U.K. PM concedes defeat as Labour Party set for landslide election win

• Former U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss, the shortest-serving prime minister in British history, was among several prominent Conservative Party lawmakers to lose their seat in the election.

By the numbers: The British networks' exit poll indicated Labour won 410 seats in Parliament, a majority of 170.

• Labour was confirmed to have reached the number of members of Parliament required to win a majority (326) about 5am Friday local time, according to the official count.
• The Conservatives were on track for 131 seats, down a staggering 234 from Boris Johnson's 2019 victory.
• The centrist Liberal Democrats are set to win 61 seats, while Nigel Farage's right-wing populist Reform Party was projected to win 13.

What's next: Keir Starmer will become the country's new prime minister.

What they're saying: Starmer said in his victory speech that he's "ready to serve our country" and "a mandate like this comes with a great responsibility."

• The Labour leader said earlier after winning his Houses of Parliament seat representing London's Holborn and St. Pancras that "people here and around the country have spoken, and they're ready for change."
• He added: "The change begins right here ... it is now time for us to deliver."

Sunak said it had been a "difficult night" for his party and he had contacted Starmer to congratulate him.

• "I am sorry," Sunak said while addressing supporters after being re-elected as MP for Richmond and Northern Allerton in the northern England county of Yorkshire. "I take responsibility for the loss."

Flashback: The Conservative Party has shuffled through five prime ministers since the 2016 Brexit referendum, and three since 2022.

• Sunak has spent the past 20 months trying to pick up the pieces after his short-lived predecessor Truss panicked the markets with a tax-slashing budget, and her predecessor Boris Johnson was swept out by a slew of scandals.
• Before that, it was David Cameron who gambled the country's future by calling — and losing — the 2016 Brexit referendum, widely seen as a precursor to Donald Trump's victory in the U.S.
• Cameron's successor, Theresa May, resigned in 2019 after Parliament repeatedly rejected her proposed divorce deal with the European Union.

Zoom in: The combined shocks of the pandemic and Brexit battered the economy and decimated public finances. Regardless of their platforms, neither party will have much cash to play with.

• Sunak argued Labour would endanger an economic recovery that's just starting to take hold.
• Voters didn't seem to buy it, in part because Labour is also campaigning on fiscal responsibility and moderation.

A former prosecutor and human rights lawyer, Starmer pulled the party back to the center ground after replacing left-winger Jeremy Corbyn as leader in 2020.

• His critics say he lacks vision and charisma. His backers say his unruffled, pragmatic style is just what the country needs after a prolonged political circus under Johnson and his successors.
• Starmer's platform is short on eye-catching proposals. He says his priority is to build the foundations for long-term economic growth.

The intrigue: In a telling sign of his low expectations, Sunak tweeted two days before the election: "Stop the supermajority. Vote Conservative on 4th July."

The bottom line: After that election five years ago, the Conservatives were flush with confidence and Labour was lost in the political wilderness. On July 4, the roles officially reversed.

Go deeper: U.K. elections could mean a big tax bill for private equity

Editor's note: This story has been updated with results and with comment from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour Party leader Keir Starmer.