UK General Election 2024

UK election: The high-profile casualties from Rees-Mogg to Truss

House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt among the well-known MPs rejected by the electorate

Former prime minister Liz Truss, the UK's shortest-serving leader, lost her seat in her Norfolk district - as did former cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg in Somerset and Hanham as well.
Fri Jul 05 2024 - 08:51

A number of high-profile Conservative and Labour MPs have lost their seats as Rishi Sunak conceded that his party had been defeated in the general election and Keir Starmer declared a historic victory.

Conservatives

Liz Truss

Seat: South West Norfolk Lost to: Labour

Truss served as UK prime minister for 49 days in 2022 and was previously foreign secretary and trade secretary. She was forced out of office after her government’s “mini” budget spooked financial markets and triggered a crisis in the pensions sector. First elected to parliament in 2010, Truss becomes the first former premier for almost 90 years to lose their seat in a general election.

Penny Mordaunt at Portsmouth Guildhall, Hampshire, where she lost her seat in the Portsmouth North constituency to the Labour Party. Photograph: PA Wire
Penny Mordaunt at Portsmouth Guildhall, Hampshire, where she lost her seat in the Portsmouth North constituency to the Labour Party. Photograph: PA Wire

Penny Mordaunt

Seat: Portsmouth North Lost to: Labour

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A former Royal Navy reservist, the House of Commons leader ran in the 2022 Tory leadership contest as a moderate and had been tipped as a future contender to lead the party if she held on to her seat. Her sword-bearing role at King Charles’s coronation raised her national profile, but she lost to Labour by about 780 votes.

Alex Chalk

Seat: Cheltenham Lost to: Liberal Democrats

A respected legal advocate, the ousted justice secretary had the tough task of managing a government department with an unprotected budget as it reeled from severe cuts. But he helped push through legislation to exonerate sub-postmasters caught up in the Horizon scandal.

Gillian Keegan

Seat: Chichester Lost to: Liberal Democrats

The education secretary lost out in a three-way battle for the seat she first won in 2017. Keegan faced the unenviable job of closing more than 100 schools during her tenure over the use of unsafe concrete in their construction and was captured on a microphone complaining she received no praise for doing a “f******g good job”.

Grant Shapps

Seat: Welwyn Hatfield Lost to: Labour

A veteran cabinet minister, Shapps was frequently turned to as a “safe pair of hands” by Sunak. A strong media performer and “attack dog” for the Conservative government, he rose to prominence in 2012 after it emerged he operated a business while an MP under the pseudonym Michael Green.

Conservative candidate Jacob Rees-Mogg stands next to Barmy Brunch from The Official Monster Raving Loony Party as Labour candidate Dan Norris speaks during the declaration for the North East Somerset constituency. Photograph: Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images
Conservative candidate Jacob Rees-Mogg stands next to Barmy Brunch from The Official Monster Raving Loony Party as Labour candidate Dan Norris speaks during the declaration for the North East Somerset constituency. Photograph: Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images

Jacob Rees-Mogg

Seat: North East Somerset and Hanham Lost to: Labour

A prominent Brexiteer, Rees-Mogg entered parliament in 2010. He served in the governments of Truss and Boris Johnson, holding positions including business secretary and Brexit opportunities minister. The social conservative repeatedly urged his party to enter a pact with Reform UK in this year’s general election.

Liam Fox

Seat: North Somerset Lost to: Labour

Having served in cabinet, Fox fell from grace under prime minister Boris Johnson and sat on the backbenches for the duration of the last parliament. He was embroiled in the expenses scandal in 2009 and stood down from his role as defence secretary after he allowed a close friend and lobbyist into confidential meetings.

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Mark Harper

Seat: Forest of Dean Lost to: Labour

A reliable figure for Sunak during his time in government, the former transport secretary was one of the few MPs not to be caught up in the expenses scandal. He resigned as immigration minister in 2014 after he discovered his cleaner was in the UK without proper documentation. This paved the way for his return to government less than six months later.

Labour

Jonathan Ashworth

Seat: Leicester South Lost to: Independent

Ashworth was shadow paymaster-general on Starmer’s opposition front bench. First elected to parliament in 2011, he served as shadow health secretary during the pandemic and was regarded as a strong media performer. But he was pushed into second place in his constituency by an independent candidate running on a pro-Palestinian ticket.

Thangam Debbonaire

Seat: Bristol Central Lost to: Greens

The shadow culture secretary had represented the now-reshaped seat of Bristol West since 2015 after ousting the Liberal Democrats. But on Thursday she lost to Carla Denyer, co-leader of the Green Party. Previously shadow housing secretary and shadow Commons leader, Debbonaire is a former professional cellist and had been backed by figures in the arts world.

– Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2024