Prime Minister Rishi Sunak breaks silence following crushing exit poll

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has broken his silence following the crushing exit poll, predicting the worst result ever for the Conservative party in its nearly 200-year history.

If correct, the exit poll says Labour will have a majority of 170 - securing 410 seats. The poll predicts the Tories will be left with just 131 seats.

Polls closed at 10pm on Thursday (July 4), with ballot papers later arriving at election counts across the country. Shortly after 10pm, the exit polls were announced.

READ MORE General election 2024 results LIVE: Exit poll shows landslide victory for Labour

And in Greater Manchester, the exit poll predicts that the Conservatives will lose every seat in the region.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak thanked Conservative candidates and voters for their 'support and hard work', following the predictions of a landslide victory for Labour.

He wrote: "To the hundreds of Conservative candidates, thousands of volunteers and millions of voters: Thank you for your hard work, thank you for your support, and thank you for your vote."

The exit poll suggests that Keir Starmer will preside over a staggering majority, similar to that seen by Tony Blair in 1997.

Mr Sunak is expected to resign after leading his party to defeat, but many of the contenders jostling to replace him are nervously awaiting their own constituency results to see if their leadership dreams survive the night.

Follow the election results in Greater Manchester and the UK live in our dedicated live blog here.