Politics

From Jo Swinson to Anna Soubry and Chuka Umunna: The biggest UK election casualties of 2019



Boris Johnson’s Tories have soared to an outright majority at the election, with many prominent politicians who were standing in their way failing to gain a seat.

Former ministers, Tory defectors and even the leader of a major party were among those who fell short of securing a space in the Commons after the nation went to the polls.

Here we look at who lost out as we list some of the biggest casualties:

Jo Swinson – The Liberal Democrat leader’s defeat was the biggest shock of the night, narrowly losing her Dunbartonshire East seat to the SNP’s Amy Callaghan by 149 votes.

 Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson narrowly lost her Dunbartonshire East seat (AFP via Getty Images)

Chuka Umunna – In another significant sign of a bad night for the Lib Dems, the former Labour and Independent Group MP for Streatham lost his gamble in switching seats as he trailed the Tories in Cities of London & Westminster.

Chuka Umunna was vying for the Cities of London and Westminster seat (Getty Images)

Zac Goldsmith – A 6% swing to the Liberal Democrats’ Sarah Olney saw the Tory former London mayoral candidate lose his seat in Richmond Park

Zac Goldsmith lost his Richmond Park seat (PA)

Nigel Dodds – Having already lost the likelihood of being kingmakers again, the Democratic Unionist Party suffered another blow as their deputy leader, and leader in Westminster, was unseated in Belfast North by Sinn Fein’s John Finucane.

Nigel Dodds reacts after losing his seat (Getty Images)

Sam Gyimah – The ex-Tory minister, who defected to the Lib Dems because of his Brexit stance, was a distant third in Kensington – the seat changing hands from Labour to the Conservatives.

Sam Gyimah was a distant third in Kensington (Jeremy Selwyn)

Anna Soubry – The former Tory, who left the party and became leader of The Independent Group for Change, was unable to command the majority she held when she stood as a Conservative in 2017 – finishing a distant third in Broxtowe on 4,668 votes.

Anna Soubry finished third in Broxtowe (Jacob King/PA)

Dominic Grieve – A former Tory minister, who had the whip removed by Boris Johnson for being a Brexit rebel in the Commons and stood as an Independent, could only place second to his former party in Beaconsfield, losing by 15,712 votes.

Former conservative MP Dominic Grieve has been ousted from his seat in Beaconsfield (AFP via Getty Images)

Caroline Flint – Her run of six election victories came to an end as the former Labour minister lost the Don Valley seat to the Tories, having been held by her party since 1922.

Caroline Flint lost the Don Valley seat to the Tories (PA Wire)

Luciana Berger – Having left Labour over the party leadership’s handling of anti-Semitism, Ms Berger co-founded the Independent Group but later defected to the Liberal Democrats. A switch of seat from Liverpool Wavertree to Finchley & Golders Green failed to pay off, though, as she trailed the Tories in second.

Luciana Berger failed to gain a seat in Finchley (NIGEL HOWARD)

 

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