Prime Minister Rishi Sunak acknowledged defeat on Friday and readied to move out of 10 Downing Street as polls showed the Labour Party was heading for a huge election win to end 14 years of Conservative Party rule.
“Today power will change hands in a peaceful and orderly manner with goodwill on all sides,” Sunak said, who created history almost two years ago when he became the first descendant of subjects of the British Raj to assume power in Britain.
Acknowledging Labour's emphatic victory, the MP personally congratulated Keir Starmer when a constituency in Yorkshire ratified the Cheltenham MP earlier today.
Sunak said somberly: "I am so sorry" reflecting on the losses experienced by local Conservatives despite their campaigning and commitment in constituencies.
As individual ballots were counted around the country by about 4:30a.m., exit polls were forecasting that Labour would win over 410 seats in the 650-member House of Commons, an advance of 209 seats. The Conservatives were expected to net 131—lost 241—.
“I take responsibility for the loss to the many good hardworking Conservative candidates who lost despite their tireless efforts, their local records of delivery and their dedication to their communities,” he said.
Looking forward now, he said that there will be a period of reflection, learning from the verdict of the battles experienced under his leadership.
Despite the House of Commons term scheduled until December, early elections were called in the face of mounting challenges for the Conservative Party, which is emerging as pertinent when electoral losses and deep internal strife persist.
Sunak entered lightly upon the stage of history, and ten years of Conservative domination that had started with an overwhelming majority were squandered in the face of the turmoil, internal strife, and multiple occupancies at 10 Downing Street, the formal seat of the UK Prime Ministership.
“I think we’ve seen in this election astonishing ill-discipline within the party,” former Justice Minister Robert Buckland told the BBC after losing to a Labour candidate.
Sunak now faces an uncertain political future after having been prime minister and with the vagaries of his embattled Conservative Party.
In the eye of the storm, former Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who was recently re-elected, joins the chorus of others as she expresses regret over unfulfilled promises by the Conservative Party, indicating internal grumblings.
More, perhaps, than any other recent event, Brexit was at the heart of British politics, heralding the turbulence of the Conservative Party in power. It did overshadow the responses to the Covid pandemic and economic challenges, falling short of rising voter expectations amidst mounting adversities.
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