Truss loses seat on bruising night for Tories in Norfolk
The moment Liz Truss lost her seat in South West Norfolk
- Published
Former prime minister Liz Truss was among the casualties as the Conservatives lost seats to Labour, Reform UK and the Liberal Democrats on a tough night in Norfolk.
She lost her South West Norfolk seat to Labour's Terry Jermy, turning up at the count just seconds before the result was declared.
Great Yarmouth fell to Reform UK, North Norfolk was taken by the Lib Dems and Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay won the new seat of Waveney Valley.
The Tories also lost South Norfolk and Norwich North to Labour but retained North West Norfolk, Mid Norfolk and Broadland and Fakenham. Labour's Clive Lewis retained his Norwich South seat.
Duncan Baker's reaction to his defeat by Steffan Aquarone of the Lib Dems summed up the Tories' night
Analysis
By Jo Thewlis, BBC Norfolk political reporter
Norfolk is waking up to a very different political landscape this morning.
Overnight, the county has gone from having just a single Labour MP in a sea of blue, to having five parties represented in Westminster.
There was shock as Reform UK took Great Yarmouth from the Conservatives with a majority of 1,426.
But there was more trouble in store for the Tories as the Liberal Democrats won North Norfolk
In South Norfolk, Labour’s Ben Goldsborough won the former Conservative stronghold for the first time since the end of World War Two.
The Greens won their first seat in the East, taking the newly-created Waveney Valley with a majority of 5,594.
But it was the battle for South West Norfolk that provided the final and greatest drama of the night.
Former Prime Minister Liz Truss lost her seat to Labour’s Terry Jermy by the slimmest of margins, the result coming down to just 630 votes.
Previously she had a majority of 26,195.
So although the headline of the night may be a Labour victory, both they and the Conservatives will be fully aware of the surge of support for Reform here in Norfolk.
When the counting tables have been cleared away and the dust has settled, the patchwork of political parties will have to work out why this change happened, and what voters are expecting from them now.
Follow Norfolk news on Facebook, external, Instagram, external and X, external. Got a story? Email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk, external or WhatsApp us on 0800 169 1830