The highest number of Cabinet ministers ever lost their seats on Friday in Britain’s general election, leaving only a few recognised candidates for party leadership if Rishi Sunak decides to step down.
It was the prime minister’s top nine members who had failed to be re-elected surpassing the previous record of seven that was set in 1997 by the ruling Conservatives against Labour party which mauled them.
An example of such is the UK’s Defense Secretary, Grant Shapps, who has held that position for almost one complete year but lost his Welwyn Hatfield seat located north of London.
One of England’s south coast constituencies is Portsmouth North where Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt has been defeated she made headlines last May when serving as a sword-bearer at King Charles III’s coronation
As a former defense secretary, twice she tried becoming tory leader and tipped again after Thursday’s election with Sunak expected to resign.
Other Tories to lose their constituencies were Michelle Donelan (Transport and Science Secretary), Gillian Keegan (Education Secretary), Alex Chalk (Justice Secretary), Johnny Mercer (Veteran Minister) and Lucy Frazer (Culture Secretary).
Veteran minister Johnny Mercer and Brexit champion Jacob Rees-Mogg also lost out, as voters grew fed up with the Conservatives after 14 years in power.
Party members who will remain or leave have commenced soul-searching following these defeats, citing various scandals and internal strife as accounting for their being punished at the ballot box in recent years.
“So I think what we have seen during this election campaign is an extraordinary lack of discipline within our own ranks”, said Robert Buckland former Justice Secretary when he lost his seat.
Following five Prime Ministers since the Brexit vote in 2016 that turned into endless political “soap opera,” Shapps criticized Tories’ “inability to iron out their differences.”
“I mean what is glaringly obvious from tonight – it isn’t so much that Labour won but the Conservatives lost,” he said.
Right-winger Suella Braverman, who was fired as home secretary by Sunak late last year after making a series of incendiary comments, was re-elected and finance minister Jeremy Hunt survived a major scare to squeak victory.
James Cleverly, the current interior minister also retained his seat.
Kemi Badenoch, Secretary of State for Business and Trade and Tom Tugendhat, security minister were also victorious in their races.
Most of those high-profile survivors are expected to challenge for the leadership.
In her victory speech Braverman apologised to voters for failing to listen to them as she claimed during her campaign.
“You’ve been let down by the Conservative party…we have got to do better and I will do everything in my power to rebuild trust. We need to listen to you. You have spoken to us very clearly,” Braverman said.
