Partygate and Truss lit the flame that torched Sunak

Labour's success is spectacular. The party's likely overall majority of 176 almost matches the majority of 179 that Tony Blair secured in 1997. Yet it was not a surprise. For most of the campaign, polls of vote intention consistently put Labour 20 points ahead, narrowing only a couple of points at the end.

- JOHN CURTICE

And at the end, Labour's lead was much narrower - nine points. However, voters were so keen to eject the Conservatives from office that many voted for whoever seemed best placed to defeat them locally, be they Labour, the Liberal Democrats, or in some instances Reform or the Greens. With the Conservative vote falling more heavily where they were previously strongest, the electoral system unmercifully meted out rough justice on the party.

It was, of course, not the smoothest of Conservative campaigns. It started with Rishi Sunak getting soaked in the rain when he announced the election date and was greeted with widespread opprobrium when the prime minister failed to attend the international part of the D-Day commemorations in June. Yet the seeds of Conservative defeat were sown a long time ago. The party was punished on Thursday for two mistakes voters had never looked likely to forgive.