‘The Labour Party has won this general election’ – PM Sunak concedes defeat

The Labour leader has secured the 326 seats required for a majority in the House of Commons – putting an end to 14 years of Conservative rule.

Outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had conceded defeat moments before that number was reached, declaring at his election count: “The Labour Party has won this general election and I have called Sir Keir Starmer to congratulate him on his victory.”

Shortly afterwards, a gleaming Sir Keir told a crowd of supporters: “We did it, you campaigned for it, you fought for it, you voted for it and now it has arrived, change begins now.”

Results are still being counted, but the exit poll has put Labour on course to win 410 seats – more than double it won at the last election and giving it a majority of 170 in the House of Commons.

That is just shy of the historic the majority of 179 won in 1997 by Sir Tony Blair, Labour’s last elected prime minister.

The results have seen the nation firmly turn its back on the Tories, with the once dominant party reduced to just 131 MPs – its lowest number in history, the exit poll predicts

Other key moments from a dramatic night of results include:

• Several Tory cabinet ministers lost seats to Labour, including Grant Shapps and Penny Mordaunt;
• Others fell victim to the Lib Dem plan to “smash” the Tory Blue Wall, like Alex Chalk and Gillian Keegan;
• Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn held on to his seat as an independent;
• Reform UK leader Nigel Farage won a Commons seat at his eighth attempt;
• Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer defeated shadow culture secretary Thangam Debbonaire in Bristol Central;
• Labour’s shadow paymaster general Jonathan Ashworth lost his seat to an independent

Mr Sunak became the youngest prime minister of the modern era when he took over the Conservative Party in 2022.

In 2014, he was selected as the Conservative Party candidate in the Yorkshire seat of Richmond – previously held by former Tory leader William Hague – before the following year’s general election.

After Liz Truss’s resignation sparked a Tory leadership race, he was appointed as leader of the party and prime minister in October 2022, the first Hindu and British Asian to reach the position in UK history.