It's Labour: Starmer is the UK's new PM
Welcome to a special early morning edition of the ITV News digest as the 2024 General Election reaches its conclusion.
Rishi Sunak has conceded defeat - Labour under Sir Keir Starmer will form the new government and the “son of a tool-maker” will be the country’s 58th prime minister.
Mr Sunak addressed the small crowd at the count in his home constituency of Richmond to say: “The British people have delivered a sobering verdict.”
He is to travel to London later today where he will have more to say.
“We did it,” Sir Keir told a victory rally, shortly after 5am, “Change begins now!”
Labour supporters were moved to tears during his speech to party faithful at the Tate Modern.
“It feels good,” he said. ““And across our country, people will be waking up to the news, relief that a weight has been lifted, a burden finally removed from the shoulders of this great nation.”
ITV News will continue to bring you the latest updates as results continue to come in and our experts will be on hand throughout the day to offer insight and analysis.
For more analysis on the day’s events, check out Talking Politics, our podcast from the election live from 4pm on ITVX, hosted today by UK Editor Paul Brand. Or watch on demand on ITVX or where you listen to your podcasts.
Thanks for reading and enjoy some of the best content brought to you by the rest of the ITV News team below.
Story of the night: Labour landslide glee as blame game engulfs Tories
Sir Keir Starmer has been swept to power by a landslide Labour victory as bitter recriminations began in the Tory ranks.
Labour is on course to have a 178-seat majority in the Commons, with the Conservatives reduced to their lowest number of MPs on record.
Sir Keir, in his acceptance speech after winning Holborn, said: “The change begins right here because this is your democracy, your community and your future. You have voted. It is now time for us to deliver.”
However, one of the architects of the Labour campaign, Jonathan Ashworth, was a surprise casualty in Leicester South.
But, for Rishi Sunak, it was a disaster. The Conservatives lost more than 200 seats, with countless members of the the last Cabinet losing their seats.
He conceded defeat as he was returned as Richmond MP, saying: “The British people have delivered a sobering verdict. There is much to learn.”
One of the stories of the night was the surge in support for Reform UK - and the loss of support for the SNP in Scotland.
Reform leader Nigel Farage finally got himself elected to parliament at the eighth time of asking as he won in Clacton.
He said: “We’re targeting Labour votes, we’re coming for Labour. This is just the first step.” There were other victories for Reform including in Ashfield with Lee Anderson and Richard Tice in Boston & Skegness.
It was also a good night for the Liberal Democrats, who saw xx xx new MPs, up 50 on 2019.
Sir Ed said: “We will continue to stand up for a society where we value care and properly support carers because we cannot afford not to.”
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn - who was kicked out of the party by Keir Starmer - triumphed in Islington North, saying: “I owe my life and my learning and my abilities entirely to the people of Islington North. This victory is dedicated entirely to them.”
And Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer beat Labour’s Thangam Debbonaire in Bristol Central in the party’s first victory in the election.
You can watch the story of the night on ITVX where you can also see:
Rachel Reeves tell ITV election night host Tom Bradby she was ready for the challenge of being the UK’s first woman chancellor.
The key takeaways from the night that upended British politics.
Big Tory beasts who paid the price
Penny Mordaunt, Grant Shapps, Gillian Keegan and Alex Chalk were among the first Conservative Cabinet Ministers to lose their seats.
Mordaunt - once a leadership contender and Commons leader - was perhaps the biggest name to fall, losing to Labour in Portsmouth North.
Defence Secretary Shapps lost the battle for Welwyn Hatfield to Labour, while Education secretary Keegan fell in Chichester to the Liberal Democrats.
Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk lost his seat of Cheltenham to the Lib Dems and Tory deputy chairman Jonathan Gullis was beaten by Labour in Stoke-on-Trent North.
You can keep across the latest senior scalps to fall on ITVX and on our website.
This is grim for the SNP, says Sturgeon
Former Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told ITV’s election night show that it was not a good night for the SNP.
She added: “This is at the grimmer end of the expectations for the SNP if the exit poll is right and, from what I’ve said earlier on, I expect it will be.
“This is seismic for Labour. There’s no getting away from that, it’s a massive achievement for Keir Starmer.”
Watch what she had to say on ITVX.
The story across the nations
Counting is continuing with several constituency battles in Northern Ireland appear to be on a knife edge.
The high-profile contest between DUP leader Gavin Robinson and Alliance Party leader Naomi Long in East Belfast is among those seats that remain too close to call.
You can keep across the developing picture in Northern Ireland on our UTV website here.
Results are also coming in across Wales. Bridgend was the first Welsh seat to declare its result, with Labour regaining the seat after it turned blue in 2019.
You can keep across events in Wales here.
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What does King do on election results day?
There was once a time when British Monarchs had absolute power, writes ITV News Royal Editor Chris Ship.
But in our parliamentary democracy, King Charles, like Queen Elizabeth before him, has very few prerogative powers left – most of them having been abolished or placed elsewhere with ministers.
But one of the King’s remaining prerogative powers (exercised by the Monarch acting alone) is his role in appointing a prime minister.
You can read more of what’s to come for the next prime minister and King Charles here.
Sunak hands peerages to Theresa May and Sir Graham Brady in dissolution honours
Rishi Sunak has handed peerages to Theresa May, Sir Graham Brady and former deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden in a dissolution honours list announced less than an hour before polls closed.
The prime minister also rewarded his right-hand man in No 10, Liam Booth-Smith, with a peerage along with former 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham, and former Cabinet ministers Chris Grayling and Sir Alok Sharma.
Read more on who picked up a late-night honour as the polls closed here.
What’s coming up…
Friday July 5: ITV continues to bring you unrivalled coverage of the 2024 General Election
Friday July 5: The 58th UK prime minister is elected.
Saturday July 6: New Cabinet, ministers of state expected to be appointed.
Tuesday July 9: Nato summit, Washington
Tuesday July 9: Parliament set to be recalled; new MPs sworn in, Speaker elected.
Wednesday July 10: King Charles to meet the new PM for the first weekly audience.
And finally… who won the race to declare first?
For some, election night stretched long into the night and into the early hours.
For those speedy counters in the north east, however, a couple of constituencies were wrapped up before midnight.
Houghton and Sunderland South claimed the honours this time around - announcing their result at 11:13pm.
It is not the quickest a result has been declared - that was back in 2001, when the old Sunderland South constituency announced at 10:43pm.