Election Night 2024: Highlights
After 14 years of Conservative governance, the public wanted change.
Rishi Sunak successfully defended his seat in Richmond & Northallerton but admitted that Labour had won the election as per the polls and results coming in. Sunak shared that he had already called Starmer to congratulate him on the news.
The election night was certainly eventful - we saw Jeremy Corbyn win against the Labour Party as an Independent, the first time this has happened since 2001. Nigel Farage on his eighth attempt became an MP for Clacton. Prolific minister Penny Mordaunt lost her seat in Portsmouth to Labour. Jacob Rees-Mogg failed to keep his seat in Somerset with Labour's Dan Norris winning. Sunak and Jeremy Hunt defended their seats, along with Suella Braverman.
The famous Hexham seat went to Labour, a seat that had been Tory for 100 years. The polls seem to have predicted right, with Labour's majority of 86 and the Conservatives receiving 121 seats (with two seats undeclared at the time of this blog). This result for the Conservatives shows worse results than John Major's 1997 election performance, where 7 cabinet ministers lost their seats. This record was exceeded in this election. In addition, the Conservatives haven't had this low a number of seats since 1835.
It isn't just Labour taking Conservative seats. The Lib Dems saw a big resurgence and so did the Greens. Nigel Farage's new Reform Party seemed to excel the most: in Labour majority areas, it often came second. This highlights the fracturing of the current political system - there is no longer just a two-party state but now 5 parties vying for public attention. And they seem to have electoral power, gaining seats from the Conservatives.
An interesting thing to note is the fact that whilst Labour is picking up seats, their share of the votes is lower than expected in comparison to Blair's 1997 landslide and the share in the 2019 election. This can be due to the inclusion of more parties splitting the vote. In some constituencies, it changed the result entirely. This is an example of how Labour and other political parties have tactically deployed resources in a successful way.
In Scotland, Labour has made massive strides and overtook the SNP as the most dominant party in Holyrood. This isn't helped by the SNP's current police investigations but further adds to Labour's popularity not only in England but in the devolved nations. Scotland's decision also points towards whether there is appetite for independence or whether the SNP has become a one policy party.
In Wales, the Conservatives have been wiped out, with seats going to Labour and Plaid Cymru. There are no seats here for the first time since 2001. One of the candidates standing was involved in the betting scandals, demonstrating this affected the results as well.
In Northern Ireland, Sinn Fein won all seven constituencies, a disaster for the DUP. Their party will now put pressure on the Labour government for a referendum - as the largest Irish presence in Parliament, they will not take their seats as a principle that Sinn Fein follows.
While a historic defeat for the Conservatives, it signals a new era for Labour. This will be far from easy - many voted Labour to vote out the Conservatives, rather than in favour of their policies. The rise of other parties will also provide challenges for Labour in Parliament.
Results as of 17:00 on Friday 5th July 2024 (one seat has not been declared so this is for 649/650):
*All results are provisional as one more seat needs to be declared but this will not change Labour's win nor landslide status
*All rights reserved to the image created by Little I
#election #voting #generalelection #generaleelction2024 #ukgeneralelection #voter #voted #labour #conservative #snp #liberaldemocrat #green #reform
Comments