Keir Starmer will become Britain's next prime minister this morning with his Labour Party set to win a massive majority in a parliamentary election an exit poll indicated, forecasting
Rishi Sunak's Conservatives would suffer historic losses.
Labour were on course to capture 410 of the 650 seats in parliament, an astonishing reversal of fortunes from five years ago when it suffered its worst performance since 1935.
The result would give Labour a majority of 170 and would bring the curtain down on 14 years of increasingly tumultuous Conservative-led government.
"Tonight, people here and around the country have spoken and they're ready for change, to end the politics of performance, a return to politics as public service," Starmer said after winning his seat in London.
"The change begins right here ... You have voted. It is now time for us to deliver.
Starmer will come to power facing a daunting challenge, with a sluggish economy, creaking public services, and falling living standards - all factors which contributed to the Conservatives' demise.
Sunak's party were forecast to only win 131 seats, the worst electoral performance in its history, as voters punished them for a cost-of-living crisis, and years of instability and in-fighting which has seen five different prime ministers since the Brexit vote of 2016.
"What is crystal clear to me tonight is it is not so much that Labour won this election, but rather that the Conservatives have lost it," defence minister Grant Shapps said after he lost his seat.
"We have tried the patience of traditional Conservatives voters with a propensity to create an endless political soap opera out of internal rivalries and divisions, which have become increasingly indulgent and entrenched."
The Liberal Democrats were predicted to capture 61 seats but it was the Reform UK party, headed by Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage, which was dealing heavy damage to Sunak.
Results from more than 200 seats confirmed Labour and the Lib Dems were making gains from the Conservatives, but Reform also picked up four victories, including Farage himself, with the party winning more votes than the Conservatives in many areas "There is a massive gap on the centre right of British politics and my job is to fill it, and that's exactly what I'm going to do," Farage said. "Believe me, folks, this is just the first step of something that is going to stun all of you."
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