A number of high-profile Conservative and Labour MPs have lost their seats as Rishi Sunak conceded that his party had been defeated in the general election and Sir Keir Starmer declared a historic victory.
Conservatives
Liz Truss
Seat: South West Norfolk Lost to: Labour
Truss served as UK prime minister for 49 days in 2022 and was previously foreign secretary and trade secretary. She was forced out of office after her government’s “mini” Budget spooked financial markets and triggered a crisis in the pensions sector. First elected to parliament in 2010, Truss becomes the first former premier for almost 90 years to lose their seat in a general election.
Penny Mordaunt
Seat: Portsmouth North Lost to: Labour
A former Royal Navy reservist, the House of Commons leader ran in the 2022 Tory leadership contest as a moderate and had been tipped as a future contender to lead the party if she held on to her seat. Her sword-bearing role at King Charles’s coronation raised her national profile, but she lost to Labour by about 780 votes.
Penny Mordaunt © Ben Stevens/Shutterstock
Alex Chalk
Seat: Cheltenham Lost to: Liberal Democrats
A respected legal advocate, the ousted justice secretary is expected to return to practice at chambers 6KBW College Hill. Chalk had the tough task of managing a government department with an unprotected budget as it reeled from severe cuts. But he helped push through legislation to exonerate sub-postmasters caught up in the Horizon scandal.
Gillian Keegan
Seat: Chichester Lost to: Liberal Democrats
The education secretary lost out in a three-way battle for the seat she first won in 2017. Keegan faced the unenviable job of closing more than 100 schools during her tenure over the use of unsafe concrete in their construction and was captured on a microphone complaining she received no praise for doing a “fucking good job”.
Grant Shapps
Seat: Welwyn Hatfield Lost to: Labour
A veteran cabinet minister, Shapps was frequently turned to as a “safe pair of hands” by Sunak. A strong media performer and “attack dog” for the Conservative government, he rose to prominence in 2012 after it emerged he operated a business while an MP under the pseudonym Michael Green.
Grant Shapps at his Welwyn Hatfield count © James Shaw/Shutterstock
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg
Seat: North East Somerset and Hanham Lost to: Labour
A prominent Brexiter, Rees-Mogg entered parliament in 2010. He served in the governments of Truss and Boris Johnson, holding positions including business secretary and Brexit opportunities minister. The social conservative repeatedly urged his party to enter a pact with Reform UK in this year’s general election.
Sir Liam Fox
Seat: North Somerset Lost to: Labour
Having served in cabinet, Fox fell from grace under prime minister Boris Johnson and sat on the backbenches for the duration of the last parliament. He was embroiled in the expenses scandal in 2009 and stood down from his role as defence secretary after he allowed a close friend and lobbyist into confidential meetings.
Mark Harper
Seat: Forest of Dean Lost to: Labour
A reliable figure for Sunak during his time in government, the former transport secretary was one of the few MPs not to be caught up in the expenses scandal. He resigned as immigration minister in 2014 after he discovered his cleaner was in the UK without proper documentation. This paved the way for his return to government less than six months later.
Michelle Donelan
Seat: Melksham and Devizes Lost to: Liberal Democrats
Donelan decided to become a politician aged six. The former science minister was a strong proponent of a “culture war” strategy in government. Having served for nearly a decade, she gained attention when taxpayers footed her £15,000 legal bill after she falsely accused an academic of supporting or sympathising with Hamas.
Labour
Jonathan Ashworth
Seat: Leicester South Lost to: Independent
Ashworth was shadow paymaster-general on Starmer’s opposition front bench. First elected to parliament in 2011, he served as shadow health secretary during the pandemic and was regarded as a strong media performer. But he was pushed into second place in his constituency by an independent candidate running on a pro-Palestinian ticket.
Thangam Debbonaire
Seat: Bristol Central Lost to: Greens
The shadow culture secretary had represented the now-reshaped seat of Bristol West since 2015 after ousting the Liberal Democrats. But on Thursday she lost to Carla Denyer, co-leader of the Green party. Previously shadow housing secretary and shadow Commons leader, Debbonaire is a former professional cellist and had been backed by figures in the arts world.
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