In an unprecedented political shift, the United Kingdom saw the Labour Party on the brink of dominating Thursday’s election, ushering an end to the turbulent and often disordered 14-year reign of the Conservative Party. Keir Starmer stood on the threshold of becoming Britain’s seventh Labour prime minister, set to commandeer Downing Street from the beleaguered Tory leader Rishi Sunak, as per extensive UK broadcasters’ exit polls, publicised once the voting closed at 10pm on Thursday.
Labour was expected to secure 410 seats, dwarfing the Conservatives’ paltry anticipated 131 seats, suggesting a devastating blow to the governing party. Meanwhile, Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party was projected to snatch up to 13 seats, and the Liberal Democrats looked to secure their strong presence with an estimated 61 seats. Scottish National Party (SNP) endured a vision of fiasco with the exits polls predicting only 10 seats, a significant drop from their 2019 victory of 48 seats. The final data was expected to be unveiled on Friday morning following the official overnight results.
Starmer was reported to be elated with the preliminary results, consistent with preceding pollster forecasts of catastrophe for the Conservative party. High-ranking Tory politicians had used the latter weeks of the campaign period cautioning the UK’s electorate about the repercussion of a Labour “supermajority comeback”. However, the plea from conservatives appeared to have fallen on deaf ears.
Expressing gratitude post the exit poll disclosure, Starmer stated, “I have transformed the Labour Party. I will revolutionize Britain.” Sunak had previously affirmed he would shoulder the outcome of the Tory party. The election, precipitated by a challenging six-week campaign, instigated with a catastrophe for the Tory party; Sunak had unexpectedly announced the snap election whilst taking cover in the rain outside Downing Street, triggering a swell of satirical internet memes.
Mr Sunak’s re-election campaign experienced a range of significant missteps, most notably his poorly-received decision to cut short his visit to a D-Day remembrance event in France, attended by multiple global leaders, to return to the UK ahead of schedule. His actions drew the ire of upset constituents who viewed it as a slight to the deceased war heroes of the country. The Conservative leader subsequently sought the forgiveness of the disgruntled voters.
Moreover, the election campaign was marred by a betting scandal, revealing that multiple high-ranking Conservative candidates and party workers had gambled on the forecast of a July election, days before Mr Sunak’s unexpected decision to announce a snap poll.
The Labour leadership launched a careful election campaign, which was perceived as being light on policy specifics but laden with ominous rhetoric. He cited the post-Brexit turbulence inflicted on Britain under Conservative governance as a reminder to voters.
Mr Starmer, along with Rachel Reeves of Labour, who is anticipated to be the first female chancellor of the exchequer, also tried to counter Conservative claims that Labour would increase taxes. Throughout the latter part of the campaign, Mr Starmer urged voters not to face another five years of Conservative dominance come Friday, a message that the voters seemed to heed.
As most of the vote tabulation in the North is set to conclude in the wee hours of Friday, Sinn Féin aspires to retain its seven seats, which may enable it to surpass the DUP, who are currently holding eight seats but facing challenges in numerous districts, becoming the leading party of the North in Westminster.
The main contest of the night is anticipated to be in East Belfast, where DUP leader Gavin Robinson hopes to defend his seat against a robust challenge from Alliance leader, Naomi Long.