Tories lose record number of Cabinet ministers in punishing election

A record number of Conservative Cabinet members have lost their seats, beating the previous record of seven defeats in 1997.

Members of Rishi Sunak’s Cabinet and high-profile Tories who have lost their seats are:

Mr Shapps has held a series of Cabinet positions under four Tory prime ministers – including energy security and net zero secretary, business secretary and home secretary.

– Liz Truss

Former prime minister Liz Truss was the biggest scalp in the Tory bloodbath – booted out of office after losing her Norfolk South West seat by 630 votes.

She was Britain’s shortest-serving PM, with her tenure in Downing Street lasting just 49 days.

But her time in Downing Street, which spanned the death of Queen Elizabeth II, ended in disaster after her damaging mini budget, which included unfunded tax cutting measures, triggered mass market turmoil.

– Penny Mordaunt

The House of Commons Leader, Penny Mordaunt, lost her Portsmouth North seat to Labour’s Amanda Martin.

It was thought that Ms Mordaunt, who went viral for carrying two heavy swords at the King’s coronation, would run for the party leadership if she managed to hang on to her seat.

She had two failed bids under her belt, having lost to Liz Truss and then Mr Sunak. She became an MP in 2010 and was made the UK’s first female defence secretary in 2019 but was bumped from the role after 85 days in a reshuffle.

Alex Chalk, the Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor since 2023, became MP for Cheltenham in 2015, and had a notional majority in 2019 of 1,421.

He was unseated this time around by Liberal Democrat Max Wilkinson.

Mr Chalk spent 14 years as a barrister and specialised in counter-terrorism, homicide and serious fraud cases before he was elected as an MP.

The legal system has faced severe challenges under his watch – with a backlog of court cases, delays due to Covid-19 and industrial action by criminal defence barristers.

The Education Secretary since 2022 and MP for Chichester from 2017, Gillian Keegan lost her seat to Liberal Democrat candidate Jess Brown-Fuller.

Ms Keegan had pushed for banning smartphones in schools. She also oversaw draft statutory sex education guidance that “gender ideology” should not be taught in schools.

– Lucy Frazer

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer lost her seat in Ely and East Cambridgeshire to the Liberal Democrats’ Charlotte Cane.

Ms Frazer was a Sunak loyalist and her prior posts included minister in the transport and justice departments, financial secretary to the Treasury and solicitor general.

Before being elected as the MP for South East Cambridgeshire in 2015, she worked as a barrister in commercial law.

Johnny Mercer lost his seat in Plymouth Moor View to Labour candidate Fred Thomas.

The Veterans Minister was first elected in the 2015 General Election, having never voted before.

Mr Mercer came from a military family and graduated from Sandhurst in 2002, going on to serve around the world.

Earlier this year he faced controversy when he was told by a judge he must hand over names of the people who told him about alleged special forces murders in Afghanistan.

–  Michelle Donelan

Science Secretary Michelle Donelan lost her Melksham and Devizes seat to the Liberal Democrats.

She faced calls to resign earlier in the year after taxpayers’ money was used to pay damages to an academic she had accused of expressing sympathy for Hamas.

Chief whip Simon Hart managed just third place in the newly created Caerfyrddin constituency, with Plaid Cymru’s Ann Davies taking the top spot.

He came to Parliament in 2010 with a background in rural affairs as chief executive of the Countryside Alliance and a former master of the South Pembrokeshire Hunt.

A former Welsh secretary, he quit the post in 2022 as pressure mounted on then prime minister Boris Johnson to resign.

Mr Hart, who worked as a chartered surveyor and served with the Territorial Army, had served as Conservative MP for Carmarthen West & South Pembrokeshire since 2010.

– Sir Robert Buckland

Former justice secretary Sir Robert Buckland lost his Swindon South seat to Labour’s Heidi Alexander.

He was Secretary of State for Wales from July 7, 2022 to October 25, 2022, and previously held the posts of Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, and Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice, and Solicitor General.

Sir Robert was elected the Conservative MP for South Swindon in 2010.

Sir Michael Fabricant, lost his seat in Lichfield to Labour’s Dave Robertson who won 17,232 votes – a majority of 810.

When knighted at the end of last year Sir Michael – recognisable by his distinctive blonde hair – put his lengthy political career down to his interest in his own constituency.

He had been a serving MP since 1992 and retained his seat at the 2019 general election with a majority of more than 23,000.

– Jonathan Gullis 

Conservative deputy chairman Jonathan Gullis was beaten in Stoke-on-Trent North by Labour’s  David Williams.

He was elected as Conservative MP in December 2019.

She held a number of previous roles, including Deputy Leader of the House of Commons, and served on the Culture, Media and Sport Committee until she was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to Michael Fallon, Minister for Business and Energy.

– Sir Simon Clarke

Sir Simon Clarke, former Tory levelling up secretary lost Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland to Labour candidate Luke Myer by 214 votes.

In the past he had also worked as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and a housing minister.

– Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg

The veteran Tory MP lost his Somerset North East and Hanham seat to Labour’s Dan Norris, who said: “We’ve got Mogg-xit done.”

The Arch-Brexiteer and father-of-six has courted controversy in his time, having to apologise in 2019 for suggesting Grenfell victims should have used “common sense” and ignored fire service guidance not to leave the burning tower block, and in 2022 dismissing as a “non-story” the fact the Metropolitan Police had issued more than 100 fines over the partygate scandal.

– David TC Davies

The Welsh Secretary suffered a defeat to Labour.

He was the final Tory to fall in Wales, and had been Monmouth MP since 2005 and Welsh secretary since October 2022.

– Mark Harper

Mark Harper, Transport Secretary was defeated by Labour in the Forest of Dean, a seat he had held since 2005.

From May 2015 until July 2016 he served as chief whip, and before that had a number of different roles.

– Victoria Prentis

Appointed Attorney General in October 2022, she had been the Conservative MP for Banbury since 2015.

Friday’s results confirmed she had been defeated by Labour’s Sean Woodcock.

– Steve Baker

Steve Baker lost Wycombe to Labour candidate Emma Reynolds.

He was appointed Northern Ireland minister in September 2022, and was first elected Conservative MP for the constituency in 2010.

On losing, he said “Thank God I’m a free man.”

– Michael Tomlinson

Illegal migration minister Michael Tomlinson lost to the Liberal Democrats in Mid Dorset and North Poole.

He was appointed minister for countering illegal migration in December 2023, and was first elected Conservative MP for the constituency in 2015.