Newspaper headlines: 'Shattered Tories' and 'new Maddie suspect' By BBC News

Staff Published duration 4 May 2019 Related Topics England local elections 2019

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The local election results in England make the lead for most papers.

The Telegraph says voters delivered a two-fingered salute to the main parties. For the Politico website, this was the ultimate protest vote - and shows that things are far from business as usual.

The Express says voters vented their anger at the ballot box and sent one clear demand to politicians - deliver Brexit.

"So NOW will they listen?" the Mail's headline asks. According to the paper, returning officers reported that at least 30,000 ballot papers were spoiled with scrawled messages about Brexit in protest at the parliamentary "shambles".

The Financial Times says the joint conclusion by Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn - that the results showed voters wanted Brexit delivered - was controversial, given that the biggest winners were parties that wanted to stop Brexit.

But the Express tells its readers not to be fooled by the gains of the Liberal Democrats.

They have simply taken their traditional role for protest votes, it says - the Brexit Party had no candidates so this was not a sudden conversion to Remain.

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According to the Times , Theresa May will be told by senior Tories next week that she must set a date for her departure.

The paper says the chairman of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers, Sir Graham Brady, will meet the prime minister on Tuesday.

The Telegraph and the Sun renew their calls for Mrs May to step down.

In the Sun's view, the Conservatives are demoralised, exhausted and staring into the abyss - and only a charismatic new leader can focus minds on the party's successes and convince Britain it is worth voting for.

The main news for the Mirror , the Sun and the Star is that police have identified a new suspect in the case of Madeleine McCann - the three-year-old who disappeared during a family holiday in the Algarve in 2007.

According to the Mirror , British police have tipped off Portuguese detectives about a "foreign man" who was in the same resort at the same time.

The Sun reports that police are ploughing more resources into the case.

The Times reports that the Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, is considering making child vaccinations compulsory - with figures showing that vaccination rates for British children have fallen for a fourth year in a row.

It says Mr Hancock has accused anti-jab campaigners of being morally reprehensible, deeply irresponsible and having blood on their hands.