Penny Mordaunt, Grant Shapps and Gillian Keegan among cabinet ministers to lose seats - with more Tory heavyweights at risk

Penny Mordaunt, Grant Shapps, and Gillian Keegan have lost their positions in the cabinet due to the poor performance of the Tories in the general election, which is shaping up to be their worst results ever.

Many prominent Conservative Party members have been defeated in the elections, indicating a tough night ahead for the party that was previously in power.

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Here's a breakdown of the politicians who have been voted out of office and those who are at risk of facing the same fate.

Grant Shapps, who has served as the Member of Parliament for Welwyn Hatfield in Hertfordshire for the past 19 years, has been removed from his position as Defence Secretary.

He was defeated by a difference of 3,799 votes to the Labour party, which means the Conservatives will no longer have a long-serving cabinet member and a top communicator within their ranks.

His skills and abilities led to him being assigned to oversee different government departments throughout his career, such as transportation, energy, commerce, and the Home Office, although his time there was short-lived.

As expected from the preliminary survey results, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk has been defeated in the Cheltenham election by the Liberal Democrats.

He became the 11th individual to assume that role in 13 years following Dominic Raab's resignation due to bullying accusations - and the position came with its share of difficulties, including overcrowding in prisons and a historic backlog in crown court cases.

Chosen as a member of Parliament in 2015, Mr. Chalk previously served as the solicitor general while Boris Johnson was in office. However, he eventually joined many other ministers in stepping down from his position.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has also been affected by the Lib Dem's attempt to break through the stronghold of the Tories in southern England.

The politician from Lancashire has lost her position in Chichester, located in South West Sussex. She had been representing this area since 2017.

Ms Keegan was not well-known until she was given the responsibility of the education portfolio by Rishi Sunak. While in this position, she has had to navigate through challenges such as teacher strikes and the RAAC crisis in schools - although some might also recall her for a particularly colorful outburst.

Simon Hart has represented the Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire constituency in Wales as a Member of Parliament since 2010. Due to changes in boundaries, his new seat of Caerfyrddin included more supporters of Plaid Cymru, which led to the Welsh nationalist party winning in this area.

Mr Hart has held the position of chief whip and was responsible for enforcing party rules in recent years. Prior to that, he also served as the Welsh Secretary.

Johnny Mercer pulled off a surprise victory in Plymouth Moor View in 2015, beating Labour. He has continued to grow his lead in each election since then. However, the constituency in Devon has gone back to being represented by a Labour candidate.

The veterans minister has been a strong supporter of the British military community and has been in his position since July 2022, except for the two months when he was dismissed by Liz Truss.

Ever since that time, the confrontational former soldier has been making a lot of news, especially because he might be sent to jail for refusing to provide certain information to the investigation about Afghanistan.

The Labour party has defeated Penny Mordaunt, who is the Commons leader, in Portsmouth North. This outcome will disappoint moderate members of the Conservative party who viewed her as a possible replacement for Rishi Sunak.

Having served as a Member of Parliament since 2010, the Royal Navy reservist made history by becoming the first woman to hold the position of defense secretary during the last days of Theresa May's administration.

Even though she was moved to a lower position by Boris Johnson after a few months, the politician who ran for leadership twice continued to be in the public eye as the Leader of the House of Commons under two other prime ministers. She was especially known for her ability to carry a sword at the King's coronation ceremony.

Culture Minister Lucy Frazer is another important figure who has lost her position to the Liberal Democrats.

The political party of Sir Ed Davey has won the Ely and East Cambridgeshire area that she has been serving as a representative since 2015.

Ms. Frazer had many different jobs in the government before she was promoted to a high-ranking position in Mr. Sunak's cabinet reshuffle last year. In this new role, she has received negative feedback for alleging that the BBC shows favoritism.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper is also very close to losing his seat in the Forest of Dean, which he has represented since 2005. Although it's uncertain at this point, the exit poll suggests that Labour has a 54% chance of winning.

Mr Harper was appointed to his cabinet role when the prime minister came into power. He had previously been in charge of many ministerial roles and had also worked as the chief whip.

The Sunak ally is well-known for leading the group of backbench MPs called the COVID Recovery Group, which opposed lockdown measures during the pandemic.