Sir Keir Starmer to Become Prime Minister After Labour's Landslide Victory
Sir Keir Starmer is set to become the next Prime Minister after Labour secured a landslide victory in the general election, resulting in a historic defeat for the Conservative Party.
Rishi Sunak conceded the election just before 5 am, congratulating Sir Keir on his victory and apologizing to Conservative members who lost their seats. "I am sorry," he told the Tories.
Labour achieved significant gains, taking seats from numerous high-profile Conservatives, including Cabinet ministers Grant Shapps, Gillian Keegan, and Penny Mordaunt. Among the notable losses for the Conservatives was former business secretary Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, who lost his seat at the same time Labour crossed the threshold of 326 seats to secure a majority.
The Conservatives were bracing for a disastrous night after exit polls predicted Labour would win 410 seats, leaving the Conservatives with just 131, a dramatic drop from their 365 seats in 2019. This would mark the worst result for the Conservatives in terms of seats in modern history, leading to expectations that Sunak will resign.
In a significant breakthrough, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage won a seat in Clacton, marking his entry into Parliament on his eighth attempt. The party had elected four MPs by 5:30 am, including former leader Richard Tice.
The Liberal Democrats also had a successful night, poised to return 61 MPs according to exit polls, capturing seats from prominent Conservatives such as Ms. Keegan, Michelle Donelan, and Alex Chalk.
Sir Keir will enter Number 10 as the seventh Labour Prime Minister, with his party projected to have a substantial majority of 170 seats. At a victory rally in central London, he said, “Across our country, people will be waking up to the news, relieved that a weight has been lifted, a burden finally removed from the shoulders of this great nation. And now we can look forward again, walk into the morning, the sunlight of hope, pale at first but getting stronger through the day, shining once again on a country with the opportunity after 14 years to get its future back.”
However, Sir Keir faced a setback in his own seat, with his majority reduced by almost 60% due to a challenge from a pro-Palestine independent candidate. He also lost two key members of his team: Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow paymaster general, lost his Leicester seat to a pro-Palestine independent, and Thangam Debbonaire, the shadow culture secretary, was ousted in Bristol by the Greens, who won their second seat in Parliament. Other Labour candidates lost to pro-Gaza independents in Dewsbury and Batley, and Blackburn, areas with significant Muslim populations.
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who Sir Keir had expelled from the party, managed to retain his seat as an independent.
Sir Keir, 61, is expected to enter Downing Street on Friday, following a victory that provides him with the political leverage to reshape Britain. He is likely to see the win as a validation of his efforts to modernize the Labour Party, which he has steered towards the center since becoming leader in April 2020. However, his majority will likely be smaller than Tony Blair’s 1997 landslide.
The Conservatives are on course to experience the worst result in their history, with Sunak anticipated to resign after 14 years of Tory rule. Several Cabinet ministers lost their seats early on, marking a series of significant defeats for the party. Mr. Shapps was unseated in Welwyn Hatfield, shortly after Ms. Keegan, the Education Secretary, lost her Chichester seat to the Liberal Democrats. Alex Chalk, the Justice Secretary, was defeated in Cheltenham by the Liberal Democrats, while Ms. Mordaunt, the Commons Leader, lost to Labour in Portsmouth.
In his concession speech, a visibly shaken Mr. Shapps attributed the party’s catastrophic results to internal conflicts, urging colleagues to regroup swiftly. “What is crystal clear to me tonight is that it’s not so much that Labour won this election but rather that the Conservatives have lost it,” he said. “We’ve tried the patience of traditional Conservative voters with a propensity to create an endless political soap opera out of internal rivalries and divisions which have become increasingly indulgent and entrenched. We forgot a fundamental rule of politics that people do not vote for divided parties.”
Sir Robert Buckland, a former justice secretary, also criticized his former colleagues as he lost his seat in Swindon, warning that the party risked becoming “a group of bald men arguing over a comb.”
As blame spread within the party, Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links, the former Scottish Tory leader, described Mr. Sunak's campaign as “one of the worst election campaigns in living memory.”
Despite the overwhelming defeat, a few Conservatives, such as former Home Secretary Suella Braverman and ex-leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, managed to hold onto their seats.
Reform UK's strong performance was a significant factor in the Conservative defeat. Mr. Farage’s victory in Clacton marked his first parliamentary win, while Lee Anderson held onto his seat in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire. Richard Tice, the party’s chairman, also won in Boston and Skegness, with exit polls suggesting Reform may secure up to 13 constituencies. Mr. Farage declared, “This is just the first step. I set out with a goal to win millions of votes, to get a bridgehead in Parliament, and that’s what we’ve done so I’m very pleased.”
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The Liberal Democrats also enjoyed a successful night, projected to return 61 MPs according to exit polls, marking their best result in a century. Sir Ed Davey’s party took seats from the Tories across the Blue Wall in the South, positioning them as the third largest party in Parliament. Sir Ed comfortably held onto his seat in Kingston and Surbiton with the largest majority ever secured by a Liberal Democrat MP. Speaking after his victory, Sir Ed praised the party’s national results as “exceptional.” However, the Lib Dems could not unseat Jeremy Hunt, who retained his seat in Godalming and Ash.
In Scotland, a significant shift was forecast, with Labour overtaking the SNP as the largest party, predicted to return 10 MPs. Former Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon described the outcome as “not a good night” and “at the grimmer end of the expectations for the SNP.”
The Greens were projected to win four seats, defeating the Tories in North Herefordshire and Waveney Valley. Plaid Cymru also picked up four seats in Wales, where the Tories lost all their seats.