BREAKING: Labour has won Southend West defeating Conservative Anna Firth by 1949 votes. David Burton-Sampson the former Mayor of Basildon is the new MP. Both Southend seats have gone red. #GE24

BREAKING: Conservatives hold Basildon and Billericay by 20 votes #GE24

Labour and the Conservatives are calling for a recount of South Basildon and East Thurrock. Reform are around 120 votes ahead I'm told. Bundles are being checked currently #GE24

BREAKING: South Basildon and East Thurrock going to a full recount Friday afternoon at 2pm

🗳️UPDATE: Reform take a second seat in Essex winning South Basildon and East Thurrock from the conservatives who came third. Labour were 98 votes away from taking the seat #GE24 bbc.co.uk/news/election/…

Thrilled to see the legend 🐐 Lewis Hamilton win his 9th 🇬🇧Grand Prix. It was an epic race if mostly 🌧️ weekend. 🏎️🏁

Farage to support Trump in upcoming US election bbc.in/3zwCd5f

Candidate faced campaign 'intimidation and racism' bbc.in/3VY28dD

James Cleverly writes in the Times that the Conservatives must unite to win back the public’s trust and the party must not “narrow” its offer to the electorate thetimes.com/article/66675a…

🧵 It’s my last day at the BBC. I’m off to be Journalism course leader University of Gloucestershire taking over from the immense @paulwiltshire - so big shoes to fill. I’m excited to be working with a new generation of journalists. Thank you to the amazing BBC colleagues I’ve learned from.

Two Essex MPs are in the race to be the next Conservative Leader: 🔵Priti Patel 🔵James Cleverly There are now 5 candidates. NW Essex MP Kemi Badenoch is also expected to stand. telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/…

Kemi Badenoch announces bid to become Tory leader. The third Essex MP in the leadership contest bbc.com/news/articles/…

Council defends partially repainting road marking bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

Rachel Reeves weighs PFI-style deal for £9bn new Thames crossing. The Financial Times is reporting that investors “would receive returns from the toll road in exchange for bankrolling the project, potentially on indefinite or 125-year contracts” on.ft.com/3WHrbSA

Farage earns more than £1m a year for non-MP work bbc.com/news/articles/…

My Dad, marking 50 years - yes, that’s half an actual century - of working at the BBC. Talk about setting the bar high.

Big political news out of Southend tonight as the former Conservative leader of the council has announced he’s joining Reform UK. Tony Cox quit as Tory group leader last week to form an independent group with colleague Darryl Jones. Both will now join Reform #Essex #politics

BBC Wales to shed up to 50 jobs - BBC News bbc.com/news/articles/…

The Witham MP Dame Priti Patel is out of the Conservative Party leadership race after polling the fewest votes among Tory MPs. Braintree's James Cleverly and North West Essex's Kemi Badenoch go into the next round and face a further vote next Tuesday...

Priti Patel knocked out of Tory leadership contest bbc.in/3XbO3dg