Thursday 4th July 2024 will go down in the history books. The night the United Kingdom voted for change. A General Election that resulted in a Labour Landslide similar to that of Tony Blair in 1997. The Tories are left in tatters, the SNP were all but eradicated and on his 8th time of asking, Nigel Farage is a Member of Parliament.
It’s been a crazy and chaotic couple of days, so lets recap.
Election Results.
The Labour Party;
Sir Keir Starmer and The Labour Party won a total of 412 seats – making them the biggest party in parliament. Following the constitutional meeting with the king, Keir Starmer is now the Prime Minister and has already appointed his Cabinet and is currently on a whistle stop tour of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
It is not all sunshine and roses for Labour though. Despite winning a large majority there were some surprises. Thangam Debbonaire (Shadow Culture Secreatary) lost her Bristol Central seat to the co-leader of the Greens Carla Denyer. Jonathon Ashworth (Shadow Paymaster General) lost his Leicester South seat to independent candidate Shockat Adam as a result off the Labour Party’s stance on Gaza. Ashworth wasn’t the only Labour candidate to be affected by the conflict in the Middle East with high profile labour figures Jess Phillips (MP for Birmingham Yardley) and Wes Streeting (MP for Ilford North) winning their seats by a hairs’s breadth against pro-Palestinian opponents. It is clear that the conflict in the Middle East is influencing and effecting thousands of people in the United Kingdom. This is an issue that has been prominent for hundreds of years and will no doubt be a big issue for Keir Starmer and his new Labour government.
The Conservative Party;
The Conservative Party suffered their biggest defeat in 200 years. Following the hugely successful election of 2019 the Tories look unrecognisable after losing 251 seats - leaving them with only 121.
It was an election night that, for the Conservative Party, broke records for all the wrong reasons. Not only were they completely obliterated in Wales but they also lost the most cabinet ministers in election history. Some high profile Conservative MPs that lost their seat are; Lizz Truss (Former Prime Minister), Penny Mordaunt (former Leader of the House of Commons), Alex Chalk (former Justice Secretary), Gillian Keegan (former Education Secretary), Grant Shapps (former Defence Secretary) and Mark Harper (former Transport Secretary).
After such a “battering” and “crushing defeat” Rishi Sunak has announced his intention to step down as Conservative Party leader. In a very dignified departing speech on the steps of Downing Street, the outgoing Prime Minister apologised the public and his former colleagues. His resignation as party leader has now sparked a new leadership contest. There are a few names being mentioned but no one has formally announced their intention to run for leader. The front runners at the moment are Kemi Badenoch, Suella Braverman, James Cleverly, Priti Patel, Tom Tugendhat and Robert Jenerick. With the party in turmoil and the threat of Reform UK where do the Tories go from here?
The Liberal Democrats;
If you, like me, were glued to the TV throughout the election campaign you would have seen Ed Davey falling of paddle boards, going on roller coasters, bungee jumping and quite frankly looking like he was having the time of his life. These clever stunts clearly paid off because the Liberal Democrats won a record number of seats. The Lib Dems won several seats from the Conservatives including in Tunbridge Wells, Cambridge and Cheltenham (former Conservative strongholds). With an increase of 64 seats, taking their total to 72, the Liberal Democrats are now the third biggest parliamentary party.
Reform UK;
Nigel Farage’s party picked up 14.3% of the vote share coming in second in many constituencies across the country. Reform UK enter the new Parliament with 5 MPs. Lee Anderson in Ashfield, Richard Tice in Boston and Skegness, Nigel Farage in Clacton, Rupert Lowe in Great Yarmouth and James McMurdock in South Basildon and East Thurrock.
Refrom’s hard stance on immigration clearly hit home with a large portion of the public. With the Conservatives having an identity crisis and several potential Tory leaders coming from the right of the party will the Conservatives and Reform work together to challenge Labour or will Reform and Nigel Farage continue to be a threat to the Tories?
The Green Party;
The Green party quadrupled its number of seats, taking their total number of MPs to 4. Both Green co-leaders, Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay won their seats of Bristol Central and Waveney Valley respectively. Sián berry held on to Brighton Pavillion and Ellie Chowns won North Herefordshire from the Tories.
A snapshot of results else where;
Wales
Labour | 27 | +9 |
Plaid Cymru | 4 | +2 |
Liberal Democrats | 1 | +1 |
Conservatives | 0 | -12 |
Scotland
Labour | 37 | +36 |
SNP | 9 | -38 |
Conservatives | 5 | -1 |
Liberal Democrats | 5 | +3 |
Northern Ireland
Sinn Féin | 7 | - |
DUP | 5 | -3 |
SDLP | 2 | - |
Alliance | 1 | - |
TUV | 1 | +1 |
Ulster Unionist | 1 | +1 |
Independent | 1 | +1 |
We start a new week with a new government for the first time in 14 years. After a very historic and momentous few days, whether you voted for it or not, change is coming.
In the words of Keir Starmer “Walk into the morning, The sunlight of hope. Pale at first but getting stronger through the day. Shinning once again on a country with the opportunity, after 14 years, to get its future back”.
So here’s hoping…
R.M.Jones
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