British PM concedes ‘sobering’ defeat

Rishi Sunak has kept his seat, but the Conservative Party has suffered a historic loss

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has apologized to his Conservative colleagues who lost their seats, in a speech acknowledging the crushing defeat his party suffered in Thursday's election.

“The Labour Party has won this general election… the British people have delivered a sobering verdict tonight,” Sunak said in a speech lasting less than two minutes on Friday morning, as exit polls and early results projected the opposition had won more than 400 out of 650 seats in parliament.

Sunak refused to answer questions, but indicated that he would not step down as an MP, promising his North Yorkshire constituents that he would continue to “serve as your member of parliament,”  spending more time with them in the “week, months and years to come.”

READ MORE: UK Tories face worst election defeat in history – exit poll

Sunak called the Labour leader Keir Starmer to congratulate him on his victory, before traveling to London, where he is expected to “say more about tonight’s result.”