UK Tories face worst election defeat in history – exit poll

Labour is predicted to have won over 400 seats in the House of Commons

The UK Labour party is predicted to win a landslide victory in the British general election, according to a preliminary exit poll released as voting closed on Thursday evening.

According to the poll, Labour will win 410 out of the 650 seats, up from 205, in the House of Commons, while the previously governing Tories will secure 131 seats, down from 344.

The Liberal Democrats are predicted to win 61 seats, Nigel Farage’s Reform UK 13, and the Scottish National Party (SNP) ten. The Greens are slated to win two seats and the Welsh party Plaid Cymru four.

Sky News has described the Tories’ result as “the biggest electoral collapse in British electoral history.” Official results will be announced later in the evening and throughout the night.

The 2024 election exit poll interviewed voters at 133 polling stations selected by the Ipsos agency, and is paid for by several British media companies, including Sky and the state broadcaster BBC.

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The Labour landslide appears to be motivated by resentment for the Tories, who have governed as the majority since 2015, and less by confidence in the party leader Keir Starmer.

“It is more disgust at the Tories than delight at what Labour offers that is driving politics,” Ben Page, the head of the polling agency Ipsos, told the Guardian. “Starmer’s personal ratings are the lowest Ipsos has ever seen for an opposition leader who is so far ahead in the overall voting intention.”

Fewer voters think that Labour is fit to govern, has a good team of leaders, or understands the UK’s problems than they did in 2014, according to Ipsos.