In a historic landslide election, British voters voted out the Conservatives and handed power to Keir Starmer’s Labour Party on Thursday, in the first general election held in the United Kingdom since Brexit. The political change of guard also saw the rise of the populist Reform UK party and the decline of the pro-independence Scottish Party.
The first exit polls suggest a clear victory for the Labour Party, which returns to power after 14 years of Tory rule.
According to BBC estimates, Labour was heading for a supermajority of 410 seats, eight seats short of the historic majority won by Tony Blair in 1997.
A political party needs 326 seats to form a majority government.
“To everyone who campaigned for Labour in this election, to everyone who voted for us and trusted our new Labour Party, thank you,” Keir Starmer said soberly on X as the polls closed.
Outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is being curtly shown the door of 10 Downing Street. With 344 seats at the time of the vote, the Conservative Party was on course to win just 131 MPs. This would be the party’s worst defeat since the start of the 20th century.e century.
Mr Sunak himself could be under threat in his constituency of Richmond, North Yorkshire, which he won with a majority of 27,000 in 2019. At the time of going to press, he had not commented on the election results, only thanking Conservative candidates and supporters in a terse message posted on X.
The Liberal Democrats, traditionally the second opposition party, also took advantage of the Conservative rout to climb from 15 to 61 MPs. At the exit polls, the leader of the centrist party, Ed Davey, predicted “the party’s best result in 100 years”.
The other big winner of the night was the nationalist, anti-immigration Reform UK party, led by populist Nigel Farage. With just one seat in the House of Commons before the dissolution of Parliament, Reform UK could pick up as many as 13 constituencies, according to polls. The party also finished second to the Conservatives in several constituencies won by Labour.
David Bull, one of the party’s leaders, described the radical right’s breakthrough as a “historic moment”.
“We are seeing a mass exit of timid reformists,” he told the BBC.
The Scottish National Party, which promotes Scottish independence, has seen its support melt away in favour of Labour. Its representation could be reduced from 43 MPs to just 10.
“It’s not a good night for the SNP, based on these figures,” former First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon told private broadcaster ITV.
Stormy years
This collapse of the conservative forces is not surprising. Already last month, the polls predicted a real “annihilation of the conservatives”, weighed down by their austerity policies, the rising cost of living and a series of scandals.
The Tories have been in power in Britain since David Cameron came to power in 2010. That long Conservative reign has been marked by recurring instability.
During that period, Britain has had five prime ministers: Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, who lasted just 49 days, and Mr Sunak. The country has also been rocked by its negotiated exit from the European Union, several economic upheavals, acrimonious debates over immigration and the COVID-19 pandemic, among other things.
As for the centre-left Labour Party, it is taking back the reins after turning the page on the era of Jeremy Corbyn, a former leader whose strong positions and electoral performances have disappointed several times.
A “breath of fresh air”
The new prime minister, Keir Starmer, 61, the first Labour prime minister since Gordon Brown (2007-2010), presents himself as a centrist.
His election represents a “breath of fresh air for the British,” says Frédéric Mérand, professor and director of the Department of Political Science at the University of Montreal, who does not, however, foresee any major upheavals linked to the Labour Party’s rise to power.
“We will change the people, but we will touch little on the policies implemented. His program is so lacking in detail that we should not expect any major announcements the day after the election.”
During the campaign, Keir Starmer highlighted his modest origins – his mother is a nurse and his father is a toolmaker – which contrast with those of his opponent Rishi Sunak, a multimillionaire, former investment banker and former finance minister.
Mr Starmer has promised not to raise taxes on citizens and businesses or the sales tax.
Relying on greater state intervention, he announced reinvestments in infrastructure and a recovery of public services, particularly the health and education systems, which had been seriously damaged by Conservative austerity policies. He also promised, without making it a priority, a slight rapprochement with the European Union, which Great Britain left in January 2020.
Mr Starmer is expected to be given the responsibility of forming a government by King Charles III as early as Friday.
More than 46 million British voters were called to the polls to renew the 650 seats in the House of Commons.
With Mathieu Carbasse and Agence France-Presse