Election 2013: Essex County Council results
The Conservative majority on Essex County Council has been slashed by a UKIP breakthrough and gains by Labour and the Greens.
Clegg hails win but PM 'confident'
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has hailed his party's success in the Eastleigh by-election.
Tory backbenchers' reaction to Eastleigh is critical
The Conservative Party has a habit of turning a drama into a crisis. Especially when the background to the drama is Europe.
Live updates
Naked rambler banned from court
Gough gained notoriety in 2003 and 2005 when he walked naked from Land's End to John O'Groats and was the subject of a TV documentary. His refusal to put on clothes in public has led to him spending prolonged terms in prison for repeatedly breaching court rulings.
Gough was banned from entering the court after he refused to wear clothing for the trial.
Nudist spotted near school
Stephen Gough, 53, of Chamberlayne Road, Eastleigh, Hampshire, pleaded not guilty to the charges of behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.
But District Judge Anthony Calloway found Gough guilty of the offences ruling that the unwitting members of the public had been "distressed" at seeing the defendant without clothes on.
He fined the defendant £200 for each offence but waived payment of the fine in lieu of time served by Gough in custody. District Judge Calloway said: "There is evidence, in my judgment, there are elements of the defendant as an exhibitionist."
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Election 2013: Essex County Council results
The Conservative majority on Essex County Council has been slashed by a UKIP breakthrough and gains by Labour and the Greens.
Read the full storyBus stop boogie is internet sensation
Click video. Abba fan and dancing queen Ellie Cole finds dancing on the pavement at the bus stop is a great way to pass the time. She didn't expect her 'bus stop boogie' to go global - so how does she feel about all the attention?
Abnormal load travelling through region this morning
This morning a specialised load transporter will be escorted by Wiltshire Police officers from Brook Lane, Westbury in Wiltshire to Eastleigh in Hampshire. The transporter and its load will measure 6.25 metres wide, 4 metres high with an overall length of 25 metres.
The 46-ton load will begin its journey at 0645 in Westbury. It will travel along the A350 northbound towards the M4 at junction 17, via Melksham and Chippenham. The load then will travel eastbound on the M4 on its way to Eastleigh.
Today's debates: The Budget and UKIP's progress
In the Last Word, Meridian's Political Correspondent Phil Hornby is joined by South Thanet's Conservative MP, Laura Sandys; the Liberal Democrats' Matthew Oakeshott - Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay on the Isle of Wight; and Caroline Flint MP, Labour's Regional Champion for South East England.
They debate the budget: how will it affect working families in the south? And, after Eastleigh, do the three main parties need to take the UKIP movement more seriously than ever before?
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Huhne costs court hearing postponed
A court hearing to decide how much former Eastleigh MP Chris Huhne and his ex-wife Vicky Pryce should pay for their points-swapping prosecution has been postponed to a date to be fixed.
The disgraced ex-Cabinet minister and his former wife are each serving eight months in prison for perverting the course of justice when she took three speeding points for him a decade ago.
Approximately £117,500 was spent by prosecutors pursuing the former couple, Attorney General Dominic Grieve has said.
Court to rule on Huhne case costs
A court hearing is due to be held to decide how much former Cabinet minister and Eastleigh MP Chris Huhne and his ex-wife Vicky Pryce should pay for their points-swapping prosecution.
The disgraced MP and his former wife are each serving eight months in prison for perverting the course of justice when she took three speeding points for him a decade ago.
Approximately £117,500 was spent by prosecutors pursuing the former couple, Attorney General Dominic Grieve has said.
Huhne faces a hefty legal bill from the case - at his sentencing hearing, the court heard the CPS is pursuing £79,015 for the cost of his prosecution, plus an extra £31,000 incurred by his efforts to get the case thrown out.
The 58-year-old, who denied his guilt for two years, failed in attempts to get his case dismissed, only pleading guilty on the first day of trial.
The cost of prosecuting Pryce, who was convicted after a retrial when her defence of marital coercion failed, is said to have been £38,544.
A costs hearing for Huhne and Pryce will take place at Southwark Crown Court at 2pm.
Farage : We will fight every seat we can
In this week's Last Word, Nigel Farage MEP, the UKIP Leader, talks about learning lessons from the Lib Dem campaign in Eastleigh - a seat they so nearly won. And he says, fired by a strong campaign in Hampshire, they intend to fight every seat they can in the local council elections.
He tells our Political Producer Kevin Harrison that THEY are the party that now represents Conservative values in the South.
The rise and fall of Chris Huhne
Both sentenced to eight months - former Eastleigh MP Chris Huhne and his ex-wife Vicky Pryce are on their way to jail for perverting the course of justice over speeding points. Andrew and Sangeeta link to our Political Correspondent Phil Hornby for a full round-up of the two cases.
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