A record number of ministers from Rishi Sunak’s Cabinet lost their seats on Friday in Britain’s general election that saw a political bloodbath of Tories at the hands of the main opposition Labour party. Nine members of Prime Minister Sunak’s top team failed to be re-elected, beating the previous high of seven who lost out in 1997.
Britain’s shortest prime minister Liz Truss suffered another political ignominy when she lost her seat in parliament. Her defeat came as the constituencies of all her predecessors since the Tories won power in 2010 turned either Labour or Liberal Democrat. Truss, who sparked financial turmoil during her 49 chaotic days in charge in 2022, lost her Norfolk South West constituency in eastern England to Labour by 630 votes.
Tory casualties
Besides Truss, UK’s defence secretary Grant Shapps was the most high-profile casualty who lost his Welwyn Hatfield seat north of London. Leader of the Commons Penny Mordaunt, who shot to international attention as a sword carrier at King Charles III’s coronation last May, lost in Portsmouth North on England’s south coast.
Other Tory casualties included Education Secretary Gillian Keegan, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk, Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer, Transport and Science Secretary Michelle Donelan. Veteran minister Johnny Mercer and Brexit champion Jacob Rees-Mogg also lost out, as voters grew fed up with the Conservatives after 14 years in power. The defeats have already sparked soul-searching among re-elected and departing Conservatives.
Political ‘soap opera’
“I think that we have seen in this election an astonishing ill-discipline within the party”, said former Justice Secretary Robert Buckland, after losing his seat. Shapps, an MP since 2005, criticised the Tories’ “inability to iron out their differences” amid an endless political “soap opera” that saw five prime ministers since the 2016 Brexit vote.
“What is crystal clear to me tonight –- it is not so much that Labour won but that the Conservatives lost,” he added. Right-winger Suella Braverman, sacked as interior minister by Sunak late last year for a series of incendiary comments, was re-elected and finance minister Jeremy Hunt survived a major scare to squeak victory.
Current interior minister James Cleverly also held on to his seat. Secretary of State for Business and Trade Kemi Badenoch and security minister Tom Tugendhat also won their races. Most of those high-profile survivors are expected to challenge for the leadership. Braverman apologised to voters in her victory speech, saying the Tories had failed to listen to voters.
(With agency inputs)
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