The Labour Party won a majority, defeating the Conservatives and their leader Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, making him hand over the post to Keir Starmer.
As of 06:00 GMT, the centre-left Labour Party hoped to beat exit poll’s forecast and win 410 of the 650 seats in parliament. The result would give Labour a majority of 170 and end the 14-year Conservative-led government.
With the overall result of the UK general election now clear, Sunak is expected to submit his resignation to King Charles on Friday. Calling it a “difficult night,” the Prime Minister stated that the Labour Party had won. He also reportedly called his rival Keir Starmer to congratulate him.
The Labour Party has won this general election and I have called Sir Keir Starmer to congratulate him on his victory. Today, power will change hands in a peaceful and orderly manner, with goodwill on all sides. That is something that should give us all confidence in our country’s stability and future.
Sunak won a parliamentary seat in Richmond and Northallerton in the north of England.
Starmer, as leader of the winning party, will meet with the King who will ask him to form a government. He will not become prime minister until an elaborate ceremony on Friday, during which King Charles III will formally ask him to form a new government. The winner will then proceed to 10 Downing Street to address the British public as the new prime minister.
The new Prime Minister will begin appointing ministers, starting with the top positions. Then each MP in turn will swear an oath of allegiance to the King or make a solemn affirmation. The procedure usually takes several days. Parliament is due to resume work on 9 July.
Other results of UK general election
Former Prime Minister Liz Truss, who defended a majority of more than 26,000 votes, has lost her South West Norfolk seat. She is known as the country’s shortest-serving leader, having been in office for just 44 days when she instigated the bond market meltdown and the collapse of sterling in 2022.
Truss received 11,217 votes against 11,847 for Labour Party candidate Terry Jermy. Media mocked her and she became synonymous with chaos and the failures of the Conservative government for many voters. However, she remains an influential voice among the party’s national-oriented legislators.
Several other high-profile and senior Conservatives also lost their seats, including House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt. Others who lost seats included education secretary Gillian Keegan and former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg.
With his Reform UK party performing better than expected, Nigel Farage, elected for the first time, now hopes to use the British Parliament as his platform and reinforce his party’s position as the true opposition to the UK. He won with 46% of the vote in Clacton.
My plan is to build a mass national movement over the course of the next few years and hopefully be big enough to challenge the general election properly in 2029. This Labour government will be in trouble very, very quickly and we will now be targeting Labour voters, we are coming for Labour – be in no doubt about that.
He will focus on immigration. His party also promises to restrict entry, withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights, and push migrants arriving on small boats back to France.
Farage will also insist on tax cuts and says that unless new arrivals to the UK are genuine refugees, they should not receive any benefits or free healthcare for five years.
