The sun sets on Sunak, as Starmer storms to a record victory in ‘one-party state’ win

Sunak and most of his most of his cabinet and party are wiped out, Farage gains 5 seats from zero start

Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2024

Facts4EU.Org summarises the historic 2024 UK General Election

NOTE: This report will be updated as the final results come in.

In a victory of historic proportions, Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour party came through with the expected landslide victory in yesterday’s UK general election.

With 412 seats Labour will completely dominate the House of Commons, to the extent where some of his MPs may have to sit on what used to be the opposition benches, if so allowed by the Speaker. Rishi Sunak and his cabinet did not only lose the election, many of them also lost their seats. It was nothing short of a humiliation.

Highlights

Voter turnout very low - suggests disillusionment with the Westminster class
Starmer storms to victory, as expected, but not by as much as the polls suggested
Worst ever result for Rishi Sunak's Conservatives
Nigel Farage's Reform UK come from nowhere to third in vote share, in huge success
Nigel Farage himself wins in Clacton with massive swing
Jeremy Corbyn, Marxist, former Labour Leader and now an independent MP, defeats Labour in Islington North
LibDems secure 18 times the number of Reform's seats, despite winning far less votes
Keir Starmer suffers humiliation as his majority in his own constituency falls by 17%

Reform came from nowhere to secure third place in terms of national vote share, but the LibDems in fourth place won far more seats. Nigel Farage is finally an MP, however, as is Lee Anderson.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

UK General Election results 2024

Information correct as at 08.30am, 05 Jul 2024

1. Vote share

2. No. of seats

Details are still being updated as results come in

Lab : 412
Con : 121
Lib Dems : 71
SNP (Scot) : 9
Sinn Fein (NI) : 7
Other : 5
DUP (NI) : 4
Green : 4
Reform UK : 5
Plaid (Wales) : 4
SDLP (NI) : 2
TUV (NI) : 1
UUP (NI) : 1
Alliance (NI) : 1

[Source: Local authorities / PA.]

The sheer scale of this

This is the second-largest victory in British political history since the Great Reform Act of 1832 - all the more remarkable given the number of candidates now on each ballot paper compared to almost 200 years ago. Conversely, Rishi Sunak’s performance as Conservative Party Leader is the worst since the days of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel at that time.

Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister on 25 Oct 2022. In just 619 days he has turned the 80 seat majority he inherited, which came from Boris Johnson’s triumph in 2019, into a net loss of over 200 seats. At dissolution his majority was already down to just 44, due to defections and other reasons.

Notable scalps

1. Cabinet ministers

Yesterday Rishi Sunak’s government was virtually wiped out. At least eight cabinet ministers have lost their seats, as well as a further 22 ministers who don't sit in Cabinet, including the following.

Grant Shapps, Secretary of State for Defence
Alex Chalk, Lord Chancellor & Secretary of State for Justice
David T C Davies, Secretary of State for Wales
Michelle Donelan, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation & Technology
Simon Hart, Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury, Chief Whip
Penny Mordaunt, Lord President of the Council, Leader of the House of Commons
Gillian Keegan, Secretary of State for Education
Steve Baker, Minister of State for Northern Ireland
Johnny Mercer, Veterans Minister
Former Conservative Party chairman Greg Hands

Kemi Badenoch held on to her seat.

2. Well-known figures

A great many ‘big beasts’ will no longer appear in the Commons, not because of losing their seats but because they stood down. Included in this list are names such as Theresa May, Sir John Redwood, and David Jones. Below are some of the big names who stood for re-election but were toppled yesterday.

Liz Truss, former PM
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg
Liam Fox, former Secretary of State for Defence
Jonathan Ashworth, Labour Shadow Paymaster General
Douglas Ross, Leader of the Scottish Conservatives
Michael Fabricant
Therese Coffey, former Deputy Prime Minister
Thangam Debbonaire, prominent Labour MP

Notable wins

This was the best performance by the LibDems in over 100 years, since 1923, with 71 seats. In addition we have the achievement of the new Reform UK party (see below), who have come out of nowhere to claim 14.3% of the vote but only four seats in this election. This is remarkable for any new party and would seem to augur well for their future over the next five years.

A new party is now represented in the Commons

Reform had an MP in the last Parliament, but this was because he defected from another party. For the first time this party has MPs who have been elected under their own banner.

Where will all these Labour MPs sit?

There are 649 MPs in total, plus the Speaker. In practice there were 639 voting MPs at dissolution, as the Speaker and his three Deputies don’t vote, and Sinn Fein doesn’t attend for its own political reasons. Of the overall total of 650 constituencies, 533 are in England, 40 in Wales, 59 in Scotland, and 18 in Northern Ireland.

The House of Commons only has sitting room for approximately 428 MPs, 214 per side. With so many Labour MPs, protocol may have to be revised and we assume many Labour MPs will be forced to sit on the end of the Opposition benches which were occupied by the SNP.

Rishi Sunak

In 2022 Rishi Sunak was rejected by the membership of the Conservative Party in its leadership election. He only became Prime Minister by virtue of his MPs then ousting Liz Truss (who was elected by the party membership) and installing him as PM, against the wishes of party members. Now he has been overwhelmingly rejected by the country at large.

We assume Mr Sunak and his family will shortly move to their penthouse apartment on Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica, California, where he can lick his wounds.

Observations

Labour didn't win this election, the Conservatives lost it. Labour won only around 34% of the vote - hardly a ringing endorsement. Voter turnout was well down and we will bring readers all these details as soon as they are available. Still, the results are the results when it comes to seats.

The BBC usually calls its election night programme “Britain Decides”. In this case it would have been more accurate to call it “Britain Decimates”.

The General Election 2024 was nothing short of extraordinary. We now have a Prime Minister in Sir Keir Starmer who has a negative poll rating with the public and yet his party has secured the second-largest electoral victory in living memory.

As has been pointed out by many commentators, the outcome does not appear to represent a positive vote for him and his party’s policies, but rather a protest vote against a Conservative Party in Parliament that had completely lost its way. There is also a story to be told about Reform UK's four seats versus its share of the vote.

The fallout from this historic election will continue for many days, weeks, and months. Labour’s majority in terms of seats is so large the UK effectively becomes a one-party state. Even if some of his MPs rebel on some votes, he has the numbers to carry through any policies he likes, even if they were not in his manifesto.

Tomorrow we are running a report on just how Labour won, and we suggest readers will not want to miss this. If you wish us to publish reports like this going forward, then we must appeal for support. With no money, we simply can’t carry on – it’s that simple.

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[ Sources: Electoral Commission ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Fri 05 Jul 2024

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Reader Comments 23

1. Sparky , Friday, July 05, 2024, 06:31:

Labour have been handed a historic win following the chaos of the last few years and Brexit. The shift to labour is small, the turnout is also small and a sign of the level of disillusionment in politics following the last few years and the liars behind VoteLeave. Interesting to see the Brexitears like Mogg, Truss being voted out. Boris Johnsons previous seat has also voted labour.
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The honeymoon period will be short for Labour and the task ahead will be steeply uphill. Labour will probably have two terms by which time BRINO will be well entrenched with the UK following the EU.

2. Captain Thunderbolt , Friday, July 05, 2024, 07:20:

This reminds me of the thumping victory of the coalition in 96 when they had a massive majority in both house.
It’s not always good that gives too much power without a effective opposition in government

3. Old Albion , Friday, July 05, 2024, 07:35:

The Conservatives lost because they failed, miserably. It's a loveless victory for Labour. A very small turnout reflecting disillusionment
with politicians following the lies about disaster for the country if we left the EU, and the failure to implement fully Brexit.
Immigration running wild, changing the demography of England at a rate never seen in history. Which will now worsen under the new government. I give them two years.
Reform have won four seats (about as many as anyone could hope for) But possibly had a share of the vote close to that of the Lib-Dems who have won 71 seats !! (a few to still declare)

4. LuxuryBalloon , Friday, July 05, 2024, 07:38:

While the Conservatives used to blame everything on the EU, Labour will now blame everything on Brexit.

5. Have You wondered. , Friday, July 05, 2024, 07:39:

.
Will Labour deliver?
What's the odds that Labour will not get off the starting blocks, particularly with immigration and with Farage on the opposition benches, that there will be a mid term GE?
.

6. terence patrick hewett , Friday, July 05, 2024, 08:08:

The big winner is Reform UK: Farage is the best speaker in contemporary UK politics and will roast Starmer on a hot fire, with the world's cameras rolling. Because Farage is well known internationally, whilst the rest of the LabCon pack are 5th rate nobodies. And if Trump becomes president, Farage will become the most powerful man in parliament as far as influence in the US is concerned. The political re-alignment of the UK carries on apace

7. Sparky , Friday, July 05, 2024, 08:28:

Reform have won in seats where there is an older, reform voting population that deserted the Cons because Rishi Sunak is British/Indian. We only had Truss (no longer an MP) because the Cons party couldn’t elect Rishi Sunak as a British Indian and the Cons have paid the price.

8. Northern Muppet , Friday, July 05, 2024, 08:56:

You've a sick and twisted mind, sparkless.
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Statements like that say a lot more about you than about anyone you're trying to insult.
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Rishi lost because he was useless - simple as that

9. NH , Friday, July 05, 2024, 09:51:

7. Sparky, "older, reform voting population"
Are you sure about this ?
If you believe polls you will find that recent polls have shown surprisingly strong support for reform from young people. They are still behind labour but well ahead of the conservatives and their support is growing strongly. They will now get to experience a Labour Government and make up their own mind.
.
1. Sparky, "Labour will probably have two terms"
Are you sure about this ?
It's a good result for Labour but it's on very shaky foundations. It's a very low turnout and labour's vote share is only slightly higher than Jeremy Corbin achieved in 2019. We will now get to see the True Labour Party, how divided Labour is and if their unbudgeted, idealistic policies work in practice.

10. terence patrick hewett , Friday, July 05, 2024, 11:00:

The ball is now in Starmer's court: and if he doesn't come up to snuff, then what happened to the Tories, will be the same fate for the Labour Party. The string of second places of Reform UK will give LabCon sleepless nights: with Farage waiting to pick up the wreckage. The voters are in a very ugly mood.

23 comments, page 1 of 3

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