Lib Dems oust Cabinet ministers but fail to clinch Chancellor’s Surrey seat

The Liberal Democrats have ousted several Tory ministers but just failed to clinch the seat of Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.

Sir Ed Davey’s party had hoped to win Godalming and Ash, with party sources claiming the victory would be “quite the moment” early in the evening, but its voters elected Mr Hunt with a majority of 891.

But the Liberal Democrats did manage to oust Justice Secretary Alex Chalk in Cheltenham, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan in Chichester and Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer in Ely and East Cambridgeshire.

The party has also won Witney in Oxfordshire, once the seat of former prime minister Lord Cameron.

At 6am, the Lib Dems had taken 56 seats – far surpassing their 2019 general election tally of 11.

Reacting to his party’s wins, Sir Ed said he was “really proud”.

After winning Kingston and Surbiton, he said: “Tonight the Liberal Democrats are on for our best result for over a century and I’m really proud that our party has fought so positively during this campaign, particularly putting the reforming and fixing of the crisis in our health and care system right to the forefront.

“The many Liberal Democratic MPs who have been elected tonight are going to continue to fight to sort out health and care, so that the people of our great country can get the health and care they deserve.”

In his victory speech, the party leader added: “I’ve shared my own caring story during this campaign and I’ve been overwhelmed by the response, especially from fellow carers, people looking after their loved ones who’ve got in touch to say, ‘that’s my story, too’.

“And I’m grateful that we’ve been able to bring caring out of the shadows in this campaign, and we will continue to stand up for a society where we value care and properly support carers because we cannot afford not to.”

Sir Ed has spoken about his own caring responsibilities on the campaign trail, including for his son John, aged 16.

To his two children, Sir Ed said: “Ellie and John, I love you so much.”

He later celebrated his party’s vote at an election party in central London, dancing and singing to Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline.

Sir Ed has fronted his party’s campaign, having toured the country in the party’s battle bus Yellow Hammer 1, taking part in stunts including toppling off a paddleboard in Windermere, playing tennis in Newbury and surfing near Bude in Cornwall.

The party made its first 2024 gain from the Tories in Harrogate and Knaresborough, Yorkshire.

Incoming Liberal Democrat MP Tom Gordon posted to X, formerly Twitter, at the time: “The first brick in the blue wall has come crashing down in Harrogate and Knaresborough tonight.”

He added: “We are back in Harrogate and Knaresborough, back in Yorkshire, back in the North, and back across the country.”

The Lib Dems had taken 11.5% of the overall vote, less than Reform UK on 14.4%, but Nigel Farage’s party had taken far fewer seats – four.