The key results and developments from the 2024 UK election

Ross McGuinness and James Cheng-Morris
Updated ·3 min read
Britain's incoming Prime Minister and leader of the Labour Party, Keir Starmer, and his wife Victoria, are greeted as they arrive inside 10 Downing Street, the official residence of Britain's Prime Minister, in London on July 5, 2024, a day after Britain held a general election. Starmer became Britain's new prime minister, as his centre-left opposition Labour party swept to a landslide general election victory, ending 14 years of right-wing Conservative rule. (Photo by Stefan Rousseau / POOL / AFP) (Photo by STEFAN ROUSSEAU/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
New prime minister Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria arrive inside 10 Downing Street. (AFP via Getty Images)

The new prime minister Sir Keir Starmer has promised that Labour will "rebuild Britain" after his party's landslide victory in the general election.

In his first speech as leader of the country, given outside 10 Downing Street, Starmer vowed to bring trust back to politics and restore hope to the nation. He said: “Now our country has voted decisively for change, for national renewal and a return of politics to public service.”

Earlier, Rishi Sunak announced he was quitting as Tory leader and apologised for leading the Conservatives to their worst-ever election result, saying: "I am sorry. I have heard your anger, your disappointment, and I take responsibility for this loss.”

  • With the full 649 of the results in, Labour had won 412 seats with a 33.8% share of the vote.

  • The Conservatives had 121 seats from a 23.7% vote share.

  • The Liberal Democrats won in 72 constituencies with 12.2% of the overall vote, while Reform UK took 14.3% of the vote, translating to success in five seats.

  • The SNP was on nine seats, Plaid Cymru is on four, Sinn Fein has seven and the DUP has five.

  • The Green Party has 6.8% of the votes and four seats.

  • The scale of the Tory defeat is such that the King woke up in a Labour constituency for the first time ever – as the Conservatives lost the Cities of London and Westminster seat.

  • Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, known for his stunts on the campaign trail, celebrated an "exceptional" night for the party nine years on from its wipeout at the 2015 election.

  • Reform UK leader Nigel Farage won a Commons seat at his eighth attempt and promised his party, having inflicted huge damage on the Tories, would “stun all of you”.

Liz Truss after losing her Norfolk South West seat. (PA)
Liz Truss – the shortest-serving PM in British history – lost her Norfolk South West seat. (PA)

  • Chancellor Jeremy Hunt sneaked home in his seat despite widespread predictions he would lose.

  • However, a swathe of other high-profile Tories were defeated, including former PM Liz Truss.

  • Grant Shapps, Penny Mordaunt and Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg have also been voted out.

  • Sunak held on to his seat and said he would stay on as MP in the "years ahead".

Nigel Farage reacts after winning the Clacton and Harwich constituency. (Getty Images)
Nigel Farage reacts after winning the Clacton and Harwich constituency. (Getty Images)

  • Farage became an MP for the first time as Reform UK secured five seats, including Lee Anderson and Richard Tice.

  • The Greens have quadrupled their number of MPs in the House of Commons from one to four, including party leader Carla Denyer winning Bristol Central from Labour's Thangham Debbonaire.

  • Four Labour candidates, including frontbencher Jonathan Ashworth, lost their seats to independent challengers campaigning on a pro-Palestine platform.

  • The SNP is no longer the third biggest party in Westminster after it won just nine seats: down 40 from 2019.

The Conservative Party returned an 80-seat majority after winning 365 seats, with Labour returning just 203.

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