What Happened in the 2024 UK Election?

And how did Labour win?

Looking at the results of the UK election would make one wonder how Labour were able to go from their “worst result in 80 years” to one of the biggest landslide victories in history, in just five years.

On the face of it, this seems like a miracle, a masterclass of electioneering and political nous that should be emulated by all progressives the world over. This is certainly the narrative the UK press are using. The Glorious Starmer Revolution will carry us all to glory, is the overriding image the UK basks in right now. The speeches were conciliatory, gentlemanly, humble even. We’ve turned a page, this all seems to say. But if we actually look at the numbers, not simply the amount of seats Labour won, they tell a very different story.

How Was The Labour Win Possible?

Labour won 412 seats in parliament, a genuine achievement, but because of the UK’s not-fit-for-purpose, First-Past-the-Post electoral system, this number is deceiving. Labour’s vote share did not move from 2019, their supposed ‘worst defeat in history’. This year it went up by just 1%. What allowed them success was a collapse in the Conservative vote share, which dropped 20%. Spreading the near halving of the Conservative vote (from 13 million in 2019 to just 6.8 million this…