LONDON
Former Prime Minister Liz Truss on Friday lost her South West Norfolk seat, marking one of the most significant defeats for the Conservative Party on a night of widespread losses.
She became the first former UK premier to lose their seat in more than 100 years.
Truss, whose brief 45-day tenure as the prime minister has been cited by many Conservatives as a key factor in the party’s historic downfall, was defeated by Labour candidate Terry Jermy by a margin of 640 votes.
In the 2019 election, Truss secured a comfortable 26,000 majority and was not anticipated to face serious competition in this election.
However, reports from campaign activists indicated that Truss had been notably absent from the constituency during the campaign period, despite her 14-year tenure as the area’s MP.
With 638 out of 650 seats counted, the Conservative Party had secured only 119 seats, putting them on track to win fewer seats than in their previous worst performance in 1997.
The loss of South West Norfolk, a seat held by Truss since 2010, symbolizes the extent of the party’s collapse.
Truss did not deliver a concession speech following her defeat but later spoke to the BBC.
“I think the issue we faced as Conservatives is we haven’t delivered sufficiently on the policies people want. And that means keeping taxes low, but also particularly on reducing immigration – and I think that’s been a crucial issue here in South West Norfolk.”
