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A record number of cabinet ministers lost their seats in Britain’s general election on Friday, leaving just a few clear contenders for the party leadership if Rishi Sunak resigns.
Nine members of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s top team failed to win re-election, breaking the record of seven members failing to win re-election in 1997 when the ruling Conservatives were badly beaten by the main opposition Labour Party.
Grant Shapps, who had been defence secretary for nearly a year, was the highest-profile casualty, losing his seat of Welwyn Hatfield in north London.
Commons leader Penny Mordaunt, who gained international attention last May for carrying a sword at the coronation of King Charles III, lost in Portsmouth North on England’s south coast.
A former defence secretary, she has twice tried to become Conservative leader and is expected to try again after Thursday’s election, with Sunak expected to step down.
Other Conservative losers included Education Secretary Gillian Keegan, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk, Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer and Transport and Science Secretary Michelle Donelan.
Senior minister Johnny Mercer and Brexit supporter Jacob Rees-Mogg also lost as voters grew tired of the Conservatives after 14 years in power.
The defeats have prompted deep soul-searching among incoming and outgoing Conservatives, who say the party is being punished for a series of scandals and infighting in recent years.
“I think we’ve seen an appalling lack of discipline in the party at this election,” former attorney general Robert Buckland said after losing his seat.
Shapps, a member of the UK House of Commons since 2005, criticized the Conservative Party for its “inability to resolve differences”. Since the Brexit referendum in 2016, the Conservative Party has replaced five prime ministers, staging an endless political “soap opera”.
He added: “What’s clear to me tonight is that it’s not so much that Labour has won, it’s that the Conservatives have lost.”
At the end of last year, right-wing figure Suela Braverman was removed from her post as Home Secretary by Sunak for making a series of inflammatory remarks, but was later re-elected, and Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt also overcame numerous difficulties and won a narrow victory.
The current Home Secretary, James Cleverly, also retained his job.
Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch and Security Minister Tom Tugendhat also won their races.
Most of the high-profile survivors are expected to challenge for leadership.
In his victory speech, Braverman apologized to voters, saying the Conservatives had failed to listen to them.
“The Conservative Party has let you down… We have to do better and I will do everything I can to rebuild trust. We need to listen to you. You have made that clear,” she said.
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