Friday, July 05, 2024

General election turnout on track to be lowest for more than 20 years


Turnout remained above 75% at every post-war general election until 1970, when it dipped to 72.0%
Joey, the Shih Tzu, waits outside the polling station at St James’ Church, Goldenacre, in Edinburgh (Jane Barlow/PA Wire)


Turnout at the General Election is on track to be the lowest for more than 20 years.

After 630 of 650 results had been declared, the turnout figure stood at 59.8%.

This compares with an overall turnout of 67.3% at the last election in 2019.


If the figure stays around 59.8%, it would be the lowest turnout at a general election since 2001, when it was 59.4%.

Were the figure to fall below 59.4%, it wo
uld rank as the lowest turnout at a general election since the Second World War.

The highest turnout at a general election since the war was 83.9% in 1950, according to figures compiled by the House of Commons Library.

Turnout remained above 75% at every post-war general election until 1970, when it dipped to 72.0%.

It then stayed above 70% at every election until plunging to 59.4% in 2001 – since when it has never been above 70%.

Sir Keir Starmer will be the UK’s new Labour prime minister after a Conservative rout saw former premier Liz Truss and 11 serving Cabinet members lose their seats.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer speaks to supporters at a watch party for the results of the 2024 General Election in central London (Jeff Moore/PA Wire)

Outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he took responsibility for the electoral mauling inflicted on his party as it suffered its worst ever result.

On a dramatic night:

– Ms Truss lost to Labour in Norfolk South West, where she had been defending a notional majority of more than 24,000.

– Eleven ministers who sat around the Cabinet table were ousted, comfortably exceeding the previous record of seven set in 1997


– Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps, Welsh Secretary David TC Davies, Transport Secretary Mark Harper, Attorney General Victoria Prentis and veterans minister Johnny Mercer lost to Labour.

– Education Secretary Gillian Keegan, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk, Science Secretary Michelle Donelan and Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer lost to the Liberal Democrats.

– Chief whip Simon Hart lost to Plaid Cymru.

– Tory deputy chairman Jonathan Gullis and former cabinet minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg were beaten by Labour.

– But party chairman Richard Holden won by just 20 votes in Basildon and Billericay and outgoing Chancellor Jeremy Hunt held off a Lib Dem challenge in Godalming and Ash.


– Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn held on to his seat as an independent.

– Reform UK leader Nigel Farage won a Commons seat at his eighth attempt and promised his party would “stun all of you” as it picked up four Commons seats.


– The Greens also picked up four seats, including co-leader Carla Denyer defeating shadow culture secretary Thangam Debbonaire in Bristol Central.

– Shadow paymaster general Jonathan Ashworth, who played a prominent role in the party’s media campaign, lost his seat to an independent as Labour’s stance on Gaza cost them votes.

Surprise winners and losers in UK general election, from Greens to Reform UK

Rowena Mason
THE GUARDIAN
Fri, 5 July 2024 

Jeremy Corbyn gives a speech after being declared winner of Islington North.
Photograph: Jon Rowley/EPA


Beyond the astonishing scale of Labour’s overall victory, general election night 2024 was a night of shock results, big swings and unexpected upsets. Here are the most surprising winners and losers.

Surprise winners


Jeremy Corbyn, independent
The former Labour leader decided to contest his long-held Islington North seat after being barred from standing by Labour. The campaign was thought to be on a knife-edge, but Corbyn ended up winning convincingly with a majority of more than 7,000. The veteran politician benefited from a large personal following in the seat and his stance on opposing Israel’s war in Gaza. The Labour candidate, Praful Nargund, had been criticised locally over his links to the private health industry.

Adrian Ramsay, Green party co-leader, in Waveney

Ramsay had not been expected to take the coastal seat of Waveney Valley, which straddles Suffolk and Norfolk. The seat had new boundaries but covered areas held by Conservatives for decades. Ramsay performed well at the television debate earlier in the campaign and had worked the area hard. Across the board, the Greens had a spectacularly good night by the standards of a minor party, which has struggled to break through the electoral system in previous elections. It also took a seat from Labour, ousting shadow cabinet minister Thangam Debonnaire in Bristol Central, while in North Herefordshire the Green candidate, Ellie Chowns, was a surprise winner. The party won in Brighton Pavilion, former seat of Caroline Lucas, with a victory for the former party leader Siân Berry.

Richard Tice, chair and donor to Reform UK

A victory for Nigel Farage in Clacton was priced in since he announced he would stand last month. But Tice’s chances in Boston and Skegness, one of the safest Conservative seats in the country, were much less assured. He ousted a centrist Tory, Matt Warman, by about 2,000 votes. Reform’s performance was not as good as the 13 MPs that the exit poll suggested but it still made remarkable progress, winning four seats. Along with Farage and Tice, the party won in Great Yarmouth, and retained Lee Anderson’s seat in Ashfield after he defected from the Conservatives earlier this year.


Surprise losers


Liz Truss

The former prime minister was not widely expected to lose her South West Norfolk seat. However, she appears to have been punished for her disastrous seven-week tenure in No 10, which caused a crash in the financial markets. She was also caught up in wider swings across traditionally Tory East Anglia against the Conservatives and towards Labour, the Greens and Reform. Her majority of 26,000 was overturned, with Labour taking the seat by a slender margin. Other current and former cabinet ministers to lose their seats included Thérèse Coffey, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Gillian Keegan, Mark Harper, Grant Shapps, Penny Mordaunt, David TC Davies, and Alex Chalk.

Jonathan Ashworth

The biggest and most shocking casualty for Labour of the night was its election campaign coordinator, Jonathan Ashworth. Few had predicted he would lose his Leicester South seat to the independent pro-Gaza candidate Shockat Adam. “This is for Gaza,” Adam said at the count. Another independent candidate made a surprise gain in Dewsbury and Batley, denying a seat to Labour’s Heather Iqbal, a former adviser to Rachel Reeves. The seat was won by Iqbal Mohamed, who campaigned on ending the war in Gaza. The Labour MP Kate Hollern was also ousted in Blackburn by independent Adnan Hussain.

Ian Paisley Jr

The Democratic Unionist (DUP) party stalwart was replaced in North Antrim by Jim Allister, a candidate from the TUV, an even more pro-unionist party backed by Reform UK. The seat had been held by his family since 1970. It was a difficult night overall for the DUP, which has suffered following the Brexit deal that has proven unpopular in Northern Ireland, and its former leader Jeffrey Donaldson facing trial on 18 sexual offence charges. It is on track to lose three of its eight seats, which would leave Sinn Féin as the Northern Ireland party with most MPs.

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