Factbox: UK election: What happened?
05/07/2024 14:07
(Adds source for turnout figure)
LONDON, July 5 (Reuters) - Labour surged to a landslide
victory in Britain's parliamentary election, ending 14 years of
often tumultuous Conservative government and propelling Keir
Starmer to power as prime minister.
WHAT WERE THE RESULTS?
With 648 of the 650 seats in parliament's House of Commons
declared, here are the results:
Labour - 412 seats, 33.7% vote share
Conservatives - 121 seats, 23.7% vote share
Liberal Democrats - 71 seats, 12.2% vote share
Scottish National Party - 9 seats, 2.5% vote share
Sinn Fein - 7 seats, 0.7% vote share
Democratic Unionist Party - 5 seats, 0.6% vote share
Reform UK - 4 seats, 14.3% vote share
Green - 4 seats, 6.8% vote share
Plaid Cymru - 4 seats, 0.7% vote share
Others - 11 seats, 3.2% vote share
As things stand, Labour has a simple majority of 176 seats
in the House of Commons.
HOW BAD WAS IT FOR THE CONSERVATIVES?
Rishi Sunak's Conservatives won the fewest seats since the party
was founded in 1834.
WHAT WILL THE FINAL RESULT BE KNOWN?
The final result will not be known until the weekend, with a
recount in one Scottish seat due to take place on Saturday. That
is expected to be a toss-up between the SNP and Liberal
Democrats.
The other outstanding seat, South Basildon and East Thurrock
is eastern England, is due to be recounted on Friday afternoon
and is expected to be won by either Labour or Reform UK.
HOW WAS VOTER TURNOUT?
Voter turnout was 60%, according to the BBC. That is the lowest
since 2001 when it was 59.4%. The only other time it has been
lower in more than 100 years was in 1918 when turnout was 57.2%.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO RISHI SUNAK?
Rishi Sunak has resigned as prime minister and said he would
also step down as Conservative Party leader, once the
arrangements for selecting his successor were in place. He said
he would stay on as a Member of Parliament.
WHO IS NEW IN PARLIAMENT?
Among the more than 300 candidates becoming members of
parliament for the first time is Nigel Farage, leader of
populist Reform UK. A former member of the European Parliament,
Farage had failed in seven previous bids to be elected to
Westminster.
Several pro-Gaza independent candidates also won seats.
WHICH BIG NAMES LOST THEIR SEATS?
Twelve senior Conservatives ministers lost their seats at the
election, surpassing the previous record of seven in 1997 when
Tony Blair brought Labour to power in a landslide election
victory.
Those included defence minister Grant Shapps, education
minister Gillian Keegan, culture minister Lucy Frazer, science
minister Michelle Donelan and justice minister Alex Chalk.
Former Prime Minister Liz Truss was also among those who
lost their seat, as well as Penny Mordaunt, leader of the lower
house of parliament and touted as a possible future Conservative
leader.
High-profile Conservatives were not the only major political
figures who were beaten, with Jonathan Ashworth, who had been
expected to serve in Keir Starmer's Labour government, losing
his seat to an independent candidate.
Veteran left-wing political maverick George Galloway was also
beaten.
(Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; Editing by Alex Richardson)
((mailto:kylie.maclellan@thomsonreuters.com;))