UK general election 2024: What happened and what's next?

Labour surged to a landslide victory in UK’s parliamentary election, ending 14 years of often tumultuous Conservative government and propelling Keir Starmer to power as prime minister.

WHAT WERE THE RESULTS?

With 648 of the 650 seats in parliament’s House of Commons declared, here are the results:

Labour – 412 seats, 33.7% vote share

Conservatives – 121 seats, 23.7% vote share

Liberal Democrats – 71 seats, 12.2% vote share

Scottish National Party – 9 seats, 2.5% vote share

Sinn Fein – 7 seats, 0.7% vote share

Democratic Unionist Party – 5 seats, 0.6% vote share

Reform UK – 4 seats, 14.3% vote share

Green – 4 seats, 6.8% vote share

Plaid Cymru – 4 seats, 0.7% vote share

Others – 11 seats, 3.2% vote share

As things stand, Labour has a simple majority of 176 seats in the House of Commons.

HOW BAD WAS IT FOR THE CONSERVATIVES?

Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives won the fewest seats since the party was founded in 1834.

WHAT WILL THE FINAL RESULT BE KNOWN?

The final result will not be known until the weekend, with a recount in one Scottish seat due to take place on Saturday. That is expected to be a toss-up between the SNP and Liberal Democrats.

The other outstanding seat, South Basildon and East Thurrock is eastern England, is due to be recounted on Friday afternoon and is expected to be won by either Labour or Reform UK.

HOW WAS VOTER TURNOUT?

Voter turnout was 60%, according to the BBC. That is the lowest since 2001 when it was 59.4%. The only other time it has been lower in more than 100 years was in 1918 when turnout was 57.2%.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO RISHI SUNAK?

Rishi Sunak has resigned as prime minister and said he would also step down as Conservative Party leader, once the arrangements for selecting his successor were in place. He said he would stay on as a Member of Parliament.

WHO IS NEW IN PARLIAMENT?

Among the more than 300 candidates becoming members of parliament for the first time is Nigel Farage, leader of populist Reform UK. A former member of the European Parliament, Farage had failed in seven previous bids to be elected to Westminster.

Several pro-Gaza independent candidates also won seats.

WHICH BIG NAMES LOST THEIR SEATS?

Twelve senior Conservatives ministers lost their seats at the election, surpassing the previous record of seven in 1997 when Tony Blair brought Labour to power in a landslide election victory.

Those included defence minister Grant Shapps, education minister Gillian Keegan, culture minister Lucy Frazer, science minister Michelle Donelan and justice minister Alex Chalk.

Former Prime Minister Liz Truss was also among those who lost their seat, as well as Penny Mordaunt, leader of the lower house of parliament and touted as a possible future Conservative leader.

High-profile Conservatives were not the only major political figures who were beaten, with Jonathan Ashworth, who had been expected to serve in Keir Starmer’s Labour government, losing his seat to an independent candidate.

Veteran left-wing political maverick George Galloway was also beaten.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Starmer began appointing ministers on Friday, starting with senior positions.
Parliament is scheduled to return on July 9. The Speaker of the House of Commons – parliament’s lower chamber – will be elected from among members of parliament (MPs).

Each MP will then, in turn, swear the oath of allegiance to the king or make a solemn affirmation. This usually takes a few days.

The State Opening of Parliament and King’s Speech, setting out a government’s programme of legislation for the parliamentary session, is due to take place on July 17, although this date could be changed by a new government.