General Election 2024: Penny Mordaunt loses Portsmouth North Conservative seat to Amanda Martin in Labour win

The leader of the House of Commons was left crestfallen as Labour candidate Amanda Martin pulls off a narrow victory. Reform UK also saw a surge in votes. YouGov polls ahead of the result were split, with Ms Mordaunt projected to secure a slim majority on some weeks and completely lose her seat at other times. Reform UK saw a surge in votes, which came out of nowhere in recent weeks.

Councillor George Madgwick, leader of the Portsmouth Independent Party - who backed Ms Mordaunt’s candidacy - predicted that she would would lose her seat due to the rise of both Labour and Reform. The Lord Mayor of Portsmouth declared the results.

Ms Mordaunt has campaigned to become the leader of the Conservative party and prime minister following the controversial dismissals of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. The Royal Navy reservist was first elected to Portsmouth North in 2010, gradually increasing her majority in subsequent elections.

She helped secure millions of pounds worth of levelling up for Portsmouth International Port - which included a carbon-neutral cruise terminal - and regeneration for the north of the city including Hilsea Lido. In the national picture,

Ms Mordaunt, 51 - a former magician’s assistant – went viral for carrying two heavy swords at the King’s coronation, dressed in a custom-made teal outfit with a matching cape and headband with gold feather embroidery. As Lord President of the Council, she was responsible for bearing the Sword of State and presenting the Jewelled Sword of Offering to Charles – the first time the duty had been carried out by a woman.

She was hailed as stealing the show and later disclosed she did press ups in preparation and practised with weighted replicas. Ms Mordaunt branded Mr Sunak’s heavily criticised decision to leave the D-Day 80th anniversary commemorations early as “completely wrong” during the election campaign. “What happened was completely wrong and the Prime Minister has rightly apologised for that, apologised to veterans but also to all of us, because he was representing all of us,” she said.

More to follow...

Full results:

Amanda Martin Labour - 14,495

Penny Mordaunt Conservative - 13,715

Mel Todd Reform UK - 8,501

Simon Dodd - Liberal Democrats - 3,031

Duncan Stuart Robinson Green Party - 1,85

Total - 41,741 - 59.25%