Jeremy Hunt left Downing Street yesterday morning - daughter in one hand, dog lead in the other, as Britain's first female Chancellor Rachel Reeves prepares to move into No 11.
The eyes of a nation were fixated on 10 Downing Street yesterday as Rishi Sunak departed to make way for his successor, Labour 's Sir Keir Starmer .
However, Godalming and Ash MP Hunt was one of a few Conservative heavyweights who managed to cling on to his seat with a majority of fewer than 900 votes. Former Conservative chancellor of the exchequer Jeremy Hunt, with his wife Lucia Hunt and their children Jack, Anna and Eleanor yesterday morning The final walk down the famed street was perceived by some political commentators as a victory lap of sorts, as the MP managed to walk away with his seat in the midst of massive Conservative losses this general election.
'Some Conservatives will wonder whether the scale of our crushing defeat is really justified. But when you lose the trust of the electorate, all that matters is having the courage and humility to ask yourself why, so that you can earn it back again. Mr Hunt dedicated a portion of his tear-jerking victory speech to his children as well as his wife who he described as 'the most formidable canvasser'.
The ex-cabinet minister won his Surrey constituency by a hair's breadth, bagging 23,293 votes with the Liberal Democrats closely behind with 22,402.Rishi Sunak was downcast today as he left Downing Street following the 'loveless' Labour landslide Who's in Keir's Cabinet? Advertisement Reform UK and Labour came in third and fourth place with 4,815 and 2,748 votes respectively.
She was also appointed Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary as she was handed a portfolio focused on her party's planned housebuilding blitz. The former Labour leader is set to oversee his party's promise to decarbonise Britain's electricity grid by 2030. Sir Keir made his Cabinet appointments after earlier stepping through the entrance to No10 as the new Labour premier with a vow to 'immediately' begin work to 'rebuild Britain' after winning a huge majority.
more videos The 45-year-old, a self-confessed 'geek' and schoolgirl chess champion, is one of Sir Keir's closest allies and will be the first woman to lead the Treasury in its 1,000-year history Ed Miliband, a former Labour leader, also returned to ministerial office as Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary
PodcastEXCLUSIVE LISTEN: The Tories 'deserve' to be 'in the wilderness' for 'a bit!' Sarah Vine and Andrew Pierce react to the election results In her first address to Treasury staff, Ms Reeves vowed to change the 'uncertainty' and lack of 'clarity of political purpose' from her Tory predecessors. Mr Lammy, an ardent Remainer who once compared Tory Brexiteers to Nazis, described being appointed as Foreign Secretary as 'the honour of my life'.
A crowd of jubilant Labour activists had earlier cheered Sir Keir's arrival into Downing Street after he was formally installed as Britain's 58th PM by King Charles. The time-honoured choreography comes as Sir Keir's majority ticks up to 174, just short of Tony Blair's 179 in 1997. The Tories have 121 with just two left to declare, far worse than their previous nadir of 156 in 1906.
It is even less than the 40 per cent vote share hard-left Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn secured in 2017 and lower than the 36.1 per cent David Cameron got for the Conservatives in 2010 when that year's election ended in a hung parliament. Sir Keir trumpeted his victory at a rally in central London in the early hours after the party formally crested the 325 seats needed to control the Commons, saying 'we did it!'
A glum-looking Defence Secretary suffered a 'Portillo Moment' as he was defeated by Labour in Welwyn Hatfield by around 3,000 votes. Polling experts highlighted how Labour's vote share of 33.8 per cent is likely to be less than any of Sir Tony 's general election victories in 1997, 2001 or 2005 The Labour leader, with wife Victoria, received a rapturous welcome after returning from the Palace where he had an audience with the King around noon, shortly after Rishi Sunak exited having tendered his resignationBuckingham Palace said in a statement: 'The King received in Audience The Right Honourable Sir Keir Starmer MP today and requested him to form a new Administration.'
The outgoing PM was greeted by the King's aides at Buckingham Palace this morning as the traditional handover happened 'But we can make a start today with the simple acknowledgement that public service is a privilege and that your government should treat every single person in this country with respect.'
Sir Keir promised a government 'unburdened by doctrine' and to fight for people's belief in a brighter future. 'You have given us a clear mandate and we will use it to deliver change, to restore service and respect to politics.' After his short speech the couple - not accompanied by their daughters and with Akshata carrying an umbrella - walked to a waiting car and were driven away to the Palace.
'In Wales, the party's vote has actually fallen back by four points, while in England the party's vote is largely unchanged from 2019,' he wrote. Keir Starmer trumpeted his victory at a rally in central London after the party formally crested the 325 seats needed to control the CommonsLabour leader Sir Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria pictured arriving at the Tate Modern earlier on Thursday evening
Asked about her party's low vote share but huge majority, Labour MP Dawn Butler said: 'I think what the discussion will be about will be proportional representation. Mr Corbyn's former spokesman, Matt Zarb-Cousin, said: 'Labour is already peddling a narrative that this victory is down to a changed Labour Party.
Jacob Rees-Mogg also tumbled in North East Somerset and Hanham. However, former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith surprised many by clinging on in Chingford. 'And across our country, people will be waking up to the news, relief that a weight has been lifted, a burden finally removed from the shoulders of this great nation.
The Labour leader said 'change begins now' as he was re-elected in Holborn & St Pancras, but his own majority was reduced by a left-wing independent. He said there was a danger the Tory party could 'go off on some tangent, condemning ourselves to years of lacklustre opposition'. Former home secretary Suella Braverman, who will now be considered a leading contender to replace Mr Suank, said the party had let the British people down.
The Tories have quickly plunged into a dangerous new phase of crisis, with questions over whether it can even survive amid the challenge from Reform. 'This is largely because, not only has the Conservative vote fallen far in seats they previously held, but also because Reform has advanced most in areas people voted Leave in the 2016 EU referendum.
'And what does it mean? It means we're going to win seats, many many seats I think right now across the country. 'That would seem to indicate a determination on the part of the electorate to make their views heard, almost certainly likely to be against the Tories.' Harriet Harman and Margaret Beckett are among those on the Labour list - despite Sir Keir having committed to abolishing the Upper House.
It initially looked to be paying off, with early policies from the Tory campaign - such as national citizen service - seeming to cut through. Although Mr Sunak was seen as landing blows on Sir Keir over tax during their first TV debate on June 4, disaster struck when the PM opted to return early from D-Day anniversary commemorations in France to conduct an interview with ITV.
Other candidates and top party officials were then dragged into the allegations, which proved particularly toxic with the public. But after a bruising six weeks Labour's huge advantage was intact, and the only significant change was that the Tories had lost ground to Reform. An email to Conservative supporters, signed from the 'CCHQ Data Team', read: 'We're getting reports from our teams on the ground. And the more reports we get, the more it looks like turnout is higher than expected.
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