Have I Got News For You

Martin Clunes hosts his 15th edition, while BBC Chief International correspondent Lyse Doucet and comedian Chloe Petts both make their debuts as guests.

Joining the Doc Martin and Men Behaving Badly star tonight are two panellists who both make their HIGNFY debuts.

Rising stand-up comedy star Chloe Petts joins team captain Paul Merton, whilst the BBC's Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet joins Ian Hislop's team.

As Thursday saw the nation head out to the polls for the local council and mayoral elections, it followed a week of other big news stories which saw Humza Yousaf resign as Scottish First Minister, tensions boiling on US university campuses as student protests in support of Palestine continued to grow, and frustration at the continued delay to the opening of Manchester's Co-op Live arena.

With former minister and Conservative MP Dan Poulter announcing his defection to Labour earlier in the week, as the local election results started to come in on Friday it was clear that it was going to be a bad end to the week for the Conservatives - who have already lost more than 100 councillors and a key by-election seat to Labour in Blackpool South. The panel discussed that some Tories suggest that a change of leader could be a good idea ahead of a general election.

"With disaster looming what are some Tories thinking would be a good idea?" asked host Martin Clunes.

"Changing leadership, bring in Penny Mordaunt," Merton replied.

"Yes, a lot of talk about Penny Mordaunt. How do we know that she might be interested?" Clunes asked.

"Have they got a new lettuce out? Just a sort of pre-emptive one. I personally think we should have a constant lettuce going, rather than getting them in for the new leaders. And ironically, 'Constant Lettuce' sounds like the name of a Tory MP," joked comedian Chloe Petts.

"What was the unpleasant surprise for Rishi Sunak last week?" continued Clunes.

"He found out he was still Prime Minister..." quipped Hislop.

"The Tory MP defected to Labour. He's a doctor and he was scandalised by the Conservatives' lack of concern and investment into the NHS," replied Merton.

"When Labour talked him round, he said 'What I like about Labour is the focus they'll put on tackling poverty, poor housing and child health.' Yep, he fell for it," joked Clunes.

"I love the idea that he said 'this government just really hasn't tackled any of these issues', and we thought... you've been in it!" pointed out Hislop.

Earlier in the week, there was trouble in Scotland as Humza Yousaf resigned as First Minister, following backlash to his prior announcement that he intended to collapse the SNP's power-sharing deal with the Greens.

"It's the leader of a country who's had to resign because he's useless. I mean, that's not going to be a good precedent..." laughed Hislop.

"So who is going to take over?" asked Clunes.

"It could be John Swinney. They have to find someone in the SNP who hasn't been arrested. So that really reduces the number of candidates..." joked Hislop, continuing, "It could be Kate Forbes, she hasn't been arrested..."

"No but she's pulled out of the race. She takes a hard-line view on sexuality, and is the daughter of missionaries. I think we know what their position is," quipped Clunes.

"I think it was quite refreshing that he did something that he considered to be wrong and regrets and then stood down graciously," Petts pointed out.

"So you like the way he left?" queried Hislop.

"Yeah, I loved the way he left. It was with grace and dignity and we haven't had that for a long time. I like the way that he sort of looked over to his family and thanked them as he cried. Obviously Johnson wouldn't have been able to do that 'cause there wouldn't have been a room big enough in Westminster," joked Petts.

"Humza Yousaf's disastrous fall out with the Green Party was described by The Telegraph as one of the greatest miscalculations in recent political history. To which Liz Truss responded, 'hold my pint'," quipped Clunes.

Also in the news this week was Manchester's crisis-hit new Co-op Live arena, whose opening plans have been hit by a string of delays and technical problems, angering devastated fans after numerous shows continue to be cancelled.

"This is the new stadium in Manchester, the Co-op Live stadium, which has still not managed to open properly. They've had to cancel many shows. They were about to open up, some people started coming in and a piece of air conditioning fell out of the ceiling onto the floor, so everybody had to go home. It's a 23,000 people capacity, but only six people have been let in so far," laughed Merton.

"...and they went in to fix the air conditioning!" quipped Lyse Doucet.

"According to the Mail, cancelled acts included Peter Kay and Olivia Rodrigo, and if that wasn't bad enough, the Rick Astley gig went ahead," joked Clunes, continuing...

"Other stars set to play at the venue include Take That and Eric Clapton. Village People say they've also been approached, as long as they bring along the bloke with the hard hat and a tool belt."