Labour Party wins overwhelming victory in UK general election

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Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party is on track to win a landslide majority of around 170 seats in the UK general election, sending Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives out of office after 14 years.

A nationwide exit poll on Thursday night showed Starmer would become prime minister with 410 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons, while Sunak’s party is facing its worst result on record, with just 131 seats.

A triumphant Starmer declared at 3am that it was time to replace “the politics of performance” with a new spirit of public service, adding: “Change starts here. It’s time for us to deliver.”

The important result for Britain will be known around the world: political power in Britain has shifted back towards an internationalist centre-left party at a time when right-wing populists are gaining ground in many countries.

But LaborThe victory is expected to come on a smaller margin of the vote than the 40 per cent won by left-wing Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in his defeat in the 2017 general election – suggesting the public remains sceptical. Turnout is on track to hit around 60 per cent, close to a record low.

Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party has made big strides, despite early results suggesting the party may fall short of the 13 seats it was projected to secure in the exit poll. Farage himself won easily in Clacton — win a seat in parliament on the eighth ask.

The Reform Party leader said his party would come second in seats, adding: “This is the beginning of something that will surprise you all.”

At 3:30 a.m., Labour had won 114 seats, the Conservatives had won 15, the Liberal Democrats had won 13 and the UK Reform Party had won 2. If the polls are correct, Labour is likely to have a clear majority by 5 a.m.

Labour’s victory is a personal triumph for Starmer, who became leader in 2020 after the party’s worst post-war election defeat. His expected victory is on a similar scale to Sir Tony Blair’s landslide victory for Labour in 1997.

According to exit polls, the centrist Liberal Democratic Party is on track to win 61 seats, close to its record of 62 seats in 2005. made great strides in the Conservative Party’s “green wall” of the luxury chairs in the South of England.

The Scottish National Party is ready to go behind the Labour Party in Scotland with just 10 seats, according to exit polls, severely damaging the party’s dream of independence.

The survey revealed a shared sentiment among candidates from across the party that Britain wanted “change”, with many senior Conservatives admitting during the campaign that the party looked exhausted.

Grant Shapps, the defence secretary, and Alex Chalk, the justice secretary, were among the first to lose their seats for the Conservatives. Richard Holden, the party chairman, is facing a recount in his previously safe seat of Billericay. Corbyn held on to his Islington North seat, standing as an independent candidate.

Under 14 years old Careful Five prime ministers have presided over austerity, Brexit, pandemics and energy price shocks, while often engaging in civil wars. “We have forgotten a basic rule of politics,” Shapps said. “People don’t vote for parties that divide.”

Starmer will become the seventh Labour prime minister in the party’s history and his victory is the first for the centre-left party since 2005. The last time Labour ousted the Conservatives from power was in 1997.

He will move into 10 Downing Street on Friday and immediately form a cabinet, with instructions to ministers to quickly put in place policies to lift Britain out of its slow growth.

Polling suggests Starmer’s pro-business agenda is paying off, with Labour bucking the international political trend. Far-right parties have performed strongly in recent elections in Europe and France, while Donald Trump is leading in the polls for the US presidential race.

Incoming Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said she hopes investors will see the UK as a “safe haven”.

Starmer has promised to work with business to stimulate growth, with an agenda that includes planning reform and state investment in green technology. Labour will also pursue its traditional agenda of reforming workers’ rights.

For Sunak, the result looks set to be a personal disaster. He opted to call an early election — against the advice of his campaign chief Isaac Levido — and has embarked on a misguided six-week bid to turn around his party’s fortunes.

The party’s projected total of 131 seats is lower than its worst-ever result of 156 in 1906. Starmer’s projected total is close to the 418 seats won by Tony Blair in his landslide victory in 1997.

Several senior Conservative figures are expected to lose their seats, narrowing the pool of potential candidates for the party leadership if Sunak steps down as expected.