Summary

  • UK's main parties focus on Brexit ahead of general election on 12 December

  • Departing MPs making final valedictory speeches in the Commons

  • Former Chancellor Philip Hammond announces his decision to quit as an MP

  • Earlier, Jo Swinson launched her party's campaign, promising a £50bn "Remain bonus"

  • Jeremy Corbyn made a speech setting out how Labour will "get Brexit sorted"

  • But the Conservatives called Labour's plans "fairy tale politics"

  1. Would Bryant be like Bercow?published at 19:35 Greenwich Mean Time 4 November 2019

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  2. Fourth ballot definitely open now...published at 19:32 Greenwich Mean Time 4 November 2019

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Ken Clarke clears up that confusion for us nicely.

    He stands up and tells everyone that the ballot is now open, and will be for 20 minutes.

    He says that since there are only two candidates left, counting the votes will take less time than in previous rounds.

    So we can expect to find out the winner of the contest at 20:00 GMT.

  3. Speaker election: Confusion over start of fourth ballotpublished at 19:23 Greenwich Mean Time 4 November 2019

    House of CommonsImage source, Parliament TV

    A couple of minutes ago, Mr Clarke said there would be a short delay before the fourth ballot opened - to allow the remaining two candidates to decide whether or not they would like to withdraw from the process.

    But Chris Bryant immediately stood up to say he did not plan to withdraw from the process.

    So Mr Clarke then said there would be 15-minute break for ballot papers to be printed and checked.

    But, after an interjection from a colleague, he was told the papers were ready, and declared the ballot open.

    However, we think the papers are not yet ready. So as far as we can tell, the final ballot isn't actually open yet...

  4. Fourth round due to start in next few minutespublished at 19:16 Greenwich Mean Time 4 November 2019

    Dame Eleanor Laing has therefore been eliminated from the contest.

    The fourth and final round of voting will start in about 15 minutes, Ken Clarke said.

    As the longest-serving MP, Mr Clarke is presiding over the process .

  5. Sir Lindsay Hoyle retains lead in third ballot resultspublished at 19:13 Greenwich Mean Time 4 November 2019
    Breaking

    The results of the third ballot in the Speaker election are in.

    Here are the results in full:

    Chris Bryant (Lab) – 169

    Sir Lindsay Hoyle (Lab) – 267

    Dame Eleanor Laing (Con) – 127

  6. Claims about Wales fact-checkedpublished at 19:08 Greenwich Mean Time 4 November 2019

    Reality Check

    Plaid Cymru leader Adam PriceImage source, PA MEDIA

    Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price said Westminster policies had failed Wales, at the launch of his party's general election campaign.

    He made a series of claims about problems in Wales, some of which can be checked.

    "There is so much in Wales, isn't there, that needs fixing," he said.

    "Child poverty is rising, life expectancy is falling... homelessness is at crisis proportions."

    Read our full story to see if his claims are accurate.

  7. Sir Lindsay 'down to earth and straight talking'published at 19:03 Greenwich Mean Time 4 November 2019

    The front-runner in the Speaker contest has praise heaped on him from the leader of his local council.

    Alistair Bradley, leader of Chorley Council, says Sir Lindsay Hoyle is a "very northern and down to earth".

    "He's a very straight-talking Lancastrian," he says.

    "Lindsay's very comfortable in lots of different people's company and he tells it how it is. He tries to, you know, deal with problems with a bit of humour and therefore can appeal to all people at different levels.

    "And that's what we see locally here in Chorley. He talks to everybody and engages everybody and hopefully he'd do the same thing in Parliament."

  8. No Russia interference report until after polling daypublished at 18:45 Greenwich Mean Time 4 November 2019

    Boris JohnsonImage source, Getty Images

    A report on alleged Russian interference in UK democracy will not be published until after the election.

    It has gone through the standard security clearance process, but sources say No 10 is stalling on releasing it.

    Ex-terrorism watchdog Lord Anderson said any further delay would "invite suspicion" of the government's motives in the run-up to next month's election.

    Ministers said the report would be published "in due course" in line with procedures for "sensitive" information.

    Read our full story here.

  9. Speaker election: Recap and what happens nextpublished at 18:31 Greenwich Mean Time 4 November 2019

    John BercowImage source, PA Media

    MPs are casting their third round of votes in the election of John Bercow's successor as Speaker.

    Here's a summary of what's happened so far in the contest, and what else to expect this evening:

    • Candidates each gave a speech in the Commons earlier, outlining why they think they should be elected
    • MPs then took part in the first round of secret voting
    • Labour's Sir Lindsay Hoyle won that first round with 211 votes, while Meg Hillier (Lab) and Sir Edward Leigh (Con) were eliminated
    • In the second round of voting Sir Lindsay topped the ballot again with 244 votes
    • Dame Rosie Winterton (Lab) was eliminated and Harriet Harman (Lab) then decided to pull out of the contest
    • That means there are three people left in the running: Sir Lindsay, Dame Eleanor Laing (Con) and Chris Bryant (Lab)
    • Ballots will continue until either one MP wins more than 50% of the votes or only one remains
    • A motion is then put to the Commons proposing the winner as Speaker and they will take the chair if this is agreed. If not, another vote takes place
  10. Corbyn 'will consider' Sky TV debatepublished at 18:20 Greenwich Mean Time 4 November 2019

    The Labour Party says Jeremy Corbyn will consider taking part in a TV debate proposed by Sky, the party has said.

    The broadcaster has proposed a live election debate on 28 November.

    Asked if Mr Corbyn will take part, a Labour Party spokesman said they will "consider all opportunities to explain our plans to voters and we are talking to the broadcasters about how to achieve this".

  11. Speaker election: Third ballot openspublished at 18:16 Greenwich Mean Time 4 November 2019

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Ken ClarkeImage source, Parliament TV

    MPs have 20 minutes to cast their vote.

    Ken Clarke says he hopes counting the votes will take about 45 minutes after the ballot is closed.

  12. Third round voting to begin soonpublished at 18:04 Greenwich Mean Time 4 November 2019

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Ken Clarke adds that the next - and third - round of voting will begin when the ballot papers have been printed and checked, a process likely to take about 20 minutes.

    He says after this, MPs will once again get 20 minutes to vote.

    He doesn't predict how long it will take to count the ballots, but based on the previous rounds it means a result from the third round is likely about 19.20 GMT.

  13. Speaker election 'different game now'published at 18:02 Greenwich Mean Time 4 November 2019

    BBC News Channel

    Paul Seaward

    Former Commons clerk Paul Seaward says it is clear from the speeches earlier that the Speaker candidates are "placing themselves in contrast to John Bercow".

    He says the process for electing the Speaker is a "different game" now there are balloted elections - this is the second time this process has been used, he notes.

    Before then, the process for deciding a new Speaker was "quite often a stitch-up between the two main parties", he adds.

  14. Three candidates in next voting roundpublished at 17:59 Greenwich Mean Time 4 November 2019

    Former Conservative MP Ken Clarke, who’s in charge of the election process, says Labour MP Harriet Harman has decided to pull out of the contest.

    It means there will be three candidates going through to the next round of voting - Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Chris Bryant, and Dame Eleanor Laing.

  15. Listen: 'People deserve to know what politicians mean' #Electioncastpublished at 17:55 Greenwich Mean Time 4 November 2019

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  16. Second ballot: Results in fullpublished at 17:52 Greenwich Mean Time 4 November 2019

    As she received the fewest votes this round, Dame Rosie Winterton has been eliminated.

    Here are the results in full:

    Chris Bryant (Lab) – 120

    Ms Harriet Harman (Lab) – 59

    Sir Lindsay Hoyle (Lab) – 244

    Dame Eleanor Laing (Con) – 122

    Dame Rosie Winterton (Lab) – 30

  17. Lindsay Hoyle continues to lead Speaker electionpublished at 17:48 Greenwich Mean Time 4 November 2019
    Breaking

    The results of the second ballot in the Speaker election candidate are in – Labour MP Sir Lindsay Hoyle remains in the lead with 244 votes.

    However, he didn’t get more than half the votes, meaning unless all the other candidates withdraw there will have to be a third ballot.

  18. Speaker election 'a laborious process'published at 17:43 Greenwich Mean Time 4 November 2019

    BBC chief political correspondent Vicki Young says Sir Lindsay Hoyle remains the front-runner for the role of Speaker after topping the first round of votes.

    She says out of all the speeches by the candidates, the one that stood out was Chris Bryant's. The Labour MP came third in the first round.

    He finished ahead of his Labour colleague Harriet Harman - who, our correspondent says, some people felt was “a bit downbeat” during her speech and won’t be ”particularly pleased” by the first vote.

    She adds that the election of a Speaker is quite a “laborious” process, because the ballot papers have to be reprinted in between each round, then the vote lasts for 20 minutes and it takes another 40 minutes while they count.

  19. Sturgeon: 'Outrageous to exclude SNP' in TV debatespublished at 17:41 Greenwich Mean Time 4 November 2019

    First Minister of Scotland tweets...

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  20. Swinson challenges leaders to sign up for Sky debatepublished at 17:23 Greenwich Mean Time 4 November 2019

    Sky News has proposed a live TV election debate on 28 November. The Lib Dem leader responded by tweeting "I'm in" and challenged the Conservative and Labour leaders to join her.

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