This exit poll portends total rejection of these amoral Tories – and incredible vindication for Labour | Hugh Muir

Punishment seems to come from all sides, with a landslide for Keir Starmer and sizeable gains for the Lib Dems and Reform

Gradually, then suddenly. That is how Ernest Hemingway famously described a character's bankruptcy. That was how the 14-year Tory hegemony of Britain came to a brutal end.

If the exit poll released on the stroke of 10pm is even half right, this is less a changing of the executive, more a punishment beating - and one that is well deserved. A 170-seat majority for Keir Starmer and his refashioned Labour party, which is projected to land 410 seats. A drubbing for the Tories, pegged back to 131.

Hugh Muir is the Guardian's executive editor, Opinion

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