Former prime ministers and the 2024 General Election: not first, but equal

One of the big stories of the General Election is Liz Truss' loss of her seat.

She is not the first former prime minister to lose their seat at a General Election. 

Ramsay MacDonald did in the November 1935 election. He returned to the Commons following a by-election in January 1936.

Herbert Henry Asquith lost his seat in the October 1924 election. He accepted a peerage in 1925.

Arthur Balfour lost his seat in the January 1906 election. He became an MP again in February that year following a by-election.

The 2024 election was also interesting from other ex-premiers' perspectives.

With Theresa May's elevation to the House of Lords, the Upper Chamber will now have two ex-prime ministers for the first time since Lord Callaghan's death in 2005.

Also, four of the five seats held by prime minsters since 2010 have been lost by the Conservatives. David Cameron's Witney constituency was won by the Liberal Democrats, as was Theresa May's seat of Maidenhead. Boris Johnson's former seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip has been won by Labour, as has Liz Truss' seat. What will the latter do now? Accept a peerage, or join John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, and Boris Johnson as ex-premiers without a parliamentary seat? Truss' loss also means that Rishi Sunak is now the only former prime minister in the Commons.

And spare a thought for Ted Heath and Margaret Thatcher. What would they have made of one of their constituencies staying Conservative and the other going Labour?