2024 UK General Election: The Results – ‘Need to Know’ Morning Update

Headlines

Labour

• The Labour Party has secured a historic victory and is set to form the next government. In a speech hailing Labour’s landslide victory, Keir Starmer declared that “change begins now” and added that as a result of his Party’s new majority, the UK is once again experiencing the “sunlight of hope.” (Sky News)
• As constituency results were still being announced, Labour reached the 326 seats mark at 04:50 in the morning, definitively confirming their Commons majority and election victory after a night of once safe-Conservative seats turning Red. (ITV News)
• Media coverage this morning is already covering the statistics behind Labour’s victory, with Labour set to win a resounding number of Commons seats, despite not significantly boosting their national vote share. (The Telegraph)
• Former Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn secured his own re-election, running as an independent candidate in Islington North after his expulsion from the Labour Party (The Guardian)
• Labour’s Shadow Culture Secretary Thangam Debonnaire was defeated by the Greens in Bristol Central, while Shadow Paymaster General, Jonathan Ashworth lost his seat in Leicester South East to an independent candidate. (ITV News)

Conservatives

• Speaking shortly following his own re-election in Richmond and Northallerton, Rishi Sunak conceded the election and told the media that he had called Keir Starmer to congratulate him on Labour’s victory. Sunak called the outcome a “sobering verdict” on his party, the worst result for the Conservatives in a general election in modern times. Sunak also said “sorry” to “the many good, hard-working Conservative candidates who lost.”  (BBC News)
• A significant number of senior Conservatives have lost their seats, including former Prime Minister Liz Truss and current or former cabinet ministers including Penny Mordaunt, Grant Shapps, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Simon Hart, Gillian Keegan, Douglas Ross, Liam Fox, Alex Chalk, Jonathan Gullis, Jonny Mercer and Lucy Frazer. (ITV News)
• The future direction of the Conservatives following this defeat will now quickly come under scrutiny, with various Party factions already weighing in on the causes for the defeat. A contest to replace Rishi Sunak as leader is likely to begin in earnest. Speaking to the media, former Home Secretary, Suella Braverman said that the Conservatives “didn’t listen” to the British people and had “let you down.” (The Telegraph)

Reform UK

• One of the key stories of the night was the impact of Reform UK, with the party making significant inroads in both votes and seats gained, primarily at the cost of the Conservatives. In a dramatic uptick in the Party’s level of support, in addition to the seats secured, by the end of counting the Party is likely to have placed second in large number of seats. (Reuters)
• Riding Reform’s success, at the eighth attempt, Reform UK’s leader, Nigel Farage has been elected to Parliament for the constituency of Clacton. In his victory speech, Farage said that Reform is “coming for Labour” and that he wants to fill a “massive gap on the centre-right of British politics”. Farage said that “This Labour government will be in trouble very, very quickly and we will now be targeting Labour votes. We’re coming for Labour, be in no doubt about that. Believe me folks, this is just the first step of something that is going to stun all of you.” (The Independent)
• In a night of success for Reform, the Party also saw their former leader, Richard Tice win in Boston and Skegness, and their first ever MP, (former Conservative Party Deputy Chair), Lee Anderson re-elected in Ashfield. (Sky News)

Liberal Democrats

• The Liberal Democrats are hailing what they are calling “their best set of results in a century” as the Party secured a significant increase in seats and reclaimed their status as the third largest party in the House of Commons, a significant pre-election goal. Returning to Westminster with a record number of MPs, boosted by tactical voting against the Conservatives in the so-called ‘Blue Wall’, overnight the Party caused the defeats of a number of senior Conservatives, however they failed to unseat Chancellor Jeremy Hunt in Godalming and Ash. (Financial Times)
• Speaking last night, the Party’s leader, Ed Davey, hailed the “exceptional” results and said that during a campaign which included a number of media stunts, his party had “put voters’ concerns at the heart of our campaign”, adding that he had “rather enjoyed” the six-week run-up to the election. (Sky News)

Scottish National Party

• In a dramatic reversal of fortunes, the SNP have endured a significant set back overnight, losing a swath of their Commons seats in Scotland to the Labour Party, enduring their worst result at a UK General Election since 2010. Speaking overnight, the SNP’s Leader in Westminster, Stephen Flynn said that “we are going to be beat in Scotland, we are going to be beat well. Now is the time when we must learn and we must listen. We must listen to what the people of Scotland tell us.” (Financial Times)
• Media reports this morning are commenting on the surprise at the scale of the SNP’s defeats and the implications that a resurgent Scottish Labour Party may now have for the next set of Scottish Parliamentary election in Holyrood, scheduled to take place in 2026. (BBC News)

Green Party

• The Green Party performed above expectations and secured a record number of seats, quadrupling their presence in the House of Commons to four constituencies. Both of their Co-Leaders, Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay secured a seat, whilst Siân Berry has held Brighton Pavilion for the Party. A key headline from the results is that Denyer’s victory in Bristol Central has come at the expense of Labour’s Shadow Culture Secretary, Thangam Debbonaire. (The Guardian)

Plaid Cymru

• The Leader of Plaid Cymru, Rhun ap Iorwerth, has celebrated what he called “terrific results” for his Party overnight, with Plaid winning both its target seats of Ynys Môn and Caerfyrddin, securing four in total. ap Iorwerth said that “We’ve had some pretty important and dramatic gains and it gives me confidence looking towards the Senedd elections in 2026.” (BBC News)