12 things on General Election 2024 night you missed while you were sleeping

It has been a long and dramatic night in the general election as the political map of Britain is redrawn.

Labour have won a thumping landslide majority with Keir Starmer set to get the keys to No 10 and become the UK’s next Prime Minister.

The Conservatives face the worst result in their history in a brutal drubbing for Rishi Sunak’s party as voters delivered their damning verdict, with the Tories losing hundreds of seats to Labour and the Lib Dems.

In Scotland, the SNP also endured a horrendous night, set to lose the vast majority of the 48 seats they won in 2019 as Labour hammered them in the central belt.

Here’s everything you need to know about what you missed while you were asleep.

1. Keir Starmer will be PM after crushing Labour landslide

Labour leader Keir Starmer will be the next Prime Minister after a stunning general election victory.

The party was projected in the exit poll to win a thumping 170-seat majority - the biggest since 1945 - with a total of 410 seats - the highest since Tony Blair in 1997.

In Scotland, Labour won big too, claiming dozens of seats from the SNP across the central belt.

Down south, Labour won a series of stunning victories, snatching Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket where the Tories were defending a 22,085 majority. It also overturned a 19,879 majority in Cannock Chase.

It marked an incredible reversal after Labour posted their worst ever general election result in 2019 under Jeremy Corbyn.

Speaking after winning his seat in Holborn and St Pancras, Starmer said: “Tonight, people here and around the country have spoken and they're ready for change, to end the politics of performance, a return to politics as public service.

“The change begins right here... You have voted. It is now time for us to deliver.”

Rachel Reeves, set to become the UK’s first ever female chancellor, said Labour’s victory represented “a page turned, a new chapter started”.

She added: “We have campaigned as we mean to go on as a government of unity, not of division, a government of wealth creation and a government in the national interest… That is our promise to Britain… We will not let you down. I will not let you down.”

2. Rishi Sunak is toast after mauling by voters leaves Tories a rump

Rishi Sunak will be out of No 10 within hours after the Tories were decimated.

The outgoing PM held onto his Richmond seat but admitted voters had delivered a “sobering verdict” on his party as he conceded the election.

Sunak said: "The Labour Party has won this General Election and I have called Keir Starmer to congratulate him on his victory."

The exit poll at 10pm put the Tory seat total at 131 - the worst in its history. However, the Tories will fall short of even that.

At the time of writing, they’ve won 119 seats with only six left in the country to declare.

As results rolled in, Labour claimed some huge scalps from the Conservatives - including unseating ex-PM Liz Truss in South West Norfolk in a stunning result.

Top figures like Jacob Rees-Mogg, Penny Mordaunt and Grant Shapps were also ousted.

3. SNP suffer worst election result since 2010 losing dozens of seats

John Swinney’s SNP faced a drubbing as they were cut from 48 seats in 2019 to a forecast of 10.

They lost dozens of seats to Labour in the central belt as well as one to the Tories in the north east - although they did beat Douglas Ross.

The SNP leader told the BBC: “It’s a very poor result for the SNP tonight.

“There will have to be a lot of soul searching as a party as a consequence of these results that have come in tonight.”

Swinney’s predecessor Nicola Sturgeon featured as a pundit on ITV’s overnight election coverage, where she was asked if the result was her fault - and admitted the outcome was “at the grimmer end” of SNP expectations.

4. Labour return to Red Clydeside glory days in Glasgow

Labour swept to victory in Glasgow, turning the entire city red after years of SNP domination.

High-profile Nationalist politicians were ousted as all six Glasgow seats went to the Labour party.

Alison Thewlis, a former SNP economy spokeswoman, was defeated in the Glasgow North constituency to Martin Rhodes.

David Linden, a former social justice spokesman, lost out in Glasgow East to John Grady.

Glasgow South - which includes much of Nicola Sturgeon's Holyrood constituency - saw former SNP defence spokesman Stewart McDonald defeated by Gordon McKee.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said he was “absolutely delighted” with his party’s performance and thanked the people of Scotland for “putting their faith and trust in the Scottish Labour Party”.

5. Disaster for Douglas Ross as he loses north east seat to SNP

Douglas Ross was humiliated after the Scottish Conservatives leader lost his seat to the SNP.

The top Tory had hoped to be elected as MP for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East but a surge in votes for Reform helped to push him into second place.

Ross had previously announced he would stand down as leader of the Scottish Tories after the general election and said he would quit Holyrood if he was returned to Westminster.

But that plan was shredded in the early hours of Friday morning, with Ross now facing a spell as a backbench MSP at Holyrood.

The SNP won the seat thanks to a majority of 942 votes for Seamus Logan.

6. High-profile SNP MP Joanna Cherry ousted in Edinburgh constituency

The SNP’s Joanna Cherry was defeated by Labour in Edinburgh South West.

Cherry, an MP since 2015, was defeated by Labour's Scott Arthur in Edinburgh South West.

The high-profile Nationalist has been a controversial figure in the SNP group and was sacked from the front bench by Ian Blackford when he was Westminster leader.

She is a staunch defender of women's sex-based rights and had a poor relationship with former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

Arthur, a Labour councillor in Edinburgh, came from a distant third place to win the seat.

7. SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn holds on in Aberdeen

Senior Nationionalist Stephen Flynn managed to hold onto his seat in Aberdeen South despite party losses elsewhere.

Flynn held onto his seat with a majority of 3758. The SNP Westminster leader took 15,213 votes, with Labour leapfrogging the Tories into the second place.

But the SNP Westminster leader admitted: “We are experiencing something that we have not experienced for quite some time.

“We are going to be beat in Scotland, we are going to be beat well.”

8. George Galloway loses seat and doesn’t even turn up to count

Firebrand politician George Galloway lost his seat to Labour - and failed to even turn up for the result.

The Worker's Party politician was unseated in Rochdale seat less than five months after winning a by-election in February.

He was nowhere to be seen on stage as the result was revealed - and sources claim he never showed up to the count at all.

Former journalist Paul Waugh won the seat for Labour, claiming 13,027 votes to Galloway’s 11,587 votes.

9. Reform gain seats but fall short of exit poll predictions

Nigel Farage’s party won their first ever seats in a general election, with the Reform leader claiming victory as expected in Clacton.

However, an exit poll forecast they would claim a staggering 13 seats ended up being overly generous.

As of 9am, with only a handful of results left to declare, Reform are on four seats.

Farage, Richard Tice, Lee Anderson and Great Yarmouth's Rupert Lowe are set to be the only Reform MPs in the Commons.

10. Lib Dems have tremendous night across UK in triumph for Ed Davey

Ed Davey’s Liberal Democrats have enjoyed a bumper night, winning a record number of seats.

The Lib Dems have already exceeded the exit poll’s prediction they would get 61 seats, with 71 at the latest count.

They claimed scores of seats from the Tories in their heartlands in the south of England.

Davey, who has made his mark during the election campaign with a series of wacky stunts, said: “This is an exceptional result, a historic result for the Liberal Democrats."

11. Green gains plus mayhem caused by surprise surge for independents

The Green party of England and Wales quadrupled its number of seats to four in a great night for the party.

The party’s co-leader Carla Denyer ousted Labour’s shadow culture secretary, Thangam Debbonaire, to win Bristol Central by more than 10,000 votes.

The Scottish Greens didn’t win any seats but claimed they were “on track for big gains” at the next Holyrood election in 2026.

Meanwhile, independent candidates caused chaos including the surprise defeat of senior Labour politician Jonathan Ashworth in Leicester South.

He was defeated by pro-Gaza independent candidate Shockat Adam in Leicester South.

Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting only clung on in Ilford North by 500 votes against another pro-Gaza candidate, Leanne Mohamad.

And former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn - now an independent - defeated his old party in Islington North to win a majority of more than 7000.

12. Blue-on-blue action already as Tory recriminations begin

As the Tory collapse was laid bare as the results rolled in, it didn’t take long for the blame game and internal squabbling to begin.

Robert Buckland, the first top Tory to lose his seat, said he "fed up" of his own colleagues in an astonishing tirade on the BBC.

He slammed Tory figures for saying "stupid" and "inflammatory" things and said he was sick of their "personal agendas" after losing to Labour in Swindon South.

The ex-Justice Secretary told the broadcaster: "The truth is now with the Conservatives facing this electoral Armageddon, it will be like a group of bald men arguing over a comb."

And Suella Braverman was slammed by her own side after using her victory speech in Fareham and Waterlooville to make a shameless pitch for the leadership.

Apologising for the party's failings, the former Home Secretary said: "I'm sorry that my party didn't listen to you. The Conservative Party has let you down.

"You, the great British people, voted for us over 14 years and we did not keep our promises... I will do everything in my power to rebuild trust."

A fuming ex-Tory MP, Sir Charles Walker, blasted Braverman: "Absolutely disgraceful speech. On a really difficult night for the Conservative party that was just the bottom."

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