South West Norfolk in the 2024 United Kingdom general election

An election took place in the East Anglia constituency of South West Norfolk on 4 July 2024, as part of the 2024 general election. Liz Truss, the shortest serving British prime minister in history, was standing for re-election as MP. On 2 July, a national poll of voters by Portland Communications had showed that Truss was the politician most people (28%) wanted to see lose their seat.

Truss lost her seat with a 43.7% fall in the Conservative vote share, despite having won 69% of the vote at the previous election; The Spectator labelled the result the "Portillo moment" of the year.

Background
Truss had been the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for South West Norfolk since 2010. At the 2019 general election she achieved a majority of 26,195 over her nearest rival, making it the 11th safest Conservative seat in the country. Serving as Prime Minister for only 49 days in 2022, Truss's tenure caused chaos in the financial markets. South West Norfolk elected a Labour MP for the first time in the landslide of 1945, like most of the seats in Norfolk. Since 1964 it had been a Conservative constituency.

Before the election there was speculation that Truss might lose the seat. Though there were a number of major Conservative politicians, including Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt (who subsequently retained his seat) who were considered at risk of losing their seats in 2024, Truss was the only former prime minister standing in the election and it was believed her defeat could be "the ultimate Portillo moment". South West Norfolk had been held by the Conservatives since 1964 and required a 25% swing to the Labour Party for them to lose the seat.

A Survation poll on 22 June predicted that every Conservative in the Norfolk area would lose their seat.

Candidates
Liz Truss, a Conservative, had been the sitting MP for the constituency since 2010, having won the seat in the election that had brought the Conservatives, led by David Cameron to power for the first time since 1997. She spent most of the subsequent years on the Conservative frontbench as a minister in the cabinets of prime ministers Cameron, Theresa May, and Boris Johnson, before herself becoming prime minister after winning the September 2022 party leadership election to succeed Johnson. After a very brief stint, she resigned as prime minister in October 2022 amid a government crisis in response to the September 2022 mini-budget, and thereafter sat in the Conservative backbenches.

Independent candidate James Bagge had been part of the local Conservative Party that had tried to stop Truss from being selected for the seat in 2009. A former High Sheriff of Norfolk, Bagge was unhappy with the lack of attention Truss had given to the constituency and had resigned as Deputy Lieutenant of Norfolk in January 2024 in preparation to stand against her in the forthcoming election.

Terry Jermy, the Labour Party nominee, was a councillor for Thetford on Breckland District Council and Norfolk County Council.

Green Party nominee Pallavi Devulapalli was a councillor on King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council, a GP and her party's national spokesperson on health.

Toby McKenzie, the nominee for Reform UK, was a former teacher.

Liberal Democrat nominee, Josie Ratcliffe was a councillor for Downham East on King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council and had stood for her party in the same constituency for the 2019 general election.

Campaign
When the election was announced, Truss listed her local achievements in a Facebook post, including securing 20 million of regeneration funding for the town of Thetford. She went to the constituency to campaign in person and, as a former prime minister, was accompanied by close protection officers. She visited a number of towns and villages in the constituency, also attending a D-Day commemoration event in Pickenham. She avoided the one hustings event that took place.

The other candidates tried to make the election into a referendum about Truss's record. They argued that Truss had spent little time on constituency issues and had been a poor constituency MP. A spokesperson for Truss pointed out she held constituency surgeries, but did not advertise them for security reasons.

Jermy received little support from the national Labour Party campaign and had to raise £15,000 for his local campaign via crowdfunding.

Bagge launched his campaign, as a "moderate" Independent candidate, on the same date in April 2024 that Truss launched her latest book Ten Years to Save the West. He received endorsements from former Conservative ministers David Gauke and Rory Stewart. Former minister Dominic Grieve campaigned in the constituency with him.

McKenzie could only campaign for Reform at the weekends because he had a full-time job. He said he was realistically hoping to raise the profile of Reform in the constituency.

As of 30 June, there were mixed reports about the likely result. A polling prediction by the Financial Times showed that Labour could beat the Conservatives into second place by a small 1.7% margin, with 32.1% of the vote. Many voters were unenthusiastic or undecided. Though Bagge was unlikely to win the seat as an Independent, it was felt that the traditional Conservative vote might be split, allowing the Labour candidate to win.

Results
South West Norfolk was the final result to be declared in Norfolk and Truss arrived at the count on Friday morning with only seconds to spare, to a slow hand clap from the people assembled in the sports hall where the count was announced. She lost the seat to Labour by 630 votes and did not give a concession speech, though she gave a short interview to the BBC reporter before she left. The Spectator magazine labelled the result the "Portillo moment" of the year.