The 2024 election’s ‘Portillo moments’: which ‘Big Beasts’ have lost their seats?
Defeats of Penny Mordaunt, Gillian Keegan, Grant Shapps and Liz Truss among the jaw-dropping moments of election night
Michael Portillo's election defeat in 1997, unseated on a swing of 17.4 percentage points shortly after 3am on 2 May that year, has become synonymous with the shock moment that a major political big beast loses their seat. But following a landslide victory for Labour in the 2024 general election, the Portillo moments" started coming thick and fast. Who are the major figures who have lost their seats in the 2024 general election?
As of 6am on Friday, nine cabinet ministers had lost their seats including:
Penny Mordaunt, leader of the Commons
Alex Chalk, the justice secretary
Grant Shapps, the defence secretary
Gillian Keegan, the education secretary
Simon Hart, the chief whip
Michelle Donelan, the science secretary
Lucy Frazer, the culture secretary
Johnny Mercer, the veterans minister
Mark Harper, the transport secretary
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