Michael Portillo’s election defeat in 1997, unseated on a swing of 17.4 percentage points shortly after 3am on 2 May that year, has become synonymous with the shock moment that a major political big beast loses their seat. But following a landslide victory for Labour in the 2024 general election, the “Portillo moments” started coming thick and fast. Who are the major figures who have lost their seats in the 2024 general election?
Penny Mordaunt
Seat Portsmouth North
Majority in 2019 15,780
Result Labour gain
Penny Mordaunt’s dreams of shaping the future of the Conservative party as its leader were ended abruptly in the early hours of Friday morning in one of the biggest shocks of the night. Her Portsmouth North seat – which last fell into Labour hands during Tony Blair’s reign – proved too difficult for her to hold, and went to Labour on a 18% swing. The defeat of the Commons leader will come as a blow to Tory moderates who saw her as a potential successor to Rishi Sunak.
Mordaunt, who became an MP in 2010, became the UK’s first female defence secretary in the final days of Theresa May’s government. The Royal Navy reservist took part in two leadership contests, but became well known on a national level after receiving plaudits for her ability to carry an extraordinarily heavy sword during King Charles’s coronation.
Gillian Keegan
Seat Chichester
Majority in 2019 21,490
Result Lib Dem gain
The education secretary provided a jaw-dropping moment of election night, becoming one of the the first cabinet minister of the night to lose her seat. Her Chichester seat – which had been held by the Conservatives for 100 years – was targeted relentlessly in the Lib Dems’ almost-surgical campaign, but it was nonetheless only number 103 on their list of targets.
Keegan – who left school at 16 and went on to have a successful business and political career – was appointed to the cabinet as education secretary in 2022. She was no-nonsense in her approach, and will be remembered for her hot mic moment in September 2023, while expressing frustration about the crumbling concrete crisis in schools. “Does anyone ever say: ‘You know what, you’ve done a fucking good job, because everyone else has sat on their arse and done nothin’?” she raged. She will be replaced by the Lib Dems’ Jess Brown-Fuller.
Grant Shapps
Seat Welwyn Hatfield
Majority in 2019 10,955
Result Labour gain
The defence secretary has been seen as a safe pair of hands over many media outings for Rishi Sunak – including a sizeable number sporting a lockdown mullet during the coronavirus pandemic. But after 19 years as the MP for Welwyn Hatfield in Hertfordshire, a visibly shaken Shapps lost his seat shortly after 3am on Friday. In his concession speech, he acknowledged that it was “clear tonight that Britain will have a new government in the morning”, and he urged Labour to increase its funding commitment to defence spending. He also had a word of warning for his colleagues who retained their seats, saying divisions within the party meant traditional voters felt unable to vote Conservative, calling the infighting in the Tory party an “indulgent” soap opera. “There is a danger that we now go off on some tangent,” he said.
Shapps had a healthy majority, but a Labour resurgence in the affluent commuter belt has put an end to a career during which the Tory stalwart was put in charge of various government departments including transport, energy, business and a short stint at the Home Office. “I have served in more cabinet posts than most,” he acknowledged, with a wry smile. He will be replaced by Labour’s Andrew Lewin, who got 19,877 votes (41%). Shapps got 16,078 votes (33%).
Alex Chalk
Seat Cheltenham
Majority in 2019 981
Result Lib Dem gain
The justice secretary, Alex Chalk, always had an uphill task on his hands, and was defending a relatively slim majority in a seat that has always had a strong Lib Dem presence and has a long tradition of tactical voting. He lost his seat to the Lib Dems’ Max Wilkinson.
The Lib Dems held Cheltenham in the 2005 election and again in 2010 before Chalk took the seat in 2015. The writing was on the wall after a poor set of local election results in May, in which all of the Conservatives’ councillors were wiped out, while the Lib Dem vote grew.
Chalk became the 11th justice secretary in 13 years last year after Dominic Raab resigned over bullying allegations. He was the solicitor general under Boris Johnson, but was part of the mass resignation of ministers that forced the downfall of the former prime minister.
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Simon Hart
Seat Caerfyrddin (new constituency)
Majority in 2019 (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr) 1,262
Result Plaid Cymru
Cabinet member Simon Hart, Rishi Sunak’s chief whip, was at the sharp end of a very poor night for the Conservatives across Wales and lost his seat in what will be seen as a major blow for the Tories.
Robert Buckland
Seat Swindon South (new constituency)
Majority in 2019 (South Swindon) 6,625
Result Labour gain
Sir Robert Buckland, the former justice secretary, had become more of a mid-sized beast, rather than a big one, after resigning as Welsh secretary in 2002 when Rishi Sunak became prime minister. However, as a high-profile backbencher his departure is notable, after his Swindon South constituency became the first Labour gain from the Conservatives of the night. He lost to Heidi Alexander, who was a deputy mayor of London for Transport and the Labour MP for Lewisham East from 2010 to 2018.
Buckland, not known as a firebrand, was visibly angry in the moments following the result. “Do we value those who work to bring people together and to come into politics to do something rather than be someone?,” he asked. “Or do we shrug our shoulders and accept politics as a mere circus?”
Michael Fabricant
Seat Lichfield
Majority in 2019 6,286
Result Labour gain
Again, not strictly speaking a Tory big beast, but perhaps one of the most recognisable Conservative figures in the country thanks to his distinctive hairstyle. Fabricant has served as the MP for Lichfield in Staffordshire, formerly Mid Staffordshire, since 1992. He received 16,422 votes, but was pipped to the post by Labour candidate Dave Robertson who received 17,234, giving Labour a majority of 812.
