One of the casualties in a desperate election night for the Conservative Party was housing minister Lee Rowley.

He lost the seat for  North East Derbyshire to Labour candidate Louise Jones who polled 17,591 votes to Rowley’s  15,838.

Rowley first took the seat in the 2017 election and retained it in 2019.

The former management consultant was appointed housing minister in November 2023, replacing Rachel Maclean who was sacked as part of a cabinet reshuffle.

Maclean also lost her seat last night, Redditch in Worcestershire, to Labour’s Chris Bloore – who won with a majority of 789 votes.

Probably the most high-profile former housing minister to be ousted in the 2024 election was Grant Shapps. He was drafted in by the Cameron–Clegg coalition in 2010 to serve as Minister of State for Housing and Local Government.

Defence secretary before the 2024 election, Shapps lost his Welwyn Hatfield seat to Labour.