Coffee House

Donald Trump has declared victory in the US election after winning the key battleground states of Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia. 'America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate,' the Republican candidate told supporters. 'This is a magnificent victory for the American people, that will allow us to make America great again,' he said at the rally in Florida. Trump has still not secured the 270 Electoral College votes he needs to confirm victory, but the path to the White House looks increasingly narrow for his Democrat rival Kamala Harris. The Republicans have taken control of the Senate from the Democrats, having turned seats in Ohio and West Virginia.

Robert Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch, the final two candidates for the Tory leadership, went up against each other on a special GB News show tonight.

There have now been four ballots of MPs to decide the next leader. Following the elimination of Priti Patel, Mel Stride, Tom Tugendhat and James Cleverly, two finalists remain. Now Tory members will vote on who they want of Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick to lead their party, with the victor to be announced on 2 November. While MPs won't have the final say in this last round of voting, endorsements now may inform the next leader's shadow cabinet. Below is The Spectator's guide on which of the final two candidates is backed by the 121 Conservative MPs in parliament: Robert Jenrick (23): Danny Kruger – 'He's got the competence and the personality and the temperament, also he has got the right policies.

This weekend Labour ministers, MPs and delegates will arrive in Liverpool for their first conference in office since 2009. Following July’s thumping election victory, the official slogan for this week’s gathering is ‘Change Begins’. But after recent rows on winter fuel and No. 10 squabbles, is everyone in the party agreed on what that change looks like? Below is The Spectator’s guide to some of the highlights at Labour conference over the next four days: Saturday 19:00 – 22:00 London Labour reception at ACC, Hall 2H Of the 75 constituencies in Greater London, 59 of them are now represented by a Labour MP. Among their number include ministers like Stephen Timms, Wes Streeting, James Murray and of course Keir Starmer himself.

It has been a weekend of riots. They began on Friday night in Sunderland, and were repeated in Bristol, Stoke, Hull, Belfast, Leeds, Manchester, Blackpool and Liverpool on Saturday. People threw bricks and bottles at the police, who put up their shields and wielded batons in response. In Hull, a Greggs and a Specsavers were smashed up and a Shoezone was set on fire. Some cities, such as London, saw protests that did not escalate. The Sunday Telegraph says that courts could be open for 24 hours a day in order to dampen the chaos. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said that ‘criminal violence and disorder has no place on Britain’s streets’. The National Police Chiefs Council said they are bringing in 4,000 more police officers to calm tensions over the next few days.

Labour has won the Blackpool by-election as the Tory party also performed badly in local election results overnight, losing 280 seats so far. Here are the results: Labour: 736 seats (+115) Tories: 283 seats (-280) Liberal Democrats: 242 seats (+43) Green: 77 seats (+35) Reform: 0 seats Some Tories will be breathing a sigh of relief not to have beaten into third place in Blackpool by Richard Tice's party. Ben Houchen's re-election for a third term as Tees Valley mayor will also have calmed some nerves. But there are few other glimmers of hope. Keir Starmer has won key bellwether councils, such as Redditch, Thurrock and Hartlepool suggesting that Labour is on course for a general election win, even if there are signs that his position on Gaza cost his party seats.

Last week I stood here to announce the ending of the cooperation agreement between the SNP and the Greens: the Bute House Agreement, and that the SNP would seek to govern as a minority government. I made that decision as leader of the SNP because I believed the Bute House Agreement was the right one for the party I lead, and I still do believe that to be the case. But most importantly, I believe it was the right decision for the country. My hope was to continue working with the Greens, in a less formal arrangement as the SNP moved into a new phase of minority government. Unfortunately, in ending the Bute House Agreement in the manner that I did, I clearly underestimated the level of hurt and upset I caused Green colleagues.

Tonight saw the second reading of the Sunak administration's flagship Tobacco and Vapes Bill. As expected the government easily won the vote by 383 votes to 67, thanks to Labour's support of the legislation. However some 59 Tories chose to cast a vote of protest against plans to introduce a generational ban on smoking, with dozens more abstaining. Below you can find a full list of those who voted against Sunak's smoking ban by their various party affiliation.