The 12 Cabinet ministers ousted from Parliament in Tory election nightmare (2024)

Election 2024: Penny Mordaunt speaks after losing her seat

TABLE OF CONTENT

• Penny Mordaunt, Commons leader
• Alex Chalk, Justice Secretary
• Gillian Keegan, Education Secretary
• Lucy Frazer, Culture Secretary
• Johnny Mercer, Veterans Minister
• Michelle Donelan, Science Secretary
• Simon Hart, chief whip
• Mark Harper, Transport Secretary
• David TC Davies, Welsh Secretary
• Victoria Prentis, Attorney General
• Michael Tomlinson, Illegal Migration minister

Twelve Cabinet ministers have lost their seats in the General Election, beating the previous record of seven defeats in 1997.

Some faced a “Portillo” moment, a reference to Conservative cabinet minister Michael Portillo who lost what had been regarded as a safe Tory seat in Labour’s 1997 landslide.

Labour has reached 400 seats with 612 constituency results declared, securing 34.4 percent of the vote share.

The Conservatives have 107 seats and a 23.4 percent vote share.

Members of Rishi Sunak’s Cabinet and high-profile Tories who have lost their seats are:

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Grant Shapps (Image: Getty)

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps lost his seat as MP for Welwyn Hatfield to Labour’s Andrew Lewin.

Mr Shapps has held a series of Cabinet positions under four Tory prime ministers – including energy security and net zero secretary, business secretary and home secretary.

Labour won 19,877 votes in Welwyn Hatfield, with Tory candidate Shapps coming second on 16,078.

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A number of big names from the Tory Party lost their seat today (Image: EXPRESS)

Penny Mordaunt (Image: Getty)

The House of Commons Leader, Penny Mordaunt, lost her Portsmouth North seat to Labour’s Amanda Martin.

It was thought that Ms Mordaunt, who went viral for carrying two heavy swords at the King’s coronation, would run for the party leadership if she managed to hang on to her seat.

She had two failed bids under her belt, having lost to Liz Truss and then Mr Sunak. She became an MP in 2010 and was made the UK’s first female defence secretary in 2019 but was bumped from the role after 85 days in a reshuffle.

Traditionally a bellwether seat, Labour's Amanda Martin has won with 14,495 votes to Ms Mordaunt's 13,715 - an 18% swing.

Alex Chalk (Image: Getty)

Alex Chalk, the Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor since 2023, became MP for Cheltenham in 2015, and had a notional majority in 2019 of 1,421.

He was unseated this time around by Liberal Democrat Max Wilkinson.

Mr Chalk spent 14 years as a barrister and specialised in counter-terrorism, homicide and serious fraud cases before he was elected as an MP.

The legal system has faced severe challenges under his watch – with a backlog of court cases, delays due to Covid-19 and industrial action by criminal defence barristers.

The Lib Dem candidate polled 25,076 ahead of the Lord Chancellor on 17,866.

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Gillian Keegan (Image: Getty)

The Education Secretary since 2022 and MP for Chichester from 2017, Gillian Keegan lost her seat to Liberal Democrat candidate Jess Brown-Fuller.

Ms Keegan had pushed for banning smartphones in schools. She also oversaw draft statutory sex education guidance that “gender ideology” should not be taught in schools.

She was beaten by the Liberal Democrat candidate Jess Brown-Fuller, who received 49% of the vote share.

Keegan received just 13,368 votes, only 25% of those cast. It means there has been a notional swing of 31% to the Liberal Democrats in Chichester.

Lucy Frazer arriving for Cabinet (Image: Getty)

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer lost her seat in Ely and East Cambridgeshire to the Liberal Democrats’ Charlotte Cane.

Ms Frazer was a Sunak loyalist and her prior posts included minister in the transport and justice departments, financial secretary to the Treasury and solicitor general.

Before being elected as the MP for South East Cambridgeshire in 2015, she worked as a barrister in commercial law.

Lucy Frazer said it has been a challenging night after losing her seat "a close margin" of 495 votes.

Johnny Mercer (Image: Getty)

Johnny Mercer lost his seat in Plymouth Moor View to Labour candidate Fred Thomas.

The Veterans Minister was first elected in the 2015 General Election, having never voted before.

Mr Mercer came from a military family and graduated from Sandhurst in 2002, going on to serve around the world.

Earlier this year he faced controversy when he was told by a judge he must hand over names of the people who told him about alleged special forces murders in Afghanistan.

Mr Mercer came in second, receiving 12,061 votes. Mr Thomas, the new MP, received 17,665 votes, securing victory with a 5,604 majority.

Michelle Donelan (Image: Getty)

Science Secretary Michelle Donelan lost her Melksham and Devizes seat to the Liberal Democrats.

She faced calls to resign earlier in the year after taxpayers’ money was used to pay damages to an academic she had accused of expressing sympathy for Hamas.

Ms Donelan recieved 17,630 votes, compared to Brian Mathew's 20,031.

Chief whip Simon Hart attends Cabinet (Image: Getty)

Chief whip Simon Hart managed just third place in the newly created Caerfyrddin constituency, with Plaid Cymru’s Ann Davies taking the top spot.

He came to Parliament in 2010 with a background in rural affairs as chief executive of the Countryside Alliance and a former master of the South Pembrokeshire Hunt.

A former Welsh secretary, he quit the post in 2022 as pressure mounted on then prime minister Boris Johnson to resign.

Mr Hart, who worked as a chartered surveyor and served with the Territorial Army, had served as Conservative MP for Carmarthen West & South Pembrokeshire since 2010.

Mark Harper (Image: Getty)

Mark Harper has been Transport Secretary since 2022 and became an MP in 2005.

During his time in the transport post, Mr Sunak scrapped the northern leg of HS2. Mr Harper is also known for chairing the Covid Recovery Group, which opposed the December 2020 lockdown and voted against other Covid restrictions.

He lost his Forest of Dean seat to Labour challenger Matt Bishop.

Mark Harper lost by less than 300 votes, but Labour had a challenge on their hands because Mr Harper had a 15,000 majority to overturn from 2019.

David TC Davies, Welsh Secretary (Image: Getty)

David TC Davies, one of the most senior Conservatives in Wales, has lost his Monmouth seat in an election which has seen his party wiped out in the country.

In a disastrous night for the Tories, the incumbent Welsh Secretary lost the seat he had held for almost 20 years.

He was unseated by Labour’s Catherine f*ckes, who received 21,010 votes compared to 17,672 for Mr Davies. The turnout was 68.15%.

The 52-year-old has served as the MP for Monmouth since 2005, and has been Wales’ minister in the cabinet since October 2022 – one of the most senior UK government positions held by a Welsh MP.

Mr Davies, a father of three, congratulated his opponent on her success while acknowledging it was a “disappointing” result for his party.

Victoria Prentis, Attorney General (Image: Getty)

Attorney General Victoria Prentis held the Banbury seat since the 2015 election.

She lost to Labour's Sean Woodco*ck who got 18,468 votes.

Ms Prentis got 15,212 votes.

This year’s election saw boundary changes affect the Banbury constituency.

Bicester, formerly in the constituency, has now been incorporated into the new Bicester and Woodstock constituency.

This, however, has been somewhat offset by the incorporation of parts of Witney, such as Chipping Norton and Charlbury into the Banbury voter area.

Michael Tomlinson (Image: Getty)

Michael Tomlinson, an illegal migration minister in Rishi Sunak's government, narrowly lost his seat to the Liberal Democrats, where Vikki Slade secured a tight 500-vote majority.

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