Rishi Sunak took a major gamble....the gamble failed

But the sheer scale of defeat - predicted in tonight’s jaw dropping exit poll - took the breath away.

As did Reform UK’s stunning ambush of Parliament with an expected 13 seat haul.

Rishi Sunak took a major gamble in calling a snap general election.

The gamble failed.

He got off to a bad start, the rain-sodden sight of the Prime Minister informing the nation that polling day would be on July 4 left an indelible and iconic mark.

His early return from D-Day commemorations was unforgivable and the largely Tory election betting scandal was crowned with the obligatory -gate suffix.

Many disillusioned Tory voters also found solace with Reform.

But this historic election drubbing wasn’t all his fault.

In Britain the political pendulum has swung slowly for almost half a century.

Margaret Thatcher and John Major led a Tory domination for a whopping 18 years.

This was only halted when Tony Blair swept into power in a 1997 landslide, ushering in 13 years of a Labour government.

Since then we’ve had 14 years of a Conservative led government.

The austerity years of the Coalition, a tightening of the purse strings brought in with the economy in tatters following Gordon Brown’s unremarkable premiership and the financial crisis in 2008, tested voters' patience.

The fallout from the Brexit referendum, promised by David Cameron, and its outcome, almost ruined by Thresa May but secured by Boris Johnson, left the nation divided.

A once-in-a-century pandemic and the biggest conflict in Europe since World War Two quickly followed, the collateral damage of which ultimately curtailed Mr Johnson’s time in No 10.

Not to mention the - numerous - Tory scandals.

Then came Liz Truss’s short-lived time as PM, during which the economy crashed again, seemingly sealing the Conservative Party’s fate.

Mr Sunak, who had played a major role in Boris Johnson’s demise, finally got the chance he wanted.

In very difficult circumstances, especially considering what came before, he did a half decent job.

He brought an element of political and economic stability to the UK after the absence of either, confronting political headwinds that precedent suggested would be almost impossible to withstand.

But that giant pendulum has swung again and Mr Sunak was powerless to stop it.

The Conservative Party will have to sift through the wreckage of this political pummelling before deciding its future.

A lurch to the Right, to counteract the dramatic rise of Reform UK and Nigel Farge, is almost inevitable.

The party will need a strong and dynamic leader with a clear vision to hold Labour to account.

A weak opposition will allow Sir Keir Starmer to do what he wants and to lay the foundations for a decade or more in power.

It’s already time for the Tories to start pushing against that pendulum again.