What happened and what will happen next

The Labour Party has won a landslide victory in the UK general election, winning hundreds of seats across the country and ending 14 years of Conservative rule.

Sir Keir Starmer will be appointed prime minister later on Friday, ending a turbulent era that has seen five different Conservative Party leaders run the country.

Rishi Sunak – the outgoing prime minister – conceded defeat outside a rainy No 10 Downing Street on Friday morning and wished Sir Keir’s new government well. He took responsibility for the result and said he planned to step down as party leader in the coming months.

Earlier, in a passionate victory speech, the Labor Party leader promised to “renew the country” and declared he would put “the country first, the party second”.

“We have won the mandate to rekindle the flame,” Sir Keir told jubilant Labour activists in London. “Our mandate is nothing less than to renew the ideas that hold this country together.”

The result marks a stunning reversal from the 2019 election when the Labour Party, led by veteran left-wing politician Jeremy Corbyn, suffered its worst electoral defeat in nearly a century.

On the other hand, Robert Buckland, the former Conservative minister who lost his seat, described it as “doomsday election“for the Conservative Party.

It is expected to be the party’s worst result in nearly 200 years, with a battle over the party’s future direction set to begin in the coming weeks.

It was a long night of results. Here’s what it all means.

The UK House of Commons has 650 members of parliament, or MPs. Each of their “seats” represents a separate constituency – or area – somewhere in the country.

So far, Labour has won 412 seats, while the Conservatives have slumped to just 121 and the centrist Liberal Democrats have won 71. Reform UK, the Brexit Party’s successor, is set to win four seats, as is the left-wing Green Party.

Labour’s rise was partly aided by the collapse of the Scottish National Party (SNP), which was hit by a series of financial controversies and was left with just nine seats overnight.

Labour’s projected 170 seats in the House of Commons is a huge number but still falls short of the 179 seats the party won under Tony Blair in the 1997 election.

But to put things in perspective, the Conservative Party’s 2019 election victory under Boris Johnson – widely seen as a very strong performance – saw them win an 80-seat majority.

To reiterate: If one party holds a majority, it means that it does not need to rely on other parties to pass laws. The larger the majority, the easier it is.

However, the Labour Party has suffered some notable defeats to independent candidates who campaigned as pro-Gaza party members – particularly in predominantly Muslim areas.

The Labour Party has come under increasing pressure over its stance on the conflict. In February, the party called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, but critics said it was too slow to achieve that.

Centre-left parties in other Western countries are closely watching trends ahead of the vote, amid concerns about a growing backlash from their own voters over their support for Israel.

As the election results were announced live on television – with all the candidates lined up side by side on stage – there were some key moments.

Perhaps most notable is failure of Liz Truss. The former prime minister lasted just 49 days in Number 10 before being ousted by her party. She narrowly lost to Labour in the Norfolk South West constituency, having previously held a majority of 24,180 votes.

Jacob Rees-MoggThe former Conservative business secretary and Brexit supporter was one of the biggest names to suffer defeat, losing his East Somerset and Hanham seat to Labour.

He told the BBC he could not “blame anyone but myself” for the defeat but had “a small glimmer of hope” knowing that the Conservatives “will at least be the official opposition” – referring to fears they would not even have that.

Grant ShappsDefence Secretary, left distraught after losing seat in southern England.

Leader of the House Penny Mordauntwho ran against Rishi Sunak for the party leadership before he became prime minister, also lost his seat.

As the night wore on, a host of other Conservative cabinet ministers also lost their seats, including Education Secretary Gillian Keegan, Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer and Veterans Affairs Minister Johnny Mercer.

But Jeremy HuntThe prime minister – the equivalent of the chancellor in Britain – retained his seat but with a significantly reduced vote share.

Mr Sunak also won his seat of Yorkshire by an overwhelming margin of around 12,000 votes – but used his acceptance speech to concede and confirm his party had lost the election.

The Labor Party also lost two of its big names. Jonathan Ashworth And Thangam Debbonaire are all expected to become part of Keir Starmer’s new cabinet.

Things move pretty quickly in British politics – there is very little time between an election result and the appointment of a new prime minister.

Rishi Sunak will leave 10 Downing Street – Britain’s equivalent of the White House – within 24 hours, with Sir Keir Starmer quickly appointed.

But there is still a process. Mr Sunak will submit his resignation to the King, and Sir Keir will be formally invited by the King to form the next government at a meeting that usually takes place at Buckingham Palace.

He will then make the traditional ceremonial walk up Downing Street – watched by the world’s media – before addressing the nation from the steps of Number 10 Downing Street.

He is then expected to invite leading Labour MPs to Downing Street and appoint them to his new cabinet.

Speaking before handing in his resignation to the King, Mr Sunak wished his successor all the best.

“His successes will be successes for us all and I wish him and his family well,” Mr Sunak said. “Whatever our differences during this campaign, he is a decent, public-spirited man who I respect.”

Relatively speaking, he is quite new to politics.

Sir Keir began his legal career in the 1990s and was appointed director of public prosecutions, the most senior criminal prosecutor in England and Wales, in 2008.

He was first elected in the north London constituency of Holborn and St Pancras in 2015, and took the leadership of the Labour Party after the party’s disappointing 2019 general election, pledging to start a “new era” after the left-wing leadership of Jeremy Corbyn.

Sir Keir was re-elected in the same constituency on Thursday, saying in his victory speech that people were “ready for change” and promising to “end performance politics”.

“Change starts right here because this is your democracy, your community, your future,” he said. “You voted. Now it’s time for us to deliver.”

You can read Sir Keir Full profile here.

The rebel party in this election is the UK Reform Party, the right-wing successor to the Brexit Party and the UK Independence Party.

Nigel Farage, the party’s leader, finally won one seat on his eighth attempt – but his party’s original projection of 13 seats was reduced to four. That was still better than UKIP and the Brexit Party had done, and Mr Farage celebrated.

The party’s vote share is believed to be around 14%.

The reform caused much controversy during the campaign because of offensive statements by some candidates and activists.

Mr Farage will join former Conservative deputy chairman Lee Anderson, Reform Party founder Richard Tice and Rupert Lowe in the House of Commons.

From its new position in parliament, the party could seek to cause trouble for the Conservatives and win over more voters from the party’s remaining constituency.