Keir Starmer: 'We did it,' Labour leader tells campaigners as Rishi Sunak concedes election in Tory disaster
Sir Keir Starmer told jubilant Labour supporters "we did it" after Rishi Sunak conceded defeat in the election which was turning into a disaster for the Tories.
The Labour leader delivered his victorious speech around 5am as he vowed to put "country first, party second".
As dawn was breaking, Sir Keir said the UK was waking up this morning to "the sunlight of hope", which was "shining once again on a country with the opportunity after 14 years to get its future back".
He stressed: "Our task is nothing less than renewing the ideals that hold this country together."
Earlier, Mr Sunak had phoned Sir Keir to concede the election as Labour was on course for a landslide victory.
Speaking shortly after 4.40am after being re-elected MP for Richmond and Northallerton, in North Yorkshire, the Prime Minister had said: "The Labour Party has won this general l election and I have called Keir Starmer to congratulate him on his victory.
He added: ""The British people have delivered a sobering verdict tonight.
"There is much to learn and to reflect on and I take responsibility for the loss."
"To the many good, hard-working Conservative candidates who lost tonight, despite their tireless efforts, their local records and delivery, and their dedication to their communities. I am sorry."
Earlier, Sir Keir had declared "it is now time for us to deliver" as Labour headed for a huge victory which saw a string of Tory Cabinet ministers defeated.
The Labour leader, speaking after being re-elected MP for Holborn and St Pancras, north London, stressed that Britain was "ready for change" after 14 years of Conservative rule.
By shortly after 4am, 1 6 ministers had lost their bids to hold onto their seats as Rishi Sunak's Conservatives suffered an election hammering.
The exit poll had put Labour on course for a Blair-style 170 majority.
Read More General Election London results: Every constituency declaration as they come in Labour sweeps to power as Jacob Rees-Mogg loses seat in Tory 'Portillo moment' - live Labour victory signals demise of Rwanda plan but at what cost? Sponsored Who should win the AXA Startup Angel People's Choice award?By 3.45am after more than 200 results had come in, the BBC slightly revised down the prediction to a 160 majority, which would still be a historic turnaround from the disastrous 2019 election for Labour under Jeremy Corbyn.
The new figures put Labour ending up with 405 seats, the Tories 154, the Liberal Democrats 56, and the Scottish National Party suffering heavy losses and ending up with just six.
Nigel Farage's Reform UK party had been predicted by the exit poll to win 13 seats but this was scaled back to just four, with the Greens getting two.
But what was clear from the early hours was the devastating scale of the defeat for the Tories as:
* Defence Secretary Grant Shapps lost to Labour in Welwyn Hatfield.
* Penny Mordaunt, who has served as Commons Leader, was beaten by Labour in Portsmouth North.
* Education Secretary Gillian Keegan lost to the Lib Dems in Chichester, as did Justice Secretary Alex Chalk in Cheltenham.
* Chief Whip Simon Hart lost to Plaid Cymru in Caerfyrddin.
* Chancellor Jeremy Hunt won in Godalming and Ash in Surrey by a very narrow margin.
* Reform had won three seats by 4am, with Mr Farage's victory in Clacton , Richard Tice in Boston and Skegness, and Lee Anderson retaining Ashfield.
* George Galloway was defeated by Labour's Paul Waugh in Rochdale.
* Mr Corbyn, standing as an independent, won in Islington North.
* Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith held on in Chingford and Woodford Green.
* Greens Party co-leader Carla Denyer won Bristol Central from Labour's Thangam Debbonaire.
* Shadow paymaster general Jonathan Ashworth suffered a shock loss to an independent in Leicester South, where the Gaza war was a major issue during the election campaign.
* Tory party chairman Richard Holden won in Basildon and Billericay by just 20 votes after recounting.
In his acceptance speech after being re-elected in Holborn and St Pancras, Sir Keir said: "Tonight, people here and around the country have spoken and they are saying they're ready for change.
"To end the politics of performance and return to politics as public service."
He added: "You have voted, it is now time for us to deliver."
Mr Shapps was the first confirmed Cabinet casualty and he hit out at the Tory "soap opera" which had turned off voters.
"It's not so much that Labour won this election but rather that the Conservatives have lost it," he said.
"We have tried the patience of traditional Conservative voters with a propensity to create an endless political soap opera out of internal rivalries and divisions which have become increasingly indulgent and entrenched."
Ms Mordaunt said her party had taken a "battering because it failed to honour the trust that people had placed in it".
Former justice secretary Sir Robert Buckland, who also lost his seat in Swindon South, warned that a lurch to the right after the election would be "disastrous" for the Conservatives.
Former home secretary Suella Braverman said "I'm sorry" twice during her speech after winning the Fareham and Waterlooville seat.
She said: "I want to briefly address the result in the rest of the country and there is only one thing that I can say - sorry. I'm sorry.
"I'm sorry that my party didn't listen to you."
Sir Ed Davey hailed the Lib Dems' "exceptional" election result.
He said the party had put voters' concerns "at the heart of our campaign", adding that he had "rather enjoyed" the election campaign during which he grabbed the limelight with a series of stunts.
Mr Farage argued that the hugely increased vote share for Reform UK was "not a protest vote".
"It shows that there is a level of disenchantment with politics. I think people are looking for something different," he said.
The SNP's Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said: "We are going to be beat in Scotland, we are going to be beat well."
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