Mordaunt, Shapps and nine more ministers lose seats in cull of top Tories
Get Expert Analysis Straight To Your Inbox. Sign Up Now!
Free View From Westminster Email
In a historic event, 11 cabinet ministers were defeated in the general election, causing a major setback for Rishi Sunak's government.
Johnny Mercer, Grant Shapps, Gillian Keegan, Lucy Frazer, Penny Mordaunt, Michelle Donelan, Alex Chalk, David TC Davies, Victoria Prentis, Mark Harper, and Simon Hart are some of the prominent Conservative Party members who lost their seats as Labour celebrated a significant win.
Some politicians, like Jeremy Hunt, Kemi Badenoch, and James Cleverly, faced tough competition in their respective constituencies but managed to secure their seats. Rishi Sunak also had a tough fight in his area, campaigning multiple times, but ultimately emerged victorious with nearly half of the votes.
Visit our website for real-time updates on the general election race.
One more significant figure who lost their seat was Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg in North East Somerset, but former home secretary Suella Braverman managed to fend off a competitive opponent.
Defense secretary Mr. Shapps was unsuccessful in the Welwyn Hatfield election against Labour, and leader of the Commons Ms. Mordaunt was defeated in Portsmouth North by the opposing party. Labour also secured a victory in Plymouth Moor View, where Veterans minister Johnny Mercer was defeated.
The Justice Secretary, Mr. Chalk, lost in the election in Cheltenham to Liberal Democrat candidate Max Wilkinson. The Education Secretary, Ms. Keegan, was also heavily defeated by the Liberal Democrats in Chichester. Ms. Frazer, the Culture Secretary, lost her seat in Ely and East Cambridgeshire to the Liberal Democrats. And Ms. Donelan, the Science Secretary, lost in Melksham & Devizes to the Lib Dems.
The Conservative Party lost all of their Members of Parliament in Wales. Welsh secretary David TC Davies lost his seat to Labour in Monmouthshire. In addition, Plaid Cymru's Ann Davies won the top spot in the Caerfyrddin constituency, while Conservative transport secretary Mr Harper was defeated by Labour in the Forest of Dean. This makes Mr. Harper the 11th cabinet minister to lose their seat.
In his speech after losing, Mr. Shapps criticized the Conservative Party for their internal divisions that may have contributed to their election defeat. He emphasized that voters prefer united parties. Similarly, Ms. Mordaunt acknowledged in her own speech that the party had suffered significant losses.
Even though Mr Shapps has been an important member of the Tory party for many years, holding the position of vice-chairman since 2005, it wasn't until after the 2019 election victory that he gained more prominence in the Government.
He has served in five different high-ranking government positions, including transport secretary, home secretary, energy security secretary, business secretary, and most recently defence secretary.
Following a brief attempt at running for Tory leadership in 2022, Mr. Shapps shifted his support to Rishi Sunak, who was competing against Liz Truss in the same race.
It's been reported that Mr. Shapps kept track of his Tory colleagues' concerns about Ms. Truss using a constantly updated spreadsheet on a expensive, folding smartphone.
He managed the transportation division during the Covid-19 outbreak and the subsequent mayhem at airports as travel started up again, and received backlash for not communicating with labor unions regarding strikes.
The initial survey suggests that Sir Keir Starmer is likely to achieve an impressive comeback in British politics, with a significant Labour win that would lead him to becoming the Prime Minister with a majority of 170 seats.
When voting ended at 10pm, the initial predictions showed that Labour is expected to secure 410 seats, while the Tories are projected to win 131 seats, the Lib Dems 61, Reform 13, and the SNP 10. In a surprising result, Tory former deputy prime minister Dame Therese Coffey lost to Labour in Suffolk Coastal. Additionally, Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross was narrowly defeated by the SNP, losing by less than 1,000 votes.
Mr. Shapps, who was defeated by Labour in Welwyn Hatfield, stated that it was evident that there would be a new government in Britain the next day.
He explained: "What is very obvious to me tonight is that it's not exactly that Labour won this election, but more so that the Conservatives have lost it.
Time and time again, voters have been disappointed by our failure to resolve our conflicts behind closed doors and come together in public unity.
Rather than listening to the concerns of traditional Conservative supporters, we have tested their patience by turning internal disagreements and divisions into a never-ending political drama. These conflicts have only become more deeply rooted over time.
Today, voters have made it clear that if politicians can't find common ground, they won't receive their support at the polls.
We made a mistake in politics by forgetting a basic rule: voters prefer united parties.
In a surprising turn of events, Ms Keegan only received 13,368 votes, while Lib Dem candidate Jess Brown-Fuller received 25,514 votes. Ms Mordaunt, who was seen as a likely candidate for the Tory leadership, lost by about 1,000 votes to her Labour opponent. She received 13,715 votes, while Labour's Amanda Martin received 14,495 votes.
In a speech of concession where she was on the verge of tears, Ms Mordaunt expressed that the Conservative Party had suffered a significant blow by not living up to the expectations of the public.
You can talk about feeling safe and being able to do what you want, but if you are constantly worried about how much things cost or if you can get medical help when you need it, or if your hard work will ever be noticed and appreciated, that fear stops you from moving forward and only focuses on what is happening now. That is why we failed.
