Closer analysis of theUnited Kingdom’s 2024 general electionresults raises the question: Earthquake or illusion?
“A new yawn has broken, has it not?” was Politico’s pithy if unkind summary of this Labour victory — a play on Tony Blair’s triumphant rallying cry, “A new dawn has broken, has it not?” when he swept to power in 1997 on a wave of optimism.
Veteran pollster Peter Kellner told Times Radio that this was one of the weirdest he’s covered in over five decades. Labour leader Keir Starmer won a huge majority on the lowest share of the vote and the lowest approval ratings for any victorious prime minister. A weary public looking for stability, change, and psychodrama-free government gave the Tories their worst kicking in history and Labour their second-largest postwar majority.
But beyond the headline stories of Labour victory and Conservative Armageddon, the tectonic plates are shifting yet again, revealing some surprising trends. The two stories of a dramatic night, and what might come next.
It was an unprecedentedly bad night for the Conservatives, who had their worst result since the modern democratic system was established in 1832. They were reduced to a rump of just 121 — a third of their 2019 romp of 365, while Labour rode to victory with 412 seats, more than double the 203 of their 2019 doldrums.
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