The general election in UK reflects a new trend in Europe

Labour won 411 seats, an increase of 209 from their total in the 2019 election. In general elections, these numbers were long out of reach for the left-leaning party. After 14 years of right-wing dominance, the Labour Party rises from the dust.

Statistically speaking

The King dissolved Parliament by Royal Proclamation on Thursday, May 30, 2024. That moment was already a call to action for the nation, as they awaited the general elections on July 4th.

The result was clear: the Labour Party secured a resounding victory in the UK general election on July 4, 2024, winning 412 seats and making Keir Starmer the new British Prime Minister. This result marked a significant defeat for the Conservative Party, which managed to secure only 121 seats, ending Rishi Sunak’s tenure as Prime Minister and 14 years of Tory leadership. Compared to the 2019 election, Labour saw an increase of 211 seats, while the Conservatives suffered a loss of 250 seats. Despite this, Labour’s overall vote share was only 33.8%, an increase of just 1.6% from 2019.

The Liberal Democrats also experienced substantial success, increasing their seat count from 11 in 2019 to 71. Meanwhile, Reform UK, despite achieving the third highest vote share nationwide, won only four seats in Westminster, prompting concerns about the fairness of the UK’s first-past-the-post voting system. In Scotland, the Scottish National Party faced a challenging election, with their seats dropping from 48 to 9. In Northern Ireland, Sinn Féin achieved a historic milestone by winning the most seats of any Northern Irish party in the British Parliament for the first time.

What’s next?

Rishi Sunak has resigned as Prime Minister and announced that he will also step down as Conservative Party leader once the process for selecting his successor is in place. He stated that he will continue to serve as a Member of Parliament. Meanwhile, Parliament is set to commence its work today, as Keir Starmer has begun appointing ministers following his party’s decisive victory, starting with senior positions.

Is the general election in UK reflecting a new tendence in Europe (and not only)?

France and Iran have surprisingly seen significant gains for their left-wing parties. Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian has won Iran’s presidential election, defeating his hardline rival in a pivotal vote amid heightened tensions both domestically and internationally. In France, the second round of votes revealed that the left-wing alliance secured 188 seats in the National Assembly. French President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance came in second with 161 seats. The far-right National Rally (RN) and its allies, which had a clear lead in the first round, finished third with 142 seats.

Is there a new trend? We’ll have the answer in September with the elections in Austria and in November with the elections in the USA. So far, these are great achievements for the left wing, which has had some bitter pills to swallow.