According to an exit poll, the Labour Party is poised to form a government for the first time in 14 years after a decisive victory in the 2024 General Election.
After four and a half years as the opposition leader, Sir Keir Starmer is set to become the party’s seventh prime minister and the first since Gordon Brown’s defeat in 2010, should the projection hold.
Rachel Reeves, his chancellor, is also on track to make history as the first woman to lead the Treasury in the UK.
The exit poll indicates a significant defeat for Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives, who numerous scandals have plagued in recent years and a problematic election campaign.
This brings an apparent end to 14 years of Conservative power, which began with David Cameron’s coalition with the Liberal Democrats in 2010. Sunak’s leadership is also likely to conclude with this election.
Opinion polls have long predicted a Labour victory, with only the extent of the landslide in question. The exit poll suggests Labour will secure 410 seats, the Conservatives 131, and the Liberal Democrats will overtake the SNP as the third-largest party with 61 seats in the House of Commons.
The Conservative strategy in recent weeks involved acknowledging a likely Labour majority, with Pensions Secretary Mel Stride suggesting less than 24 hours before the polls opened that Labour could win ‘the largest majority that any party has ever achieved’. This was likely an attempt to influence undecided voters and Reform UK supporters to back the Conservatives.
The effectiveness of this strategy will be more transparent as results come in from the UK’s 650 constituencies. However, the exit poll, considered a strong indicator of the election outcome, points to a Labour government being imminent.
This exit poll, commissioned by major British news broadcasters, is based on research from interviewers at 133 polling stations in marginal constituencies across the country.
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