Withdrawal Agreement is approved by parliament and the uk leaves on the 31st of january, and there was a summit of the euro 27, they said they were ready to Start Talking the next day, and preparations are being made now for those negotiations. Does anything become clearer in terms of the direction of those negotiations . It feels like the bottle is now uncorked and the next year ahead should become more detailed. Do you have any sense of that direction now . Well, it depends where you look, in brussels, the direction is what it always has been, and they said today that the new relationship will be based on a balance of rights and obligations and a level Playing Field. Now, that means trade off, that means trade and acceptance of rules and days system for making sure that the rules are applied. Now, the devil is in the details. I think, initially, what people will be saying in brussels is we want to hear from the british be saying in brussels is we want to hearfrom the british Prime Minister, once the celebrations are over, it is for him to say what sort of relationship he once with the rest of the European Union, with the European Union after brexit on the sist. European union after brexit on the 31st. And how close he wanted to be. Is your sense that the Prime Minister is after a level Playing Field, or that he wants britain to bea field, or that he wants britain to be a more competitive market vis a vis europe . Be a more competitive market visavis europe . I am sure everybody wants to be competitive, he has said that he wants a close, friendly relationship, but if a level Playing Field means exactly the same rules, well, no i dont think he does want that, otherwise what is the point of all this. It is managing the divergence of rules in the coming months and years that is going to be the challenge. The eu will change in the uk will change, and that will be complicated in ireland, as we know, and it will be complicated in the overall relationship because the eu position will be the more access to the market you want, the closer you are going to have to align yourself with our rules. That is where the trade off is going to come, that is why it is going to be difficult. guess we still dont really understand the position in terms of emigration and freedom of movement. We keep hearing about this australian based points system, which often misses the simple fact that the australians wanted to raise immigration when they brought in that points system, and we havent decided what we want, have we . Well, again, we heard things in the Election Campaign about the various levels of skill that the Prime Minister wanted or wanted less of. We are going to have to look at the detail, and i think the position in the 27 and in the eu institutions in brussels will be to see what the uk comes up with and then react accordingly, and i will be a degree of reciprocity, we will treat each other, i suppose, of reciprocity, we will treat each other, isuppose, in much of reciprocity, we will treat each other, i suppose, in much the same way. And there will be particular attention, of course, to the lives of people stranded on the wrong side of people stranded on the wrong side of the border, if you like, and all that eu citizens who have moved to the uk. Sirjonathan faull, thank you very much. We are going to have a look now at the east of england, our reporterjoe blackjoins us from peterborough, which labour lost last night to the conservatives in what no longer feels like as much of a surprise as it might have been 24 hours ago. Good evening. Ill tell you what happened in peterborough in just a minute but, if we look at the east of england, if you were ever to look at a political map of the east of england, you would see it was very blue with a few pockets of red and there was also one pocket of yellow, but last night the results changed. It is no longer the case. The region is still very blue, much bluer, but north norfolk, which was a lib dem seat, has now been taken by the tories. Labour held the seat in ipswich, but that has now been taken over in ipswich, but that has now been ta ken over by in ipswich, but that has now been taken over by the tories. Cambridge, just down the road from where i am standing now, that was a labour hold, but the majority there, it was reduced, and luton, not so far away from where i am standing, there are two labour mps, also a labour mp still in the richer south. So it is a tory supporting region, you could say. In peterborough, quite interesting last night. This is where i am standing in front of now, six months ago, injune in the summer, this was full of labour supporters, labour activists and Jeremy Corbyn, who had come here to congratulate the labour mp who had won a by election here. But, now, that scene has been replaced by this Christmas Market and a tory win last night. Paul bristow is the new mp for this city. He came third in that by election back in june, for this city. He came third in that by election back injune, but last night he won. At around 2am, that declaration came in, and he now has a majority of around 2500, so he is the new tory mp. I have been speaking to people in the city about that win for the tories, and lots of them told me, local issues aside, it was brexit that made them vote blue. Youve got a new mp in peterborough. Really . Oh, he is in, is he . Im thrilled to bits i went out in the pouring rain yesterday morning just to put my little cross, so it all got through. So you voted conservative, am i right . Definitely. I am thrilled to bits with the news. What are the main issues with you . Well, education, basically, i would think. The Education System and the homeless is very bad in peterborough. There are certainly people, beggars on the streets now that ive not seen before, so lets hope something is done about that. Because i never wanted to come out of brexit, it was liberal democrat. I didnt think theyd get through. You obviously have a conservative mp this morning. How are you feeling about that . I think weve just got to drop all the, er, blame and just get on with the party thats been elected and go for it. Weve got to get behind somebody. Weve all got the same interest at heart, hopefully, so. Yeah, i voted conservative. Have you voted conservative before . No, it wasjust because of brexit, really. Just tell me why then. Ijust didnt feel like everyone else was still in labour had no real direction what they were going. Obviously, the lib dems were completely just disregarding everyones vote three years ago. So ijust felt that the conservatives were going to get brexit done, and thats why i went that way. I am normally labour. Every time before, ive been labour, butJeremy Corbyn, ive got no faith in him either. He wasjust horrendous, really. As for paul bristow, the new tory mp, he says he wanted to look at things like the nhs, improving schools, improving education in the city and getting this city horse fairshare of city and getting this city horse fair share of police officers, as he says. As for brexit, he says it will be done by the end ofjanuary and he said we simply cant talk about it any more. Iam sure any more. I am sure he would find others to agree with him thank you. You are watching bbc election 2019. More here ina watching bbc election 2019. More here in a moment but first we can cross to the newsroom and joinjane hill, who has todays summary of the stories. Hello, here is a summary of the latest news. The conservatives have won their biggest general election majority since Margaret Thatcher in 1987, after claiming scores of seats from labour in its traditional heartlands in the north of england. The party now has a commons majority of 80. The Prime Minister, borisjohnson, addressed the nation from downing street this afternoon, saying the conservatives resounding victory gives him the peoples mandate to pursue britains withdrawalfrom the European Union. He urged everyone to find closure and to let the healing begin. This country deserves a break from wrangling, a break from politics and a permanent break from talking about brexit. I want everyone to go about their christmas preparations happy and secure in the knowledge that here, in this peoples government, the work is now being stepped up to make 2020 a year of prosperity and growth and deliver a parliament that works for the people. Jeremy corbyn has said he is very sad about his partys performance and he would not lead labour at any future election. He put the result, which was the partys worst since 1935, down to the issue of brexit, which he said had polarised politics. Mr corbyn is preparing to stay on as leader until a successor is chosen, despite calls from some within labour for his immediate resignation. I was elected to lead the party and i think the responsible thing to do is not to walk away from the whole thing, and is not to walk away from the whole thing, and i wont do that. I will stay here until there has been somebody elected to succeed me and then i will step down at that point. The snp has made big gains across scotland, with Nicola Sturgeon saying the country has sent a clear message about a second independence referendum. The snp has won 48 of the countrys 59 seats 13 more than it won in 2017. The conservatives have won six seats, the liberal democrats four and labour one. Ms sturgeon said its now time for the people of scotland it is time for borisjohnson to start listening. I accept regretfully that he has a mandate for brexit in england, but he has no mandate whatsoever to take scotland out of the European Union. The most high profile casualty has been the liberal democrat leader, jo swinson, who lost her seat in East Dunbartonshire to the snp by 149 votes. Under party rules, she now steps down as leader. The liberal democrats have 11 seats. Sir ed davey and baroness sal brinton will be acting leaders of the party now that ms swinson is no longer an mp. Jo swinson said she is proud that liberal democrats were the unapologetic voice of remain, and does not regret her time as the partys first female leader. One of the realities of smashing glass ceilings is that a lot of broken glass comes down on your head. So i am proud to have been the first woman to lead to the liberal democrats. I am even more proud that i will not be the last. In wales, the conservatives recorded their best result in more than 30 years, taking 14 of the 40 seats. Labour remains the Largest Party, but lost six seats. Plaid cymru held theirfour seats. In Northern Ireland, nationalist mps outnumber unionists for the first time. The democratic unionists lost their deputy leader, nigel dodds. He was beaten by sinn fein in north belfast. The dup is still the Largest Party in Northern Ireland, but its reduced to eight mps. Between them, sinn fein and the nationalist sdlp have nine. You can take a closer look at the Election Results on our website. Compare how the parties performed in maps and charts at bbc. Co. Uk news or on the bbc news app. Thats it. Now back to election 2019. Welcome back. We are bringing you the latest reaction to the conservative government winning a majority. We are staying with that thought on Northern Ireland. We can cross to belfast. Stephen farry, deputy leader of the Alliance Party, defeated alex easton of the Democratic Unionist Party byjust under 3,000 votes. Hes with annita in belfast now. Really, Northern Ireland has had its own earthquake there, a completely different one, completely new picture for many there. Thats absolutely right, emily. So many interesting stories coming out of the election here at this time. The story in the north down constituency another one. It had been held by the independent remain backing unionist, lady sylvia herman, since 2001 and, when the election was called, the nationalist sdlp and sinn fein parties said they would stand aside so she could have a clear run at it against other brexit supporting unionists, but then she decided not to stand, so all bets were off, the parties were backin all bets were off, the parties were back in the contest. The dup were pushing hard to win it, but the Cross Community Alliance Party won it, and the new mp for north down, stephen parry, is with me now. On cue forjoining us on bbc on our election coverage, and congratulations on your win. A big night for the Alliance Party, growing your vote in all but one of the 18 constituencies here. Is this a sign that green and orange politics is changing and that brexit has cut through those sort of tribal lines . Very much so. Northern ireland is to be seen as a two communities society, unionism and nationalism, but there is a band of us in the middle who kept fighting the good fight but, in recent years, that centre grant has expanded and we put our best three Election Results now in a row, our largest number of votes ever last night across 18 constituencies. Particularly i am delighted to be the new mp for north down. It is where the party was founded almost 50 yea rs where the party was founded almost 50 years ago, so we have gone full circle. You will be one of three remain supporting mps, there are more of those in Northern Ireland, but sinn fein dont take their seats at westminster, so you will be three remain supporting mps who do. You say you will be taken on the challenge of supporting that view in the commons. Are you going to be able to do that, given the majority that Boris Johnson able to do that, given the majority that borisjohnson have . Able to do that, given the majority that Boris Johnson have . The plan is that Boris Johnson have . The plan is that we would see the opposition parties Controlling Parliament and the opposition for a peoples vote, but there is no such thing as a good and sensible brexit, and any form of brexit is challenging for Northern Ireland. Are you talking about the opportunity for a peoples vote . M that plan has gone, and now Boris Johnson will proceed with his own version of the deal. For us remain people, we find the theresa may being much more pragmatic, johnson deal is much harderfor us. There is a lot of concern now about the johnson deal and the applications of it, with some sort of barrier or bordered in the irish sea, interfering with the free flow of business. We are an independent society and we depend on north south and east west trade links. We have to comprise on one of those, and i think the challenge for us remain people is how to try and take the rough edges of that deal. People is how to try and take the rough edges of that dealm people is how to try and take the rough edges of that deal. If you cant mitigate it or take the rough edges off it, do you think you can see a shift in the Alliance Partys constitutionally neutral position . Would you begin to consider moving closer to dublin or to try and move in that direction . We are in a fluid situation in Northern Ireland and in some ways brexit has placed the constitutional question at the four of our politics, but we remain a Cross Community party tries to build across both unionists and nationalists and the centre ground, and a lot of young people, and our priority remains trying to make Northern Ireland work, building integration, promoting reconciliation and, regardless of where we end up in terms of the constitutional question, that remains the central challenge in this complex, divided society. If we see a world full, we will take a view on it at that time. It is not something we are chasing at this stage. Without doubt, brexit and a ha rd stage. Without doubt, brexit and a hard brexit creates disharmony. Finally and briefly, stormont, do you think this westminster election will do anything to increase the prospect of the Northern Ireland assembly getting going again . We have been down for 1000 days of the people of Northern Ireland are hugely frustrated, and we all heard that on the doorstep over the last five weeks. This time, both the dup and sinn fein saw a fall in their share of the vote, which is a strong message to both of them coming from the electorate, and hopefully they will see sense, in particular with the dup no longer having the balance of power in westminster, so they have nowhere to go but back to belfast and make the place work. Thank you very much. The mp for the Alliance Party in north down. Back to you, emily. Stay with that constitutional conundrum, we will speak to the snp deputy leader, keith brown, in edinburgh. One of my guests, keith brown, was making the point that you cant be any more a party of remain. Ina cant be any more a party of remain. In a months time, if you are in favour of the eu, you will have to bea favour of the eu, you will have to be a party of rejoin, i guess. Is that what the snp becomes posture mock we have to see what happens. There is no doubt that borisjohnson now has the majority required to get this brexit, but he has said things before and hasnt followed through, he would be dead in a ditch, delivering by october the 31st. But it does look likely he will now have the majority he requires to take, as he has the right to do, england and the rest of the uk out of the eu. He does not have that right in scotland, an emphatic win for the snp once again, along with the remain vote we had, 62 , meaning that the mandate from the scottish people is to remain in the eu, and we will try to do that as long as we can. He does have the right, because the only independence referendum was won in favour of remaining in that United Kingdom. So it is now over to you to decide if you are going to unilaterally have that referendum and if you are going to try and become, as i say, a party of rejoin. No, actually it is not. What the first minister said long before the election was to lodge that request for a joint section 30 agreement, that would be done next week, as the first minister laid out today. If you think that scotland and england are meant to be a partnership of two equal nations, it cannot be the case that a party that has lasted 17 elections in a row, which massively lost here yesterday, lost handle with his two the snp, has the right to block the universal right of self determination. That is the basis on which i say the scottish people have that right, and we will assert that right next week. Just explain what that means, because i hear the rhetoric but i dont understand what you change now in your ml. I think you misunderstand as well, the point is that we will do what we said we would be for the election, to put that request to borisjohnson for the election, to put that request to Boris Johnson for the section election, to put that request to borisjohnson for the section 30. No, he has not had the request yet, so that is what we said we would do. The question is whether the tories will continue to ignore the democratic will of the people of scotland, that is their question to answer. You can ask the snp what we are going to do, we are going to put that request in. If the tories, despite all the democratic evidence to the contrary say no, then of course it is the case, and i believe they will crumble in the face of that, many tories here believe that, one tory spin doctor says this is an unsustainable position, but if it ta kes unsustainable position, but if it takes some time, every day that borisjohnson tries to delay that, he will pay an increase in price for people coming towards independence for scotland. Thank you very much. Lets stay with that point, more analysis now from sirjohn curtice, professor of politics at strathclyde university, something of a duracell bunny at this stage of the day or night. But you have the sense now of a knuckle to knuckle fights, dont you, between scotland and england, or the you, between scotland and england, orthe uk . And i you, between scotland and england, or the uk . And i dont see either of them giving ground on that. or the uk . And i dont see either of them giving ground on that. I think you are absolutely right, we are heading for a constitutional tussle between the United Kingdom government led by the conservatives and the scottish government, led by the snp. The request will be made by Nicola Sturgeon next week, and she might even get a reply back, perhaps with the grace of a christmas card, fairly promptly that the answer is no. The crucial question will then be, why do we go from here . The first thing to watch is what happens to the opinion polls north of the border about attitudes towards independence. We have already seen, during the course of this year, most polls are showing an increase in support for independence, around the 48 mark. Most of that increase in support, virtually all the increase in support has occurred amongst those who voted remain, so there is already evidence that dissatisfaction with the pursuit of brexit has weakened, to some degree, the already relatively tenuous ties in Public Attitudes of scotland towards the union. The question now will be, when scotland leaves the European Union with the rest of the uk at the end ofjanuary, European Union with the rest of the uk at the end of january, what happens to Public Attitudes . It will be important to both sides, if indeed Public Opinion were to shift north of the border, if we start seeing polls in favour of yeah, it is difficult to believe that the uk government which continues to want to have scotland in the union can regard simply saying no as an adequate answer. It will have to think about how it manages its relationships with the scottish government, and scottish Public Opinion more importantly, to turn those numbers around. Equally, in those numbers around. Equally, in those circumstances, the snp would feel further emboldened. Beyond that, one suspects that this will end up in the courts, the snp are already giving an intimation that they might try to challenge the governments refusal to allow them to hold a referendum in the courts. If you go back to the knotted history of the subject, there was discussion more than ten years ago now about possible ways in which it would be possible for the Scottish Parliament legally to hold a referendum on independence, so i think we can expect the tussle to go on. I think probably the uk government would be hoping to at least keep things off the boil until the Scottish Parliament election, which is due in may 2021, but if off the back of that there is still a majority in the holyrood in favour of the referendum, the uk government will have to think hard about how to handle the situation. In your vast experience, does Public Opinion tends to go with whoever is on top, with the winners . What you mean by that, emily . Well, i mean. Iwas a member in two years ago, for example, when david davis was talking about the kind of brexit that would emerge after the theresa may to feed, or loss of majority, he assumed then that we would be going towards a Single Market or a customs union, and towards a Single Market or a customs union, and i wonder if people see a viktor ahn think they are more in favour of whoever is victorious. One thing that Boris Johnson favour of whoever is victorious. One thing that borisjohnson has been able to do during the course of his premiership is persuade labour voters that actually his deal should be pursued rather than pursuing no deal, which used to be more popular among those who voted labour, but he has persuaded them that his deal is adequate, and that is certainly one of the reasons why he has been able to win this election today. Interesting stuff, thank you very much indeed, and whilst we talk and try to embrace some of these huge, lofty , try to embrace some of these huge, lofty, philosophical questions about the constitution, what happens to the constitution, what happens to the United Kingdom, there is a very important and critical story right on our doorstep, and that is all about the nhs today. It was, of course, a huge issue on the campaign trail, for politicians in all parties, and we have new figures out today which are rather dispiriting, andi today which are rather dispiriting, and i show that every major accident and i show that every major accident and emergency unit in england has failed to hit its four hour waiting time target for the first time. The number of people on waiting lists for routine care also hit an all time high. Lets go to hugh pym, our health editor, and it is always the problem with a nation that has become so embroiled in its own sort of navel gazing about its political direction, that you mess they really are essential and human stories right on the doorstep like this. Yes, emily, in the middle of the campaign in november, nhs england produced its worst ever performance stats, the worst waits for a e, and that fuelled the nhs debate, which continued at quite a high level. The latest figures were due to be published on polling day, but the stats watchdog said no official figures at all in whitehall should be put out on the day, they had to be put out on the day, they had to be postponed. Now we have got them after the nation has voted, and they show an even worse level of performance in a e units in england, 4. 5 Million People waiting for a routine operation. In a e units, you may have waited for hours or more, the numbers waiting beyond that to get a hospital bed, about 90,000 to, we have never seen a figure that high. So it is an illustration of the real pressures in the nhs before winter has set in, and that is very much in the entry for the Prime Minister and the government, how the next couple of months pan out in the nhs with performance like this so stretched. Staff are working incredibly hard, but we have rotor gaps, more and more patience coming through, a difficult situation. Rota gaps. The worst performance since targets were introduced more than a decade ago. A new government with a new mandate can say, we are scrapping those targets, lets start again, do you sense that Boris Johnson and his government will accept responsibility for where the targets have got to now, for where the a e figures have brought us to, or will they see this as a brand new start . Well, we get to january, traditionally the most busy month in the nhs, when people come back from the nhs, when people come back from the new year, more and more patients who need to go in, you may be have flu, and it is very much on the doorstep, matt hancock is still secretary of state, the Prime Minister will be asked questions about it, there is a lot more going on, moving towards brexit legislation, but this is the here and now, it will have to be dealt with, and there is talk of the targets being changed by nhs england. Politically, that might be very difficult, but many promises have been made about thousands more nurses and doctors, more money over the next few years. That takes time to flow through, this is now, right now in the nhs, and social care is another long term issue. Now in the nhs, and social care is another longterm issue. We havent even started on that one. Hugh pym, thank you very much indeed. Victoria derbyshire has been in the library in birmingham speaking to voters about how they feel about events today. Yeah, and we foolishly decided to come out onto the balcony before we decided till wood realised how freezing it is, but we wanted a bit of christmas spirit. Rachel, you are a labour supporter, what does it say about labour that after ten years of austerity and failing to deliver on their flagship austerity and failing to deliver on theirflagship policy austerity and failing to deliver on their flagship policy more than once, labour cannot beat the conservatives . Labour have had the wrong later, they have had some and i cannot put their faith and trust into, and Jeremy Corbyn has put himself across as an i can fix everything guy, and i cant see it happening. Are you angry . I am furious that labour have not won and for personal reasons, i have worked in the nhs, used the nhs. We have just been talking about a e waiting times. Exactly, and for somebody to put love and passion into the nhs, as Corbyn States he has, i think what he should have done was put more of its effort into telling people, i will fix this, i cant fix everything, even though i will try, but he has not done that, he has promised the world and nobody thinks he can deliver, so people have voted the other way, out of protest. Is communism dead . Again i think labour need a strong leader, and i dont know who that is. Corbynism. We are where we are, the conservatives with a really healthy majority, you have watched borisjohnson, as we all did earlier, and he wanted to invite people into his government, how did it make you feel as a labour supporter . I am really concerned about public services, and my lovely son henry died three and a half years ago in birmingham waiting for a heart transplant, and he was nine, and all the staff did absolutely everything they could, the doctors and nurses, but they were fighting crumbling old victorian buildings, which made their work extremely hard. Im also very concerned about brexit, because so many of the people who worked with him came from other countries abroad. Provides rigid, asa other countries abroad. Provides rigid, as a conservative supporter, again, you so Boris Johnson trying to unite people, left everyone up, when you hear rachel and rob talk about their fears, what you say to them . It is a reality that hospitals and the nhs need to be paid for, and we need to get the economy moving forward again, get the economy growing, so that we have got the money to pay for the Central Services that can give people what they have been crying out. The nhs isa they have been crying out. The nhs is a core part of the british fabric, no Political Party is going to privatise it, because it would be political suicide. Device martin, you voted green as a protest vote, you voted green as a protest vote, you are a labour supporter in your heart, how do you view the next few yea rs . Heart, how do you view the next few years . I am worried that none of the party seem to have paid enough attention to the Environmental Issues, if you like, few of them have a well thought out policy, most of them have got nobody with practical competence at all. I keep hearing slogans in so many fields, and it worries me, whether it be labour, who i think our sloganeers rather than practical people, or the people behind boris, how many of them can deliver and are capable and competent to do these things . If those of us who are concerned about issues that are not other mainstream ones of the conservative party syste m ones of the conservative party system down to make a point every and again, we will never get a better system with elements of proportional representation, they will simply say, there is no need for it. Thank you for standing on a cold on this balcony in beautiful birmingham, iam cold on this balcony in beautiful birmingham, i am going to wish you happy christmas, because hey, why not . Thank you all very much. Happy christmas to you too over to you, emily. We think it was worth braving the cold for, thank your guests for coming onto the balcony for a little glimpse of birmingham in its christmassy glory. We are going to be speaking in the next hour to the former adviser to borisjohnson, be speaking in the next hour to the former adviser to Boris Johnson, and we will be hearing from jonathan powell, the former chief of staff to tony blair, and we will be exploring what last night means for britain next. Hello and welcome to westminster, where borisjohnson has begun a new term as Prime Minister after the conservatives won a majority of 80 seats in the general election. Its the largest tory majority since 1987. The tory leader made a statement in downing street this afternoon and called for the country to unite. I urge everyone to find closure and let the healing begin. Labour performed poorly, losing 59 seats, many of them in places theyve held for decades. Jeremy corbyn says hell stand down as leader early next year. I think the responsible thing to do is not to walk away from the whole thing, and i wont do that. I will stay here until there has been somebody elected to succeed me, and then i will step down at that point. A strong result for the snp, who now hold 48 seats out of 59 in scotland. Leader Nicola Sturgeon says it sends a clear message for a second independence referendum. The election result for the snp renews, reinforces and strengthens the mandate we have from previous elections to offer the people of scotland a choice over their future. Liberal democrat leader jo swinson steps down after losing her own seat to the snp and urges her party to regroup. Good afternoon and welcome to westminster. The Prime Minister, borisjohnson, has said he wants the healing to begin, after leading the conservatives to their most resounding election victory since the 1980s. He also said that he will get brexit done by the end ofjanuary, no ifs, no buts. Much of the tories success came at the expense of labour, which lost many seats in its former heartlands. Jeremy corbyn has said he will stand down once his successor has been elected. The liberal democrats did badly, with their leader, jo swinson, losing her seat and quitting. But the snp did well, coming close to sweeping the board in scotland. Lets take a look at the final results. Our Political Correspondent, jonathan blake, has been taking a closer look at a night and day of dramatic events. A new dawn, the Prime Minister left downing street to meet the queen and asked to form a new government. Borisjohnson is Boris Johnson is back borisjohnson is back in power, but things are different now. Now though with a majority in parliament and the mandate from the country that he badly needed. It was a convincing victory in seat after seat, the conservatives held their own territory and took labours heartlands too from englands north east to south wales, this was a night that saw the electoral map redrawn. We did it. A campaign focused on brexit one tory support in unfamiliar places and Boris Johnson promised tory support in unfamiliar places and borisjohnson promised not to let people down. To those who voted for us for the first time and those whose pencils may have over the ballot, who heard the voices of their parents and grandparents whispering anxiously in their herds, i say, thank you for the trust you place in us and in me, and we will work around the clock to repay your trust and to deliver on your priorities with a parliament that works for you. Disbelief at first as labour sought their strongholds fall. Those on the losing side left deflated and disillusioned. Their leader has promised to go, but not just yet. I will talk to our National Executive about what we do in the future. I called for last night a period of reflection in the party, and obviously the ruling body of the party, our National Executive, will decide what process we follow then for electing a successor to me, but i am quite prepared, and i was elected to do so, to lead the party until that ta kes so, to lead the party until that takes place. Plank a matter of his supporters blame brexit for the devastating defeat, but others in the party say the leader was part of the party say the leader was part of the problem, and the fight for labours future has already begun. Borisjohnson now has a wider support base and a stronger grip on power, and with success comes the weight of responsibility. Our Political Correspondent, ben wright, is in downing street. I know nobody really wants to think about next week at the end of a friday night, but do we have any sense yet of the timetable and the speed at which things will happen now and, more importantly, whether we will all end up working up until christmas . I think you probably are, emily, yes. New mps will come to westminster next week to be sworn in on stop i that is tuesday and wednesday. I think the government plans to have a queens speech on the 19th, the thursday, and then borisjohnson has the 19th, the thursday, and then Boris Johnson has been the 19th, the thursday, and then borisjohnson has been insistent that the first stages of getting the Withdrawal Agreement bill, the brexit deal, through parliament will begin before christmas. Whether that means first or second reading, im not sure, but that has to go right back to the beginning parliamentary process , eve n back to the beginning parliamentary process, even though it passed second reading before the election. So we will have a brexit vote before christmas and the question is whether that is next friday or the following monday, right on the edge of christmas. So its going to be busyin of christmas. So its going to be busy in westminster. What is your sense of any sort of cabinet movement now . A lot of people we barely saw through the course of that campaign, for one reason or another, Jacob Rees Mogg was sort of silence quite quickly after the g re nfell silence quite quickly after the grenfell comments, there was a sense that sajid javid was may be hidden away so people didnt ask too much about the economy, the treasury, and how money was to be spent. Any inkling of whether there will be positions shuffled around . Inkling of whether there will be positions shuffled around . inkling of whether there will be positions shuffled around . I think there will be some very small shufflings because of changes in the Parliamentary Party, and veryjunior ministers who are not here any more, but i dont get a sense yet that he is going to do a significant reshuffle. There are quite a lot of things in his immediate in tray. I think it was striking during the election that there were a handful of cabinet ministers given prominence, people like michael gove, who has had a complicated journey in his relationship with borisjohnson, to say the least. He was front and centre. Matt hancock, perhaps because the nhs was prominent, he was out and about, making the governments arguments, but there were only a small number of cabinet ministers out and about. It was a campaign entirely focused on borisjohnson, it was a campaign entirely focused on Boris Johnson, a it was a campaign entirely focused on borisjohnson, a campaign built around him, and it clearly, ithink, isa around him, and it clearly, ithink, is a strategy, paid off. It vindicated exactly how number ten thought about it, concentrating tightly on the message of get brexit done, talking about very little else, apart from the promises on the Health Service and Police Numbers, just talking about borisjohnson, and getting him to stick to the script, which he did, on the whole. With me now arejo tanner, former advisor to borisjohnson, and jonathan powell, former chief of staff to tony blair. Do you look now at where we are and think, i wish i was back in their advising . Are you relieved to be out . I worked with boris in the 2008 campaign, a long time ago, and i run a successful business and i am happy doing that, and you have a bit more longevity in your career when you do that, particularly when you look at what has happened to people in elections, where there have been a 60 elections, where there have been a 60 a elections, where there have been a 60 a significant number in a row. But its amazing to think that, just a few years ago, everybody had written him off. He has been written off several times but he keeps surprising people. When ben said he isa man surprising people. When ben said he is a man who learnt how to stick to script, you will know how difficult that might be for borisjohnson. I think there are questions now about the borisjohnson that think there are questions now about the Boris Johnson that we think there are questions now about the borisjohnson that we are going to get as Prime Minister whether he will become more like the mayoral borisjohnson will become more like the mayoral Boris Johnson that you see will become more like the mayoral borisjohnson that you see or to be the leave campaigner or through the man that found it within his grasp to Prorogue Parliament and told the queen one thing that turned out not to be right. Who do you think we will get . I think we have yet to see, because the numbers are such a surprise to many people, how the party and cabinet is going to work, his ability to get on with the job that needs to do quickly first of he malleable . You said about switching to the message, but in that campaigna switching to the message, but in that campaign a few years ago, he did stick to that message, it was all about problems with ken livingstone, knife crime, which was the Biggest Issue at the time, and he was able to stick with the script. What i saw in this campaign was a look that he had learnt back then, if you stick to the script and frame the choice between you and your opponent and you make sure the public know what they are voting for. Does he know what he wants . Ok, he has proved he can stick to a script, but i genuinely dont know what he thinks about immigration any more, or what he thinks about work rights and whether they need to be at the same level or different level. I think thats a problem for the conservatives as a whole, because it has been pulled in different directions, especially over things like the hold the erg has had for such a long time, now there is more time to work because he has a majority. I think he can be more opinionated, and i think he can develop more of a position that will show which direction the party will go in. When you were chief of staff to tony blair, you will recognise the sense of what a landslide can do and,i the sense of what a landslide can do and, iguess, the sense of what a landslide can do and, i guess, the responsibility that comes with it. What is that sense, the day after winning something that big, of where you go . Where we were in 97, there was an outpouring of joy, and where we were in 97, there was an outpouring ofjoy, and i am a member driving from islington to downing street, people lining the street. I dont see many people lining the street today that i dont think there is much of a sense ofjoy. Street today that i dont think there is much of a sense ofjoym may be going on in other places. May be, but i havent seen much evidence of that either. I think he needs to decide what he wants to do with this government and, when he talks about united the country, i think he will find that very hard, for two reasons, one, because of the sort of politics he practised before and, two, because was a divisive campaign. Do you think he can bring remainers in . We saw that one line in his statement earlier which i think was the first time we have heard any not to the people who were not behind brexit and have remained staunchly against brexit. What happens to that sort of remainer voice . Can it be won over . The issue of brexit is sold, because he will get the divorce deal through, and then he will have the difficult task of negotiating the new relationship with the eu, but i dont think he will solve the division of politics has changed from being class based debate on party, a bit like american politics, and people will divide on identity, open or closed britain, and the mps will take him towards that closed direction. Thats an interesting question, because we we re interesting question, because we were always told it wasnt about cutting off the eu, it was about opening ourselves to global trade or the global stage or global business, but, i guess, the global stage or global business, but, iguess, how the global stage or global business, but, i guess, how we respond to things like immigration, how we respond to the sort of whatever we wa nt to respond to the sort of whatever we want to make reciprocal rights will tell us how open we want to be and whether immigration is an important factor still. I think it is important, but i think we have to acknowledge that part of the frustration, and some of the reason that even remainers said, just get brexit done, to use his phrase, is because they realised the paralysis on the domestic agenda, and i think that things like peoples local hospitals, schools, potholes, for goodness sake, stuff bothers people, and there has been a feeling that we have been completely paralysed by brexit, which has meant that a lot of the stuff which touches people toss daily lives, which brexit doesnt, policy challenges like social care, we have failed to deal with for many, many yea rs. Failed to deal with for many, many years. That failed to deal with for many, many yea rs. That stuff failed to deal with for many, many years. That stuff is also going to be the stuff that will be defining how people feel about their politics and politicians. It became such a visceral thing for so many people, because it became instantly a sense of identity, cutting across party lines, people started understanding a sort of cultural, political significance to whether you voted brexit or remain. Do you genuinely think now, and can i call you a fairly sport remainer . Absolutely. Sa nta fairly sport remainer . Absolutely. Santa will it affect your life . Certainly, everybodys life, because it will have a huge social and Economic Impact and an impact on whether you can travel or live in the rest of the eu. Plan, an impact on whether you can travel . Quite possibility, because if there are restrictions on Free Movement they will be an impact, but the real issues that people will be very disappointed when they discover brexit is not done and next year we will talk about brexit again and we will talk about brexit again and we will have a replay of whether we leave without a deal next december, and we will be talking about the same thing and people will be fed up when they discover that. Flag we will ask you when they discover that. Flag we will ask you we will ask you to stay with us. The conservatives captured seats across the midlands and the north of england, in areas that have voted labourfor generations. We can now cross to maltby in the rother valley and our correspondent, dan johnson. You must be waking up or going to bed and wondering what on earth what has happened, dan. Yes, lots of people wondering what has happened, because this is a seismic shift, because this is a seismic shift, because for generations this sort of seat has been the definition of safe labour country, but no more. There used to hate the conservatives, a lot of people here, because the perception of what was done by previous tory governments, the way that industries in areas like these, they were decimated by Margaret Thatcher and the conservatives government that came after him. Now things are certainly changing in places like this. The coal this town was built on made the area solid labour for more than a century. They use to talk about the socialist republic of South Yorkshire but not now. Brexit has brought out new blue support here. First time ever and i have done it. I have no faith inJeremy Corbyn. Three and a half years, europe have been literally laughing at us. You think this is what needed to happen . Yeah. Charity shops and food banks are busy. It is a poor area. We are trying to get people to the money who cant afford it. Loyal labour voters are sad but not surprised. The problem as it was popularity. People did not likeJeremy Corbyn and what he had to say but people wanted brexit. Tony has been a dirty word here, especially since the 19805 when it was a key battle ground. Striking miners praised the police backed by the conservative government. The pits and the steelworks have gone and with them went to the old loyalties to the Union Movement and to the labour party. Time and again people have said, if my dad knew how i voted in this election, he would turn in his grave. This is notjust old allegiances that have been broken, it is people rejecting their dna. I feel like a traitor, actually. You do . It is labour, rather value. It has always been labour. It has. Jeremy corbyn is unpopular. Why . I didnt feel he was somebody you could engage with. He didnt acknowledge that people wanted to leave the eu, plus he disrespects the queen. Brexit Party Support was a factor, but it is new conservative mps who will now speak for these communities. What is your message to borisjohnson now . From this village in South Yorkshire . Do what you promise, boris that is it change has been coming, perhaps for a long time. This is a stark symbol of just how far a long time. This is a stark symbol ofjust how far our politics and some of the old certainties have really shifted. Brexit was always going to be important in this election in places like this because of how heavily some of these communities voted to leave, but i think people underestimate just how unpopular the labour leader would prove to be in some of these places. Now, people here have talked about lending their vote to the conservatives, of effectively taking a chance on borisjohnson, and there is expectation that he will deliver for places like this because that support cannot be guaranteed to carry on in future. When my thank you very much indeed, the rother valley there. Lets get more reaction now. Scottish conservative jamie greene represents the west scotland region in the Scottish Parliament. Jamie, let me ask you first of all, when you were knocking on doors, did you talk about brexit or the union . 0h, you talk about brexit or the union . Oh, iwas you talk about brexit or the union . Oh, i was listening to your clip earlier, people wanted to talk about everything one lady took me out of her driveway to show me the particles in a street, so it reminded us that elections are about constitutional issues but also the day facts. Yeah, brexit came up, independence came up, tactical voting, people were voting for very Different Reasons in scotland to other parts of the uk. You do not have a referendum on potholes looming. Thankfully dance, no otherwise i wonder what you would do with that huge number who have gone for the snp now, who are very resolute they will get their second independence referendum. I feel a independence referendum. Ifeel a bit of independence referendum. I feel a bit of groundhog day, because we seem to have this conversation after every election, the snp say it is another mandate for independence, and i have been saying that since 2014. Everything that happens, they say that is another mandate. The vote share they got yesterday in scotland was aa , the same as the result on the 2014 referendum when the people of scotla nd referendum when the people of scotland said no thanks to independence. We said it would be a once in a lifetime vote, and i am asking the snp to respect democracy, respect the result of the referendums and move on as a country. To be fair, if you are going to look at share about, tory share has only gone up 1 , but you know we have a first past the post system, they have won more seats, and on that basis they see themselves as winners with a mandate to ask for what they say on the tin, which is nationalism. Naidoo, but they still have less seats than they did in 2015 up in scotland. They do. That was not a mandate then, nor is it today, so, you know, people driving around scotland in a big yellow bus saying stop brexit, proactively going to people and saying, this election tomorrow is not about independence, this is all about stopping Boris Johnson not about independence, this is all about stopping borisjohnson and stopping the tories getting into power. Well, that didnt go well for them at all. As soon as the result is announced, Nicola Sturgeon are saying, this is all about independence, what a surprise. But thatis independence, what a surprise. But that is a problem for the nation of scotland, if people were trying to stop brexit and people were trying to get independence, and obviously we dont know, when you vote for the snp, what the reason behind that was, you have got a nation of pretty unhappy people, because they will not be able to stop brexit and they will not get nationalism from your conservative government. Well, i mean, you know, we stood on a clear commitment as the scottish conservatives but also right across the uk, and borisjohnson was very clear about this, we want to go into 2020 election fray and referendum free, that is what this country needs, what scotland needs and the uk needs. We need to get on with the domestic agenda that is so important to this country, get past the gridlock we have had for three yea rs, gridlock we have had for three years, that stalemate. Businesses have been crying out for politicians to get on with it, and that is exactly what we are going to do, and it is about time the snp took heed of that. What would you recommend your Prime Minister do for the people of scotland to get those remainers or the people who are sceptical about brexit back on board . He has suggested he was extending a hand, i wonder what that means in practical terms for scotland. Yeah, i listened to the speech outside downing street this afternoon, i managed to stay awake, we have been going quite a lot, all night, but you know, it was an interesting speech, the way he posed, he does represent one nation conservatism, and what does it actually mean . It means we want to bring the country together, which is why i am quite happy to go into next year without another divisive referendum in scotland, more divisive referendums on brexit and scottish independence. What boris wa nts to scottish independence. What boris wants to do is get on with a domestic agenda that will put more money into scotland, we already have a very devolved system, i sit in the Scottish Parliament, we have full control over health, education, justice, roads, policing and so on, so what we need to do is make that renewed and resounding case of why the uk economically is so important to scotland and why scotland is so important to the rest of the uk, and i think that message is clear. Thank you very much indeed. We are going to head over to belfast and speak to annita mcveigh, the dup, who really felt all powerful in the last government with their ten mps propping up the theresa may government, they are now down to eight, and i clearly have no role in government. Why do you think they did less well this time, annita . Well, emily, this definitely has been the brexit position here, although not in the way it has unfolded in of all. It is very interesting to look at the make up of the constituencies now, with the exception of exception of one of the 18 constituencies, every other single constituency here reflects how the voters cast their ballots in the eu referendum, so you still have this split between the dup, who support brexit, and all the other mps, now in a majority, who support remain. The dup, as you say, their influence greatly diminished, absolutely gone, some people will say, although they would argue otherwise, and i have been doing so today. But borisjohnson can now push through his brexit deal without having to, as he and theresa may did before, take into account the dups position, and for that reason, i think brexit is very much going to continue to shape politics here over the course of this next parliament, over the course of the next five yea rs, over the course of the next five years, bringing with it are perhaps more constitutional questions, not in as an immediate sense as we are seeing in scotland, Nicola Sturgeon saying she will bring forward a detailed democraticjustification next week for a second indyref, certainly those constitutional questions will be asked more and more here. Annita, thank you very much indeed. We will leave belfast and come back to the studio, still with us, a former adviser to borisjohnson, jo tanner, and jonathan powell, former chief of staff to tony blair. I just wa nt to chief of staff to tony blair. I just want to bring in some words from the united leader, Len Mccluskey, quite interesting, about an hour ago on the show, jack straw had very strong words for the role that Len Mccluskey had played, he said, in propping up Jeremy Corbyn mccluskey had played, he said, in propping upJeremy Corbyn and his policies, and it seems as if Len Mccluskey is trying to distance himself from the labour leader now. This is the very tweet from our colleague nick hurley who said that Len Mccluskey blames the incontinent rush of policies which appear to offer everything to everyone immediately, failure to apologise for anti semitism, immediately, failure to apologise foranti semitism, shadow immediately, failure to apologise for anti semitism, shadow cabinet ministers back in remain and undermining the brexit stance. He said it is jeremy undermining the brexit stance. He said it isJeremy Corbyns metropolitan world view. Curiously, i remember interviewing him at couple of years ago, and he talked about the anti semitism question is being music, i do not know if that isa being music, i do not know if that is a phrase which has left its mark with you, but, jonathan, a sense now, i guess it is inevitable that eve ryo ne now, i guess it is inevitable that everyone is checking blame as fast as they can and distancing themselves, do you see Len Mccluskey as part of this problem . Absolutely, what is different from the 19705 and 1918 says that the trade unions are very far left, and the far left control all the institutions of the party, the nec and Everything Else, and that is why it is difficult for the labour party to come back to the centre. Interesting if Len Mccluskey i5 blaming it on the policies, because the momentum defence is that the policies were popular but because of brexit they could not get them across, and Len Mccluskey i5 saying the opposite. What you are saying the opposite. What you are saying e55entially saying the opposite. What you are saying essentially is have netted the whole system is, that momentum feed5 the whole system is, that momentum feeds into the nec, which dictates the next leader for labour, feeds into the nec, which dictates the next leaderfor labour, and the unions find the funding presumably and the endorsement for both the nec and the endorsement for both the nec and the endorsement for both the nec and the labour leader, which is presumably why we are not going to get a new leader anytime soon. And you do, chances are that it will be another leftist leader. In the 19705 and 19805, the trade unions where the ballast that kept the party sensible, and i didnt manage to control the nec. Now they control the rules, the timing, and they will be in the rules, the timing, and they will beina the rules, the timing, and they will be in a good position to make sure one of their own wins it, in which case i fear that the labour party is destined to go the way of the socialist party in france, ending up as socialist party in france, ending up a5 irrelevant. Socialist party in france, ending up as irrelevant. I know you cant play subjunctive history too much, but borisjohnson on subjunctive history too much, but Boris Johnson on one subjunctive history too much, but borisjohnson on one level had a very easy opponent inJeremy Corbyn because a lot of labour voters were already supporting the ms trust in him and his scepticism about what he was going to do. I think the challenge was that it wasnt a given that they would switch their allegiance to him, there was concern that people would stay and actually he had to find the right subject to talk to those people on, and obviously a lot of the focus from labour was on the nhs, the suggestion of the link to trump, that it was for sale. Do you think they were genuinely worried about Jeremy Corbyn . I think there were still concerns about certain seats, i think there was a genuine concern that they knew they had to insert in places, as all strategists do, and i think i spoke to a lot of people, and there was a lot of conversations about shy labour voters and shy tory vote rs about shy labour voters and shy tory voters and therefore you couldnt pick up which why certain seats were going to go. So to some extent it is almost when your opponents are very obvious and very similar, it is one thing, but part of the problem with the labour party is that there were so many facets to the problem is, in terms of who was pulling the strings where, that actually is probably wasnt as clear cut, it wasnt just Jeremy Corbyn, everyone was talking aboutjeremy Jeremy Corbyn, everyone was talking about Jeremy Corbyn being to Jeremy Corbyn, everyone was talking aboutJeremy Corbyn being to blame somehow, but everyone is forgetting John Mcdonnell and his role in this episode, and the rest of the shadow cabinet, for example. There is a big Team Involved in is, it is all very well replacing Jeremy Corbyn, but there are still a lot of people there, not necessarily people that others want to vote for. Thank you very much. Youre watching bbc election 2019. Welcome to viewers on bbc world news, as we digest the conservatives big win in the uk general election. First, lets cross the newsroom and joinjane hill, who has a summary of the days big developments. You are watching election 2019. Here is a summary of the latest news. He the conservatives have won their biggest general election majority since Margaret Thatcher in 1987, after claiming scores of seats from labour in its traditional heartlands in the north of england. The party now has a commons majority of 80. The Prime Minister, borisjohnson, addressed the nation from downing street this afternoon, saying the conservatives resounding victory gives him the peoples mandate to pursue britains withdrawalfrom the European Union. He urged everyone to find closure and to let the healing begin. This country deserves a break from wrangling, a break from politics and a permanent break from talking about brexit. I want everyone to go about their christmas preparations happy and secure in the knowledge that here, in this peoples government, the work is now being stepped up to make 2020 a year of prosperity and growth and hope and deliver a parliament that works for the people. Jeremy corbyn, has said he is very sad about his partys performance and he would not lead labour at any future election. He put the result, which was the partys worst since 1935, down to the issue of brexit, which he said had polarised politics. Mr corbyn is preparing to stay on as leader until a successor is chosen, despite calls from some within labour for his immediate resignation. I was elected to lead the party and i think the responsible thing to do is not to walk away from the whole thing, and i wont do that. I will stay here until there has been somebody elected to succeed me and then i will step down at that point. The snp has made big gains across scotland, with Nicola Sturgeon saying the country has sent a clear message about a second independence referendum. The snp has won 48 of the countrys 59 seats 13 more than it won in 2017. The conservatives won six seats, the liberal democrats four and labour one. Ms sturgeon said its now time for the people of scotland to decide their own future. It is time for borisjohnson to start listening. I accept regretfully that he has a mandate for brexit in england, but he has no mandate whatsoever to take scotland out of the European Union. The most high profile casualty has been the liberal democrat leader, jo swinson, who lost her seat in East Dunbartonshire to the snp by 149 votes. Under party rules, she now steps down as leader. The liberal democrats have 11 seats. Sir ed davey and baroness sal brinton will be acting leaders of the party, now ms swinson is no longer an mp. Jo swinson said she is proud that liberal democrats were the unapologetic voice of remain, and does not regret her time as the partys first female leader. Many people will look at the last few weeks, at these results, and be filled with dread about the future of our country. I understand, i am worried, too. This goes beyond our future relationship with the eu. It is about our relationships with one another. In wales, the conservatives recorded their best result in more than 30 years taking 14 of the 40 seats. Labour remains the Largest Party, but lost six seats. Plaid cymru held theirfour seats. In Northern Ireland, nationalist mp5 outnumber unionists for the first time. The democratic unionists lost their deputy leader, nigel dodds. He was beaten by sinn fein in north belfast. The dup is still the Largest Party in Northern Ireland, but its reduced to eight mp5. Between them, sinn fein and the nationalist sdlp have nine. Theres lots more on the election online. You can look up the results in every constituency using our interactive map. And you can get live reaction and analysis from the experts, its all on our website, and the bbc news app. Thats it, now back to election 2019. Thanks, jane. Welcome back to election 2019 where were bringing you up to date with the latest reaction to the conservatives winning their largest majority since the 19805. The day has been book ended by President Trump come up with that tweet first thing this morning, and in the last few moments weve heard from him again, congratulating Boris Johnson first on twitter earlier in the day, and now he has given a little word. We will listen to that now. I want to congratulate Boris Johnson on a terrific victory. I think it might be hard pigeon harbinger of what is to come in our country. It was last time. I think a lot of people will be thrilled to hear that, because this was a tremendous victory last night, and it is very interesting, the final votes are being tallied, but the numbers are tremendous. I want to congratulate him for he is a friend of mine and it will be a great thing for the United States, because it means a tremendous amount of trade. They want to do business with us so badly. Under the eu, they want to do business with us so badly. Underthe eu, it they want to do business with us so badly. Under the eu, it was hard for them to do business with us. Well, a lot to unpack in that one. We will with our guests in a second. First of all, lets go to christian. Christian fraser is in our Election Results centre, and hes been looking at whether there is a new class divide in british politics. From some of the data that these results have thrown up. Yes, ive been talking all day about how weve seen this blue march into red areas of northern britain, into north east wales, into the potteries in the West Midlands, south wales and the south east. Ive pulled out seats with high middle class voters, High Percentage, seats with High Percentage of working class voters as well, and you look at this and say, i recognise that, big working class area, labour ahead, and vice ve rsa class area, labour ahead, and vice versa in the middle class the conservatives ahead. If i show you the vote share, then you see what is happening. So the conservatives putting on 5 in these areas, and labour collapsing and, with the conservatives in middle class areas, you can see that they are down a but labour are also down 7 . So, if this is a brexit election, you can see in those two areas it didnt really suit either side. You sit on the fence and you get splinters. That starts to show and you to the West Midlands. The conservatives we re West Midlands. The conservatives were up by nine, labour down by nine, and again there it is in the vote share. Labour losing votes both the liberal democrats and the conservatives. I have pulled out a few seats to see how that plays out. If you said to labour head of the election, how will it go, youd say, it would be tough, but if you said they would lose too much receipts in west bromwich, they would say, must be joking. West bromwich, they would say, must bejoking. So this west bromwich, they would say, must be joking. So this was really an earthquake for labour. This was tom watsons seat, the former deputy leader. He did stand down before the election, but he was campaigning in this area. A big leave constituency. There, the labour vote is collapsing, a massive swing on the night, one of the biggest, 12 . I spent a bit of time in stoke before the election, and the mp5 said it was getting tougher on the doorstep since 2017, ruth smeeth found it very tough on the night. She had a 2500 majority, which is now a majority for the conservatives 6200, and gareth snell, what you see in that seat is that the brexit party is eating into his vote. That is one that nigel farage appointed. 8 drop in the vote. So the takeaway from this in the West Midlands and other parts of the north, the labour party has to find a different way, a new way, emily, of speaking to working class people. What is that way . Thank you, christian. The constituency of leigh in greater manchester, Andy Burnhams old seat before he became manchester mayor, has been won by the conservatives for the First Time Ever. Judith moritz is there and sent this report. It has been pouring down all day, so weve come outside to leeds indoor market, 30 years old this year, and it is thriving here. News of the political decision overnight sinking in, a seismic change for this area, which has been in labour hands since 1922. Glenn is one of the butchers on the market. This is day one of leigh is a conservative constituency. What do you make of it . Nothing has changed yet. We are still the same. It was labour, now it is conservatives. Whether things will change, who knows . Because there hasnt been a chance yet, but a big political change. There has never been a conservative seat here. I dont think its ever been anything but labour. May be, if andy burnham would have still been here, it have still been a labour seat. Who knows . You have run the butchers, youve been working here for 30 odd years. What do you think has changed . For 30 odd years. What do you think has changed . What are the issues that have put people angry here . Lack of investment. All the investment seems to go to wigan. The leigh people seem to suffer. There is no investment in the town, no investment in car parking, everything in wigan seems to get everything, leigh seems to be on the back foot. On cue how did you vote and why . I voted conservative because i wanted brexit to go through, whether it be out or in, i wa nt through, whether it be out or in, i want it over, finished and lets get on with something else. This is an area where 63 of people voted to leave in the referendum. Brexit has played enormously in this campaign electorally. Two people have been shopping here. Both of you, sinking in, is it, that leigh has turned blue . Yes, quite a shock. Its a ways been a labour town, an old mining town, working class people, and they always voted labour, its a sign of the times and people have a right to say what they want i voted conservative, and ive never done that, but i did because to get brexit sorted. And, because youve never done it before, daughter of a minor. Did it feel . My whole family we re minor. Did it feel . My whole family were minors. It felt quite strange. But, as you say, it is the way things have changed. You have said it was about brexit, but what do you think ofJeremy Corbyns labour Party Customer i dont think a lot, to be honest. I dont think a lot of him. I dont think he is a very good leader. I dont think he would have been very good. Did you vote for anyone . I didnt vote. In turn why not . Ive never voted because i am pretty and agnostic. I think that both sides are two sides of the same coin, the Major Political parties. But the big issue for me was a brexit. I wanted out of the eu, a lot of working people in this area voted to leave the eu, and it has been three and a half years and we are still in the eu, and all we have seen on tv is left wing orientated parties seeming to want to stop exit and stop us leaving the eu, and that has been the perception, and labour have paid the price for that in this town, which i never thought i would see the day where leigh would be a tory constituency, but, you know, thats the situation we are in now, and labour have only got themselves to blame. Thank you. A typical view. Everybody i have spoken to in the market, labour have themselves to blame, and brexit is a huge issue for everybody, with 63 of those living in this constituency voting to leave stop the compilation, i think of that and the way people here feel about the Corbyn Labour Party has resulted in this seismic result, for the First Time Since 1922, this constituency no longer in labour hands. Are we perhaps looking atan labour hands. Are we perhaps looking at an entire political realignment asa at an entire political realignment as a result of the results of last nights election . Lets get some analysis now from sirjohn curtice, professor of politics at strathclyde university. Hes in our Election Results centre. With me now arejo tanner, former advisor to borisjohnson, and jonathan powell, former chief of staff to tony blair. Before i ask any of you to come into this, just raise up on the screen, if we can, this tweet from lord ashcroft, who is a vociferous poller, as you may know, he told 13,000 people after they cast their ballot to find out how britain voted and why, we are looking at it here. It is incredibly detailed. What it does is it breaks down into male voters, female voters, 18 to 24 aged, plus 65 and, of course, the different professional classes as well. I dont know if i can pull you in,john, first of well. I dont know if i can pull you in, john, first of all. It seems like sacrilege to talk about somebody elses polling like sacrilege to talk about somebody elses polling thats all right. I have glanced at it. It is in line what you would expect, given the analysis of the polls in the election, that leave voted for the conservatives, remain voters voted labour or liberal democrat, Younger Voters voted strongly for labour, older ones for the conservatives, but what is also true and striking for those of us who have some memory and understanding of the politics of the 19605 and 705 is there isnt much difference between the parties in terms of occupational class, something that christian has been illustrating with his great big board just a few minutes ago. Yeah, and if i can bring injonathan now, what was interesting was hearing these casual conversations with voters in the labour heartlands, people saying, as i think you heard there, i would never call myself a tory, i would never define as a conservative. How are you voting . I am voting for Boris Johnson. It is whether we are finding a different terminology or a different. I mean, presumably we are not going to call ourselves leavers or remainers after this election, are we . Coalitions of support for the two main parties have broken down, and as you look at this chart, over 50 of support among c25, this is quite different from the past, in the last election there were more working class voters and the tories were redefined as an English National party. They are gaining support from people who believe in brexit, it is a different sort of polity, not the Old Fashioned conservative sort of polity, not the Old Fashioned conservative party, and that is why borisjohnson will have trouble going back to being a one nation tory, because the people who elected him are not expecting that. If you look at the 2008 election, he managed to win london from ken livingstone, and i think the thing with boris is he has managed to transition traditional patry boundaries before, and i think it is whether you like him or load him,| it is whether you like him or load him, ithink it is whether you like him or load him, i think he does connect with people, and he gets people talking, perhaps sometimes not for the reasons he would want, but other times his ability to connect with people means they will talk about the subjects he has talked about, issues he has raised, policies he puts forward, and i do think, as a whole, particularly younger people, lam 42, i whole, particularly younger people, i am 42, i had grandparents who were socialist workers, and i lived in ted heaths constituency, but i have never identified as any particular class or party, even though i have worked with Boris Johnson and class or party, even though i have worked with borisjohnson and other Political Parties as well, but actually i think, out there, i think people do switch between parties more often, and when you bring in another big issue, such as brexit, i think that is where the Traditional Party lines disappear. Even if you are comfortable because you think. Boris acknowledged that in his speech outside number ten, boris acknowledged that in his speech outside numberten, he boris acknowledged that in his speech outside number ten, he said about the people who might have found it difficult to put across in the. But doesnt it alter what you do if you are the party of big business, you might cut Corporation Tax. If you are the party of what he now wa nts tax. If you are the party of what he now wants to define as the working class 50 of c25 and c15, you are not going to look at Corporation Tax first, you are going to look at social housing and presumably social care, it alters your priorities, doesnt it . Care, it alters your priorities, doesnt it . Johnson said very sensibly that they lend him their votes, and his problem will be to keep those votes, he will have to pumpa huge keep those votes, he will have to pump a huge amount of money into public spending because they expect patriotism, nationalism, and this is not the traditional tory former lawyer, he will have to pump money into keep those votes. Traditional tory formula. Do you accept that definition of English Nationalism . I dont necessarily agree with that, and i think as well we have an issue that even if the conservatives were not particularly pushing being a pro business party, the labour party were not going to be doing anything to help business with a four day week and. One of the most fascinating points in the election for me was the announcement around nationalising broadband, and it was the fact that almost immediately the phone ins on local, probably bbc and other stations, we re probably bbc and other stations, were people that were effectively saying, the labour party us saying the people cannot afford to eat but ican the people cannot afford to eat but i can have a free broadband, it didnt make sense to people, why could they suddenly have Free Internet put down the road people we re internet put down the road people were at foodbanks . It didnt make sense. When people say that the labour party forgot who they represented, what does it mean for the unions if they have lost the working class . Where is the union and labour connection of the working class have abandoned them . The unions have got a big problem here now as well, because they are supporting a party that doesnt represent their workers any more, apparently the workers are voting for conservatives now. John curtice, one last thought, we thought we would give him the night off after this john, do you think, when we talk about this political realignment, do you think the labels will change, the will change . Will peoples self definition in terms of political leanings change . We do now tend to call ourselves remainers or leavers, around 40 of us think strongly that way, only 10 think of us is very strongly labour or conservative, so brexit has certainly consumed us. I agree with most of what your contributors have said. What you have to understand is that brexit is not a left and right issue, it is not about the role of the estate and the economy, it is how comfortable you are living in a diverse society, as opposed to somebody who thinks we need a degree of homogeneity in order to have a social cohesion. Whether on the left of the right is unrelated to whether you are a social liberal or social conservative. Therefore, in the eu referendum, left and right wingers we re referendum, left and right wingers were just as likely to vote labour, but social liberals were much more likely to vote in favour of staying inside the eu, so because we have now become what is central to our politics, this issue that cuts across the left and right divide, and it is that divide that usually organises conserved up against labour, it causes internal tensions within both parties, indeed the tension that has been referred to between protectionist, quite big state, sometimes quite pro regulation attitudes of many social conservatives putting them at odds with big business, and it puts labours social liberals, metropolitans, labours social liberals, metropolita ns, support in labours social liberals, metropolitans, support in london at odds with its traditional working class support, to which the party probably has a disproportionate affective attention, because representing the working classes what the party thinks it is about, even actually, if you look at how it gains votes these days, it is no longer the case. Fascinating thoughts, there is a lot of nodding here from the panel. John, we will let you go, your last thought, what do you think should be our take from this historic election this evening . Well, i think my takeaway is that the challenge facing the Prime Minister now, if indeed is he going to be able to unite the country in a post brexit world . This to be able to unite the country in a post brexit world . This election poster with two challenges, one is how he persuades remain voters to accept brexit, he clearly was trying in his speech outside ten downing street this afternoon, but we have to remember very few remain voters voted for borisjohnson yesterday. His second challenge is what is he going to do about the union, and in particular the fact that scotland very, very clearly voted very differently from england, and in a direction that suggests the argument about whether there should be an independence referendum is going to be alive and kicking for quite some time. Sirjohn, thank you very much indeed. Iam time. Sirjohn, thank you very much indeed. I am going to pick up with you, jonathan, i am sure you have got thoughts on scotland, you are a key negotiator in the good friday agreement, you have thought long and ha rd agreement, you have thought long and hard about borders and all the rest. Why is the scotland conundrum resolved . Scotland and Northern Ireland, keeping the uk together will be borisjohnsons big challenge, andy powell is a show that the tory Party Members who voted and the polls showed that some tory members were happy to see them go if that is what it took to get brexit through. In Northern Ireland, once you put a border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom, it will be part of a United Ireland for economic purposes, it will intend a tendency towards a United Ireland for political reasons, and i think it will happen within ten years. Within five . Not probably within five, but in terms of scotland, the more he rejects a referendum, the more he rejects a referendum, the more he rejects a referendum, the more he says there will not be a referendum, the more he will increase the resentment of scottish voters and support for independence in scotland. If he does that, it will be incredibly hard to prevent independence happening in due course. We cant stand in the way of that if we believe in consent. Jonathon power, jo tanner, thank you very much indeed. We go back to christian for his final thought. Yes, people coming in from work might want to see the final picture, this is it, the best performance for the conservatives since 1987, but their best since 1979 in terms of vote share. Horrendous for labour, worse than michael foot in 1983. The liberal democrats, how did it end there, starting with so much promise five weeks ago, they are down on where they were in 2017, and jo swinson has lost his seat. Picked out some of the biggest feature through the night, these are the ones that went from red to blue, the likes of bassetlaw, a typical seat, a mining town in nottinghamshire, john mann standing down at this election, he had a majority of 5000, a majority now for the conservatives of 14,000. These sort of figures, incidentally, not easily overturned injust one election, incidentally, not easily overturned in just one election, the voucher change, labour collapsing, down 25 , enormous swing, quite extraordinary. In dudley north, ian austin, vote conservative, he told them, a former mayor of walsall now with a majority of 11,500, a seat that will not go back to labour anytime soon. Sedgefield, former seat of tony blair, a 25,000 majority when he came to power in 1997, and now it is in the hands of the conservatives with a 4500 majority. One final one, someone i met on the road, laura pidcock, the rising star in labour, even she has lost his seat. She had a decent majority, it has gone to the conservatives, and again a big colla pse the conservatives, and again a big collapse in the labour vote share, and you see the swing, 10 . Quite an extraordinary election, emily, and a lot of thinking to do for labour. Its been a momentous day here at westminster, my my time in the studio is coming to an end for the day, having started here this morning when borisjohnson was addressing his supporters before heading back to number ten. We have seen him visit the queen at Buckingham Palace and then formally begin his new term as Prime Minister. There will be plenty more throughout the evening on the bbc news channel, and of course on bbc world news, and on our website. But for now, it is goodbye from me and the team, and time to take a look at some of those key moments of the day, the last 24 hours, as the drama unfolded. Our exit poll is suggesting that there will be a conservative majority. Cheering and applause thank you for the trust you have placed in us and in me. And we will work around the clock to repay your trust and to deliver on your priorities with a parliament that works for you. Cheering one of the realities of smashing glass ceilings is that a lot of broken glass comes down on your head. So im proud to have been the first woman to lead the liberal democrats. Im even more proud that i will not be the last. Mr corbyn im very sad for many people in this country who will now have a government that is continuing policies of austerity and many of the poorest communities, i think, will suffer very badly. Thank you all very much. And happy christmas. Thank you. An extraordinary election victory for the conservatives borisjohnson urges the nation to find closure and let the healing begin after years of brexit wrangling. Back in downing street after leading his party to its biggest majority for 30 years the Prime Minister thanks those who helped their dramatic victory by voting conservative for the first time. Thank you for the trust youve placed in us and in me, and we will work round the clock to repay your trust and to deliver on your priorities with a parliament that works for you. A very different story for labour asJeremy Corbyn leads his party to its worst election performance since the 19305