Why this could be a historic election result
Members of the media look at the exit polls on TV at the Richmond and Northallerton count centre in Northallerton, north of England, on July 4, 2024 as polls close in Britain’s general election.
Darren Staples | Afp | Getty Images
The result of the 2024 U.K. general election is still in the realm of projection — but is being widely described as historic.
That’s in part because of the likely electoral swing for the Labour Party. To win even a narrow majority, Labour needed a bigger gain in parliamentary seats than that achieved by Tony Blair in 1997. Its projected 170 majority means it is on course to have seen an unprecedented upswing.
Exit polls put it on 410 seats, up from 202 in the most recent general election in 2019.
However, due to the rise of smaller parties, Labour may have achieved a smaller share of the vote than in 2017 under leader Jeremy Corbyn, when the party failed to win but narrowly prevented a Conservative majority.
Exit polls give the ruling Conservative Party just 131 seats, a slump from 365 in the last election and its lowest number in post-war history.
— Jenni Reid
‘This is a massacre’
Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party leader Ruth Davidson speaks during a general election campaign visit to a removals depot in Edinburgh, Scotland, on June 5, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation’s capital.
BEN STANSALL | AFP | Getty Images
The former leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Ruth Davidson, told Sky News the result was a “massacre” for her party. But she said that exit polls suggested it wasn’t as bad as some had been expecting in the days leading up to the vote.
“There’s no dressing this up, this has been .. this is a massacre — it is a massacre,” she said.
-Matt Clinch
Vote counting begins
Ballot papers are tipped out onto a table by counting staff at the counting centre at Emirates Arena as the UK general election count begins on July 4, 2024 in Glasgow, Scotland.
Jeff J Mitchell | Getty Images News | Getty Images
The manual counting of millions of ballots has begun across the U.K.’s 650 constituencies, with the first results to be declared imminently and announcements continuing through the night until Friday morning.
— Jenni Reid
Ruling Conservatives set to face a hammering: Exit poll
An exit poll predicting that the Labour Party led by Keir Starmer will win 410 seats in Britain’s general election is projected onto BBC Broadcasting House in London on July 4, 2024. Labour is set for landslide win in UK election, exit polls showed.
Oli Scarff | Afp | Getty Images
The U.K.’s incumbent Conservative Party had been expected to lose power in Thursday’s election, but initial exit polls showed the staggering extent of the swing.
A poll conducted by Ipsos UK for Sky News, the BBC and ITV News indicates the 650 seats of the House of Commons will be split approximately as:
Labour: 410
Conservatives: 131
Liberal Democrats: 61
Reform: 13
Scottish National Party: 10
Plaid Cymru: 4
Green: 2
Other: 19
In the 2019 election, the Conservatives won 365 seats to Labour’s 202. The Lib Dems took 11 while Scotland’s SNP won 48.
— Jenni Reid
Exit poll points to landslide Labour victory
Exit polls released as voting closed in the election put Labour on course for a landslide victory, with the incumbent Conservatives facing a bruising defeat.
The poll, conducted by Ipsos UK for Sky News, the BBC and ITV News, points to Labour winning 410 seats out of 650, with the Conservatives on 131. Smaller parties look set for major gains, with the Liberal Democrats on 61 and Nigel Farage’s Reform UK on 13.
— Jenni Reid
Big-name politicians hope to avoid ‘Portillo moment’
British former politician Michael Portillo, speaking at the Conservative Party conference in 2000. The parliamentarian lost his seat in the 1997 U.K. general election in a shock defeat that became known as a “Portillo moment,” indicating a swing in support to the opposing side.
Jeff Overs | Bbc News & Current Affairs | Getty Images
While an overall Labour victory has been forecast by pollsters, many seats are considered too close to call — including those of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt.
There are around 120 of 650 seats where the margin of victory is expected to be lower than 5 percentage points, according to a projection model from the Financial Times.
Well-known politicians will be seeking to avoid what in British political lingo has become known as a “Portillo moment.” That is a reference to former Conservative politician Michael Portillo, who lost his seat in the 1997 general election to Stephen Twigg, his relatively unknown Labour opponent. Portillo, meanwhile, was a big name who had served as defense minister and was considered a potential future party leader.
The shock result was seen as emblematic of the swing in Labour’s favor, as the party won a landslide under Tony Blair against incumbent Prime Minister John Major.
— Jenni Reid
UK general election result in 2019
Under former Conservative leader Boris Johnson, the party won a majority of 365 seats in the last general election in 2019, to Labour’s 202 seats.
Turnout was 67.3%.
By the time parliament was dissolved on May 30 this year in order for the July 4 election campaign to begin, a range of political developments had left that split at 344 Conservative lawmakers to 205 for Labour.
— Jenni Reid
UK elects new parliament for first time in nearly five years
A woman walks past Roath Park polling station with her dog on July 4, 2024 in Cardiff, United Kingdom.
Matthew Horwood | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Millions of British citizens across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland on Thursday voted for their local representative in the House of Commons, the U.K.’s lower branch of parliament.
In typical British fashion, the weather was changeable and unseasonably cool during the nation’s first July general election since 1945.
The U.K. elects 650 Members of Parliament, known as MPs. According to longstanding convention, the prime minister is an MP appointed by the monarch who can “command the confidence” of the Commons — in practice, that is the leader of the party with the most seats.
Leader of the Labour Party Keir Starmer walks with his wife Victoria Starmer, as they arrive at a polling station to place their votes in the 2024 General Election.
Leon Neal | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Prospective MPs stand for election in one of the U.K.’s 650 constituencies. In a system known as “first past the post,” voters may only choose a single candidate from their local list, and the person with the most votes in each constituency becomes an MP.
Unlike in other voting systems, there are no second rounds or ranking of first- and second-choice candidates, meaning it can be difficult for smaller parties to translate an increased share of the popular vote into parliamentary seats.
Britain’s Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Rishi Sunak arrives with his wife Akshata Murty to cast their votes at a polling station in Kirby Sigston, Northallerton, north of England.
Oli Scarff | Afp | Getty Images
Around 40,000 polling stations were open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Thursday, and one of the two main parties — Labour or the Conservatives — is expected to concede victory to the other sometime on Friday morning.
— Jenni Reid
