Image source, PA Media

Scottish Conservatives leader Douglas Ross says that, by trying to hold an independence referendum, Nicola Sturgeon is going beyond the Scottish Parliament's powers.

Speaking to the BBC, he says that the first minister told voters during the campaign they could vote SNP even if they did not support independence for Scotland.

Therefore, he argues, she should not interpret the SNP's election win as a mandate for another referendum.

Asked what is the legal or democratic route for Scotland to hold a referendum, Ross replies that "the choice happened in 2014" referring to the previous independence vote.

He adds that he would like to see the SNP making "better" use of the powers the Scottish Parliament already has.

As we mentioned earlier, the results of more than a dozen Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) elections are due later today.

But a candidate running to be Wiltshire's next PCC has been disbarred after a historical driving offence emerged.

Jonathon Seed was the Conservative Party's candidate to replace fellow Tory Angus Macpherson.

Vote counting for the PCC post is due to start in Salisbury at 10:00 BST on Monday and is still set to go ahead.

Seed said he was "bitterly disappointed" that he will now no longer be able to take up the post if he wins the vote

You can read more on this story here.

Politics is combative more often than not, but Chancellor Rishi Sunak has been reaching out this morning to his Labour counterparts.

He's tweeted welcoming Rachel Reeves to her new role and thanking her predecessor, Anneliese Dodds, for being a "thoughtful and constructive" challenger across the dispatch box.

Adam Fleming
Chief political correspondent

The reason Labour's reshuffle took so long yesterday was that Angela Rayner wasn’t happy about losing her job as the co-chair of the party and running election strategy - and she wasn’t happy about the alternatives that she had been offered and so there was a big, long negotiation until she was satisfied.

She has ended up with a lot of job titles and a much higher profile.

Angela Rayner and Keir Starmer used to joke that they were like Bridget Jones and Mark Darcy.

I am starting to wonder if they are the new Blair and Brown, or the new Miliband versus Miliband and this is a new kind of long-term tussle between two big Labour beasts representing different factions of the party.

But you can see the emerging new strategy that Keir Starmer is going to pursue.

There’s a big focus on the future of work and employment, a new focus on mental health and, with Rachel Reeves as shadow chancellor, they will be trying to take apart are the government’s claims about levelling up.

Image source, Reuters

Labour's new shadow cabinet will meet later this morning as questions swirl about Keir Starmer's handling of the reshuffle.

The Labour leader is being pummelled from both the left and the right after worse than expected election results and a bungled attempt to re-assert his authority with a new top team.

Rachel Reeves will have a prime seat at the table as Labour's new shadow chancellor but Angela Rayner, who lost some of her jobs yesterday, is back too with a beefed-up role.

Labour's new election strategy boss, Shabana Mahmood, is on Radio 4's Today programme.

She is asked why the reshuffle went so wrong and admits no-one could deny it has been a very difficult few days for the party.

But she says the focus now has to be on moving forward.

"We need a calm and reflective look" at some of the terrible results, she adds, but says there were wins in parts of the country too such as Wales and lessons can be learned from those.

"We have lost touch with people we should be trying to represent," she says, and "lost that emotional connection" and the challenge for the party is to "find a way to rebuild it".

Labour will now embark on a policy review process to find a way to reconnect with the public and bridge the geographical and age divide, she says.

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Following his party's election victories in the English local elections and Hartlepool by-election, Boris Johnson will now be under pressured to deliver on his "levelling up" agenda - that is his promises to tackle regional inequality.

Conservative Jake Berry, who leads a group of MPs representing the north of England, says "for far too long governments of all sorts of political views have failed to drive forward our towns with growth focused on cities."

Speaking to the BBC, he says: "No one should be surprised that people in Lancashire towns want the same things as people in Manchester and London.

"No government can actually really create jobs - what the PM should be focused on is creating an environment in Burnley and Bolton in which businesses want to invest.

"It is about getting the skills agenda sorted."

• What is levelling up and how is it going?

Image source, PA Media

Speaking to the BBC about a potential Scottish independence referendum, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown says Boris Johnson's "muscular unionism - an attempt to put Britishness into Scotland - will not work very well".

"Project fear will not work," he adds.

Instead, he urges the prime minister to improve co-operation between Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom.

Asked about the Labour Party, he says western countries are facing "seismic changes" such as economic dislocation and inequality.

SIr Keir Starmer "has got to be given the space and the power to change the Labour Party to deal with those fundamental challenges," he says.

Chris Mason
Political Correspondent

Tory wins and Labour's woes have dominated the election headlines but political analysts have also been raising their eyebrows with interest in the performance of the Greens.

In Scotland, they're likely to play a pivotal role after Nicola Sturgeon's SNP failed to secure a majority.

There's no such power-broking for them on the national stage, but some fascinating trends to take a peek at in their performance in England and Wales.

The party has gained more than 70 council seats so far.

Now that's a rise from a very small number, to a slightly bigger small number but politics is about building momentum and the Greens are grabbing attention.

The Green Party of England and Wales remains a tiddler, but there is evidence it is growing, and growing in confidence.

You can read more about the rise of the Greens here.

After appearing on Radio 4 earlier, health minister Nadine Dorries is now on BBC Breakfast. She is asked if Nicola Sturgeon - after her party's election success - has a mandate to call another independence referendum in Scotland.

Ms Dorries says everyone should be focusing on the recovery from the pandemic and clearing the backlog in the NHS and the courts.

"The recovery is not about legislating for another divisive, expensive referendum," she says.

"It simply isn't on our radar. All we are focused on as a government and frankly all Scotland should be focused on is the recovery from the pandemic.

"We should not be talking about a referendum. We should be talking about moving forward as a nation, as a UK."

The SNP's deputy leader Keith Brown confirms it is still his party's intention to have an independence referendum in the first half of the Parliament.

He says it would be "wrong" and "absurd" for the UK government to try and block a referendum through the courts.

"They should respect democracy," he tells the BBC.

He says once the UK government accept a referendum will happen, the two governments can "get on with" tackling the pandemic.

On Sunday, Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove said he would "not go near" the issue of the UK government potentially challenging a referendum bill in court.

BBC Scotland political correspondent Philip Sim has been looking at whether the argument over a fresh referendum will end up in the Supreme Court here.

Elections can sometimes be a bit toxic - with politicians denouncing and lambasting each other - sometimes from within the same party.

So we thought we'd share a nice bit of cross-party cordiality.

Here, Conservative MP and chair of the Northern Ireland committee Simon Hoare congratulates Labour's Louise Haigh on keeping her job as shadow Northern Ireland secretary.

Image source, Reuters

The former shadow home secretary under Jeremy Corbyn, Diane Abbott, is on BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

She is asked if the Labour left is planning a leadership challenge to Sir Keir Starmer.

Ms Abbott says she doesn't want a fight but Labour needs a "winning strategy" and Sir Keir needs to get back to the policy pledges from the 2019 election.

"I would like to see Keir Starmer return to the 10 policy pledges that he promised when he ran for the leadership, including abolishing universal credit, putting up taxes on the top 5%," she says.

"We want to unify the party and return to his 10 pledges."

Image source, PA Media

Health minister Nadine Dorries says she is "sure" social care will be mentioned in the Queen's Speech - but avoids going into any details.

Council leaders from different political parties have joined together to urge the government to make good on its promise to “fix social care” by setting out plans in tomorrow’s Queen’s Speech.

The Local Government Association, which represents councils in England, has sent a cross-party letter to the Chancellor warning that a failure to act would be "a bitter blow".

Speaking to the BBC, Dorries insists that social care has been "top of our priority for sometime".

With the elections mostly done and dusted, attention will now turn to tomorrow's Queen's Speech.

It is called the Queen's Speech because she delivers it, but really it is all about what the government plans to do in the next Parliament.

Reports suggest it will contain more than 25 bills, or proposed pieces of legislation.

The Sunday Times says, external there will be a Skills and Post-16 Education Bill promising a "lifetime skills guarantee", building up adult education and training.

While the Sunday Telegraph says, external an Animal Sentience Bill will be announced giving creatures with backbones the "right" to have their feelings recognised in law

Click here for more details of what might come up.

Image source, PA Media

Some news emerging this morning about a record number of rejected votes in the mayor of London election.

About 114,000 first preference votes were rejected in Thursday's election, which saw Sadiq Khan win a second term, double the previous record.

The mayor of London is elected using a supplementary vote system, under which each voter can choose a first and second preference.

Officials said the system is known to "result in spoilt ballot papers".

The government is currently looking to change the voting system , externalfor the mayor of London to first past the post.

Laura Kuenssberg
Political editor

Reshuffles are moments when leaders have a chance to assert their authority - to show they are in charge.

They matter to the mood and atmosphere of parties and Parliament.

And for a party to win favour with voters over time, it needs to show the public trusted and favourite faces, to give the impression of an organisation ready for government

Sir Keir Starmer's first reshuffle, however, has been a very messy affair.

It began badly with a bust up with his deputy, Angela Rayner, who was being moved from one of her roles - in charge of campaigns.

It took all day for the two to agree. That may seem astounding given that Sir Keir is meant to be the boss.

After a day of dispute and delay, in the end, the list emerged.

There are some important changes, but not a sweeping recasting of the team - you can read about the changes here.

The election results were expected to be grim, but the handling of the reshuffle was a mess that could have been avoided - and a knock to his authority he didn't need.

You can read more of Laura's blog here

Labour's Wes Streeting was also celebrating on Twitter last night after being brought back in to shadow cabinet.

A new role was created for him, highlighting Labour's focus on reducing child poverty.

Labour's new shadow chancellor was celebrating on Twitter last night after she learned of her promotion.

She said the challenge would be to secure a "fair" economic recovery.

This was Angela Rayner's reaction late last night when the deal was done with Keir Starmer about her future.

She said her focus will be on the future of work and well-paid jobs across the country.