Last night saw a seismic shift in UK politics, and a transformed political landscape this morning. Here’s a rundown of some of the most striking moments you might have missed.
Liz Truss enjoyed a short but high-profile reign as Prime Minister, only for her constituents in South West Norfolk to deal her a significant blow, losing her seat to Labour by just 630 votes. This was just one of a slew of Conservative Cabinet ministers and MPs to lose their seats, including Penny Mordaunt, the leader of the House of Commons, and the Defence Secretary Grant Shapps.
Backbenchers were not immune either, with big names from the Conservative Party such as Jacob Rees-Mogg being defeated in their strongholds. In contrast, the Labour party enjoyed significant gains across the country, with Sir Keir Starmer taking to the stage in the early hours of Friday morning, telling supporters: “We did it. You campaigned for it, you fought for it, you voted for it, and now it has arrived – change begins now. It feels good, I have to be honest.”
Reform UK’s Nigel Farage – who was elected to the Commons for the first time – managed to transform his party’s fortunes too, putting them on course to be the third-largest party in the country by number of votes. However, Labour Shadow Cabinet Minister Jonathan Ashworth shocked many by losing his Leicester South constituency to independent candidate Shockat Adam, who ran a campaign focused on the crisis in Gaza.
Despite the Conservatives’ losses, Suella Braverman, former home secretary, expressed her sorrow that the party had failed to listen to voters, telling constituents at her count at Fareham: “I’m sorry that my party didn’t listen to you. The Conservative Party has let you down.
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More