It’s a disaster for the Tories but Keir has changed Labour – now the pressure is on to deliver, says Piers Morgan
THE ELECTION has been a disaster for the Tories but Sir Keir Starmer has changed Labour and now the pressure is on to deliver, Piers Morgan has said.
The exit poll projects the opposition leader to thunder into Downing Street with a 170-seat majority, eclipsing even that of Tony Blair’s 1997 rout.
Read our general election live blog here for all the latest results
Sir Keir has held his seat in Holborn and St Pancras – though saw his majority drop by around 18,000.
Meanwhile, PM Rishi Sunak is heading towards an historic hammering.
The Sun’s political editor Harry Cole hosted a star-studded panel of experts – including Piers – live from our HQ in London Bridge for snap reaction as the vote closed at 10pm.
Piers said Starmer has taken his party from “unelectable” under previous leader Jeremy Corbyn to on the brink of handing the Tories their worst defeat in over a century.
He said: “It’s an earthquake. This is a political and social earthquake for this country, the likes of which I haven’t seen in my lifetime.
On a historic night:
- Labour has reached the required 326 seats in a Tory wipeout
- Piers Morgan told our Never Mind The Ballots election show that Sir Keir MUST deliver after the Tory disaster
- He described the earlier exit poll as a “political and social earthquake”
- A battle for the soul of the Conservative party is already underway
- Rishi Sunak admitted defeat and said he has called Sir Keir
- He is expected to meet with King Charles later today
- Sir Keir then told supporters: “We did it!”
- Chancellor Jeremy Hunt narrowly held onto his seat in Godalming and Ash
- But ex-Defence Secretary Grant Shapps became the first Tory big beast to lose out
- He was followed by Leader of the House Penny Mordaunt, one of eight Cabinet ministers have lost their seats
- Tory defector Lee Anderson claimed the first Reform seat
- He was followed by Nigel Farage, who has become an MP for the first time at the eighth attempt
- Mr Farage warned Labour “will be in trouble very, very quickly”
- Sir Keir’s predecessor Jeremy Corbyn, now standing as an independent, also held onto Islington North
- Lib Dem leader Ed Davey kept his seat in Kingston and Surbiton
“I think, first of all, you have to say congratulations to Keir Starmer, who has taken the party from being completely unelectable under Jeremy Corbyn to being a party with this gigantic majority.
“Of course there’s now huge pressure on him to deliver on the faith that the electorate has shown him.
“A disaster for the Conservative Party which cannot be understated. Whichever way you look at this, it’s a seismic night.”
BRITAIN WILL WAKE UP TO A POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE
By Kate Ferguson, Political Editor Sun on Sunday
BRITAIN will wake up tomorrow to a political earthquake.
If the exit poll is right, Labour have stormed to victory with their biggest majority in their 100 year history.
It is a jaw-dropping turnaround from the dark days of the Jeremy Corbyn era of 209, when the party suffered their worst result in history.
The Tories look set to be decimated. The most successful political party in Europe has been reduced to just a rump of 131 MPs.
Be in no doubt – this is a nightmare for the Conservative Party. They now face the painful task of having to rebuild and choose a new leader.
But the big story of the night is Nigel Farage’s Reform party, who are expected to win a staggering 13 seats.
This political maverick has lobbed a grenade into Westminster – and he is only just getting started.
Reform is expected to win the key seat of Hartlepool – the Red Wall seat in Labour’s old heartlands which turned Tory under Boris Johnson.
Nigel, 60, the godfather of Brexit, is a charismatic leader well trained in waging war on ‘political elites’ from his days in the European Parliament.
He had run and failed to become an MP seven times before.
He has finally won on the eighth attempt – and looks set to have a dozen Reform MPs with him.
He has the potential to change the face of politics forever.
Sir Keir Starmer and the next leader of the Tories – whoever that may be – should brace themselves.
However, the Sun columnist and host of Piers Morgan Uncensored went on to say: “I don’t think this is necessarily down to Starmer’s fantastic, charismatic personality or any great policies.
“However, would Jeremy Corbyn have ever come close to anything like this whatever the Tories had done? No chance.
“In terms of how he has made the party more electable, moving them towards the centre, taking positions on things like Israel – very contentious for much of his party.
“Quite courageous decisions as the leader of the Labour Party, actually. For him now, the fundamental question is we’ve seen so little meat on the bone in terms of what his policies are going to be.
“We already know they’ve ruled out two-thirds of most of the tax revenue streams, so they’re going to come after the rich – inheritance tax we’re hearing, VAT on independent schools, all that kind of stuff.
“You can get away with that if it looks like you are genuinely improving the lives of everybody else. But if you’re not, and you’re whacking the middle classes and the rich then it can unravel quite quickly.”
Today’s General Election is generation-defining, as Brits have their say at polling booths.
It could put an end to 14 years of Tory rule after Sunak’s early election gamble failed to revive the party’s fortunes.
Labour’s expected victory is a significant turnaround from five years ago when the party crashed to its worst defeat since 1935 under Corbyn.
EXIT POLL RESULTS
410 Labour
131 Conservatives
13 Reform UK
61 Lib Dem
10 SNP
2 Green Party
However, polls have shown Starmer’s personal appeal would be among the lowest of any incoming premier.
The final results are likely to show a collapse in Tory support in both the Red Wall seats won by Boris Johnson in 2019, as well as their traditional heartlands in the south.
Sunak and Starmer were snapped casting their own votes earlier this morning, with the PM seen hand-in-hand with wife Akshata Murty.
They arrived in Sunak’s constituency in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, to submit their ballot at Kirby Sigston Village Hall.
Starmer and his wife Victoria arrived a few hours later to cast their votes at Willingham Close TRA Hall, in London.
Former PM Boris Johnson issued a tax warning to Brits as the polls were opening this morning.
Johnson warned of “ever-higher taxation for you and your family under Keir Starmer and the Labour Party” in an impassioned video posted to X/Twitter.