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A number of high-profile MPs from both the Conservatives and Labour have lost their seats, as Sir Keir Starmer was set to secure a landslide general election victory.
Conservatives
Alex Chalk
Seat: Cheltenham Lost to: Liberal Democrats
A respected legal advocate, the ousted justice secretary is expected to return to practice at 6KBW College Hill. Chalk had the tough task of managing an government department with an unprotected budget as it reeled from severe cuts. But he helped push through legislation to exonerate sub-postmasters caught up in the Horizon scandal.
Gillian Keegan
Seat: Chichester Lost to: Liberal Democrats
The education secretary lost out in a three-way battle for the seat she first won in 2017. Keegan had the unenviable task of closing more than 100 schools during her tenure over unsafe concrete, and was captured on a microphone complaining she received no praise for doing a “fucking good job”.
Penny Mordaunt
Seat: Portsmouth North Lost to: Labour
A former Royal Navy reservist, the House of Commons leader ran in the 2022 Tory leadership contest as a moderate and had been tipped as a future contender — if she held on to her seat. Her sword-bearing role at King Charles’s coronation raised her national profile, but she lost out to Labour by about 780 votes.
Grant Shapps
Seat: Welwyn Hatfield Lost to: Labour
Shapps was a veteran cabinet minister and frequently turned to as a “safe pair of hands” by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. A strong media performer and “attack dog” for the Conservative government, Shapps rose to prominence in 2012 after it emerged he operated a business while an MP under the pseudonym Michael Green.
Labour
Jonathan Ashworth
Seat: Leicester South Lost to: Independent
Ashworth was shadow paymaster general on Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s opposition frontbench. First elected to parliament in 2011, he served as shadow health secretary during the Covid-19 pandemic and was regarded as a strong media performer. But he was pushed into second place in his constituency by an independent candidate running on a pro-Palestinian ticket.
Thangam Debbonaire
Seat: Bristol Central Lost to: Greens
The shadow culture secretary had represented the now-reshaped seat of Bristol West since 2015 after ousting the Liberal Democrats. But on Thursday she lost out to Carla Denyer, co-leader of the Green party. Previously shadow housing secretary and shadow Commons leader, Debbonaire is a former professional cellist and had been backed by figures in the arts world.