Polling expert John Curtice sends dire warning to Keir Starmer despite Labour election win

A polling expert has sent Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour a dire warning - hours after the party claimed a landslide victory in the General Election.

Sir Keir and the Labour Party stormed to power, as voters vented their anger at the Tories.

Labour is set to take 412 seats with a majority of 174, with one result yet to be declared.

The Tories have suffered their worst electoral defeat in history, with the party forecast to win just 122 seats. Rishi Sunak had to face a resurgent Reform Party, that secured the third-largest vote share of 14 percent.

Yet despite Labour's huge majority, polling expert Sir John Curtice has warned Labour its popularity is still "limited".

Writing in The Times, he said: "In the most disproportional electoral outcome in British electoral history, Labour’s strength in the new House of Commons is a heavily exaggerated reflection of the party’s limited popularity in the country.

"It is an outcome that may well breathe new life into the debate about electoral reform, perhaps not least within the Conservative Party."

Sir John also noted that Labour most likely lost voters to the Greens and that it had been badly hit by its support for Israel's war in Gaza.

The political scientist also believes that voters had failed to embrace Labour - despite rejecting the Tories.

Sir John added: "If he is to maintain the unusual coalition that brought him to power, Sir Keir Starmer will need to convince voters that he and his party really are now up to the daunting task that now confronts them."

Earlier today, Sir Keir started appointing his first-ever Cabinet after entering Downing Street as Prime Minister.

They included Angela Rayner as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and Deputy Prime Minister, as well as Rachel Reeves as Chancellor of the Exchequer