Following the frenetic general election campaigns from all the nation’s major political parties, the Sir Keir Starmer-led Labour Party has stormed to victory with more than 400 seats across the country, ousting Rishi Sunak as prime minister and condemning the Conservative Party to its worst defeat ever.
The overall turnout for the election was around 60%, which is significantly down on 2019.
Some of the major casualties from the election include former prime minister Liz Truss, who has become the first ex PM to lose their seat in over 100 years.
Sitting transport secretary Mark Harper lost his seat in Forest of Dean to Labour by fewer than 300 votes, making up one of a record number of cabinet ministers who have been voted out of parliament.
Other trends included a huge surge for Nigel Farage’s Reform UK; the most seats ever won by the Liberal Democrats; and the Green Party winning all four of their target seats.
Now-former health secretary Victoria Atkins also survived a scare in her constituency and narrowly maintained control of Louth and Horncastle.
The Labour Party reached the magic 326 mark in the early hours of the morning, with the new prime minister declaring that “change begins now”.
Sunak described the moment as a “difficult night” as he spoke after retaining his seat comfortably in Richmond and Northallerton. “The British people have delivered a sobering verdict tonight; there is much to learn and reflect on,” said Sunak.
This was swiftly followed up by his resignation as leader of the Conservative Party, although he will remain at the helm until a successor is formerly selected
Much has been said about the Labour Party’s manifesto — not least about its fiscal credibility and lack of imagination.
Although the CEO of the country’s largest coalition of health and social care charities, National Voices, has welcomed the new Labour government.
Jacob Lant said: “We welcome Labour’s commitment to tackle the social determinants of health, with a clear aim of halving the gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest regions.
“In our Manifesto for Equitable Healthcare, we urged the next government to commit to a long-term, cross-departmental plan with clear milestones that prioritises the reduction of this gap. We also stressed that inequalities in health are not just driven by poverty but are also affected by age, ethnicity, disability, sexuality and gender. We look forward to working with the new administration to ensure policy solutions consider health inequalities in all its forms.
“Similarly, any focus on reducing waiting lists must have at its centre a serious plan to do this equitably so we do not continue to see those facing the most severe health challenges also waiting the longest for treatment.
“Tackling health inequalities is not only good for patients and communities, it is arguably the key to the sustainability of the NHS. Helping people to stay well, through equitable prevention, treatment, and care, benefits us all.”
All the political chips have yet to fall, so the exact ministerial team that will head up the new government’s health wing remains to be seen, although — whoever it is — they will have to act quickly and soothe discontent among the workforce and work towards cutting waiting lists.
New NHS England data shows that the five-day junior doctor walkout just before polling day led to more than 60,000 appointments being postponed.
This is a situation that “can’t carry on like this” according to NHS Providers’ deputy CEO, Saffron Cordery.
“The new government and unions must make bringing disruptive strikes to a halt a priority and act immediately to find a way to resolve the long-running junior doctors’ dispute,” she said.
“The latest strike meant yet more disruption and disappointment for thousands of patients waiting for operations, scans and other care. More than 1.5 million appointments have been hit by industrial action across England’s NHS in the last 18 months.
“The next government must reset the relationship with NHS employees so that leaders of hospital, mental health, community health and ambulance trusts can put all of their time and energy into cutting waiting times and looking after patients instead of dealing with industrial action.”
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