Jeremy Corbyn, Nigel Farage, Grant Shapps and Liz Truss were among the surprise winners and losers as the results of the UK General Election saw Labour secure a landslide victory.
The win by Keir Starmer’s Labour Party marked the abrupt end to a 14-year rule by the Conservative Party with the new British prime minister declaring that “change starts now”.
Making his first speech as prime minister at Downing Street on Friday, Sir Keir said: “Now our country has voted decisively for change and a return of politics to public service”.
Sir Keir became prime minister after meeting King Charles at Buckingham Palace.
It came after a night of heartache for Rishi Sunak as he was forced out of office, soon announcing his intention to quit as Tory leader following his party’s worst ever result.
In a farewell statement, Mr Sunak said: “To the country, I would like to say first and foremost, I am sorry.
“I have given this job my all, but you have sent a clear signal that the government of the United Kingdom must change. And yours is the only judgment that matters.
“I have heard your anger, your disappointment, and I take responsibility for this loss.”
The dismal results suffered by the Conservative Party saw a number of Mr Sunak’s cabinet ministers lose their seats, including former UK prime minister Liz Truss.
She lost her South West Norfolk constituency to Labour by 630 votes, having previously held a huge 24,180 majority.
Asked if she would stay on in Conservative politics, Ms Truss said “I’ve got a lot to think about” and asked people to “give me a bit of time”.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps, education minister Gillian Keegan and Commons leader Penny Mordaunt were among the most high-profile cabinet ministers unseated as well as former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg.
George Galloway also failed to retain the Rochdale seat he won at a by-election in February, losing to Labour’s Paul Waugh.
Some surprise winners at the ballot box included former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who was declared the winner in Islington North after running as an independent candidate when he was barred from standing by Labour.
He secured his long-held seat with a majority of more than 7,000 votes.
Nigel Farage was elected as an MP for the first time, on a night which saw Reform UK take more than four million votes.
Having failed on seven other occasions to be elected into Parliament, he overturned a Conservative majority of more than 25,000 to comfortably win in Clacton, Essex.
The veteran politician had only become the Reform UK leader last month when he unexpectedly threw his hat into the ring for the Essex seat.
Speaking on Friday, he said the result was “the first step of something that is going to stun all of you”.
Long-serving respected Labour MP Dianne Abbott triumphed in Hackney North and Stoke Newington, winning 23,355 votes, with her success marking her 10th election victory in a row.
The Liberal Democrats also said they had experienced a “record-breaking” night after winning 71 seats, up from just 11 in the last 2019 general election.
Leader Sir Ed Davey said he was “humbled by the millions of people who backed the Liberal Democrats to both kick the Conservatives out of power and deliver the change our country needs”.
