Joy, tears and Elmo - the story of the election in pictures

5 July 2024

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We're coming to the end of election night in the UK, where the Labour Party have won a majority of seats that will see Sir Keir Starmer become the new prime minister. Let's take a look back at how the night unfolded...
Things kicked off at 10pm yesterday, when something called an exit poll was announced and displayed on the BBC's building in London. This is when a sample of people are asked who they've voted for after coming out of the polling station, and it usually gives a pretty reliable prediction of what the real outcome might be.
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Then the rush to count the votes began. The Houghton and Sunderland South constituency - which means a group of voters that decide an MP in a certain area - was the first to declare their result, which saw Labour's first MP elected.
The North East has the record for delivering the first result of the night, with Newcastle being the first to declare in the last two elections, but Sunderland are now back on top. Lots of young people helped out by running to carry ballot boxes full of votes to be counted!
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Among the candidates for the main parties, there were many independents, as well as some weird and wonderful choices on offer for votes - for example the famous Count Binface, standing in the Conservative Party leader Rishi Sunak's constituency. Among Binface's policies include limiting the price of croissants at £1.10 and making sure Pudsey Bear's eye gets fixed!
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Lots of supporters of different parties gathered at counts to watch the results roll in. Here, supporters of the Scottish National Party (SNP) reacted as the exit poll predicted a large drop in their number of seats in Parliament, where elected MPs gather to make decisions.
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Over in the Holborn and St Pancras constituency, Sir Keir Starmer made a speech after winning the seat - having fought against lots of different candidates, including Elmo! Although Bobby Smith, the man behind the muppet mask, didn't have much of a chance, winning only 19 votes.
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Likewise, the leader of the Conservatives easily won against Count Binface in the Yorkshire seat of Richmond and Northallerton. But Rishi Sunak admitted defeat, saying that he had congratulated Sir Keir on his win and that he took "responsibility for the loss".
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Rishi Sunak set off on a flight from Teeside Airport after announcing that his party had lost, heading to London for a speech.
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Liberal Democrat supporters celebrated winning lots more MPs than at the last election in 2019. Ed Davey had made headlines during the election campaign by doing lots of eye-catching stunts, including going down a water slide and doing a bungee jump.
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It was also a good night for new party Reform UK, whose leader Nigel Farage won the seat in Clacton and with the party winning four seats overall so far.
Image source, PA
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The Green Party were successful in winning four seats, too. They held the constituency of Brighton Pavilion but with new candidate Siân Berry, who was celebrating here with supporters, as well as gaining others from Labour and the Conservatives.
Image source, PA
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Many big name Conservative MPs have been losing their seats. This included Liz Truss, the former prime minister who resigned from the top job in 2022. She lost her constituency to Labour by just over 600 votes, with many voters in the area also switching to Reform.
Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
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Another former party leader was standing to be an MP again - Jeremy Corbyn, who ran for Labour for the last two elections. He won Islington North but as an independent candidate, after being dropped from Labour last year. He now holds the title of ‘father of the House’ as the MP with the longest service, having been an MP since 1983.
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Plaid Cymru MP Llinos Medi posed for a picture with her kids Elliw and Twm after winning the constituency of Ynys Môn - the Welsh name for Anglesey. The Conservatives had a particularly bad night in Wales, where they lost every single one of their 14 seats in the nation. Plaid Cymru now have four seats in Parliament.
Image source, PA
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Sinn Féin now has the largest number of MPs in Northern Ireland, including Pat Cullen here, who celebrated after winning the Fermanagh and South Tyrone. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), who support Northern Ireland staying in the UK, lost three of their seats in the elections.
Sinn Féin is a nationalist party, meaning they want a united Ireland as one country, where Northern Ireland would no longer be a part of the UK and would instead join up with the Republic of Ireland.
Image source, Bloomberg
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Making a speech outside Number 10 Downing Street and with just two seats to be declared, Rishi Sunak apologised, saying that "you have sent a clear signal that the government of the United Kingdom must change" and wished the new prime minister well. He announced that he would be stepping down as leader of the Conservatives, but not straight away.
Image source, PA Media
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King Charles III welcomes Sir Keir Starmer during an audience at Buckingham Palace where he invited the leader of the Labour Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government following his general election victory.
Image source, PA Media
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On his return to Downing Street, Mr Starmer spoke outside the famous door and explained his aim to "rebuild" hope and opportunity in UK and promised to work hard for those who voted for his party, but for also those who didn't.

More stories on the election:

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3 June
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18 June
How a general election works in 60 secs. Video, 00:01:03
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13 December 2019

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