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The Labour party has won the general election in a landslide victory, taking a total of 410 seats.
Keir Starmer is set to become prime minister after the Conservatives experienced their worst electoral in modern history after 14 years in power, winning 119 seats.
High profile Tory MP’s who lost their seats included former prime minister Liz Truss, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Penny Morduant and Grant Shapps.
The Liberal Democrats have boasted about having their best results “in a century” after winning 71 seats.
The Scottish National Party has lost dozens of seats, winning only nine seats out of a 48 they were defending in Scotland.
Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, won four seats with Farage becoming an MP on his eighth attempt.
The Green party also won a total of 4 seats, representing an increase in the number of seats won for the party as well.
There are still seven seats to declare but current PM Rishi Sunak has already arrived in London and is expected to leave Number 10 in a few hours and tender his resignation to the King, according to reports from the BBC.
Industry reacts
Andrew Tully, technical services director at Nucleus said that while some things will change, there are various areas where we are likely to see a continuation of current policy.
On pensions, he explained: “The new government is likely to push ahead with the implementation of the pensions dashboards, with schemes being required to prove connection to the dashboard infrastructure from April 2025. And a potential launch to the public late 2026.
‘We need to make the UK pensions dashboard happen, make it soon and make it effective. This will simplify and speed up the process of finding and consolidating pension funds, a major obstacle for many consumers. ‘
On the advice guidance boundary, Tully said: “The aim is for consumers to get the help they want, at the time they need it, and at a cost that is affordable, to help them make informed financial decisions. But the solution to this challenge will not be met by changes to regulated advice alone. Labour covered this area within its financing growth paper in January 2024 and is likely to proceed with this work.
“Advice works, and we need to find ways to encourage more people to access it. However, we also need to accept the advised cohort will only ever be a minority of people. Many others need help and education, ideally personalised to their situation at least to some degree. And we need to find ways to deliver this to the millions of people saving through auto-enrolment.”
On housing, Ben Beadle, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, said: “The party’s manifesto committed to fundamental reforms to the private rented sector. This includes ending section 21, ‘no explanation’ repossessions.
“We stand ready to work constructively with the new government to ensure changes are fair and workable for tenants and responsible landlords and are sustainable for the years to come.
“It is vital however that reform does not worsen an already chronic shortage of rental properties to meet demand.”
On social care, Alastair Black, heads of savings policy at Abrdn, said: “Social care reform also can’t slip down the list – after pensions, it has to be the single biggest issue creating uncertainty for long-term planning.
“Currently, there’s a support vacuum that makes it very hard for people to plan with confidence. We need to see the government tackle this difficult, but important, issue head on, and not kick it into the long grass. We’ve already seen the planned social care cap pushed back into 2025.
“Ultimately, we want to see that any and all future policy changes are based on thoughtful reform, built around consensus and with a long-term view in mind. Change can absolutely deliver good outcomes.
“But toing and froing undermines long-term planning. It was welcome to see Labour commit to not reinstating the LTA with that in mind.”
alina.khan@ft.com
