UK Politics

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorLiz Truss has lost her South West Norfolk seat in a humiliating defeat on the worst night for the Conservatives in general election history. The former prime minister squandered a 26,195 majority in the once true blue seat, finishing in second to Labour’s Terry Jermy by around 600 votes. Her defeat was the last domino to fall among the Tory MPs associated with her Popcon movement which she launched last year in a bid to ultimately take over the party.Ms Truss’s humilaition followed agonising defeat for Sir Simon Clarke, Ranil Jayawardena, Brendan Clarke-Smith and Marco Longhi.The only MP at her launch to survive was Lee Anderson who had since jumped to Reform UK.Ms Truss’ demise followed a painful suspense in the building in the run up to the declaration at around 6.50am, with the former prime minister absent from the stage for several minutes while rival candidates lined up on stage. But when Ms Truss eventually appeared on stage, Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister suffered the shock upset.Click here for our live coverage of the general election campaign.Mr Jermy won 11,847 votes, with Ms Truss second on 11,217 and Reform UK’s Toby McKenzie on 9,958. On a devastating night for the Conservatives, with a record-breaking 11 cabinet ministers and a handful of other big beasts losing their seats, Ms Truss became the most high profile scalp. Her disastrous 49-day stint in Downing Street saw her become an emblem of 14 years of Tory chaos and mismanagement, leaving her even more vulnerable than colleagues such as Jeremy Hunt and James Cleverly who managed to cling on. Ms Truss did not give a speech after losing her seat. But she told the BBC: “I think the issue we faced as Conservatives is we haven’t delivered sufficiently on the policies people want.“And that means keeping taxes low, but also particularly on reducing immigration. And I think that’s been a crucial issue here in South West Norfolk, that was the number one issue that people raised on the doorstep with me.”Asked whether she accepted some responsibility for that, Ms Truss said: “I agree. I was part of that. That’s absolutely true.“But during our 14 years in power, unfortunately we did not do enough to take on the legacy we’d been left, in particular things like the Human Rights Act that made it very difficult for us to deport illegal immigrants. And that is one of the reasons I think we’ve ended up in the situation we are now.”She said “I’ve got a lot to think about” when asked whether she wanted to stay in Tory politics.Losing the seat meant Mr Sunak is the only Tory prime minister since 2010 whose seat is still Conservative, with David Cameron’s former Witney seat backing the Liberal Democrats, Theresa May’s Maidenhead also flipping to the Lib Dems and Labour gaining Boris Johnson’s old Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat.Ms Truss left the count without giving a speech after losing her seat More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorNigel Farage has finally enjoyed success in a general election, becoming the MP for Clacton on his eighth time standing for a Westminster seat.Exactly one month after returning as leader of Reform UK, the arch-Brexiteer stormed to victory in the seaside Essex seat.He was elected with 46.07 per cent of the vote, while Reform’s Lee Anderson, Richard Tice and Rupert Lowe also won seats in parliament.The four MPs will form a tiny group in the Commons, but Mr Farage has always had an outsized influence on British politics. And with a foothold now in the corridors of power, The Independent looks at whether Mr Farage’s next steps could see him become prime minister by 2029.Follow The Independent’s live coverage of the 2024 general electionFarage gives a victory speech at Clacton Leisure Centre in Essex (Joe Giddens/PA) More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorSir Keir Starmer has been handed the keys to Downing Street with a landslide victory for Labour after Nigel Farage’s Reform UK split the Tory vote.In a night of stunning results, there was a bloodbath at the top of the Tory party, with a record number of cabinet ministers losing their seats.By 5am, a record eight top ministers had gone, with Commons leader Penny Mordaunt, defence secretary Grant Shapps, and education secretary Gillian Keegan among the big beasts voted out.One notable surprise survivor was chancellor Jeremy Hunt, whose seat was expected to fall to the Lib Dems.Keir Starmer celebrates victory More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorLabour has won a landslide victory in the general election after six weeks of intense campaigning, with Sir Keir Starmer becoming the UK’s next prime minister. Taking over from defeated Rishi Sunak, the leader promised that a vote for Labour is a vote for change in his manifesto.From tackling NHS waiting lists to scrapping the Conservatives’ Rwanda deportation policy, here are some big issues on which voters can expect to see action in the first 100 days of a Labour government:Cancel the Rwanda policyLabour has confirmed it will cancel the Conservatives’ controversial Rwanda asylum plan. Designed to deter illegal immigration, the scheme would see asylum seekers, whose applications to stay in the UK are rejected, deported to Rwanda by plane for processing and resettlement.Sir Keir has said he would scrap the policy “straight away”, redirecting funds towards measures which tackle the problem “at the source.”Chief amongst these is setting up the new Border Security Command and a counter-terrorism unit to “smash” people smuggling gangs and tackle the issue of small boat crossingsOne of Rishi Sunak’s key pledges has been the Rwanda asylum policy as he vowed to ‘stop the boats’ More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorA record-breaking 11 cabinet ministers have lost their seats as Rishi Sunak’s government faced a general election bloodbath. Johnny Mercer, Grant Shapps, Gillian Keegan, Lucy Frazer, Penny Mordaunt, Michelle Donelan, Alex Chalk, David TC Davies, Victoria Prentis, Mark Harper and Simon Hart are among the Tory big beasts who have fallen as Labour claimed a dramatic victory. Others who had been under threat, including chancellor Jeremy Hunt, business secretary Kemi Badenoch and home secretary James Cleverly, clung on despite challenges in their seats. Rishi Sunak had a scare in his seat too, going there to campaign eight times, but he won easily in the end taking almost half the vote.Click here for our live coverage of the general election campaign.Penny Mordaunt was among the high profile figures to lose their seats More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorRishi Sunak has phoned Sir Keir Starmer to congratulate him on winning a historic general election landslide, with the Tories on course for their worst defeat in history.The prime minister, having flown down from Yorkshire in the early hours of Friday morning, will have to vacate Downing Street to let Sir Keir Starmer move in and get to work.As the final ballots across the country are counted, The Independent runs you through what happens on Friday as power changes hands.Downing Street departuresOn Friday morning, Mr Sunak and his family will pack up in preparation to take their belongings from 10 Downing Street back to their house in west London.Rishi Sunak arrived at Conservative Party headquarters on Friday morning More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorKeir Starmer pledged “change begins now” as he addressed jubilant activists celebrating a landslide election victory.Twenty-seven years and two months after Tony Blair’s 1997 “new dawn” speech, the Labour leader said Britain was experiencing the “sunlight of hope” and could now “get its future back.”“We did it,” he told supporters. “You campaigned for it, you fought for it, you voted for it, and now it has arrived – change begins now.”His speech, at the Tate Modern art gallery on London’s south bank, came shortly after Rishi Sunak publicly conceded the election at his constituency count in North Yorkshire.“It feels good, I have to be honest,” Sir Keir said. “Four-and-a-half years of work changing the party, this is what it is for – a changed Labour party ready to serve our country, ready to restore Britain to the service of working people.“And across our country, people will be waking up to the news, relief that a weight has been lifted, a burden finally removed from the shoulders of this great nation.“And now we can look forward, walk into the morning, the sunlight of hope, pale at first but getting stronger through the day, shining once again, on a country with the opportunity after 14 years to get its future back.”Keir Starmer embraces his wife, Victoria More