Triumph and Trauma: The British General Election of 2024

When: Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Where: To be announced, Mile End

Join the Mile End Institute to look back on the 2024 general election, the historic Conservative collapse and Labour's “loveless landslide"!

We're delighted to announce that we will also be joined by Stephen Bush, the Associate Editor of the Financial Times, and Rachel Cunliffe, Associate Political Editor at the New Statesman!

On 4 July 2024, an electoral tsunami ripped through British politics. Labour won one of the largest landslides in its history, on the lowest share of the vote of any majority government. The Conservatives suffered their worst defeat in 200 years, the Liberal Democrats secured their best-ever result, the SNP were crushed and Reform UK won 4 million votes. Six independent MPs were elected, including the former Labour Leader, Jeremy Corbyn, and the combined vote-share of the big two parties was the lowest since 1918. For Labour, the result marked a stunning turnaround from the previous election in 2019; yet commentators quickly began to speak of a ‘sandcastle majority’, that might in turn be washed away by the next electoral tide.

In this event, to mark the publication of The British General Election of 2024, we look back on a landmark election and ask why 2024 saw a historic Conservative collapse, a “loveless landslide” for Labour and record fragmentation in voters’ choices. We consider how, when and where this momentous election was won and lost and ask whether it marked the end of two-party politics in Britain.

We are joined for this event by two of the authors of this book: Tim Bale, Professor of Politics at Queen Mary and the country’s leading commentator on Conservative politics; and Paula Surridge, Professor of Political Sociology at the University of Bristol and Deputy Director of UK in a Changing Europe; with further speakers to be confirmed shortly.

This event will begin at 6pm and will take place at Queen Mary's Mile End campus. The exact venue will be announced one week before the event.