2024 UK general election results in graphics
The tectonic plates of British politics appear to have shifted seismically after Britons resoundingly voted to put an end to 14 years of Conservative rule and deliver a landslide victory for the Labour Party
London (CNN) — The tectonic plates of British politics appear to have shifted seismically after Britons resoundingly voted to put an end to 14 years of Conservative rule and deliver a landslide victory for the Labour Party, a major exit poll showed.
Labour’s projected victory is bigger than the party could have imagined until fairly recently. At the last general election in 2019, it slumped to its worst defeat in more than 80 years and appeared set for a long period in the political wilderness.
But the party has rebuilt since itself under the leadership of Keir Starmer, who is now on track to become the next prime minister of the United Kingdom.
It could be a disastrous night for the Conservatives, with the exit poll predicting the lowest-ever total number of seats in the party’s history.
Under Britain’s first-past-the-post voting system, people in 650 constituencies across the nations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have voted to select their Member of Parliament (MP) to represent the area. Votes will be counted late into the Thursday night and into Friday morning.
A party needs 326 seats to form a government, which Labour is projected to clear by 170 seats, giving it a commanding majority in the next parliament.
Because of its electoral system, Britain can see large discrepancies between the share of seats won by a party and its share of the popular vote.
If support for one party – or antipathy towards another – is spread fairly evenly across the country, it does not need to win a large share of the popular vote to win a huge majority of seats in parliament.
The exit poll suggests one of the largest swings in British political history, with Labour expected to win 410 seats and the Conservatives on 131.
Britain’s traditional third party, the Liberal Democrats, also enjoyed a huge bump, going from just 11 seats won at the 2019 general election to a projected 61.
Reform UK, a right-wing populist party, was projected to win 13 seats, also a lot more than many polls had suggested.
Meanwhile, in Scotland, the Scottish National Party were predicted to lose multiple MPs, with its number of seats dipping to 10 from 48 in 2019.
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