Based Underground is now a conservative news aggregator AND curated newsletter.
(Zero Hedge)—The year of record elections continues to serve up dramatic results, and on Thursday, a national exit poll in the UK general election indicated that Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives will crash out of office after 14 years after Keir Starmer’s Labour party was heading for a massive majority of about 170 seats. The poll on Thursday night suggested Starmer will become prime minister with 410 seats out of 650 in the House of Commons, while Sunak’s party is facing the worst result in its history, with just 131 seats.
The result, according to the FT, is “momentous for Britain and will resonate around the world” because at a time when right-wing populists are advancing in many countries, political power in the UK has swung back to a liberal, internationalist, centre-left party.
But Labour’s victory was projected to be delivered on a smaller share of the vote than the 40% secured by leftwing Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in his 2017 general election defeat — suggesting the public remains sceptical.
Labour’s shadow foreign secretary David Lammy warned: “If we do not deliver for working people, we will be out and nationalists will be on our tails.” He added: “That’s the lesson we have seen around the world.” Meanwhile, Nigel Farage’s Reform UK was projected to do better than expected with 13 seats, a result that would be a big breakthrough for his right-wing populist party.
The first two constituencies to report results on Thursday evening, both in the north of England, showed Labour wins with Reform in second place.
Labour’s victory is a personal triumph for Starmer, who took over the party’s leadership in 2020 after the party’s worst election defeat in almost a century. His projected victory is similar in scale to Sir Tony Blair’s 1997 Labour landslide.
Coffee the Christian way: Promised Grounds
That said, while the Ipsos exit poll is usually a reliable predictor of overall results, the final result may still differ. Vote counts from individual constituencies will trickle in through the night, with Labour, if the polls are correct, likely to have a clear majority by 5am.
According to the exit survey, the centrist Liberal Democrats was on course to win 61 seats, close to the 62-seat record set by the party in 2005. The Lib Dems are forecast to make big gains in the Tory “blue wall” of rich constituencies in the south of England. The Scottish National party was set to come behind Labour in Scotland with just 10 seats, according to the exit poll, putting a serious dent in the party’s dream of securing independence.
The survey exposed the overwhelming sentiment reported by candidates from all parties that Britain wanted “change”, with many senior Tories admitting during the campaign that the party looked exhausted. The UK has been under Conservative rule for 14 years, during which time there have been five prime ministers, with a near catastrophic banking and bond market crisis erupting during the brief reign of Liz Truss. The period was marked by economic austerity, Brexit, the coronavirus pandemic and an energy price shock.
Former Tory minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said it was “clearly a terrible night” and added that the Conservatives had taken votes for granted.
- Preserve your retirement with physical precious metals. Receive your free gold guide from Genesis Precious Metals to learn how.
Starmer is set to become only the seventh Labour prime minister in the party’s history, and his victory is the first since 2005 for the center-left party. Labour last ousted the Tories from power in 1997, when Tony Blair became prime minister in a crushing victory over John Major’s Tories. He will move into 10 Downing Street on Friday and immediately form his cabinet, with an instruction to ministers to quickly deliver policies to jolt Britain out of its low-growth torpor.
The exit poll indicated that Starmer’s avowedly pro-growth, pro-business agenda has paid off, as Labour bucked international political trends. Far-right parties have performed strongly in recent elections for the European and French parliaments, while in the US, Donald Trump is leading in polls for the presidential race.
Labour’s chancellor-in-waiting Rachel Reeves has said she hopes investors will now see the UK as a “safe haven” although once the UK unleashes the next spending spree to fund all the various welfare projects, we fully expect another quick funding crisis and even more QE.
Starmer has promised to work with business to stimulate growth, with an agenda that includes planning reform and state investment in green technology. Labour will also pursue a traditional agenda of reforms to worker rights.
As for outgoing PM Sunak, the result is a personal disaster. He chose to hold an early election on July 4 — against the advice of his campaign chief Isaac Levido — and ran an error-strewn six-week attempt to turn around his party’s fortunes.
The party’s projected total of 131 seats is lower than the party’s worst-ever result of 156 in 1906. Starmer’s expected seat haul is close to the 418 seats won by Tony Blair in his 1997 landslide victory.
A number of senior Tory figures are expected to lose their seats on a night of devastation, reducing the cast list of potential contenders for the party leadership if, as expected, Sunak stands down. Among the cabinet ministers deemed to be at risk by the exit poll are Penny Mordaunt, Jeremy Hunt, James Cleverly, Kemi Badenoch and Grant Shapps, with results due in their seats in the early hours.
Five Reasons to Believe Trump’s Would-Be Assassins Are Deep State Assets
by JD Rucker
Tinfoil hat time. By no means am I going to convince anyone with this short article that Ryan Wesley Routh (or Thomas Michael Crooks, for that matter) is an asset for the Deep State. That is not the intention because to “prove” it would be as impossible as “proving” anything…
Hurricane Forecasts Poised to Be Spectacularly Overstated, Raising Doubt About Climate Science
by Just The News
Penn State celebrity climate scientist Michael Mann announced in April that his research group’s 2024 North Atlantic season forecast was expecting an “unprecedented” 33 named storms, with a range between 27 and 39. That prediction has turned out to be a dud. With Hurricane Francine hitting the coasts Thursday, the…
Another Attack on President Trump Prompted Prepper Surge
by Sponsored Post
The 2nd attempted assassination of Donald Trump has prompted renewed concerns over the nation’s future. Website traffic on Sunday was higher than it’s been in our history. One does not have to be a Republican to realize that chaos may be in store for us soon. At Prepper All-Naturals, we’re…
DJT’s Attempted Assassin Made 19 Donations to Democrats
by Independent Sentinel
The attempted assassin of Donald J. Trump is Ryan Wesley Routh, who has made 19 donations to Democrats. The donations were to Elizabeth Warren, fake Hispanic Beto O’Rourke, Andrew Yang, Tom Steyer, and Tulsi Gabbard. Allegedly, Routh also claimed to have fought in Ukraine in 2022 and supported the war….
Dem Rep. Crockett: MAGA Is a Domestic Threat, Trump Is Stoking Them
by Breitbart
Representative Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) said Sunday on MSNBC’s “Inside” that MAGA is a domestic threat that former President Donald Trump is stoking them. Crockett said, “Springfield is going through hell, but they are going through hell because the guy who says he wants to be the commander-in-chief is actually bringing…
Sunlight and Clouds, Not CO2, Drive Earth’s Climate, New Study Finds
by The Epoch Times
This year’s summer months were characterized by cold outdoor pools that eagerly welcomed guests, concrete that scorched the soles of bare feet, and popsicles that melted in the relentless, blazing heat. In August, the European Commission’s Copernicus report found that the global average temperature had reached record highs in the…
The Man That Just Tried to Assassinate Donald Trump Has Very Alarming Links to Ukraine
by Michael Snyder
(End of the American Dream)—We are starting to learn more about Ryan Routh’s background, and what we have learned may help to explain why he attempted to shoot Donald Trump. It turns out that Routh is a rabid pro-Ukraine activist. In 2022, he actually traveled to Ukraine to fight in the…
Bill Gates Forecasts Another Global Pandemic ‘Likely’ Within Next 25 Years in Ominous Health Warning
by End Times Headlines
War or another global pandemic, Microsoft CEO Bill Gates is cautioning that, if the world manages to avoid the former, the latter is a very real possibility within the next 25 years. “A lot of unrest” in today’s age could spark a major war, he told CNBC’s “Make It.” “If…
US Foreign Policy Should Defy China, Recognize Taiwan as a Country
by The Gateway Pundit
The U.S., as the world’s most powerful country, should have an independent foreign policy. Currently, the U.S. abides by the One-China policy to appease Beijing. The U.S. should no longer allow Beijing to dictate its foreign policy and should recognize the independence of Taiwan, a high-functioning, multi-party democracy whose citizens…
Florida Will Conduct Investigation Into Trump Assassination Attempt: DeSantis
by Jack Phillips
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Sunday announced the state will launch its own investigation into the apparent assassination attempt targeting former President Donald Trump earlier in the day. The FBI has said in a statement it is investigating the matter as an assassination attempt, while law enforcement officials said on…
‘Stop This Reckless Escalation’: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Tells Biden Not to Authorize Long-Range Missile Attacks on Russian Territory
by The Gateway Pundit
The world is handing on the edge of a major escalation with unpredictable consequences, as Ukraine relentlessly pushes for the US to make decisions that can have unpredictable consequences. All around the world, peace-loving people who can see the danger ahead are cautioning the western NATO powers – notably the…