Team Blitz India
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, on July 5, conceded defeat after the exit poll showed his Conservative Party getting trounced and the Labour Party heading to a landslide victory, bringing the curtains down on his party’s 14-year run governing Britain.
“Today power will change hands in a peaceful and orderly manner with goodwill on all sides,” said Sunak, whose election as Prime Minister nearly two years ago marked an iconic change with a descendant of British Raj’s subjects taking over the administration of Britain.
“The Labour Party has won this general election, and I’ve called Keir Starmer to congratulate him on his victory,” he said at the announcement of his own election from a constituency in Yorkshire. Apologising to his party, he said somberly: “I am sorry.”
The counting of votes was still on around the country when he spoke at about 4:30 a.m. (local time), but the exit poll predicted that the Labour Party led by Starmer was set to win over 410 seats in the 650-member House of Commons, a gain of 209.
The Conservative Party was projected to win 131 seats, a loss of 241 seats. “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. “The British people have delivered a sobering verdict tonight,” Sunak said.
“There is much to learn and reflect on,” he added.
Although the current House of Commons term ran till December, Sunak called early elections in the face of mounting problems for the party and the country. It was either a strategic error or a fatalistic submission to realities.
The writing on the wall was clear this year when the Conservatives lost 10 city councils and about 400 councillors in local body elections in May after a string of losses in parliamentary by elections.
