British Prime Minister resigns: Conservative party faces historic defeat
Rishi Sunak announced his immediate resignation as Prime Minister and, after the election of his successor, as leader of the Conservative Party. This move comes in response to the biggest defeat in history that the Conservative Party suffered on Thursday in the House of Commons elections.
6:51 AM EDT, July 5, 2024
"Following this result, I will step down as party leader – not immediately but once the formal arrangements for my successor can be made," said Sunak in a farewell speech at Downing Street.
He stressed that the public's opinion is the only thing that matters and assured that he heard the "anger and disappointment" of the voters. He declared that he takes responsibility for the Conservatives' crushing defeat. He also apologized to the candidates and activists of the Conservative Party, saying, I am sorry that we could not deliver what your efforts deserved."
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Conservative Party leader Rishi Sunak defended his parliamentary seat in Thursday's House of Commons elections.
Sunak, who has represented the Richmond constituency in North Yorkshire since 2015, faced uncertainty about retaining his seat. He ultimately received just over 23,000 votes, while the Labour Party candidate, who took second place, received just under 11,000.
Rishi Sunak announced his immediate resignation as Prime Minister and, after the election of his successor, as leader of the Conservative Party.
Election results in the United Kingdom
The Labour Party has been in opposition for 14 years and decisively won Thursday's elections to the British House of Commons. This means that its leader, Keir Starmer, will receive a mandate from King Charles III on Friday to form a government. According to exit polls, Labour won 410 seats in the 650-member House of Commons.
While this is an apparent victory, it is not as resounding as pre-election forecasts predicted. There were more than twice as many seats as in the previous elections in 2019 but fewer than in the first two Labour victories under Tony Blair’s leadership in 1997 and 2001, when they won 418 and 412 seats, respectively.
The elections ended with a heavy defeat for the Conservative Party, ruling for 14 years but not as severe as the last pre-election forecasts had predicted. According to exit polls, the Conservative Party obtained 131 seats, nearly three times fewer than in 2019 (365). This matches their worst result in history – in 1906, they also won 131 seats, although the House of Commons then had 670 members. It is a worse result than the worst in living memory – the defeat suffered in 1997 when they won 165 out of 659 possible seats.
