It’s been an extraordinary night of political drama which began at 10pm with an exit poll predicting Labour winning a landslide.
Sir Keir Starmer will be the UK’s new Labour prime minister after a Conservative rout that saw the party suffer its worst ever result.
Between sunset and just after sunrise, 12 ministers who sat around the Cabinet table were ousted, comfortably exceeding the previous record of seven set in 1997.
Penny Mordaunt, Grant Shapps, David TC Davies, Mark Harper, Victoria Prentis and veterans minister Johnny Mercer all lost to Labour.
Here is ‘s timeline of how the General Election night unfolded:
10pm – Brutal exit poll confirms Tories’ worst fears
Almost simultaneously as polling stations closed across the country, an exit poll was published predicting a Labour landslide.
It predicted Sir Keir Starmer’s party were on course for 410 seats and the number of Conservative MPs reduced to a record low of 131.
It also forecast the Liberal Democrats on 61 seats, Reform UK on 13 and The Green Party on two.
In Scotland, the SNP was expected to secure 10 seats with Plaid Cymru in Wales on four.
11.14pm – Labour win their first seat… with many more to come
As the political parties continued to digest the bombshell exit poll, the first actual result of the night was declared.
Labour’s shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson was announced to have held her Houghton and Sunderland South seat.
She won 18,837 votes and – in a sign of the strong performance of Reform UK – Nigel Farage’s party came second with 11,668 votes, with the Tories in third on 5,514.
Ms Phillipson became one of the first Labour frontbenchers to suggest they were on the brink of seizing power.
She said in her victory speech: ‘Tonight the British people have spoken, and if the exit poll this evening is again a guide to results across our country as it so often is, then after 14 years the British people have chosen change.’
12.15am – Former justice secretary becomes the first senior Tory to lose their seat
Sir Robert Buckland, the former justice secretary, became the first senior Tory to lose their seat as he was defeated in Swindon South by Labour’s Heidi Alexander.
Sir Robert won 12,070 votes but Ms Alexander scooped 21,676 in the Wiltshire constituency.
1.35am – The Liberal Democrat surge begins
Liberal Democrat candidate Tom Gordon won his party’s first victory of the night in Harrogate and Knaresborough, which had previously been held by Tory Andrew Jones.
1.42am – Tories finally win their first seat
More than three-and-a-half hours after polls closed, the Conservatives won their first seat of the night as Mark Francois held his Rayleigh and Wickford constituency in Essex.
2.18am – Reform UK get their first elected MP
Lee Anderson became Reform’s first elected MP after winning the Ashfield seat in Nottinghamshire.
He had previously won the constituency for the Tories at the 2019 general election, before his defection to Reform in March.
Mr Anderson is a former Conservative Party deputy chairman but lost the Tory whip for refusing to apologise for claims Islamists had ‘control’ of London mayor Sadiq Khan.
2.35am – Firebrand politician George Galloway loses in Rochdale
George Galloway, leader of his Workers Party of Britain, loses in Rochdale to Labour candidate Paul Waugh, a former parliamentary journalist.
It came just months after Mr Galloway won the Greater Manchester seat in a shock by-election dominated by tensions over the Gaza war.
The former Labour and Respect MP had swept to victory in February gaining almost 40 per cent of the vote. But he failed to repeat his success at the general election.
2.40am – ‘Humbled’ Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey holds his seat
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey held the seat of Kingston and Surbiton after securing 25,870 votes.
It followed his stunt-packed election campaign, during which he went bungee jumping, paddleboarding, and completed both land-based and water-based assault courses.
2.58am – Sir Keir Starmer is re-elected as an MP and says Britain is ‘ready for change’
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer held the London seat of Holborn and St Pancras.
He said in his acceptance speech: ‘Tonight people here and around the country have spoken and they’re ready for change – to end the politics of performance and return to politics as public service.
‘The change begins right here because this is your democracy, your community and your future. You have voted. It is now time for us to deliver.’
3.09am – 2024’s ‘Portillo moment’ as Defence Secretary loses his seat
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps was booted out of the House of Commons as he lost to Labour in Welwyn Hatfield.
He won 16,078 votes but Labour’s Andrew Lewin beat him with 19,877 votes.
At the same time as Mr Shapps was announced to have lost in Hertfordshire, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk was declared as another Cabinet minister leaving Parliament.
He lost in Cheltenham to Lib Dem candidate Max Wilkinson.
3.26am – A bloody nose for Starmer as Jeremy Corbyn wins as an independent
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn beat his old party to hold his seat in Islington North and become an independent MP.
Mr Corbyn has been the MP for the north London constituency since 1983.
The result is an embarrassment for Sir Keir after he last year blocked his predecessor from standing as an official Labour candidate at the general election.
3.28am – Reform UK leader Nigel Farage finally becomes an MP at the eighth attempt
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was elected in Clacton, Essex, as he finally became an MP on his eighth attempt.
Speaking in Clacton after his win, Mr Farage said his party’s performance in the general election was ‘truly extraordinary’.
He added: ‘There is a massive gap on the centre-right of British politics and my job is to fill it.’
3.57am – Blow for Starmer as Labour shadow minister loses to Greens
Despite huge success for Labour elsewhere, in Bristol Central the party’s shadow minister Thangam Debbonaire was beaten by Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer.
Ms Debbonaire is her party’s shadow culture secretary but will now not be able to form part of a Labour government.
3.58am – Reform UK chairman Richard Tice becomes party’s fourth MP
Reform chairman Richard Tice won in Boston and Skegness to become the party’s fourth MP.
Mr Tice had been the insurgent party’s leader until Mr Farage made his dramatic comeback to the political frontline during the election campaign.
He won Boston and Skegness by defeating Tory candidate and former MP Matt Warman.
4.08am – Tory leadership hopeful Penny Mordaunt loses her seat
Penny Mourdant, the Leader of the House of Commons, was beaten by Labour in Portsmouth North.
The Cabinet minister had been touted as among the favourites to replace Rishi Sunak as Tory leader after the general election.
But she will no longer be able to mount a leadership challenge after failing to hold on to her seat.
4.10am – Conservative chairman Richard Holden holds on… just
Conservative Party chairman Richard Holden only just won in Basildon and Billericay, Essex, as he beat the Labour candidate by 20 votes following a recount.
Mr Holden is under fire for overseeing what many Tories have viewed as a disastrous general election campaign.
He was also severely criticised for making a ‘chicken run’ to Basildon and Billericay, having previously been MP for North West Durham – a constituency more than 300 miles away.
4.40am – Rishi Sunak wins his Yorkshire seat but admits the Tories have lost the election
The Prime Minister held his seat in Richmond and Northallerton but was sombre after a brutal few hours for his party.
Speaking after his constituency result was declared, Mr Sunak said it had been a ‘difficult night’ and Labour had won the general election.
The PM said he takes ‘responsibility’ for his party’s loss and revealed he had called Sir Keir Starmer to congratulate him on his victory.
4.58am – Former Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg is the latest Tory big beast to lose
Former Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg became the latest Tory big beast to lose their seat as he was defeated by Labour in North East Somerset and Hanham.
‘We’ve got Mogg-xit done,’ said new Labour MP Dan Norris as he celebrated his success in the constituency.
Sir Jacob had previously been elected as the MP for North East Somerset in 2010, 2015, 2017 and 2019 – when he achieved 50.4 per cent of the vote and had a majority of 14,729.
5am – Labour officially win the general election as they reach 326 seats
Labour were declared as officially winning the general election after reaching the required 326 seats.
Sir Keir said ‘we did it’ as he delivered a speech at a victory rally in central London.
‘We did it. You campaigned for it, you fought for it, you voted for it, and now it has arrived – change begins now,’ the Labour leader said.
He added that the UK will be waking up to ‘the sunlight of hope, pale at first but getting stronger through the day, shining once again’.
5.31am – Conservatives are wiped out in Wales
The Tories are announced to have lost all their MPs in Wales after Welsh Secretary David TC Davies is defeated by Labour in Monmouthshire.
5.57am – A record number of female MPs are elected to the Commons
A record number of female MPs will now be sitting in the new House of Commons.
Some 242 women MPs have been elected so far, passing the previous record of 220 at the election in 2019.
The number of female MPs has risen at each of the past six elections.
6.48am – Former PM Liz Truss loses to Labour
Liz Truss, who was prime minister for 44 days in 2022, was declared to have been defeated by Labour in South West Norfolk.
In aruguably the biggest shock of the night, the former premier lost by 630 votes to Terry Jermy.
Ms Truss claimed the Tories had not ‘delivered sufficiently on the policies people want’.
She added: ‘That means keeping taxes low, but also particularly on reducing immigration, and I think that’s been a crucial issue here in South West Norfolk, that was the number one issue that people raised on the doorstep with me.’
7.09am – Mel Stride holds on by 61 votes
Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride clings on to his Devon Central seat by a narrow margin of 61 votes.
The close ally of Mr Sunak later says ‘there will need to be a new leader of the Conservative Party’.