Several former ministers and senior figures from the outgoing British Conservative government were defeated in yesterday's parliamentary elections, reported Agence France-Presse, quoted by BTA. These results are likely to have serious consequences for the future of the Tories, who will have to recover from their historic defeat, at a time when they appear torn between the right wing and the centrist current.
The first to lose "his stronghold" in North London was the British Defense Minister Grant Shapps, who is giving up his parliamentary seat in favor of the Labor candidate. Shapps, a key figure in the Conservative Party's 14-year rule and a staunch supporter of outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, has been defence secretary since August 2023, having held several ministerial posts in recent years.
This was followed shortly by the defeat of Penny Mordaunt, who was in charge of parliamentary relations. As a candidate in the southern port city of Portsmouth, she was also defeated by a Labour candidate.
Another blow for the Conservatives was the loss of his seat to Jacob Rees-Mogg, who was defeated by Labour's Dan Norris in the new constituency of North East Somerset and Hanham. The 55-year-old former Brexit minister was elected MP for North East Somerset in 2010, 2015, 2017. and 2019 - when she won 50.4% of the vote.
Former Prime Minister Liz Truss, who in 2022 became the country's shortest-serving prime minister - just 44 days after causing a bond market crash and a collapse of the British pound - is also not in parliament. Truss trailed Labour candidate Terry Jeremy in her constituency of South West Norfolk in eastern England.
On the other hand, several other prominent Conservative Party names retained their seats, including Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, former Home Secretary Suella Braverman and Kemi Badenoch, the trade minister in Rishi Sunak's government, who has been widely tipped as a possible candidate to become Tory leader after the defeat.
Party chairman Richard Holden narrowly saved his seat by 20 votes against his Labour opponent after a lengthy recount. He was elected in a constituency considered safe, several hundred kilometres from the one he was previously elected in.