Rishi Sunak takes responsibility for historic Tory defeat

Rishi Sunak has apologised to the nation following the Conservative Party’s general election defeat – its worst ever parliamentary defeat.

Sir Keir Starmer led the Labour Party to a landslide victory and will replace Mr Sunak as UK Prime Minister.

Taking responsibility for the outcome, Mr Sunak said he had heard voters’ “anger” at his Government.

“First of all, I would like to say to the whole country: I’m sorry,” he said.

“I have given my all in this job but you have made it clear that the UK government needs to change and your judgement is paramount.

“I heard your anger, your disappointment, and I take responsibility for this loss.”

Mr Sunak delivered his speech outside No 10 despite earlier rainfall – this time with an umbrella to hand to avoid a repeat of May when he called an election in sodden snow.

Mr Sunak said he would resign as party leader, adding it was “not immediately, but as soon as formal arrangements are made to elect my successor”.

The MP for Richmond and Northallerton pledged that “the transition of power will be orderly” and paid tribute to Sir Keir, who he described as “a decent and committed man, who I respect”.

Having said goodbye to staff at Downing Street just before his speech, Mr Sunak got into a car with his wife Akshata to travel to the venue where he was to hand in his resignation to the King.

In the previous victory speech in central London, Sir Keir said that “change starts now”, adding that “honestly, it feels good”.

With almost all the results now in, Labour is expected to form the next government, with a majority of 174. It now has 412 MPs, 211 more than at the last election.

The Conservatives are set for their worst ever result, having lost 250 seats and now have 121.

Former prime minister Liz Truss, whose short, disastrous spell in office led to a slump in Tory support from which the party never recovered, lost South West Norfolk to Labour by 630 votes.

Ms Truss’s majority of 32,988 votes was overturned, with the Reform Party candidate coming third with 9,958 votes.

She is one of dozens of senior Conservatives to lose their seats, including Defence Secretary Grant Shapps, Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk and former minister Sir Jacob-Rees Mogg.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly told the BBC that “a large number of people who previously voted Conservative voted for Reform” and the Conservatives now need to “think seriously” about how to win back their support.

Former minister Steve Baker, who has long been a thorn in the side of Conservative Party leaders over Brexit, expressed relief after receiving the news that he had lost his Wycombe parliamentary seat after 14 years in the job.

“Thank God I am free – it’s over,” he said from the empty hall where votes were being counted overnight.

Britain’s Reform Party leader Nigel Farage has won a general election on his eighth attempt, in Clacton, promising that “this is just the first step of something that will surprise you all”.

The Reform Party has five MPs – including leader Richard Tice and former Conservative Lee Anderson – and came second in many parts of the country, taking a significant number of votes from the Conservatives.

In a speech in London, Sir Keir told cheering Labour supporters that the country was waking up to a “ray of hope” that was “re-illuminating a country that after 14 years has the chance to reclaim its future”.

He added: “Now we can look to the future – step into the morning.”

The Liberal Democrats won slightly fewer votes than the Reform Party, but they were the biggest beneficiaries of the Tory fall, winning a record 71 seats in Parliament, including the constituencies of three former Conservative prime ministers – Boris Johnson, David Cameron and Theresa May.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: “This is a record night for the Liberal Democrats.”

He added: “We will now work hard to maintain that trust by focusing on the issues that matter most to them, first and foremost the NHS and care.”

The Green Party of England and Wales now has four MPs, with co-leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay among the winners.

However, it was a disastrous evening for the Scottish National Party, whose seats were reduced to just eight MPs.

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn defeated his former party to retain his seat in Islington North as an independent candidate.

However, another high-profile former Labour MP, George Galloway, failed to retain his Rochdale seat which he won in a by-election in February, losing to Labour’s Paul Waugh.

Sir Keir Starmer’s victory fell short of the 179 per cent majority won by Tony Blair in 1997, and his national vote rose by just 2 per cent, largely due to a big surge in support in Scotland, according to pollster Sir John Curtice.

But it will mean that for the first time since 2010 there will be a Labour prime minister in Downing Street, and a fight over the future direction of the Conservatives.