Rishi Sunak has apologised after leading the Conservatives to their worst ever election result as a Labour landslide swept Sir Keir Starmer to No 10.
The outgoing UK prime minister said he would quit as Tory leader once arrangements are in place to choose his successor, potentially triggering another round of Conservative infighting as MPs scramble to replace him.
Mr Starmer will become UK prime minister after a Tory rout which saw former premier Liz Truss and a dozen serving Cabinet members lose their seats.
In a statement outside No 10, Mr Sunak said: “I will shortly be seeing His Majesty the King to offer my resignation as Prime Minister.
“To the country, I would like to say first and foremost, I am sorry.
“I have given this job my all, but you have sent a clear signal that the Government of the United Kingdom must change. And yours is the only judgment that matters.
“I have heard your anger, your disappointment, and I take responsibility for this loss.”
After 648 of the 650 Commons seats had been declared, Labour had a majority of 176.
Labour had 412 seats and the Tories 121.
