Sturgeon says SNP majority ‘has always been a very, very long shot’
Boris Johnson has rejected a second referendum on Scottish independence as “reckless and irresponsible,” as the first set of election results in Scotland leave a SNP majority on a knife edge.
SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon said she would push ahead with legislation for another referendum “when the time is right” – claiming Mr Johnson “would have to go to court” to block another vote.
It comes as Sir Keir Starmer is to embark on a major shake-up of Labour’s top team after devastating election results, including the loss of the Hartlepool by-election and the Tees Valley mayoral vote.
The Tories are confident of a “hat trick” of big victories over Labour by winning the West Midlands mayoralty. Labour said it was “too early” to say if London mayor Sadiq Khan has been re-elected.
London mayor contest neck and neck
Incumbent Labour mayor of London Sadiq Khan is only narrowly ahead of Tory challenger Shaun Bailey.
Khan has just over 487,000 first preference votes and Bailey has just over 462,000 first preference votes – 39 per cent to 37 per cent.
Seven of the 14 mayoral constituencies in the capital have been declared, with the rest due to finish counting and declare by Saturday evening.
Adam Forrest8 May 2021 12:42
Will Labour take West Midlands contest to second preferences?
Elizabeth Glinka, the BBC Midlands’ political editor said there is “real concern” among Labour figures that the party’s mayoral candidate Liam Byrne won’t make it past first preferences.
Tory candidate Andy Street is the strong favourite to take the contest – one of the “hat trick” of victories over Labour that the Conservatives had earmarked before Super Thursday.
Adam Forrest8 May 2021 12:36
Indyref2 clash heading for court battle?
Scotland’s deputy first minister John Swinney has made clear the SNP plans to push ahead with legislation to stage a “legal” referendum on Scottish independence.
Swinney said on Saturday he was “certain” there would be a majority – with the Scottish Greens – of pro-independence MSPs at Holyrood, which would be a mandate to push ahead with indyref2.
“We will pursue the route to deliver a legal referendum,” Swinney told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Nicola Sturgeon said on Friday evening that she would push ahead with legislation for another referendum “when the time is right” – claiming Boris Johnson “would have to go to court” to block another vote.
Sturgeon’s first move in the chess game could be to demand the UK government grants a section 30 order (a provision in 1998 Scotland Act) to stage another referendum.
If Johnson refuses, there is a potential plan B: pass a referendum bill in the Scottish parliament. This could force a legal challenge from the UK government – with the matter then likely to end up in the Supreme Court.
Adam Forrest8 May 2021 12:11
Tories take 15 council seats in Rotherham
Keir Starmer will be hoping victories for Andy Burnham in Manchester and Sadiq Khan might steady the ship today.
But local elections results are already going badly this morning – the Tories are making big gains in Rotherham. The Conservatives have already 15 council seats.
Adam Forrest8 May 2021 11:52
Laughter at count as far-right activist got 46 votes
The far-right activist Jayda Fransen was humiliated after she won just 46 votes in her audacious bid to unseat Nicola Sturgeon in Glasgow Southside.
A clip of the count read in Glasgow Southside – where Fransen was standing as an independent – went viral online due to the laughter heard as her embarrassing results were read out.
Adam Forrest8 May 2021 11:37
How many seats will Scottish Greens get today?
Votes for the Scottish Greens are up across the country, but the margins for seat gains on the regional list systems are very slim, co-leader Patrick Harvie has said.
The pro-independence Scottish Greens currently have five seats – but some pollsters forecast the party to boost its share to 11 or 12 seats, helping make the case for another independence referendum.
“It looks like there’s three or four seats which are in contention for us but potentially close. We’ve still got a way to go yet,” said Harvie.
“The difference between a result which looks outstanding for us and one that’s a bit more conservative is actually very small.”
Adam Forrest8 May 2021 11:27
Hammer government on Brexit failures, says Labour MP
Labour MP Clive Lewis has urged Keir Starmer and the leadership to “be authentic” – even if that means talking about Brexit.
“Brexit has happened. We’re now outside of the EU,” he told the BBC.
“There are problems with being outside of the EU which this government are failing on, economically and politically – and we should make sure we talk about those and hammer them where we can.”
Adam Forrest8 May 2021 11:14
Labour has ‘no message,’ says top analyst
Political analyst Lord Hayward has said Labour has “no message that people can clearly understand”.
He told LBC: “People don’t know what they’re being asked for – they need something to rally round and they haven’t got it. They don’t have the personality and they don’t have the policies.”
Lord Hayward said the party needs to “take a breath” and get some big, clear policies – however difficult it is to do in the next few weeks.
Adam Forrest8 May 2021 11:05
SNP HOLD: Aberdeenshire East
The SNP has held onto its constituency seat in Aberdeenshire East. But the SNP’s share of the vote was down by 1.2 per cent – and the Tory vote up by 11 per cent.
We learned yesterday not to read too much of general pattern from vote share swings.
But there does seem to be a pattern of tactical voting among pro-union voters. In this case Lib Dem voters seemed willing to back the Tories in a bid to take the seat from the SNP – and it almost worked.
It suggests the Tories might be able to hold off the SNP and hang onto nearby Aberdeenshire West.
Adam Forrest8 May 2021 10:58
Counts under way: when do we get Saturday results?
Vote counting is continuing for a second day in Scotland’s election. With 48 constituency results declared on Friday, the SNP had 39 seats, Liberal Democrats four, Conservatives three and Labour two.
We should start getting more results from more constituencies from midday on Saturday, and the crucial regional list results will also start being declared.
Counting is back under in Wales. With 52 of the 60 seats declared, Labour is on 30 seats. We should start getting the remaining results from midday.
After winning the Hartlepool and the Tees Valley mayoralty, the Tories are also confident of recording a “hat trick” of big victories over Labour by winning the West Midlands mayoralty – we should find out that result this afternoon.
We’re also expecting results this afternoon from London – where Sadiq Khan’s re-election no longer looks assured. There will also be results from the mayoral elections in North Tyneside, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Salford, Greater Manchester, Bristol and the West of England.
Adam Forrest8 May 2021 10:30