Live: Labour win in first results of the night

Sir Keir Starmer is on course to be the UK’s next prime minister as an exit poll indicated a landslide Labour victory.

• Exit poll predicts Labour majorityof 170, with 410 seats
• The Conservatives are set for 131 seats
• Theresa May and former chairman of the 1922 committee Sir Graham Brady have been given peerages in the dissolution honours list
• Labour shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson won Houghton and Sunderland South, the first result of the night

Here’s the latest:

1.20am

“This, folks, is huge”, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has said in response to the early boost for his party after it pushed the Tories into third place in two early constituency results.

On a video posted to X, formerly Twitter, he said: “It’s midnight, there are two results in from the north-east of England that put Reform on 30% of the vote, that is way more than any possible prediction or projection. It is almost unbelievable.

“And what does it mean? It means we’re going to win seats, many many seats I think right now across the country.

“But to watch the TV coverage it’s almost comical. There’s not a single representative on there from Reform UK, mainstream media are in denial just as much as our political parties.

“This is going to be six million votes-plus. This, folks, is huge.”

1.17am

Former justice secretary Sir Robert Buckland has lost Swindon South to Labour’s Heidi Alexander.

1.12am

Former Conservative chancellor George Osborne has described the exit poll prediction of the Tories’ worst performance on record as the party’s “Waterloo”.

Reacting to the exit poll, he told ITV News: “As for the Conservatives you know, it’s going to sound odd, there’ll be a bit of a sigh of relief, even though it’s the worst results since 1832 when the Duke of Wellington was running the Tory party, so this one feels more like the Tory party’s Waterloo, frankly.

“We’re going to see a load of people lose their seats, household names of those who follow politics, household names.

“And it’d be a huge mistake to take a lot of comfort from this, but there were people thinking, and the polls were suggesting, it could be an extinction night for the Tory party, an extinction level event, and the Tory party would never come back.

“I think there’ll be a lot of Conservatives saying we can come back and then the final point; the second big story of the night is Reform. They have entered the palace, the Palace of Westminster.”

1.10am

David Bull, Reform’s deputy leader, said that his party was “about to change history”.

Asked about Reform’s issues with candidates accused of racism, he told the BBC that every party had those kinds of issues.

“I think it’s in every party,” he said, adding that the Reform party is new.

“We had to literally sprint to get those candidates.

“Anyone who looks at the rise of Reform will see that what we’re doing is breaking political history. I’ve said this before, everyone said that in that Brexit result, you won’t do it, we changed history, we’re about to change history once again.”

Asked which seats he thought Reform, which the exit poll projects to net 13 seats, could win, he listed Clacton, Great Yarmouth, Wellingborough and Boston and Skegness.

1.07am

Scottish independence “wasn’t really put front and centre” of the SNP’s campaign, former first minister Nicola Sturgeon has said.

Speaking on ITV, the ex-SNP leader said: “I think one of the questions out of the SNP result tonight is whether they’ve left themselves between two stools on the independence question because I think – in my view – it wasn’t really put front and centre.”

The SNP decision to put their push for independence on “page one, line one” of the manifesto gave the impression it was the “big issue” of the party’s campaign and voters have “cast their verdict on that”.

“But it was never followed through on in a day to day basis in the campaign – we didn’t hear day after day after day SNP spokespeople make the case for why independence was an answer to the big issues at the heart of the election campaign,” she added.

1.04am

The Scottish Conservatives remain “very competitive” in target seats, a party source has said following exit poll suggestions.

The source told the PA news agency the UK predictions showed a “bad picture” but that it was a very different situation in Scotland, with exit polls described as “not correct”.

The source said: “The exit poll is not correct at all and the result will be very tight in Scotland.

“It’s a bad picture UK-wide but a very different picture in Scotland and the party remains very competitive in target seats in Scotland.”

11.58pm

Professor Sir John Curtice said lower turnouts in 2024 might be in line with pollsters’ expectations.

He told the BBC: “Well we don’t know whether it’s a contributing factor (to the final result) but I think there has been a widespread expectation that turnout would fall and these first two results are at least consistent with that expectation and to that extent at least we may well discover that we’re heading towards one of the lower turnouts in general elections in post-war electoral history and, you know, that’s what the polls are anticipating.

“It’s what you would expect in an election in which the polls were suggesting it’s pretty clear who was going to win and where there wasn’t that much difference despite both parties’ denials – not that much difference between Conservative and Labour in much of what they were offering the electorate.”

11.57pm

Justice Secretary Alex Chalk will lose his seat, exit polls forecast.

It is likely the Liberal Democrats gain Cheltenham, Ipsos UK said.

Mr Chalk is defending a small majority of just 1,421.

11.55pm

Dame Andrea Leadsom said voters have told her they do not feel the Tories are “Conservative enough” and are “sick of all this woke stuff”.

In dealing with the aftermath of the result, she added: “The Conservative Party is the natural party of government and has been in this country for many long years and so we will be very ruthless about it, we will certainly be very forensic about it.”

11.50pm

Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg’s seat is “too close to call”, exit polls said.

There is a 53% chance Labour gains Somerset North East and Hanham, in which the former leader of the Commons stood.

11.47pm

Wes Streeting said Labour “didn’t choose the unity of the graveyard” after its 2019 defeat but had “some fights and some arguments” internally over the direction it would take.

Appearing alongside Dame Andrea Leadsom on BBC News, the shadow health secretary said: “I’m afraid the reason why the Conservative Party has been swept out is because it’s been a clown show and people are paying a heavy price for it.

“The reason the Labour Party has been in the position it’s in is because we’ve changed. And we didn’t choose the unity of the graveyard either after 2019 – we had some fights and some arguments to reconnect the Labour Party with the people we lost and the people we need to win over to form a majority.

“The Conservative Party – I mean, I actually don’t care about the Conservative Party – their problem not mine.

“We’ve got to clear up the mess of the Conservative Party, just like the Downing Street cleaners had to clean the vomit up after Boris Johnson.”

11.42pm

The DUP’s Sammy Wilson is confident he will retain his seat in East Antrim, albeit with a lower vote share.

“My majority at the moment is over 6,000. It may be lower because of the lower turnout and the challenge from the TUV candidate,” he said.

“There is a totally new area where the TUV (Traditional Unionist Voice) candidate has a council seat.”

Asked about the threat from the Alliance Party’s Danny Donnelly, Mr Wilson said: “I think it will be a scrabble between Danny Donnelly and the Ulster Unionists as to who comes second.

“Alliance came second last time, and I expect they will do so again.”

11.41pm

Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said it would be “interesting” to see whether Nigel Farage can achieve “a realignment of the right in British politics”.

Asked whether he thought the Tories should have sought to join forces with Mr Farage, the former Conservative minister said: “We are where we are and the disaster doesn’t seem to have been averted.

“You’ll have to ask Nigel what his plans are. I think he looks for and seeks a realignment of the right in British politics, and it will be interesting to see whether he can achieve that.”

11.38pm

Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt’s seat is “too close to call”, according exit polls.

Ipsos UK found there is a 70% likelihood Labour gains Portsmouth North and a 25% chance the Conservative Party holds it.

11.37pm

Former Tory minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg has said it is “clearly a terrible night”, adding that the party has taken votes for granted.

Sir Jacob told the BBC: “It’s clearly a terrible night for the Conservatives.”

He added: “There’s no way of describing this as anything other than a bad night for the Conservative party.”

Asked where it went wrong for the Tories, Sir Jacob said there were “issues with changing the leader”, adding: “Voters expect the prime minister they have chosen to remain the prime minister and for it to be the voters who decide when that person is changed.”

He continued: “I’m afraid I think the Conservative Party took it’s core vote for granted, which is why you see so many people who may have voted Conservative previously, going off to Reform.”

11.32pm

Nigel Farage’s Reform UK came second in Houghton and Sunderland South, beating the Tories into third place.

Reform UK candidate Sam Woods-Brass received 11,668 votes to Conservative candidate Chris Burnicle’s 5,514.

Labour’s shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson won the constituency with 18,837 votes, achieving just over 47% of the vote share and a majority of 7,169.

11.31pm

Veterans minister Johnny Mercer will lose his seat, an exit poll predicts.

There is a more than a 99% chance Labour take Plymouth Moor View, Ipsos UK’s exit poll for Sky News, BBC and ITV News found.

11.30pm

Labour shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson has won the Houghton and Sunderland South constituency, in the first result of the night.

She said in her victory speech: “Tonight the British people have spoken, and if the exit poll this evening is again a guide to results across our country as it so often is, then after 14 years the British people have chosen change.

“They have chosen Labour and they have chosen the leadership of Keir Starmer. Today our country with its proud history has chosen a brighter future. The British people have decided that they believe as Labour believes that our best days lie ahead of us – hope and unity, not decline and division, stability over chaos.

“A government powered by hope, by the belief that tomorrow cannot just be different from today, but better. A government of service, a government with purpose above all to change our society for good.”

Ms Phillipson took 18,847 votes, ahead of Reform UK on 11,668, with the Conservatives on 5,514, the Liberal Democrats on 2,290 and The Green Party on 1,723. The turnout was 51.2%.

11.29pm

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps will lost his seat to Labour, according to an exit poll.

There is a 94% chance the Labour Party take Welwyn Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Ipsos UK’s exit poll for Sky News, BBC and ITV News said.

11.19pm

The SNP must “listen to the voice of voters”, deputy First Minister Kate Forbes has said.

But speaking to the BBC, Ms Forbes cautioned against “dismissing” the number of people in Scotland who support independence.

“We must listen to the voices of the voters, we are democrats, and that means to listen to the message that voters are sending,” she said.

“I would strongly caution anybody against dismissing the robust, resilient and significant number of people in this country that support independence and the next Labour government will have to contend with that, we’ll have to listen to Scottish voters because even over the last few months – which have been difficult – that support for independence has remained strong.”

11.18pm

Wes Streeting said he was “delighted” by the exit poll.

The shadow health secretary told BBC News: “Of course I’m delighted by the exit poll. I’ve seen many exit polls over the years.

“They don’t tend to look like these ones, and if we have won this General Election, that is historic for the Labour Party, but even more importantly, is an opportunity for the country, for us to rebuild our economy and our public services and rebuild trust in politics.”

11.15pm

Labour’s shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson has won Houghton and Sunderland South, the first constituency to report a result in the General Election.

11.14pm

Daisy Cooper said her party is on for a “once-in-a-century” result.

The Liberal Democrat deputy leader told the BBC: “Well, it does look like we’re on course for a once-in-a-century result for the Liberal Democrats and I think that is testament to the phenomenal leadership of Ed Davey who has lit up this campaign and our positive vision and our plans for how we want to save the NHS and fix social care.”

Quizzed about the “antics” of her party’s leader Sir Ed Davey, Ms Cooper replied: “It worked and the fact of the matter is, we’ve said time and again that whilst we don’t take ourselves that seriously, we do take our politics very seriously.

“And with every single one of those stunts there was a very serious message about our plans to end the scandal of raw sewage dumping, to fix the NHS, to put mental health practitioners into every single school, we have talked about the NHS and social care week after week after week and many of those stunts have helped us to do that.”

11.12pm

Thursday will be a “very difficult night for the SNP” if the exit poll is correct, deputy First Minister Kate Forbes has said.

Speaking to the BBC, Ms Forbes said: “If the exit poll is correct, then it will be a very difficult night for the SNP.

“We know that in this election, people were very much voting for change from this disastrous Conservative Government and if the exit poll is right and counting is just about to get under way, then I think we will see an end to the Conservative Government and people have voted in order to do that.”

11.10pm

The Lib Dems are “back as a major force in British politics”, the party’s leader in Scotland said.

He was speaking after the election exit poll suggested the party could win 61 seats across the UK.

“The Liberal Democrats will make a huge leap forward and are back as a major force in British politics,” said Alex Cole-Hamilton.

“It is humbling that millions of people have backed us to kick the Conservatives out of power and deliver the change our country needs.

“I’m proud of the Liberal Democrats’ positive and energetic campaign. Our hardworking candidates and campaigners have knocked on doors and delivered leaflets in all weathers.”

11.08pm

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage will be the MP for Clacton, the exit poll suggests.

It is Mr Farage’s eighth attempt to become an MP, having failed on each previous attempt.

The exit poll by Ipsos UK for Sky News, the BBC and ITV News, said Reform UK have a likelihood of 99%-plus to gain the seat in Essex.

11.07pm

Election workers are busy across the country, counting millions of ballot forms.

11.02pm

Labour peer Lord Mandelson told the BBC: “If I look back over my whole life and before, I must say I cannot identify a worse financial and economic legacy for an incoming government frankly since the Second World War.”

He added: “It certainly will be Labour’s problem in the morning, but you know the legacy that the ’45 government inherited wasn’t due to the failures of a Conservative Party.

“It was due to the fact we had fought and won a world war. You cannot say the same about this legacy – this legacy has been brought to us, yes, by courtesy of Covid and the Ukraine war that had such an impact on energy prices and blown many holes in our finances, but we have also brought this upon ourselves.

“We brought it upon ourselves with Brexit, not just the act of Brexit but many years of divisions and indecision over how we were going to implement it, then the moral collapse of Boris Johnson, of Partygate and his lies to Parliament that shattered international confidence in our country, then to crown it all, the calamitous Liz Truss and her crashing of the economy as a result of her mini-budget, so yes, all told, we have an incredible legacy and that means that whilst there are early, important first steps that can be taken to put things right, turning the whole picture ’round is going to take years.”

10.57pm

David Lammy said he fully expects to be foreign secretary if the Labour Party enters government.

The shadow foreign secretary was asked on Sky News about rumours that Douglas Alexander could “give you a run for your money” to be foreign secretary.

Douglas Alexander, who held a number of cabinet roles during the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, has not been an MP since 2015 but is standing this year in Lothian East, Labour’s top target in Scotland where the SNP is defending a majority of 2,207.

“I have seen the tittle tattle in some parts of the right wing media, but I’ve got to tell you, in preparing potentially for Government, preparing for NATO, preparing for the European Political Community, with war in Europe and huge problems in the Middle East, this is a very serious role.

“Of course I’ll serve wherever Keir Starmer wants me to but I do fully expect to be foreign secretary if we get across the line.”

10.54pm

Kevin Foster, the Green candidate for the Richmond and Northallerton constituency, said he believed Rishi Sunak would hold onto the seat.

Mr Foster, a North Yorkshire councillor and the first candidate to arrive at the count in Northallerton Leisure Centre, told the PA news agency: “I think Rishi will hold on by between 7,000 and 5,000 votes.

“I think there are still some people sympathetic to him and the alternative is just not there for them. I think they are reluctant but they have come out reluctantly to vote for him. That is my feeling knocking on the doors, but it is really hard this one.”

10.52pm

Steve Baker said it was a matter for Rishi Sunak whether he stays on as Tory leader during a likely period of “recriminations”.

He said there would likely be “recriminations” during a “grieving period” and that the Prime Minister would “weigh extremely carefully” what he thinks is best for the country.

Asked whether Mr Sunak should step aside now, Mr Baker told BBC News: “There will be undoubtedly recrimination, there will be shock, there will be anger, denial.”

He added: “I’m sure he will be reflecting on whether his role might be to be there for a while to get us through the recriminations phase.

“But as I say, it’s a matter for him and knowing him reasonably well, I believe his mind will be set on what is right for the country and part of what is right for the country, and your viewers may not like it, but is having a functioning Conservative Party, and I’m sure he will be mindful of that.”

10.46pm

Former first minister of Scotland Alex Salmond has said the 10 seats for the SNP predicted by the exit poll was not because of a lack of support for independence.

He said: “London commentators are crowing about seeing the back of the independence argument. But the slaughter of the SNP is not because (of) independence. How could it be? The SNP did not even campaign on it.

“In reality the support for independence is strong. It is the SNP who are weak. The independence case must now find new vehicles to move forward.”

10.45pm

Former Tory leader Lord Hague said it was a “pretty catastrophic result”.

Speaking to Times Radio, he said: “When you compare it to any previous election, even the one that I fought in 2001 when we got 166 seats, it’s a pretty catastrophic result.

“If that is the result… that would of course be a catastrophic result in historic terms for the Conservative Party.

“It’s also set against, though, the expectations of all those predictions over the last few weeks, many of which have been that the Conservatives will get even fewer seats than that, even down to 64 seats in one prediction a couple of days ago.

“And one of the things on my mind has been, since the Conservatives have been likely to lose the election for some time… can they form a viable opposition? And if it is 131 seats, if that turned out to be correct, you can just about mount an effective opposition with 131 seats.”

10.43pm

Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner said she thinks voters are punishing the Conservatives for the last 14 years.

Ms Rayner said the exit poll, which projects a Labour landslide, was encouraging but stressed that the results were not yet in.

“Keir has done a tremendous job in transforming the Labour Party and putting forward a programme for government that the country can get behind and after 14 years of the chaos and the scandals and the decline we have seen under Tories I think they are getting punished for that – that’s pretty clear in the polls as well,” she told Sky News.

10.42pm

It is “absolutely the case” people who support independence voted for Labour, the SNP’s campaign chief has said.

Speaking to the PA news agency from the counting centre in Glasgow, Stewart Hosie said: “I think that’s absolutely the case.

“That motivation to get the Tories out was so overwhelming, everything else – Brexit, austerity, cost of living – was just pushed out of the way.”

10.41pm

Steve Baker said he thought the election result would create “a bad situation for the country but one from which we can recover”, which he said would not have been the case if Jeremy Corbyn had been in Number 10.

The minister added that Rishi Sunak’s early exit from D-Day commemorations was “plainly a mistake” but praised the Prime Minister’s “capacity to execute and grip detail”.

“I’ve got a great deal of admiration for him. I think he will do what he believes is in the national interest,” Mr Baker told BBC News.

Of the exit poll, he said: “I think this will create a bad situation for the country but one from which we can recover.

“That wouldn’t have been the case if Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell had taken power.”

He refused to be publicly drawn on whether he would run for the Tory leadership, saying: “I don’t want to get into that tonight… I’ve got a great deal for respect for Rishi Sunak. I think he’s a man with a brilliant mind and a great heart for our country.”

10.38pm

Lord Mandelson has said he is “gobsmacked” by the exit poll and the scale of the forecasted Labour victory.

He also said Rishi Sunak “is not Superman”.

Lord Mandelson told the BBC: “I think that an electoral meteor has now struck planet Earth.

“In a sense it’s not surprising given everything the country’s gone through over the last 10 years. I think it would have required Superman as leader of the Conservative Party to lead them back to some sort of victory and Mr Sunak is not Superman, but I would have to say this: this is an extraordinary achievement for Keir Starmer and his team.

“Nobody in 2019, nobody would have imagined this was possible and they and the team and all the people who’ve won this campaign deserve absolutely every piece of credit that’s coming their way.”

The exit poll has forecast Labour to win 410 seats, slightly less than the party’s 1997 victory on 418.

10.32pm

Former justice secretary Sir Robert Buckland, who exit polls show is expected to lose Swindon South to Labour candidate Heidi Alexander, said he was prepared for “whatever the electorate throw at me”.

“That’s politics, Kay,” he told Sky News.

“I’ve lost before, I’ve won four elections on the trot, I’m used to what defeat looks like and I’m prepared for it, but my political life is not over.

“I feel a bit like Tony Benn tonight. I’ll be leaving Parliament to spend more time on politics.

“I’ve got causes dear to my heart such as autism, disability justice, that I will be fighting for just as hard outside parliament as i used to in parliament.

“So I’m ready for whatever the electorate throw at me and I treat victory and defeat like those two imposters, just the same,” he said, quoting Rudyard Kipling.

10.29pm

The pound has held steady against the US dollar after an exit poll revealed the Labour Party is on course for a landslide victory, affirming the expectations of traders pinning hopes on a period of political stability.

Sterling was more or less flat against the US dollar at 1.276, and against the euro at 1.18, just after 10pm when polls across the country closed.

Currency traders had been expecting a Labour majority, leading to a relatively muted reaction for the pound, which is one of the strongest indicators of the reaction of financial markets.

10.28pm

Reacting to the exit poll, Scotland’s former first minister Nicola Sturgeon told ITV: “This is not a good night for the SNP on those numbers.”

She added: “This is at the grimmer end of the expectations for the SNP if the exit poll is right.”

10.27pm

Angela Rayner said the results were “encouraging” but a number of seats were on a “knife edge.”

It was put to her that the results were “a bit more than encouraging”, to which the Labour deputy leader replied: “If you look at where we were in 2019, just to get a majority of one we’d have had to have a swing greater than Tony Blair in 1997.

“So we know a number of seats were on a knife edge from our own data, but I also know that all of our activists and our candidates have been going out there not taking anything for granted and speaking to the electorate about what matters to them.”

She told BBC News it would be “an absolute honour and a privilege to be re-elected”, first as the MP for Ashton-under-Lyne and to be able to serve as deputy prime minister.

10.20pm

The Electoral Commission has warned there had been “unacceptable abuse and intimidation of candidates,” as well as acknowledging “there is room to improve the experience for some” during voting after the late arrival of postal ballots.

In a statement following the closure of polls, chief executive of the watchdog Vijay Rangarajan said: “Today, tens of millions of people exercised their democratic right and had their say at the ballot box. Overall, our initial assessment is that polling day ran smoothly and people were able to cast their votes securely. We continue to support administrators as they undertake counts tonight.

“Millions of people were able to have their say, but we know there is room to improve the experience for some. A record number of postal votes were successfully returned, but some couldn’t vote both in the UK and abroad because of the late arrival of postal votes.

“There was a robust and vibrant campaign, but unacceptable abuse and intimidation of candidates. We will collect evidence from people who participated in these elections as voters, candidates, campaigners and administrators, to better understand their experiences. We will recommend improvements to the systems where necessary.”

10.18pm

Labour’s national campaign chief Pat McFadden said: “Keir Starmer’s transformation of the Labour Party has been remarkable.

“He has put country before party and has transformed Labour from a party focused on itself to one back in the service of the British public. We have campaigned as a changed Labour Party, ready to change Britain.”

But despite the exit poll indicating a landslide win, he added: “It’s going to be a long night, and it will be several hours until we know the full picture of results. Labour will need a swing bigger than Tony Blair achieved in 1997 to achieve a majority of just one seat.”

10.17pm

Ruth Davidson called the projected election result a “massacre” for the Conservative Party after exit polls were released.

But she said the word coming out of Conservative central office earlier was that the Tories could be below three figures in terms of seats.

The former leader of the Scottish Tories said on Sky News: “So actually 131 – while, there is no dressing it up, this is a massacre – they’ve actually, if this is right, pulled a few back from where they thought they were.”

10.15pm

As polls closed, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: “The Liberal Democrats are on course for our best results in a century, thanks to our positive campaign with health and care at its heart.

“I am humbled by the millions of people who backed the Liberal Democrats to both kick the Conservatives out of power and deliver the change our country needs.

“Every Liberal Democrat MP will be a strong local champion for their community standing up for the NHS and care. Whether you voted for us or not, we will work day in and day out and we will not let you down.”

10.14pm

Sir Keir Starmer has thanked those who voted for him and “put their trust in a changed Labour Party” after the exit poll revealed he is on course for a landslide.

“To everyone who has campaigned for Labour in this election, to everyone who voted for us and put their trust in our changed Labour Party – thank you,” he posted to X, formerly Twitter.

10.11pm

The SNP are on course to drop to 10 seats in Scotland, an exit poll for the General Election suggests.

The party won 48 seats at the last election in 2019, but would loosen its Westminster grip after almost a decade if the prediction comes to fruition.

10.08pm

Labour is on course for a landslide, according to the exit poll projection, with 410 seats.

The Conservatives are set for 131 seats.

The exit poll also forecasts the Liberal Democrats on 61 seats, Reform UK on 13 and The Green Party on two.

In Scotland, the SNP are expected to secure 10 seats with Plaid Cymru in Wales on four.

It would be the lowest number Tory MPs on record.

10pm

Polls have closed across the country in the 2024 General Election and Sir Keir Starmer is on course to be the UK’s next prime minister as an exit poll indicated a landslide Labour victory.