The 2024 United Kingdom general election was held on 4 July 2024.[2] It determined the composition of the House of Commons, which determines the next Government of the United Kingdom.[3][4] In addition, this was the first UK general election where physical forms of voter identification were needed to vote in Great Britain.[5]
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All 650 seats in the House of Commons 326[n 1] seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 A map presenting the results of the election, by party of the MP elected from each constituency. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Labour Party won with a landslide majority, leading to Keir Starmer replacing Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister. The Conservative Party lost 244 seats, giving them their lowest number of seats (121) in the party's history.
Background
changeBoris Johnson, the Conservatives leader, had won the last election in a landslide. The Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, resigned and was replaced by Keir Starmer.
Shortly after winning the election, Johnson passed the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement and the UK left the EU on 31 January 2020. Around the same time cases of Covid-19 started happening in the UK. Whilst Johnson and the Conservatives stayed ahead in the polls for most of 2020-2021, at the end of 2021 stories about parties in Downing Street during lockdown started appearing in the news (Partygate).[6] Johnson's popularity suffered, and he was forced to resign later that year due to the Chris Pincher scandal.
Johnson was replaced as Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister by Liz Truss in September 2022. Truss made huge unfunded tax cuts which caused economic problems, and was forced to resign after just 50 days.[7][8] She was replaced by Rishi Sunak.
When Sunak took over, the Conservatives were now far behind Labour in the polls. In May 2024 he called for an election to be held on 4 July of that year.
Results
change| Party | Seats | Leader/Leaders |
|---|---|---|
| Labour Party | 411 seats | Keir Starmer |
| Conservative Party | 121 seats | Rishi Sunak |
| Liberal Democrats | 72 seats | Ed Davey |
| Scottish National Party | 9 seats | John Swinney |
| Sinn Féin | 7 seats | Mary Lou McDonald |
| Reform UK | 5 seats | Nigel Farage |
| Democratic Unionist Party | 5 seats | Gavin Robinson |
| Green Party of England and Wales | 4 seats | Carla Denyer Adrian Ramsay |
| Plaid Cymru | 4 seats | Rhun ap Iowerth |
| Social Democratic and Labour Party | 2 seats | Colum Eastwood |
| Alliance Party of Northern Ireland | 1 seat | Naomi Long |
| Ulster Unionist Party | 1 seat | Doug Beattie |
| Traditional Unionist Voice | 1 seat | Jim Allister |
| Speaker | 1 seat | Lindsay Hoyle |
Sinn Féin's MPs do not go to the UK Parliament to take their seats because of the party's policy on not doing so.[9]
Notes
change- ↑ Given that Sinn Féin members of Parliament (MPs) practise abstentionism and do not take their seats, while the Speaker and deputies do not vote, the number of MPs needed for a majority is in practice slightly lower.[1] Sinn Féin won 7 seats, meaning a practical majority required 322 MPs.
References
change- ↑ "Government majority". Institute for Government. 20 December 2019.
- ↑ "UK PM Rishi Sunak set to announce surprise July election as his party seeks to defy dire polls". CNN. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
- ↑ Kelly, Richard (20 April 2023). "Dissolution of Parliament". House of Commons Library. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
- ↑ "Rishi Sunak confirms election will be next year, despite legal right to wait until January 2025". Politics.co.uk. 18 December 2023.
- ↑ "Our Plan - Conservative Manifesto 2019". Conservative Party. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
- ↑ "Downing Street Christmas party cancelled amid fury over 2020 event". BBC News. 10 December 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
- ↑ "Who is Liz Truss? Political journey of UK's shortest-serving prime minister". BBC News. 20 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
- ↑ Culbertson, Alix (21 October 2022). "Liz Truss resigns - and will become shortest-serving prime minister in British history". Sky News. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
- ↑ Dinnen, Carl (18 June 2024). "Sinn Féin won't take up any seats they win in the General Election - so who will?". ITV News. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
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