Downfall of the Tory big beasts: Liz Truss and 11 Cabinet Ministers lose their seats in mass Tory bloodbath
5 July 2024, 03:02 | Updated: 5 July 2024, 07:12
Sir Jacob Rees Mogg was one of the Tory big beasts to fall as 11 Cabinet Ministers lost their seats.
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Some of the Conservatives' biggest names - including former PM Liz Truss and a record number of Cabinet members - lost their seats as Labour stormed to a historic landslide win.
Liz Truss lost her seat in the biggest ever swing in history. Her huge majority was overturned and Ms Truss lost her seat in Norfolk South West. Terry Jermy, for Labour, won the seat with a majority of 630.
Among the Cabinet ministers who fell were Jacob Rees-Mogg Grant Shapps, Penny Mordaunt and Gillian Keegan.
Mr Rees-Mogg, a former business secretary, lost in North East Somerset and Hanham, with Labour overturning his 16,000 majority.
Defence Secretary Mr Shapps lost his seat of Welwyn Hatfield to Labour by a margin of 3,799 votes. He declined to answer questions as he left the count on Thursday night.
Mr Shapps won 16,078 votes, compared to Labour candidate Andrew Lewin's 19,877. Reform UK also won over 6,000 votes.
Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary, lost her Chichester seat to the Liberal Democrats, who won with a majority of 12,172 votes.
Penny Mordaunt, the leader of the House of Commons, lost narrowly in Portsmouth North to Labour. Johnny Mercer, the Veterans Minister, lost Plymouth Moor View to Labour, while Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer lost her seat in Ely & East Cambridgeshire to the Lib Dems.
Simon Hart, the Chief Whip, lost his seat to Plaid Cymru. Michelle Donelan, the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, lost her Chippenham constituency to the Liberal Democrats.
Therese Coffey, who previously held several Cabinet positions, also lost her Suffolk Coastal seat to Labour.
Justice Secretary Mr Chalk, who had a majority of just 981 coming into this election, lost Cheltenham to the Liberal Democrats.
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Mr Chalk had been the MP for Cheltenham since the 2015 election, with his majority decreasing at each subsequent election. The Liberal Democrats had held the seat since 2010.
Mr Chalk and Mr Shapps are among several major figures in the Conservative Party who could lose their seat according to the exit poll, which is forecasting a Labour landslide.
Earlier in the night, Sir Robert Buckland, a former Justice Secretary, lost his seat in Swindon South, in Labour's first gain from the Tories.
Sir Robert, who previously held Swindon South with a majority of over 6,000, lost to Labour's Heidi Alexander.
Labour won 21,676 votes, with the Conservatives second on 12,070. Reform UK were third on 6,194. This marks the first Labour gain from the Tories this evening.
Sir Robert had held the seat since 2010, before which it was a Labour constituency for several years.
He hit out at his Conservative colleagues in the wake of his loss, saying: "I've watched colleagues in the Conservative Party strike poses, write inflammatory op-eds, and say stupid things they know they have no evidence for, instead of concentrating on doing the job".
Pollster analyses the Exit Poll
The exit poll shows a Labour landslide with 410 seats, with the party having a majority of 170 seats.
Meanwhile, the Conservatives are set for 131 seats - which would be the lowest number of Tory MPs on record.
The exit poll also forecasts the Liberal Democrats on 61 seats, Reform UK on 13 and the Green Party on two.
In Scotland, the SNP are expected to secure 10 seats with Plaid Cymru in Wales on four.
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