Swindon South result an ominous sign for Tories
Professor Sir John Curtice
BBC polling expert
In the first Conservative-held seat to be declared tonight, we expected the Conservatives to lose 25 points, Labour to gain four and Reform gain 17.
In fact, the Conservatives lost 25 points, Labour gained eight and Reform gained 14.
This is just the kind of result that could be a sign of a serious Conservative decline in seats tonight.
Tory defeat could be worst since 1900
Alice Evans
Live reporter
A Conservative candidate and his wife, pictured in the 1906 general election - when the party won 157 seats
If
the exit poll is right, the Conservative Party will win just 131 seats tonight.
We've been sifting through some House of Commons Library data to try to compare that with previous Tory defeats.
The party's worst performance since 1900, in terms of seats, was in 1906 when 157 Tories were elected. To paint the picture, it was in the aftermath of the Second Boer War, and the Liberals defeated an unpopular Conservative Party in a campaign focused on the cost of living.
Notably bad results since then include the 1997 general election, when 165 Conservative MPs were elected, which was a 30.7% share of the vote.
Labour sources pour cold water on predicted Reform gains
Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent
Some of the 13 seats forecast for Reform UK would come from Labour.
Labour's dousing cold water on that.
An authoritative party source tells me: "Our data is suggesting Reform will not win many of the seats the exit poll suggests. They will get less than 13 seats."
Let’s see.
The prime minister appoints his top team after pledging “the work of change begins immediately”.
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