The Conservative party suffered a landslide defeat in the 2024 General Election, with the center-left Labour Party winning 412 seats, and the Conservatives just 121 seats. With 326 seats needed for a majority government, this was a crushing defeat for the Conservative Party, and the end of their 14 years in power. Despite winning a clear majority of seats, Labour won just 33.7 percent of the vote, just ahead of the Conservatives on 23.7 percent, and the Reform Party on 14.3 percent. 

Sunak unable to close the gap on Labour

When Rishi Sunak announced the date of the 2024 general election on May 22, 2024, it ended months of speculation as to when the election would take place. Although Sunak likely hoped that more positive economic news regarding GDP growth and inflation would help him narrow the gap to Labour in the polls, this did not happen. Despite Keir Starmer's own unpopularity, Sunak was viewed even more unfavorably, perhaps due to his association with the chaotic reigns of his predecessors, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. At this point, the Conservative's were also seen by the electorate as less competent than Labour on major issues such as the economy, immigration, and healthcare, and faced an uphill task in changing these perceptions in time.

Major stories of the campaign

The inability of the Conservative to close the gap on Labour was also not been helped by a series of unforced errors by the Tories. One of the main news stories at the start of June, for example, was Rishi Sunak leaving the D-Day commemorations in Normandy early, to attend a pre-planned interview. This was then overshadowed by an alleged insider betting scandal regarding Conservative election candidates and the date of the general election. Another key event was also the return of Nigel Farage to mainstream UK politics, after he took over leadership of Reform UK early in the campaign. Farage's return gave the right-wing party a noticeable boost in the polls, mainly at the expense of the Conservatives.