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Louise Thomas
Editor
Rishi Sunak fell victim to a humiliating prank shortly after the Tories were ousted from power in a devastating landslide for Labour.
While Sunak lost his role as PM, with Sir Keir Starmer set to enter No 10, the former Tory leader, who retained his seat in Richmond and Northallerton and, while delivering his speech of thanks to his constituents, YouTube prankster Niko Omilana walked behind him holding a piece of paper with the letter “L” on it.
The prank, which referred to Sunak as a “loser”, was claimed by Omilana shortly after it happened. He wrote on his social media pages, where he has 7.49 million followers: “Hold this L rishi, your time is up.”
Omilana was able to make it onto the stage as he had stood as an independent candidate in the constituency, winning a total of 160 votes.
As he stood behind Sunak, the camera tried – and failed – to move him out of frame.
Sunak called the overall result of the general election “a sobering verdict”, adding: “There is much to learn, and I take responsibility for the loss.”
He added: “To the many good, hard-working Conservative candidates who lost tonight, despite their tireless efforts, their local records and delivery, and their dedication to their communities. I am sorry.”
While Sunak retained his seat, one former prime minster who failed to do so was Liz Truss. Other high-profile Tory politicians, including Commons leader Penny Mordaunt, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps and former Jacob Rees-Mogg, were also ousted from their seats.
In his victory speech, Starmer said change “begins now”.
“It feels good, I have to be honest,” he said. “Four and a half years of work, changing the party. This is what it is for. A changed Labour party, ready to serve our country, ready to restore Britain to the service of working people.”
Starmer promised an “age of national renewal” in which Labour would “start to rebuild our country” but he also acknowledged that change would be difficult.
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The Labour leader said the “sunlight of hope was… shining once again in a country with an opportunity after 14 years to get its future back”.
Although Labour won the election in a huge landslide, one independent candidate who managed to defeat the party in their constituency was its former leader, Jeremy Corbyn, who retained his Islington North seat with 24,120 votes.
Corbyn won the constituency with 7,247 more votes than the Labour candidate’s Praful Nargund, who secured 16,873 votes.
Upon his victory, he said: “Our campaign was a positive one, it did not get into the gutter of politics. Ours was a positive campaign trying to bring hope to people.
“Our campaign was utterly determined to bring a degree of unity to it. This result is a resounding message from the people of Islington North that they want something better.
“I owe my life and my learning and my abilities entirely to the people of Islington North. This victory is dedicated entirely to them.”
