Keir Starmer is set to become Britain’s next prime minister after his Labour Party secured a massive majority in a parliamentary election, marking a historic defeat for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Conservative Party.
As of 0600 GMT, the centre-left Labour Party appeared on track to surpass the exit poll forecast of winning 410 out of 650 seats in parliament. This represents an astonishing reversal of fortunes from five years ago when Labour suffered its worst performance since 1935.
The result would give Labour a majority of around 170 seats, bringing an end to 14 years of increasingly tumultuous Conservative-led government.
Many prominent Conservative politicians lost their seats, including former prime minister Liz Truss, whose disastrous tenure in 2022 helped pave the way for Labour’s victory. Pro-Brexit lawmaker Jacob Rees-Mogg and former leadership contender Penny Mordaunt also lost their seats. However, Sunak and his finance minister Jeremy Hunt unexpectedly retained theirs.
Sunak’s party is on track to undercut the exit poll forecast of 131 seats, the worst electoral performance in its history. Voters punished them for a cost-of-living crisis, years of instability, and internal conflicts which have seen five different prime ministers since the Brexit vote of 2016.
