ACROSS the UK's 650 constituencies, there have been some seismic shocks overnight in the General Election.
On a night when Keir Starmer's Labour stormed to victory, their former leader Jeremy Corbyn held onto the seat he has represented for more than 40 years, but this time as an independent after being expelled from his old party.
There were also huge Tory defeats both sides of the Border. Here are some of the biggest shocks of the night.
Aberdeenshire North and Moray East
By some distance the biggest shock in an individual seat in Scotland was Tory leader Douglas Ross losing out to the SNP.
He’s not out of a job, given he is still an MSP, but his gamble of running in this election when he never originally intended to ended up backfiring.
Aberdeenshire North and Moray East was taken by the SNP’s Seamus Logan who got nearly 1000 more votes than Ross as the Tories slipped into second place.
Ross pointed to Reform votes letting the SNP in “by the back door”.
Reform UK got 5562 votes – 14.6% - in the area, coming in third place in front of Labour and the LibDems.
Portsmouth North
At the opposite end of the UK, Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt (below) lost out in Portsmouth North on a torrid night for the Conservatives.
In an incredibly tight contest, Labour’s Amanda Martin won with 14,495 votes to Mordaunt’s 13,715 – an 18% swing.
Mordaunt had been hotly tipped to run for the party leadership had she managed to hang on as an MP.
Islington North
This is an outlier in what is generally a list of shock defeats because former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn proved any doubters wrong as he swept to victory as an independent in Islington North.
Following his expulsion from Labour, Corbyn still managed to hang on as MP for the constituency he has represented for 40 years securing 24,120 votes to Labour’s 16,873.
Welwyn-Hatfield
Another huge loss for the Tories came in Welwyn-Hatfield where Defence Secretary Grant Shapps (below) lost his seat for the first time in 19 years.
Labour’s Andrew Lewin – who stood for the LibDems in 2010 – claimed victory as Shapps conceded the public were done with his party’s “endless political soap opera”.
Leicester South
Labour may have swept to victory across the UK but it has not been plain sailing.
One of the big names in the shadow cabinet, Jonathan Ashworth, fell victim to a pro-Gaza independent candidate, as the impact of the party’s attitude towards the crisis in the Middle East dented an otherwise celebratory night for Labour.
Ashworth lost in Leicester South to Shockat Adam who declared: “This is for Gaza.”
Adam won by just under 1000 votes.
North East Somerset
The man who came to prominence around the Brexit referendum, Jacob Rees-Mogg, lost his seat in North East Somerset.
The former minister for Brexit opportunities lost to Labour’s Dan Norris who won with 20,739 votes to Rees-Mogg’s 15,420.
South West Norfolk
She held the keys to Number 10 for 45 days before she showed herself out and now Liz Truss has lost her seat following a dramatic night in South West Norfolk.
Truss lost out to Labour’s Terry Jermy by 640 votes. She won a 26,000 majority in 2019 and had been the area’s MP for 14 years.
