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 ThomasEditor Great Britain’s Labour Party has defeated the Conservatives in a historic parliamentary election for control of the nation’s government. With most votes counted, here’s a breakdown of the numbers: 412 seats Labour has won 412 seats — a 63% majority — of the 650 seats in the lower house of Parliament. One seat remains undeclared.Meanwhile, the Conservatives have 121 seats, the smallest number in the party’s two-century history, and down from 365 seats in 2019.Smaller parties picked up millions of votes, including the centrist Liberal Democrats, who captured 71 seats — up by 60 from the last election. And one of the biggest losers was the Scottish National Party, which held most of Scotland’s 57 seats before the election but looked set to lose all but a handful, mostly to Labour. Each seat represents a geographic area of the U.K. The leader of the party with enough seats to command a majority — either alone or in coalition — becomes prime minister and leads the government. 14 years of power Labour’s landslide brought a new party to power for the first time in 14 years. Parliament had been led by the center-right Conservatives since 2010. They had faced one challenge after another, including Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic and soaring inflation.Many voters blamed the Conservatives for the litany of problems facing Britain, from unreliable train service to the cost-of-living crisis and the influx of migrants crossing the English Channel.In 2010, the Labour Party had been ousted after being in power for 13 years, its longest ever stretch. By the end of its last reign, Labour’s popularity had taken a dive. That was partly because of the deep recession in the U.K. that was wrought by the global financial crisis in 2008. 60% support for the two major political parties Labour and Conservative candidates were barely able to muster 60% of votes cast in this election, marking a new low.For the past 100 years, Britain’s two main political parties have garnered the vast majority of votes. In 1951, for example, the Conservatives and Labour netted nearly 97% of the vote combined. In the decades since, the trend has been clear — down.The two main political parties had candidates running for more than 600 of the 650 seats in Parliament, according to the House of Commons Library. But so did three other parties: Liberal Democrat, Green and Reform. 4,515 candidates An average of seven candidates — from almost 100 different political parties — ran for each seat, the library noted. Nine parties fielded over 50 candidates.The total number of people running for a seat in Parliament was 4,515 this year, the library stated. That’s over a thousand more than in 2019.Despite that relatively low share of the vote, Prime Minister Keir Starmer will be able to govern with a massive majority in the House of Commons.In Britain, the candidate with the most votes in each constituency wins even if they don’t get a majority. This makes it easier for a party to win a seat on a relatively low share of the vote, especially when votes are spread out among many parties. 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’s victory press conference was targeted by hecklers who accused him of being no friend to working people after his Reform party won four seats at Westminster overnight. A total of seven people had to be escorted out of the venue. As one man started shouting at him, Mr Farage, famously a large drinker, asked him: “Are you downwind a couple already? You’ve had a bigger lunch than I have.”He also questioning if they were actors – a nod to a Reform canvasser filmed using a racial slur to describe now former prime minister Rishi Sunak.Nigel Farage outlined his desire to make changes to the party during his speech 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 made Rachel Reeves Britain’s first female chancellor as he appoints his new cabinet to get on with the job quickly.One of his easiest appointments for the new prime minister was Ms Reeves as his new chancellor. She played a major role in the campaign and as a former Bank of England economist has helped bring economic credibility back to Labour from the wreckage of the Jeremy Corbyn years.She is the first female to hold the second most important role in governent in 708 years of the office being in existance.Reeves is Britain’s first female chancellor 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 ThomasEditorThe dust has pretty much settled on this year’s UK general election, with the polls closing at 10pm on Thursday and virtually all votes counted overnight.Labour has secured a historic win with a significant majority – though less than some polls predicted – while the Conservatives have suffered their lowest-ever number of seats since 1832. See the latest seat count and constituencies declared live here. But with some surprising twists and dramatic seats on knife-edge losses, let’s dive into the general election by numbers. 1. Labour gained at least 211 seats — but just 1.6 per cent increase in share of the voteThough pollsters were predicting a large Labour majority in both seats and vote share, Sir Keir Starmer’s party has not managed to move the needle far when it comes to its proportion of national votes overall. Due to lower turnout, Labour won less votes than last election, at 9.7 million compared to 10.3 million in 2019.Labour’s total vote share sits at 33.8 per cent, a minute increase from 32.2 per cent in 2019, and well below the Tories’ 43.6 per cent in the last election. Nonetheless Labour has won at least 412 seats, an increase of 211 from 2019. ( 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 ThomasEditorBritain’s new prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, promised to rebuild trust in politics and restore hope to the nation after a landslide Labour victory in the general election.Standing at the door to No 10 Downing Street, Sir Keir said the “urgent” work for change would start today.He pledged to put the NHS “back on its feet”, provide secure borders and safer streets and introduce clean British power to cut energy bills.He paid tribute to departing prime minister Rishi Sunak, who led the Tory’s worst election result in the party’s history.After 648 of the 650 Commons seats had been declared after polling, Labour had a majority of 176 with 412 seats.Newly elected Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer gives a speech at his official London residence at No 10 Downing Street (James Manning/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 ThomasEditorThe SNP has just 18 months to save the case for Scottish independence after suffering a drubbing in the general election, its Westminster leader Stephen Flynn has admitted.The nationalists lost their position as Scotland’s dominant party in the House of Commons, losing 38 of 47 their seats – mostly to a resurgent Labour – and dealing a huge blow to their hopes of securing another independence referendum.It’s their lowest number of seats at Westminster since 2010, and means they have dropped from the third-largest party, with a question every week at PMQs, to the fourth-largest.With all but one of the 57 Scottish seats declared, Labour hold 37, the SNP nine and the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats each have five; a recount in the Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire seat will not restart until 10.30am on Saturday.Labour is now the biggest party in Scotland, England and Wales – the first party to achieve this since Tony Blair’s Labour government of 2001.Stephen Flynn described the results as a black day for the SNP 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 ThomasEditor The U.K. has its first change in government in 14 years after the Labour Party won a landslide victory early Friday in a general election that saw the Conservative Party suffer its biggest defeat ever.The new government faces huge challenges, including fixing the country’s sluggish economic and social malaise resulting in part from the U.K’s exit from the European Union, the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and several Conservative Party scandals.Here are some things we learned: A fraying two-party system For the past 100 years, Britain’s two main political parties have garnered the vast majority of votes. In 1951, for example, the Conservatives and Labour netted nearly 97% of the vote combined. In the decades since, the trend has been clear — down. This election marked a new low, with the two parties combined barely able to muster 60%. Despite that relatively low share of the vote, Prime Minister Keir Starmer will be able to govern with a massive majority in the House of Commons that will make it easier for him to get his legislation through.That’s because in Britain’s electoral system, the candidate with the most votes in each constituency wins even if they don’t get a majority. This makes it easier for a party to win a seat on a relatively low share of the vote, especially when votes are spread out among many parties. These include the anti-immigration Reform U.K., the Greens and the Liberal Democrats. Conservatives punished No election has seen this many cabinet ministers lose their seats in Parliament, including some who were prospective candidates to replace Rishi Sunak when he steps down as leader of the party.Among the 11 Cabinet ministers who have lost their seats, perhaps the most consequential is Penny Mordaunt, who gained international notoriety when she held up a large sword throughout much of last year’s coronation of King Charles III. She was widely tipped to be a future leader as she has support across the party.Others included Defense Secretary Grant Shapps, Transport Secretary Mark Harper and Education Secretary Gillian Keegan.The casualty with the highest profile wasn’t even in the cabinet. That honor goes to Liz Truss, who was prime minister for just 49 days in the fall of 2022 and whose unfunded tax cuts roiled financial markets and sent borrowing costs for homeowners surging. Sunak, who succeeded Truss, could never shake off the legacy of her premiership. Labour’s Gaza problem Four of Labour’s candidates lost to independent challengers campaigning on a pro-Palestinian platform in constituencies with big Muslim populations.The biggest surprise was Jonathan Ashworth, who was expected to be in Starmer’s Cabinet but lost his seat in Leicester, a city in central England where a third of the population is Muslim. Even Starmer, who has been criticized for being slow to back a ceasefire in Gaza, saw his majority in his Holborn and St. Pancras seat reduced as more than 7,000 ballots were cast for an independent candidate who had Gaza at the heart of his campaign. Labour is back in Scotland In 2015 Labour, which had been dominant in Scottish politics for decades, lost all but one of its seats to the pro-independence Scottish National Party.Thursday’s election almost reversed that, with Labour winning the vast majority of seats in Scotland while the SNP lost 38 seats, leaving it with only nine and putting to rest any thoughts of a pro-independence referendum for Scotland any time soon.The SNP, which governs in Scotland, has had a difficult few years, most notably as a result of a funding scandal that has embroiled former leader Nicola Sturgeon and her husband. John Swinney, who only became first minister a few weeks ago, pledged a period of “soul searching” and admitted that the party was “not winning the argument” over independence. Musical chairs The newly elected candidates will officially become members of parliament on Tuesday when the House of Commons returns for the swearing in and oath of allegiance to King Charles III. When they take their seats on the green benches, the Labour members will sit where the Conservatives have been for the past 14 years, on the right hand side of the speaker of the House. The Conservatives will be the opposition, having come second, and will sit to the left of the speaker.The other opposition benches will look very different, however. There will be 71 Liberal Democrats, up from the 15 who were there when Parliament was dissolved in May, and four Green members rather than one. There will also be four members of the anti-immigration Reform U.K., including its leader and self-professed political agitator, Nigel Farage, who won a seat in Parliament on his eighth attempt. And the SNP’s presence will be much diminished. Reform, which contested its first election, is already saying the U.K.’s electoral system is unfair and are calling for a change, noting they got 14% of the vote, 2 percentage points more than the Liberal Democrats, but ended up with a far lower number of seats, But the U.K.’s electoral system has always been about getting the votes in the right place. 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 fight for the soul of the Conservative Party is erupting – and the fallout could be brutal.Even before a single vote had been counted, senior Tories had turned their attention to what they consider the pressing question – what happens to their party now?Many feel it is no exaggeration to say it is in a fight for its very survival.And the decisions it makes in the next few weeks and months could decide whether it lives or dies.The battle will focus on the choice of a new leader.Under the current rules, the party’s remaining rump of MPs get to decide which of the eventual leadership candidates will make it to the final two.Tory insiders say the party is now facing an existential crisis More