Written by Anoushka Patel
Edited by Annika Lilja
Leicester, United Kingdom - On the 4th of July 2024, the UK general election took place, with polls closing at 10 pm GMT.
The election night was marked by moments of highs and lows, as some parties made significant gains, while others languished behind.
For the Labour Party in particular, this was an astonishing victory. For more than 14 years, Labour had been confined to the opposition benches - now it has a landslide 412 out of 650 seats, making it one of the largest electoral successes in British history.
By contrast, the future of the Conservative Party looks to be in serious jeopardy, after a mass wipeout of seats across the UK. Up until today, the party had been in power for more than a decade, seeing five Prime Ministers alone in just the past eight years.
Even more upsetting for the Party has been the loss of seats for key members of the government, including ex-House of Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt, Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, - who has been a controversial figure in British conservative politics over the last decade - Grant Shapps, the former Defence Secretary and former Justice Secretary Alex Chalk.
Other notable downfalls of the night include the SNP (Scottish Nationalist Party), who suffered heavy losses and were reduced to just 9 MSPs (Members of the Scottish Parliament), while Labour gained seats in Scotland.
In Wales, Labour continued its over-a-century-strong hold over the nation, with a continued Labour domination over the area. Plaid Cymru (the Welsh nationalist party) won just 4 seats.
In Northern Ireland, Sinn Fein has now become the largest political party in the country, after the DUP (Democratic Unionist Party) dropped to 5 seats. Sinn Fein is the republican party, meaning they desire independence from the rest of the UK and reunification with the Republic of Ireland. On the other hand, the DUP wants to remain part of the UK.Â
However, Sinn Fein does not take up its seats in the House of Commons (the elected chamber in the UK Parliament) due to its policy of abstentionism; this means that Sinn Fein representatives do not attend votes in the House of Commons. This is because Sinn Fein does not recognise the authority of the British government over Northern Ireland, and refuses to swear an oath of allegiance to the king, which is required to be an MP.Â
For the smaller parties, there was a mixed bag of results. The Liberal Democrats surged to a whopping 72 seats, marking a resurgence for the party following their near collapse in 2015 when they were reduced to just 8 MPs. The Green Party - which focuses its campaign mainly on environmental issues -Â managed to quadruple its vote share to four MPs (Members of Parliament).
Aside from the stunning Labour victory, perhaps the most astonishing moments of the night came from the anti-immigration party Reform UK. The party leader, Nigel Farage, who has unsuccessfully stood to be an MP seven times, finally won a seat in Clacton last night.
His party managed to split the right-wing vote considerably, which is a testament to the level of discontent the electorate feels towards the Conservative Party. Reform UK now has 5 MPs - this is despite winning around 15% of the vote nationwide. The disproportionate result has re-ignited conversations about potentially reforming the electoral system to a form of proportional representation, which has been included in many of the minor parties’ manifestos.Â
With the Conservative party officially out of power, a new Labour government swiftly moves in. With Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and his cabinet at the helm, only time will tell if the results of this election have marked a decisive change in the political future of the country.
Sources:
UK General Election 2024 Results (2024), BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2024/uk/resultsÂ