The Irish numbers genius behind Labour’s victory: Morgan McSweeney’s journey from Macroom to 10 Downing Street

Morgan McSweeney, Labour’s campaign chief

Ed Cumming and Gordon Rayner
© Telegraph.co.uk

Keir Starmer’s victory was a masterpiece of electoral strategy in the UK’s first-past-the-post system, which converted 34pc of the vote into 412 seats in the Commons — the most efficient votes-per-seat ratio of all time.

His Labour party only received 2pc more of the vote than in 2019, but it was deployed to maximum effect. Votes were spread like Marmite on toast, to create a thin but — for Labour at least — satisfying even layer across the country.