Broadcast timeline
Newsnight, followed by Weather
Thursday 8 October 2026 · 22:30 BST · 35m · 2 stories · 12 annotated moments · 27 of 35 min on news stories (78%)
Broadcast overview
An AI-generated overview based on this broadcast's transcript.
The broadcast began with the counting in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, triggered by former PM Keir Starmer standing down as an MP. It reported that Labour were confident of keeping the seat, while the Greens hoped to take it, and that the contest was seen as a symbolic first test for Andy Burnham as Prime Minister and for Green leader Zack Polanski. Recent discussion had been dominated by the Green Party's adoption on Sunday of a motion declaring Zionism to be racism, which had been condemned by other political parties and several Jewish groups. Polanski did not take part in the vote and had avoided discussing the issue in depth.
At the count, the BBC's Ellie Price said ballot papers had arrived and counters were poised, though verification would take several hours. She described a two-horse race between Labour and the Greens and reported Green expectation management, with a spokesperson saying being the main challenger showed how far the party had come and an insider suggesting a loss by about 5,000 votes or less could count as success in a historically Labour seat. Price said Polanski was not expected to win but could face jeopardy over the Zionism motion, with critical Green voices likely to become louder after the polls closed. In the studio, Caroline Lucas apologised to the Jewish community, called the motion flawed, dangerous and divisive, and said Polanski should have been there and voted against it; she did not rule out his standing down. Labour's James Murray said his party was waiting for the count and defended the government's record, while Tom Harwood described a split in the Green Party and a Labour shift to the left under Burnham. Later, Price noted Lucas's noncommittal remarks about Polanski's leadership and earlier criticism from other Green figures.
The programme also carried an interview with actress Cate Blanchett about her Displacement Film Fund, created for filmmakers who have been forcibly displaced, ahead of the London Film Festival. Blanchett discussed her work with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said a toxic narrative around displacement had become politicised, and argued that refugees are often stereotyped as economic migrants. Hassan Khassan, whose film Allies in Exile was made with co-director Fadi Al-Halabi, described being a law student and citizen journalist in Aleppo during the war, leaving with his footage, making an asylum claim in the UK, being separated from his family, and spending time in an asylum hotel. He said he felt shame at headlines about asylum seekers and that his message was that refugees are human beings, not numbers, and that he hoped to rebuild his life in the UK.
- 1:29 Story begins Labour wins Holborn and St Pancras by-election
- 1:29
Claim Labour wins Holborn and St Pancras by-election
The polls had closed and counting was under way.
BBC Two, Newsnight, followed by Weather, 8 October 2026, 1:29-1:38
- 1:38
Claim Labour wins Holborn and St Pancras by-election
Labour sources were confident of victory, and Labour was seen as favourite to hold the seat with Sagal Abdiwali as its candidate.
BBC Two, Newsnight, followed by Weather, 8 October 2026, 1:38-1:41
- 4:14
Claim Labour wins Holborn and St Pancras by-election
A Green insider suggested that losing by around 5,000 votes or less would count as a success.
BBC Two, Newsnight, followed by Weather, 8 October 2026, 4:14-4:17
- 4:17
Claim Labour wins Holborn and St Pancras by-election
A Green insider suggested that losing by around 5,000 votes or less would count as a success.
BBC Two, Newsnight, followed by Weather, 8 October 2026, 4:17-4:27
- 4:17
Claim Labour wins Holborn and St Pancras by-election
A Green insider suggested that losing by around 5,000 votes or less would count as a success.
BBC Two, Newsnight, followed by Weather, 8 October 2026, 4:17-4:27
- 4:17
Claim Labour wins Holborn and St Pancras by-election
A Green insider suggested that losing by around 5,000 votes or less would count as a success.
BBC Two, Newsnight, followed by Weather, 8 October 2026, 4:17-4:27
- 6:55
Claim Labour wins Holborn and St Pancras by-election
Caroline Lucas apologised to the Jewish community and said Polanski not voting on the motion was a mistake.
BBC Two, Newsnight, followed by Weather, 8 October 2026, 6:55-6:57
- 6:55
Claim Labour wins Holborn and St Pancras by-election
The Green Party faced a row over its Israel policy after adopting a motion declaring Zionism racist, and Caroline Lucas said Zack Polanski's failure to vote on the motion was a mistake.
BBC Two, Newsnight, followed by Weather, 8 October 2026, 6:55-6:57
- 7:17
Claim Labour wins Holborn and St Pancras by-election
Caroline Lucas apologised to the Jewish community and said Polanski not voting on the motion was a mistake.
BBC Two, Newsnight, followed by Weather, 8 October 2026, 7:17-7:28
- 17:55
- 18:00
Claim Cate Blanchett says Displacement Film Fund will challenge toxic asylum narrative
Cate Blanchett will appear at the London Film Festival to introduce the first short films backed by her Displacement Film Fund for forcibly displaced filmmakers, including Hassan Khassan's Allies in Exile, co-directed with Fadi Al-Halabi, about Syrian journalists forced from home.
BBC Two, Newsnight, followed by Weather, 8 October 2026, 18:00-18:09
- 18:12
Claim Cate Blanchett says Displacement Film Fund will challenge toxic asylum narrative
Cate Blanchett will appear at the London Film Festival to introduce the first short films backed by her Displacement Film Fund for forcibly displaced filmmakers, including Hassan Khassan's Allies in Exile, co-directed with Fadi Al-Halabi, about Syrian journalists forced from home.
BBC Two, Newsnight, followed by Weather, 8 October 2026, 18:12-18:17
- 23:17
Claim Cate Blanchett says Displacement Film Fund will challenge toxic asylum narrative
Blanchett said the Displacement Film Fund aims to challenge harmful narratives about displacement and move beyond stereotypes of refugees and asylum seekers as economic migrants.
BBC Two, Newsnight, followed by Weather, 8 October 2026, 23:17-23:29
- 28:50 ~6 min without annotations
Source: BBC TWO, "Newsnight, followed by Weather", Thursday 8 October 2026. Transcript excerpts and stills are shown only to support the analysis annotated alongside them. Search-result excerpts are distinct from the editorial annotations — see our copyright basis. The full broadcast is not reproduced.