Free hit for Team GB in ice hockey finals

"THEY'RE going to Switzerland!" roared commentator Aaron Murphy as he called the final dramatic overtime play of Great Britain's incredible comeback triumph against France two years ago.

But, ultimately, neither Great Britain - nor anyone else - got to go to Switzerland after the tournament last year inevitably ended up on the long list of sporting events which were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Of course, coronavirus has not magically gone away - and, even this year, all of the divisions below the elite tournament were again cancelled. 

For Team GB, that was good news as the resultant removal of relegation in these World Championships has guaranteed that, whatever happens this year, Britain will keep their place in the top flight in 2022.

In fairness, Britain had earned their place among the elite in 2018 - and retained it in 2019 - on merit with two brilliant victories over Hungary and France, respectively.

In 2018, promotion to the top division for the first time since 1994 was achieved when Robert Farmer equalised against the Hungarians with 15 seconds of regulation time remaining to give Britain the point they needed.

Then, the campaign in 2019 came down to what was effectively a relegation playoff against the French after six inconsistent performances had all ended in defeat. 

France were also without a win going into the match - and a tight opening period was shaded by Team GB.

In the second period, though, the tie shifted decidedly in favour of the French as, devastatingly, they scored three times in four minutes and one second of play. Two of the goals came just six seconds apart. 

An even game now had a very uneven score - yet, remarkably, the British team kept their nerve, and began to dominate. 

First, Robert Dowd finished neatly from a pass by Ben O'Connor - then, three minutes later, Hammond reduced the lead down to one after O'Connor's shot had been parried.

By then, the momentum switch was obvious - and, with 14 minutes still to go, Farmer found another vital goal in his locker.

Neither team could find a winner in regulation time - but, in overtime, skipper Jonathan Phillips held off some close attention down the left and found Ben Davies in front of the net.

Davies made no mistake - and Team GB were going to Switzerland, or so they thought.

This year, instead of going to Switzerland as commentator Murphy had foretold, Team GB were meant to travel to Minsk, the capital of original co-host Belarus, after being drawn in Group A.

But, on 18 January, there was another big change. International ice hockey governing body, the IIHF, decided that the World Championship could not be played in Belarus due to "safety and security issues".

And, to be honest, it would be difficult to pretend that outcome did not come as a surprise.

For months, the Belarusian capital had been paralysed by a series of protests against the government in Minsk which has been under the control of Alexander Lukashenko for the last 27 years. 

Lukashenko has built a despotic cult of personality and continues to hold in an iron grip on Belarus to the extent that he has even been described as the last dictator in Europe

Several political groups, politicians and international entities, including the European Parliament, called for Belarus to be stripped of it matches - and, eventually, the situation there became so untenable that the IIHF felt obliged to act.

Group A matches will now be held at the Olympic Sports Centre in Riga, the capital of Latvia, which has also retained its own hosting rights of Group B.

Those matches in Group B - between Latvia, Canada, Finland, United States, Germany, Norway, Italy, and Kazakhstan - will be played, as planned, at the Arena Riga.

Meanwhile, alongside Great Britain and Belarus, Group A features Sweden, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Slovakia, Denmark - and, effectively, the Russia national team.

In line with a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on doping sanctions in December, however, the Russian team is prohibited from competing under the Russian flag or using the Russian national anthem at any Olympic Games or World Championships until 16 December 2022.

Instead, Russia must compete as "neutral athletes", not that those circumstances make the number two-ranked team any less of a threat.

By contrast, Great Britain - at 19th, the lowest ranked team - are still going to find it difficult at times to compete over the next 12 days against some of the powerhouses of the sport, even if the big guns are shorn of many of their Stanley Cup-tied NHL stars.

Meanwhile, Team GB will be without their usual coach Pete Russell who will miss the tournament after he chose to spend time with his family following the end of his season at Freiburg in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga.

Assistant coaches Adam Keefe and Corey Neilson will co-lead this British campaign in his place.

Nevertheless, the aforementioned lack of relegation should lift a weight off the shoulders of the players - and, hopefully, that means Team GB can, once again, punch above their weight.

Pos	GROUP A	W	OTW	OTL	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	RUSSIA	3	0	0	1	15	7	+8	9
2	SWTIZERLAND	3	0	0	1	14	10	+4	9
3	SLOVAKIA	3	0	0	1	11	12	-1	9
4	CZECH REPUBLIC	1	1	0	2	12	13	-1	5
5	DENMARK	1	1	0	2	7	9	-2	5
6	BELARUS	1	0	1	2	8	12	-4	4
7	GREAT BRITAIN	1	0	1	2	8	15	-7	4
8	SWEDEN	1	0	0	3	12	9	+3	3

21-May	14:15	RUSSIA	4-3	CZECH REPUBLIC
		Burdasov [04:16 PP] Shvets-Rogovoy [35:27 SH] Barabanov [45:28] Grigorenko [59:41]	(1-1, 1-1, 2-1)	[09:26] Flek [37:53] Vrana [57:23 PP] Kubalik
21-May	18:15	BELARUS	2-5	SLOVAKIA
		Stefanovich [53:25 PP2] Sharangovic [54:22]	(0-3, 0-0, 2-2)	[03:53] Pospisil [09:17 PP] Cehlarik [11:02 PP] Pospisil [45:05] Hrivik [59:15 EN] Cehlarik
22-May	10:15	DENMARK	4-3	SWEDEN
		Nick Jensen [30:40] Nick Jensen [37:33] Kristensen [38:09] Nick Jensen [48:22 PP]	(0-0, 3-2, 1-1)	[22:06] Klingberg [35:09] Tommernes [50:56] Klingberg
22-May	14:15	GREAT BRITAIN	1-7	RUSSIA	📺
		Liam Kirk [18:46 PP]	(1-4, 0-1, 0-2)	[05:53 PP] Burdasov [07:19 SH] Grigorenko [09:21] Burdasov [10:51] Tolchinsky [30:08] Karnaukhov [49:59 PP] Kuzmenko [53:04] Slepyshev
22-May	18:15	CZECH REPUBLIC	2-5	SWITZERLAND
		Chytil [14:46 PP] Smejkal [54:59 PP]	(1-1, 0-2, 1-2)	[17:09 PP] Hoffman [24:12 PP] Meier [38:19] Scherwey [50:27 PP] Meier [57:08 PP] Hoffman
23-May	10:15	GREAT BRITAIN	1-2	SLOVAKIA	📺
		Liam Kirk [22:03]	(0-1, 1-1, 0-0)	[00:25] Hrivik [24:42] Lantosi
23-May	14:15	SWEDEN	0-1	BELARUS
			(0-0, 0-0, 0-1)	[40:33] Nesterov
23-May	18:15	DENMARK	0-1	SWITZERLAND
			(0-1, 0-0, 0-0)	[13:12] Meier
24-May	14:15	SLOVAKIA	3-1	RUSSIA
		Kelemen [30:00] Gernat [53:19 PP] Daloga [58:59 EN]	(0-0, 1-1, 2-0)	[31:06 PP] Barabanov
24-May	18:15	CZECH REPUBLIC	3-2 OT	BELARUS
		Kovar [29:44] Zadina [33:03 PP] Kubalik [61:23 PP]	(0-0, 2-1, 0-1) (1-0)	[25:52] Sharangovich [51:30] Yeryomenko
25-May	14:15	GREAT BRITAIN	2-3 OT	DENMARK	📺
		Ben O'Connor [02:33] Mike Hammond [56:18]	(1-2, 0-0, 1-0) (0-1)	[10:19] Jakobsen [13:44 PP] Nick Jensen [64:35 PP] Lauridsen
25-May	18:15	SWITZERLAND	0-7	SWEDEN	📺
			(0-2, 0-2, 0-3)	[08:35] Froden [10:00 PP] A Kempe [22:33] Olofsson [30:24] Froden [41:18 PP] Nygren [47:14] Lundkvist [50:46] Tommernes
26-May	14:15	RUSSIA	3-0	DENMARK
		Morozov [39:18 PP] Barabanov [49:41] Voronkov [56:35]	(0-0, 1-0, 2-0)
26-May	18:15	BELARUS	3-4	GREAT BRITAIN	📺
		Kodola [29:15] Platt [51:19] Prince [57:43]	(0-1, 1-2, 2-1)	[13:38] Liam Kirk [37:06] Ben Davies [38:35] Liam Kirk [48:41] Mike Hammond
27-May	14:15	SWITZERLAND	8-1	SLOVAKIA
			(1-0, 3-0, 4-1)
27-May	18:15	SWEDEN	2-4	CZECH REPUBLIC	📺
			(2-0, 0-0, 0-4)
28-May	14:15	SWEDEN	Score	GREAT BRITAIN	📺
			(Periods)
28-May	18:15	DENMARK	Score	BELARUS
			(Periods)
29-May	10:15	CZECH REPUBLIC	Score	GREAT BRITAIN	📺
			(Periods)
29-May	14:15	SWITZERLAND	Score	RUSSIA
			(Periods)
29-May	18:15	SLOVAKIA	Score	DENMARK
			(Periods)
30-May	14:15	BELARUS	Score	SWITZERLAND
			(Periods)
30-May	18:15	SWEDEN	Score	SLOVAKIA
			(Periods)
31-May	14:15	CZECH REPUBLIC	Score	DENMARK
			(Periods)
31-May	18:15	RUSSIA	Score	SWEDEN	📺
			(Periods)
01-June	10:15	SWITZERLAND	Score	GREAT BRITAIN	📺
			(Periods)
01-June	14:15	SLOVAKIA	Score	CZECH REPUBLIC	📺
			(Periods)
01-June	18:15	RUSSIA	Score	BELARUS
			(Periods)

Pos	GROUP B	W	OTW	OTL	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	FINLAND	3	0	1	0	11	5	+6	10
2	GERMANY	3	0	0	1	19	9	+10	9
3	UNITED STATES	3	0	0	1	13	5	+8	9
4	KAZAKHSTAN	1	2	0	1	8	8	-	7
5	LATVIA	2	0	1	1	9	7	+2	7
6	CANADA	1	0	0	3	6	12	-6	3
7	NORWAY	1	0	0	3	9	15	-6	3
8	ITALY	0	0	0	3	5	16	-11	0

21-May	14:15	GERMANY	9-4	ITALY
		Kuehnhackl [15:56] M Mueller [18:44] Rieder [24:23] Tiffels [27:47 PP] Noebels [35:13] Reichel [37:52] Noebels [38:35] Plachta [42:52 SH] Pfoederl [48:41]	(2-2, 5-0, 2-2)	[17:42] Petan [18:07] Frigo [43:22 PP] Bardaro [44:06 PP] Frank
21-May	18:15	CANADA	0-2	LATVIA	📺
			(0-1, 0-1, 0-0)	[19:58] Indrasis [28:39] Batna
22-May	10:15	NORWAY	1-5	GERMANY
		Lilleberg [36:21]	(0-1, 1-3, 0-1)	[19:44] Plachta [23:19 PP] Gewanke [26:04] Pfoederl [30:35] Reichel [44:41] Bergmann
22-May	14:15	FINLAND	2-1	UNITED STATES
		Ohtamaa [26:54] Pakarinen [35:41]	(0-0, 2-1, 0-0)	[38:01 PP] Robertson
22-May	18:15	LATVIA	2-3 GWS	KAZAKHSTAN
		Darzins [27:44] Ri. Bukarts [45:25] [3/8 in shootout]	(0-0, 1-1, 1-1) (0-0) (0-1)	[38:59] Shin [45:37] Blacker [4/8 in shootout]
23-May	10:15	NORWAY	4-1	ITALY
		Trettenes [10:04] Rosseli Olsen [25:12 PP] Trettenes [36:01 PP] Trettenes [40:59]	(1-0, 2-0, 1-1)	[51:55] Frank
23-May	14:15	KAZAKHSTAN	2-1 GWS	FINLAND
		Panyukov [35:56 PP] [3/4 in shootout]	(0-0, 1-1, 0-0) (0-0) (1-0)	[33:24] Lundell [1/4 in shootout]
23-May	18:15	CANADA	1-5	UNITED STATES	📺
		Comtois [51:35]	(0-1, 0-3, 1-1)	[07:42] Robertson [21:19] Clendening [23:27 PP] Moore [38:20] Moore [57:06] Tennyson
24-May	14:15	LATVIA	3-0	ITALY
		Karsums [32:08] Darzins [58:48] Karsums [59:48 EN]	(0-0, 1-0, 2-0)
24-May	18:15	GERMANY	3-1	CANADA	📺
		Loibl [10:46] Plachta [11:24] Holzer [57:59 EN]	(2-1, 0-0, 1-0)	[18:19] Paul
25-May	14:15	UNITED STATES	3-0	KAZAKHSTAN
		Clendening [06:57] Moore [21:33 EA] Drury [41:58]	(1-0, 1-0, 1-0)
25-May	18:15	FINLAND	5-2	NORWAY
		Pakarinen [14:24] Lundell [21:40] Nousiainen [25:54] Innala [47:17 PP] Bjorninen [53:25]	(1-1, 2-0, 2-1)	[01:30] M. Olimb [41:13] Lindstrom
26-May	14:15	KAZAKHSTAN	3-2	GERMANY
		Shin [26:39] Starchenko [40:31 PS] Akolzin [55:42]	(0-0, 1-2, 2-0)	[29:38] Kuehnhackl [34:07 PP] Eisenschmidt
26-May	18:15	CANADA	4-2	NORWAY
		Brown [00:22] Henrique [10:23 PP2] Mangiapane [34:41] Henrique [50:14 SH]	(2-0, 1-2, 1-0)	[29:08] Valkvae Olsen [30:28] Rosselli Olsen
27-May	14:15	UNITED STATES	4-2	LATVIA	📺
			(2-2, 2-0, 0-0)
27-May	18:15	FINLAND	3-0	ITALY
			(2-0, 1-0, 0-0)
28-May	14:15	KAZAKHSTAN	Score	CANADA
			(Periods)
28-May	18:15	LATVIA	Score	NORWAY
			(Periods)
29-May	10:15	ITALY	Score	KAZAKHSTAN
			(Periods)
29-May	14:15	NORWAY	Score	UNITED STATES
			(Periods)
29-May	18:15	GERMANY	Score	FINLAND	📺
			(Periods)
30-May	14:15	ITALY	Score	CANADA	📺
			(Periods)
30-May	18:15	FINLAND	Score	LATVIA	📺
			(Periods)
31-May	14:15	UNITED STATES	Score	GERMANY	📺
			(Periods)
31-May	18:15	NORWAY	Score	KAZAKHSTAN
			(Periods)
01-June	10:15	CANADA	Score	FINLAND
			(Periods)
01-June	14:15	ITALY	Score	UNITED STATES
			(Periods)
01-June	18:15	GERMANY	Score	LATVIA
			(Periods)

📺 Live coverage of all seven of Great Britain's matches will be provided by Livesports (Freeview Ch 64, Sky HD Ch 422, Virgin TV Ch 553 and on the Freesports player). Livesports will also have coverage of 18 other games across the tournament.

Labour holds London but loses in Hartlepool and heartlands

LABOUR leader Sir Keir Starmer completed an unconvincing Shadow Cabinet reshuffle this week after his party suffered yet another difficult election night last Thursday.

The by-election defeat in Hartlepool removed another brick from the Red Wall which Mr Starmer had vowed to rebuild when he took over from Jeremy Corbyn in April 2020. 

Instead, Jill Mortimer became the first Conservative to be elected MP in the County Durham town since 1959 when Cliff Richard was top of the UK Singles' Charts with Living Doll.

Indeed, this result - and many others in council elections around England - shows Labour is still heading backwards at a significant rate in its former heartlands in the north and the midlands.

Labour lost its majorities in County Durham, Sheffield and West Lancashire, while the control of the councils in Harlow and Southampton moved directly from Labour to the Conservatives. 

For a party which has now been in power in Westminster for 11 years, the Tories enjoyed an extraordinarily good night, also gaining control in 14 other areas including Northumberland, Nottinghamshire, and Nuneaton and Bedworth.

Elsewhere, the Conservatives restricted their own losses to just three areas, and all of them to no overall control, rather than directly to Labour. 

This was indeed a defining victory in England for Conservative leader and incumbent Prime Minister Boris Johnson - and proof that the General Election which brought him a majority of 80 in December 2019 had been no fluke.

Of course, Mr Johnson is currently riding the crest of a wave created by a vaccine roll-out which has been among the best in the world and which has allowed restrictions in the UK to be lifted, albeit still cautiously. 

More pertinently for Labour, though, Mr Johnson will simply always hold an advantage over the main opposition party which - even after so long out of power - seems intent on tearing itself apart.

In fairness, it was not all bad news for Labour. Mark Drakeford's Welsh Labour increased the party's seat share in the Senedd, taking exactly half of the 60 seats on offer overall to remain in power. 

Andy Burnham scored a thumping victory in the Manchester mayoral contest while Labour also gained the mayoralities in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, and in the West of England. 

Sadiq Khan retained his position as Mayor of London, albeit on a slightly-reduced vote - and Labour candidate Tracy Brabin will now depart her Westminster seat of Batley and Spen after she convincingly won the newly-created West Yorkshire mayorality.

North of the border, though, it is the Scottish National Party which continues to dominate the political scene after a fourth successive win. 

This time, the SNP took no fewer than 62 of the 73 constituencies - and 64 seats overall - to fall short of a majority by just one.

But that slight shortfall will not worry the SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon as her allies in the Scottish Green Party still gave her a pro-independence majority at Holyrood in any case.

More importantly, Ms Sturgeon can expect that this nod of approval from the Scottish people will close off the most difficult period of her six-and-a-half-year premiership so far. 

Back in March, an independent report found that Ms Sturgeon had not breached the ministerial code during the Scottish government's botched handling of sexual harassment complaints against her predecessor Alec Salmond.

However, a separate inquiry by MSPs has described the government's actions as "deeply flawed", and questioned some of Ms Sturgeon's evidence.

The row between Mr Salmond and Ms Sturgeon began when allegations of sexual harassment - strongly denied - were made against the former leader by two female civil servants in 2018.

Those complaints were made after Ms Sturgeon asked for new government policies on sexual harassment to be put in place in the wake of the #MeToo movement. 

Mr Salmond believed the policy was aimed at him, and the Scottish government eventually admitted it had acted unlawfully with the result that it had to pay his legal fees which totalled more than £500,000.

It did not end there. In January 2019, Mr Salmond was arrested and charged with multiple counts of sexual assault, including attempted rape.

At the trial in March 2020, Mr Salmond was acquitted of all 13 charges - and, in court, he said the claims made about his alleged conduct were "deliberate fabrications for a political purpose", or "exaggerations".

Mr Salmond has since claimed there was a "deliberate, prolonged, malicious and concerted effort" from some in the Scottish government and leading SNP figures to damage him and even have him sent to prison.

However, Ms Sturgeon has accused him of peddling false conspiracy theories and suggested her predecessor is angry because she "did not collude with him" to make the sexual harassment allegations "go away".

Subsequently, in the run-up to these elections, Mr Salmond helped form the Alba Party as a rival independence-supporting front. 

Far from significantly splitting the pro-indy vote, though, Mr Salmond's new outfit polled only 2% and therefore failed to take any seats. 

It feels certain then, with the Brexit process behind us - if not the effects - and with the coronavirus recovery now in full swing, the next chapter of politics will focus on two competing visions of nationalism. 

On the one hand, there is a British version offered by the Union flag-bearing Mr Johnson - and, on the other, a Scottish version offered by the Saltire-spreading Ms Sturgeon. 

All the while, Labour appears destined to remain on the sidelines, hopelessly split into two or more factions, without either fully splitting or, conversely, cobbling together the so-called Progressive Alliance which it clearly now so badly needs.

🗳️

ELECTION RESULTS BREAKDOWN

• HARTLEPOOL •	LAB	CON	LDM	GRN	OTH	ELECTED MP
By-election	28.7%	51.9%	1.2%	1.2%	17.0%	Jill Mortimer (CON)
Change	(-9.0%)	(+23.0%)	(-2.9%)	(+1.2%)	(+12.3%)

Conservative gain from Labour

🗳️

• ENGLAND •	CON	LAB	LDM	GRN	OTH	NOC
Councils	63	44	7	0	0	29
	+13	-8	+1	-	-	-6
Councillors	2345	1345	586	151	308
	+235	-326	+7	+88	-4
Projected National Share	36%	29%	17%		18%
	(+8%)	(+1%)	(-2%)		(-7%)

• UNITARY AUTHORITIES AND METROPOLITAN BOROUGHS
• Conservatives
Buckinghamshire - Cornwall - Dudley - North East Lincolnshire - North Northamptonshire - Northumberland - Shropshire - Solihull - Southampton - Swindon - Thurrock - Walsall - West Northamptonshire - Wiltshire - Wokingham
• Labour
Barnsley - Bradford - Bury - Calderdale - Coventry - Doncaster - Gateshead - Halton - Knowsley - Leeds - Liverpool - Manchester - Newcastle upon Tyne - North Tyneside - Oldham - Rochdale - Rotherham - Salford - Sandwell - Sefton - South Tyneside - St Helens - Sunderland - Tameside - Trafford - Wakefield - Warrington - Wigan - Wolverhampton
• No Overall Control
Bolton - Bristol - County Durham - Derby - Hartlepool - Isle of Wight - Kirklees - Milton Keynes - Peterborough - Plymouth - Portsmouth - Sheffield - Southend - Stockport - Wirral

• COUNTY COUNCILS
• Conservatives
Derbyshire - Devon - East Sussex - Essex - Gloucestershire - Hampshire - Hertfordshire - Kent - Lancashire - Leicestershire - Lincolnshire - Norfolk - Nottinghamshire - Staffordshire - Suffolk - Surrey - Warwickshire - West Sussex - Worcestershire
• No Overall Control
Cambridgeshire - Oxfordshire

• DISTRICT COUNCILS
• Conservatives
Adur - Amber Valley - Basildon - Basingstoke and Deane - Brentwood - Broxbourne - Cannock Chase - Cherwell - Epping Forest - Fareham - Gloucester - Gosport - Harlow - Havant - Maidstone - Nuneaton and Bedworth - Pendle - Redditch - Reigate and Banstead - Rochford - Rugby - Runnymede - Rushmoor - Tamworth - Welwyn Hatfield - West Oxfordshire - Worcester - Worthing
• Labour
Cambridge - Chorley - Exeter - Hastings - Hyndburn - Ipswich - Lincoln - Norwich - Oxford - Preston - Stevenage
• Liberal Democrats
Cheltenham - Eastleigh - Mole Valley - St Albans - Three Rivers - Watford - Winchester
• Independent
Castle Point
• No Overall Control
Burnley - Colchester - Crawley - Elmbridge - Hart - Norther Hertfordshire - Rossendale - Stroud - Tandridge - Tunbridge Wells - West Lancashire - Woking 

🗳️

• LONDON •	CON	LAB	GRN	LDM	UKIP	OTH
Constituency	5	9	0	0	0	0
	0	0	0	0	0	0
Votes	32.0%	41.7%	13.0%	10.3%		3.1%
	(+1.0%)	(-1.9%)	(+3.9%)	(+2.8%)		(-5.8%)
Region	4	2	3	2	0	0
	+1	-1	+1	+1	-2	0
Votes	30.7%	38.1%	11.8%	7.3%	1.0%	11.1%
	(+1.5%)	(-2.2%)	(+3.8%)	(+1.0%)	(-5.5%)	(+1.4%)
TOTAL	9	11	3	2	0	0
	+1	-1	+1	+1	-2	-

Labour (11/25) is two seats short of a majority

• CONSTITUENCY SEATS
• Conservatives 5
Bexley and Bromley - Croydon and Sutton - Havering and Redbridge - South West - West Central
• Labour 9
Barnet and Camden - Brent and Harrow - City and East - Ealing and Hillingdon - Enfield and Haringey - Greenwich and Lewisham - Lambeth and Southwark - Merton and Wandsworth - North East

🗳️

• SCOTLAND •	SNP	CON	LAB	GRN	LDM	OTH
Constituency	62	5	2	0	4	0
	+3	-2	-1	0	0	0
Votes	47.7%	21.9%	21.6%	1.3%	6.9%	0.6%
	(+1.2%)	(-0.1%)	(-1.0%)	(+0.7%)	(-0.9%)	(+0.1%)
Region	2	26	20	8	0	0
	-2	+2	-1	+2	-1	0
Votes	40.3%	23.5%	17.9%	8.1%	5.1%	5.1%
	(-1.4%)	(+0.6%)	(-1.2%)	(+1.5%)	(-0.1%)	(+0.6%)
TOTAL	64	31	22	8	4	0
	+1	-	-2	+2	-1	-

Scottish National Party (64/129) is one seat short of a majority

• CONSTITUENCY SEATS
• Scottish National Party 62
Aberdeen Central - Aberdeen Donside - Aberdeen South and North Kincardine - Aberdeenshire East - Airdrie and Shotts - Almond Valley - Angus North and Mearns - Angus South - Argyll and Bute - Ayr - Banffshire & Buchan Coast - Caithness, Sutherland and Ross - Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley - Clackmannanshire and Dunblane - Clydebank and Milngavie - Clydesdale - Coatbridge and Chryston - Cowdenbeath - Cumbernauld and Kilsyth - Cunninghame North - Cunninghame South - Dundee City East - Dundee City West - Dunfermline - East Kilbride - East Lothian - Edinburgh Central - Edinburgh Eastern - Edinburgh Northern and Leith - Edinburgh Pentlands - Falkirk East - Falkirk West - Glasgow Anniesland - Glasgow Cathcart - Glasgow Kelvin - Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn - Glasgow Pollok - Glasgow Provan - Glasgow Shettleston - Glasgow Southside - Greenock and Inverclyde - Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse - Inverness and Nairn - Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley - Kirkcaldy - Linlithgow - Mid Fife and Glenrothes - Midlothian North and Musselburgh - Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale - Moray - Motherwell and Wishaw - Na h-Eileanan an Iar - Paisley - Perthshire North - Perthshire South and Kinross-shire - Renfrewshire North and West - Renfrewshire South - Rutherglen - Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch - Stirling - Strathkelvin and Bearsden - Uddingston and Bellshill
• Conservatives 5
Aberdeenshire West - Dumfriesshire - Eastwood - Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire - Galloway and West Dumfries
• Liberal Democrats 4
Edinburgh Western - North East Fife - Orkney - Shetland
• Labour 2
Dumbarton - Edinburgh Southern

🗳️

• WALES •	LAB	CON	PC	LDM	GRN	OTH
Constituency	27	8	5	0	0	0
	0	+2	-1	-1	0	0
Votes	39.9%	26.1%	20.3%	4.9%	1.6%	7.2%
	(+5.2%)	(+5.0%)	(-0.2%)	(-2.8%)	(-0.9%)	(-6.3%)
Region	3	8	8	1	0	0
	+1	+3	+2	+1	0	-7
Votes	36.2%	25.1%	20.7%	4.3%	4.4%	9.3%
	(+4.7%)	(+6.3%)	(-0.1%)	(-2.2%)	(+1.4%)	(-10.1%)
TOTAL	30	16	13	1	0	0
	+1	+5	+1	-	-	-7

Labour (30/60) is one seat short of a majority

• CONSTITUENCY SEATS
• Labour 27
Aberavon - Alyn and Deeside - Blaenau Gwent - Bridgend - Caerphilly - Cardiff Central - Cardiff North - Cardiff South and Penarth - Cardiff West - Clwyd South - Cynon Valley - Delyn - Gower - Islwyn - Llanelli - Mertyhr Tydfil and Rhymney - Neath - Newport East - Newport West - Ogmore - Pontypridd - Rhondda - Swansea East - Swansea West - Torfaen - Vale of Glamorgan - Wrexham
• Conservatives 8
Aberconwy - Brecon and Radnorshire - Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire - Clwyd West  - Monmouth - Montgomeryshire - Preseli Pembrokeshire - Vale of Clwyd
• Plaid Cymru 5
Arfon - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr - Ceredigion - Dwyfor Meirionnydd - Ynys Mon

🗳️

• ELECTED MAYORS •	LAB	CON	LDM	GRN	OTH	ELECTED MAYOR
[1] LONDON	55.2%	44.8%				Sadiq Khan (LAB)
[2] Bristol	56.5%	43.5%				Marvis Rees (LAB)
[3] Cambridgeshire & Peterborough	51.3%	48.7%				Nik Johnson (LAB gain)
[4] Doncaster	59.8%	40.2%				Ros Jones (LAB)
[5] Greater Manchester	67.3%	19.6%	3.2%	4.4%	5.5%	Andy Burnham (LAB)
[6] Liverpool	59.2%	40.8%				Joanne Anderson (LAB)
[7] Liverpool City Region	58.3%	19.6%	10.3%	11.8%		Steve Rotheram (LAB)
[8] North Tyneside	53.3%	31.2%	5.7%	6.9%	2.8%	Norma Redfearn (LAB)
[9] Salford	59.0%	23.4%	3.3%	8.8%	5.5%	Paul Dennett (LAB)
[10] Tees Valley	27.2%	72.8%				Ben Houchen (CON)
[11] West Midlands	46.0%	54.0%				Andy Street (CON)
[12] West Yorkshire	61.5%	38.5%				Tracy Brabin (LAB)
[13] West of England	59.5%	40.5%				Dan Norris (LAB gain)

🗳️

• POLICE COMMISSIONERS •	LAB	CON	LDM		OTH	ELECTED
[1] Avon & Somerset	47.6%	52.4%				Mark Shelford (CON gain)
[2] Bedfordshire	45.9%	54.1%				Festus Akinbusoye (CON)
[3] Cambridgeshire	47.3%	52.7%				Darryl Preston (CON)
[4] Cheshire	47.0%	53.0%				John Dwyer (CON gain)
[5] Cleveland	28.9%	54.2%	4.8%		12.2%	Steve Turner (CON gain)
[6] Cumbria	26.1%	53.6%	20.4%			Peter McCall (CON)
[7] Derbyshire	44.0%	56.0%				Angelique Foster (CON gain)
[8] Devon & Cornwall	34.8%	65.2%				Alison Hernandez (CON)
[9] Dorset	38.2%	61.8%				David Sidwick (CON gain)
[10] Durham	51.0%	49.0%				Joy Allen (LAB)
[11] Dyfed-Powys		45.0%			55.0%	Dafydd Llywelyn (PC)
[12] Essex	22.9%	54.0%	13.3%		9.8%	Roger Hirst (CON)
[13] Gloucestershire		60.4%	39.6%			Chris Nelson (CON gain)
[14] Gwent	60.5%	39.5%				Jeff Cuthbert (LAB)
[15] Hampshire	31.8%	68.2%				Donna Jones (CON)
[16] Hertfordshire	44.7%	55.3%				David Lloyd (CON)
[17] Humberside	47.4%	52.6%				Jonathan Evison (CON gain)
[18] Kent	25.3%	57.8%	17.0%			Matthew Scott (CON)
[19] Lancashire	48.7%	51.3%				Andrew Snowden (CON gain)
[20] Leicestershire	43.0%	57.0%				Rupert Matthews (CON gain)
[21] Lincolnshire	20.0%	59.9%	5.9%		14.2%	Marc Jones (CON)
[22] Merseyside	56.9%	22.9%	16.5%		3.7%	Emily Spurrell (LAB)
[23] Norfolk	36.7%	63.3%				Giles Orpen-Smellie (CON)
[24] Northamptonshire	27.5%	53.2%	15.3%		4.0%	Stephen Mold (CON)
[25] Northumbria	59.6%	41.4%				Kim McGuinness (LAB)
[26] North Wales	52.1%	47.9%				Andy Dunbobbin (LAB gain)
[27] North Yorkshire	39.0%	61.0%				Philip Arlott (CON)
[28] Nottinghamshire	48.6%	51.4%				Caroline Henry (CON gain)
[29] South Wales	63.8%	36.2%				Alun Michael (LAB)
[30] South Yorkshire	53.9%	32.2%	13.8%			Alan Billings (LAB)
[31] Staffordshire	27.5%	55.7%	4.4%		10.1%	Benedict Adams (CON)
[32] Suffolk	23.0%	54.7%	8.7%		13.6%	Tim Passmore (CON)
[33] Surrey	42.0%	58.0%				Lisa Townsend (CON)
[34] Sussex	34.4%	65.6%				Katy Bourne (CON)
[35] Thames Valley	42.7%	57.3%				Matthew Barber (CON)
[36] Warwickshire	27.7%	52.1%	16.2%		4.0%	Philip Seccombe (CON)
[37] West Mercia	24.0%	55.3%	15.7%		5.0%	John-Paul Campion (CON)
[38] West Midlands	53.7%	46.3%				Simon Foster (LAB)
[39] Wiltshire	36.7%	63.3%				NONE - by-election required

Obdurate Selby grinds down doughty Murphy

WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
THE CRUCIBLE • 2-3 MAY
[4] MARK SELBY 18-15 SHAUN MURPHY [7]

[1]	3-5	Sun 1pm 49-57, 46-67, 68-65 (65 SM), 89-7 (89), 0-75 (75), 66-1, 8-71 (64), 54-80 (52 SM)
[2]	7-2	Sun 7pm 85-49 (85), 0-98 (98), 72-34 (67), 107-0 (86), 34-97 (64), 109-0 (57), 90-34 (90), 88-4, 69-26
[3]	4-4	Mon 1pm 4-84 (77), 69-58 (62), 41-69, 134-0 (107), 104-14 (54, 50), 1-100 (100), 0-108 (56), 131-0 (62, 69)
[4]	4-4	Mon 7pm 70-28 (66), 48-73, 108-0 (68), 11-79 (58), 120-0 (120), 0-100 (100), 8-126 (103), 71-57

MARK SELBY held off a valiant attempt at a comeback by Shaun Murphy to win a fourth world snooker title at the Crucible on Bank Holiday Monday.

Resuming the second day of the Final trailing by three frames at 10-7 down, Murphy made a quick start with a 77 break to win the 18th. 

Murphy also looked like adding the 19th to close the gap to just one after getting a snooker on the final blue before fluking it and getting the better of a safety battle on the pink. 

Agonisingly, though, the black - rolled dead-weight towards the pocket - stayed out and in the jaws, allowing Selby to clip it in and win the frame. 

In fairness to Murphy, he did well to recover immediately from that disappointment by taking the 20th frame before Selby produced the first century of the contest in the next with a well-taken 107.

The ton meant that the first four frames of the day had been split - and that, at 12-9, Murphy had failed to make any sort of in-roads into the granite Selby lead. 

For sure, Harlow potter Murphy had tried to make headway in front of a boisterous capacity crowd at the Crucible - but putting a series of frames together was proving difficult for the 2005 champion.

Instead, it was Selby who threatened to pull away when he took the 22nd frame to stretch his lead to four for the first time. 

Murphy responded to that with his first century of the match - and took the next frame as well - to set up a mammoth last segment of the session. 

Selby knew he was guaranteed a lead heading into the evening - but the two possible scores, 13-12 and 14-11, would look and feel rather different. 

Ultimately, Selby ensured he departed the afternoon still holding the three-frame advantage with which he had entered it, as two long reds set up breaks of 62 and 69. 

In the first and third frames of the evening, the Leicester man twice opened his lead back to four, only for Murphy to strike back immediately on both occasions. 

Nevertheless, Selby was well aware that if the players merely continued to exchange frames in the way that they were, he would get over the finish line first. 

In the fifth frame of the night, and 30th in the match, Selby went four clear for a fourth time with a 120 break to put himself just a single frame away from a fourth world title. 

But Murphy - who had already belied a complete lack of form heading into the tournament by getting to the Final - was not about to go down without a fight. 

A quick-fire 100 break was followed by a brilliant 110 as Murphy cleared up to make the 108th century of the championships, a total which easily surpassed the previous best of 100 in 2019.

Better still for Murphy, Selby had finally started to show some nerves - he had snatched at a long red to allow Murphy in for the second of those centuries. 

At 17-15 with the time ticking beyond 10pm, the crowd sensed there may still yet be a finish to match the Crucible drama of years long since past. 

But a scrappy 33rd frame suited Selby down to the ground - and, though Murphy had the first opportunity at a difficult final red, he again left it in the jaws of the pocket. 

Selby cleared up to restore a three-frame margin yet again - except this time there would be no further chances for Murphy to catch up. 

In the end, Murphy only lost one of the four sessions - but he lost it badly, going down 7-2 on Sunday night to leave him with his overnight deficit. 

And, even the first session, which Murphy actually won 5-3, will be the lingering source of irritation for him. 

After all, the Magician had managed to get an ideal start by taking the first two frames of the match - and, though both players demonstrated some impressive long potting and safety play, neither of them were at their best among the balls in the early stages.

Murphy really needed to have built up a bigger lead over a slack Selby that afternoon - but, at just two behind, the latter could make sure the evening session was played on his own terms. 

By the mid-session interval, Murphy's early lead had been swallowed up - and, after the players returned, Selby was in his element, bogging frames down and taking the last four of the night. 

The last two of those were particularly painful to watch with Selby regularly taking 90 seconds per shot, and sometimes over two minutes. 

Selby had already been warned by the match referee for taking too long on his shots when he used well over three minutes to line up an effort in his semi final victory over Stuart Bingham.

And it is not as if this is an unusual occurrence with Selby. 

Ronnie O'Sullivan often has good reason to refer to Selby as the Torturer - and he once took over six minutes to make a shot in a match against John Higgins in the 2019 Northern Ireland Open. 

For context, O'Sullivan compiled his famous maximum break at the Crucible in 1997 in a time of five minutes 20 seconds. 

Returning to the semi final against Bingham - and, unsurprisingly, Selby's decision to carry on when needing five snookers in the last frame of the Friday evening session also caused a fair deal of opprobrium. 

Meanwhile, on Saturday, the Selby v Bingham contest became the first Crucible semi final to fail to be completed inside the four scheduled sessions. 

For sure, it came across as a case of sour grapes from Bingham when he suggested some of the play from Selby was on the verge of gamesmanship - but the Essex potter is certainly not alone in holding that opinion. 

Of course, Selby did not deserve to be heckled and booed during his walk-on in the Final - and the complexities of snooker mean that it will always attract a variety of different styles. 

The truth is, though, that Selby could win the next three World Snooker Championships at the Crucible to go level with Stephen Hendry on seven - and he still would not be a particularly fondly regarded player.

In fairness, it is not something which appears to bother him too much - indeed, he seems to revel in bogging matches down.

But, at a time when the appeal of snooker to future generations is being openly questioned by world number one Judd Trump, a sustained period of Selby success could prove fatal to the long-term prospects of the game. 

Certainly, beating Selby on the baize is a difficult task. Unfortunately for snooker, watching Selby on the baize is immeasurably harder still. 

WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
THE CRUCIBLE • EARLIER RESULTS

FIRST ROUND [Best of 19 frames]

	[1]	Ronnie O'Sullivan	10-4	Mark Joyce
	[16]	Anthony McGill	10-5	Ricky Walden
	[9]	Ding Junhui	9-10	Stuart Bingham
	[8]	Stephen Maguire	4-10	Jamie Jones

	[5]	John Higgins	10-7	Tian Pengfei
	[12]	Mark Williams	10-4	Sam Craigie
	[13]	Mark Allen	10-2	Lyu Haotian
	[4]	Mark Selby	10-1	Kurt Maflin

	[3]	Neil Robertson	10-3	Liang Wenbo
	[14]	Jack Lisowski	10-9	Ali Carter
	[11]	Barry Hawkins	10-3	Matthew Selt
	[6]	Kyren Wilson	10-8	Gary Wilson

	[7]	Shaun Murphy	10-7	Mark Davis
	[10]	Yan Bingtao	10-6	Martin Gould
	[15]	David Gilbert	10-4	Chris Wakelin
	[2]	Judd Trump	10-4	Liam Highfield

SECOND ROUND [Best of 25 frames]

	[1]	Ronnie O'Sullivan	12-13	Anthony McGill	[16]
		Stuart Bingham	13-6	Jamie Jones
	[5]	John Higgins	7-13	Mark Williams	[12]
	[13]	Mark Allen	7-13	Mark Selby	[4]

	[3]	Neil Robertson	13-9	Jack Lisowski	[14]
	[11]	Barry Hawkins	10-13	Kyren Wilson	[6]
	[7]	Shaun Murphy	13-7	Yan Bingtao	[10]
	[15]	David Gilbert	8-13	Judd Trump	[2]

QUARTER FINALS [Best of 25 frames]

	[16]	Anthony McGill	12-13	Stuart Bingham
	[12]	Mark Williams	3-13	Mark Selby	[4]
	[3]	Neil Robertson	8-13	Kyren Wilson	[6]
	[7]	Shaun Murphy	13-11	Judd Trump	[2]

SEMI FINALS [Best of 33 frames] 

		Stuart Bingham	15-17	Mark Selby	[4]
	[6]	Kyren Wilson	12-17	Shaun Murphy	[7]

CENTURIES (108)
144 Shaun Murphy
142 Mark Selby
139 Kyren Wilson, Mark Allen
138 Liam Highfield, Ronnie O'Sullivan
137 Ronnie O'Sullivan, Barry Hawkins, Neil Robertson
136 Anthony McGill
135 John Higgins, Neil Robertson, Mark Selby
134 Mark Selby (3)
133 Kyren Wilson
132 David Gilbert, Mark Selby (2)
131 Stuart Bingham (2), Shaun Murphy, Kyren Wilson
130 Yan Bingtao, Anthony McGill (2)
129 Stuart Bingham
127 John Higgins, Stuart Bingham, Kyren Wilson
126 Liang Wenbo, Barry Hawkins, Anthony McGill (2), Neil Robertson (2)
125 Stuart Bingham, Mark Selby
124 Ronnie O'Sullivan, Shaun Murphy
123 Barry Hawkins
122 Stuart Bingham
121 Jack Lisowski, Jamie Jones, Mark Selby, Kyren Wilson
120 Stuart Bingham, Shaun Murphy, Mark Selby
119 Anthony McGill, Kyren Wilson, Stuart Bingham
117 Stuart Bingham, Shaun Murphy
116 Yan Bingtao, Mark Allen, Judd Trump, Jack Lisowski
115 Kyren Wilson
114 Judd Trump
113 Shaun Murphy, Neil Robertson, John Higgins
112 Ronnie O'Sullivan, Ricky Walden
111 David Gilbert, Tian Pengfei, Mark Williams, Judd Trump (2)
110 Neil Robertson, Kyren Wilson
109 Martin Gould, Shaun Murphy
108 Neil Robertson, Mark Williams, Stuart Bingham
107 Kyren Wilson, Barry Hawkins, John Higgins, Judd Trump, Mark Selby
106 Anthony McGill
105 Ricky Walden, Ding Junhui, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Anthony McGill, Judd Trump (2), Neil Robertson
104 Stuart Bingham, Shaun Murphy
103 Shaun Murphy
102 Mark Allen, Mark Williams, Kyren Wilson, Stuart Bingham
101 Mark Selby, Mark Williams, Yan Bingtao
100 David Gilbert, Neil Robertson (2), Yan Bingtao, Stuart Bingham, Shaun Murphy (2)

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