Labour Shadow Cabinet member Jonathan Ashworth loses seat to pro-Gaza independent in shock result
5 July 2024, 03:34 | Updated: 5 July 2024, 06:27
Labour's Jonathan Ashworth has lost his Leicester South seat to an independent candidate, in a surprise result.
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Shockat Adam, an independent candidate who has focused his campaigning on Gaza, won 14,739 votes to Mr Ashworth's 13,760 - a margin of just 979 votes.
The result bucks the nationwide trend for Labour, with Sir Keir Starmer's party on course for a landslide victory overall.
There have been warnings that Labour's vote share among the left and Muslim voters may have been eroded by their stance on Gaza.
Mr Ashworth, who was the Shadow Paymaster General, served as the Leicester South MP from 2011.
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The official exit poll earlier predicted a massive Labour landslide.
The projection shows a Labour landslide with 410 seats, with the party having a majority of 170 seats.
Having won his own London seat of Holborn and St Pancras, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer thanked those who voted for him and "put their trust in a changed Labour Party".
"To everyone who has campaigned for Labour in this election, to everyone who voted for us and put their trust in our changed Labour Party - thank you," he said.
According to the exit poll, the Conservatives are set for 131 seats - which would be the lowest number of Tory MPs on record.
The exit poll also forecasts the Liberal Democrats on 61 seats, Reform UK on 13 and the Green Party on two.
In Scotland, the SNP are expected to secure 10 seats with Plaid Cymru in Wales on four.
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