UK election: Labour in landslide as Tories wiped out

Britain’s Labour Party, led by Keir Starmer, swept to power after the ruling Conservative Party was booted from office in a humiliating defeat - the worst in its history.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called Labour leader Keir Starmer to concede defeat well before the opposition passed the 326 seats required to take an absolute majority in the 650 member House of Commons. Turnout was down 8% to 60% and the lowest since 2001.

Starmer was formally invited to form a government by King Charles at midday in a traditional meeting at Buckingham Palace and then travelled to Downing Street to greet supporters and make his first speech as prime minister.

"You have given us a clear mandate, and we will use it to deliver change. To restore service and respect to politics. End the era of noisy performance. Tread more lightly on your lives. And unite our country," he said to loud cheers and applause.

He added that his administration would be "unburdened by doctrine", suggesting he would not be entertaining any pushes from the left of his party.

Labour won a majority of 176 as voters turned out to express their disapproval of 14 years of Tory rule that presided over higher taxes, lower living standards, food banks, crumbling public services and infrastructure due to austerity, a botched immigration policy, sewage in rivers and seas and anaemic economic growth caused by Brexit.

SOBERIING VERDICT; TRUSS BOOTED OUT

Sunak said the British people had delivered a "sobering verdict" and took full responsibility for the loss. The depth of feeling against the Conservatives was probably summed up best by the defeat of former prime minister Liz Truss - whose disastrous 'mini-budget' last year sent markets into a tailspin - booted out of office as a 26,000 vote majority was overturned.

Speaking later in Downing Street before leaving for Buckingham Palace to tender his resignation to King Charles, Sunak said he would be standing down as leader as soon as arrangements were in place to pick a successor.

With one seat left to declare, Labour had 412 seats up 211, while the Tories were on 121, down 250. The Liberal Democrats were on 71, a gain of 63 and the SNP held on to nine seats, a loss of 38, in a shocking night where it surrendered seats to a resurgent Labour north of the English border in a voter backlash over scandals within the SNP.

A recount was scheduled to start at 1030 BST On Saturday for Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire which was expected to be claimed by the Liberal Democrats after the Scottish National party’s candidate conceded defeat.

At the 2019 general election the Conservatives had a majority of 80, with 365 seats to Labour’s 203, illustrating the startling decline of the Tories and how Starmer turned around his party's fortunes around.

Labour will face some serious challenges. Having effectively taken a vow of omerta over its tax plans, which Institute for Fiscal Studies chief Paul Johnson called a “conspiracy of silence”, Starmer and Finance Minister Rachel Reeves will have to come clean on how they intend to repair a broken state by either borrowing more money or raising taxes.

The party, fearful of spooking voters already struggling under the highest tax burden since World War 2 amid a cost-of-living crisis, said it would stick to Tory spending plans and not raise income tax, VAT or national insurance.

It did pledge to raise £8.5bn in taxes, including charging VAT on private school fees and a windfall tax on oil and gas companies, along with an extra £3.5bn in borrowing within the so-called “fiscal rules” to to fund investment in projects such as Great British Energy and a National Wealth Fund.

However, the party did not rule out changes to council tax, capital gains tax or inheritance tax. Moreover, the freeze on income tax thresholds until 2028 would stay in place, dragged more people into higher rates of tax as their wages rise.

GOOD NIGHT FOR THE GREENS

There was a fantastic result for the Green Party, where co-leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay won Bristol Central and Waveney Valley in Suffolk, while Ellie Chowns won Herefordshire North and Sian Berry secured Brighton Pavilion.

Reform, the far-right anti-immigrant limited company run by agitator Nigel Farage, effectively split the Conservative vote by appealing to its more extreme members and won five seats.

Farage himself, who had previously run for parliament seven times, finally became an MP after a late decision to run in Clacton, easily defeating the Conservative incumbent Giles Watling.

Overall turnout looked to be much lower than in 2019, and could be the lowest since 2005, according to elections expert Professor John Curtice of the University of Strathclyde.

The first major Cabinet scalp of the night was Defence Secretary Grant Shapps, who lost his Welwyn Hatfield seat to Labour on a 14% swing against the Tories.

Others to be given their marching orders included the Justice Secretary Alex Chalk, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan. House of Commons Leader Penny Morduant, Science Secretary Michelle Donelan, Lucy Frazer, the Culture Secretary and Mark Harper, the Transport Secretary

Jeremy Hunt, who spent £100,000 of his own cash fighting to save his own seat of Godalming and Ash, narrowly avoided being the first Finance Minister to be kicked out of parliament.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com