Sir Keir Starmer is set to become the UK’s first Labour prime minister since 2010, following his party’s landslide general election victory. The party has returned to power with a huge parliamentary majority of 174, following a collapse in support for the Conservatives. The party’s victory comes largely due to a dramatic 20-point drop in Tory support, with the party down 250 seats to 121, a historic low.
The party has won 412 seats with just two seats yet to declare, delivering a result just short of the historic 179 majority won by Tony Blair in 1997. The vote share increase came entirely from a 17-point increase in support in Scotland, where it regained its status as the largest party as the SNP slumped from 48 to just nine seats.
On a good night for smaller parties, the Liberal Democrats won 71 seats, the party’s best result in a century, while Nigel Farage will become one of four MPs for Reform UK. Labour fought a cautious campaign in which it made very few new policy pledges but managed to largely retain the large polling lead over the Tories.
Labour’s manifesto centred around boosting the UK’s sluggish rate of economic growth through changes to the planning system and making the country more attractive to inward investment. However, party figures have admitted they face challenges amid challenges to the public finances. The party has also promised to overhaul UK employment law, renationalize nearly all passenger rail, set up a state-owned energy investment and generation company, and boost green investment.
And the losers, let’s examine some of the Conservative’s most embarrassing moments in their 14 years of power… and ask what is the most shocking 😲
• Boris’ ‘bodies piling high’ comment
• Chris Pincher MP resigning after groping two men at a private club
• Downing Street’s £112k refurbishment
• Gavin Williamson MP bullying a colleague
• James Cleverly’s constituency a ‘s***hole’ comment
• Liz Truss’s disastrous tenure as PM
• Matt Hancock affair
• Partygate
• Suella Braverman’s plan to ban homeless people’s tents
• Tory video of staff joking about breaking lockdown rules
• Tractor porn in the Commons