Even better for centre parties, the small opposition Liberal Democrats are expected to win 61 seats, overtaking the Scottish National Party, which is expected to get just 10. Nigel Farage’s far-right, anti-immigration party Reform Britain could win 13 seats, the Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru could win four, and the Green Party is expected to double its number of MPs to two.
Labour’s projected majority would be 170 seats, significantly larger than the margin Boris Johnson gave the Conservatives in December 2019’s general election, which was largely focused on Brexit.
In a social media post, Starmer thanked supporters and voters for their trust in a reformed Labour party, saying: “I want to thank everyone who supported us in this election, everyone who voted for us and put their trust in a reformed Labour party.”
Outside The Pineapple pub in Starmer’s north London home town, patrons described the expected outcome as a “new dawn”, but celebrations remained subdued.
Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner expressed cautious optimism, saying the figures were “encouraging” but stressed she would not celebrate too much until the results were officially confirmed.
Former Conservative leader William Hague told Times Radio that the outcome would be a “historically catastrophic result” for the Conservative party, pointing out that its worst result to date was 156 seats in 1906.
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