The Labour Party has won an unprecedented majority over the Conservatives according to exit polls on Thursday 4 July. Labour would win 410 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons, compared to 131 seats for the Tories.
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It’s a cold shower for the British Conservatives. They suffer their worst defeat since the beginning of the 20th century. The Labour Party is expected to win with a huge majority, reports our correspondent in London, Emeline Vin. Exit polls have them with 410 seats. As a reminder, the majority is at 326. The Conservatives, who were predicted to lose a record, have only 131 seats. That is almost three times less than what they currently have. The results are coming in and obviously, all the seats will fall in dribs and drabs during the night.
The Liberal Democrats (centrists) would be strengthened with 61 MPs, but the surprise of the vote comes mainly from the anti-immigration and anti-system party Reform UK: it would win 13 seats, a much more resounding entry than expected for the party of the hard-right figure Nigel Farage.
With the far right likely to gain power in France and Donald Trump looking set to return to the White House, the British have overwhelmingly chosen a moderate, centre-left leader. Starting tomorrow morning, Keir Starmer is set to be appointed Prime Minister. The Labour Party is returning to power after fourteen years of Conservative rule.
After the announcement of Labour’s victory, Keir Starmer thanked ” to all those who campaigned for the Labour Party in this election, to all those who voted for us and placed their trust in [leur] New Labour Party. ” he said on X (formerly Twitter).
Turning the page on conservatives
According to the British pollster YouGov, 38% of English people think that the Conservatives ran the worst election campaign, compared to 8% for Labour. On the other hand, 31% think that neither political party ran the best campaign. Only 20% of English people think that Labour ran the best campaign.
After five conservative prime ministers, the Brexitausterity, the purchasing power crisis, and the deterioration of the public health system, the British have expressed their discontent at the ballot box and want to turn the page on the Conservatives. The Tories had only one ambition in the last days of the campaign: limit the extent of the defeat.
For Rishi Sunakthe fifth Conservative Prime Minister since 2010, these legislative elections, which he had announced in the rain at the end of May, mark the end of a campaign that turned into an ordeal. The 44-year-old former investment banker and Finance Minister has accumulated blunders and seemed to lack political sense, cutting short his presence at the celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings and delaying in reacting to suspicions of fraudulent betting in his camp on the date of the elections.
Opposite, Keir Starmer highlighted his modest origins – mother a nurse and father a toolmaker – contrasting with his multimillionaire opponent. He promised very rigorous management of public spending, without tax increases for the majority of Britons. He is counting on a regained stability, state interventions and investments in infrastructure to revive growth and restore public services.
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