Keir Starmer’s Labour party won 412 seats to the Tories’ 121 in the general election, while the Liberal Democrats were on a record 71, the Scottish National party (SNP) on nine, Reform UK on five and the Greens on four. After 649 of 650 results had been declared, the turnout figure stood at 59.8%, a sharp decline from an overall turnout of 67.3% at the last election in 2019. A recount in the Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire seat will not restart until 10.30am on Saturday, delaying the final result of the general election. But the Liberal Democrats are poised to win the seat. Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, Grant Shapps, the defence secretary, and Penny Mordaunt, the Commons leader, were among the most high-profile cabinet ministers unseated by opposition candidates. Alex Chalk, the justice secretary, Lucy Frazer, the culture secretary, and Michelle Donelan, the science secretary, were also ousted. Former prime minister Liz Truss lost her seat in South West Norfolk. The Conservatives lost every seat they had held in Wales. Following the disastrous set of results for the Tories, former Conservative party chairman Eric Pickles warned that the party could face “oblivion” at the next general election. He said there are now no “safe seats”. Keir Starmer, the UK’s new prime minister, quickly started to assemble his new cabinet. Rachel Reeves was confirmed as Britain’s first female chancellor; Angela Rayner is Starmer’s deputy prime minister and retained the levelling up, housing and communities brief, while Yvette Cooper is home secretary and David Lammy was appointed as the foreign secretary. Starmer has already spoken with the US president, Joe Biden. The White House said the two leaders reaffirmed the UK-US “special relationship” in a phone call and said Biden looks forward to meeting the Labour party leader at the Nato summit in Washington next week. Rishi Sunak, the former prime minister, used his final speech in Downing Street to apologise to the British people and the Conservative party. Sunak confirmed he was standing down as Conservative leader but would stay in place while his replacement was elected. The Guardian has been told that prospective Conservative party leadership candidates are preparing for a speedy contest to appoint a successor to Sunak by the autumn in an effort to challenge the rise of Reform. Nigel Farage, the Reform UK party’s leader, said his priority is to now target Labour votes. Scottish first minister and SNP party leader John Swinney described the party’s election results, the SNP’s worst since 2010, as “very damaging” and tough. Ireland’s premier, Simon Harris, said the election of a Labour government in the UK can herald a “great reset” in Anglo-Irish relations. Sinn Féin has become Northern Ireland’s largest party in Westminster after voters turned against the Democratic Unionist party (DUP). The DUP lost three of its eight Westminster seats in Thursday’s election, including the North Antrim stronghold held by Ian Paisley and before that his late father since 1970. Thank you for reading and all your comments today. This blog is closing now but you can read all of our politics coverage here.