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UK party leaders resign after poll debacle

UK party leaders resign

Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage have resigned as leaders of their respective parties following the poll debacle.

Miliband stepped down after admitting scale of election defeat that took him and his staff by surprise.

In his resignation speech, Miliband expressed gratitude to the people who worked during the election campaign. “They are a credit to our party, and, driven by a passion to serve, they are a credit to our country”, he said.

He also took the responsibility for the result. "Defeats are hard, but we’re a party that will never stop fighting for the working people of this country", Miliband added.

In a night of tribulation and tears, Miliband lost all but one of his seats in Scotland – including that of the Scottish Labour leader, Jim Murphy, and the party’s campaign manager, Douglas Alexander – as well as his shadow chancellor, Ed Balls.

Harriet Harman has also stepped down as deputy Labour leader.

 

Nick Clegg announced his resignation after results showed his party has been reduced from 57 to eight members in the new parliament.

Addressing activists and senior figures at Lib Dem headquarters, Clegg described the results “very dark hour for his party” and "the most crushing blow to the Liberal Democrats since our party was founded".

Clegg said he expected this election to be exceptionally difficult for the Liberal Democrats but added that the results have been immeasurably “more crushing and unkind” than he ever could have thought.

Senior figures including Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, and Danny Alexander, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, were prevented by voters from returning to the House of Commons. Ed Davey, the Energy Secretary and justice minister Simon Hughes were also voted out.

Despite the huge losses Clegg was greeted with cheers and a standing ovation as he arrived at his party headquarters. In return, he vowed not to allow decent liberal values to be extinguished overnight. Clegg said that his party strived to make the country fairer and more liberal than it was five years ago. However he warned that liberalism across the UK was "not faring well".

UKIP leader Nigel Farage also quit the party leadership after he failed to win Thanet South, losing by nearly 2,800 votes to the Conservatives.

Announcing his resignation, Farage said "I'm a man of my word" and that “the leadership will be held in September”.

Farage said that he'll take the summer off - but hinted he might stand for re-election as UKIP leader. “There will be a leadership ballot in due course and he'll consider whether to put himself forward”. Farage said that Suzanne Evans, deputy chairman of the party, will take over in the meantime.

SKL/SKL


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