U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak conceded defeat to the center-left Labour Party early Friday, which was projected to win by a landslide in the country's general election — delivering a huge blow to the ruling Conservative Party after 14 years in power.

The big picture: Incumbents are on a losing streak all over the world — particularly in Europe, where inflation has fueled voter discontent. In Britain, however, the Conservatives' looming defeat is largely of their own making.

Sir Keir Starmer is set to become the UK's first Labour prime minister since 2010 after his party's landslide general election victory.

Labour is returning to power with a huge parliamentary majority of 174, following a collapse in support for the Conservatives.

Sir Keir will be formally appointed by the King at Buckingham Palace later, replacing Tory leader Rishi Sunak, and make his first speech in Downing Street.

Speaking outside No 10, Mr Sunak vowed to remain his party's leader until formal arrangements for selecting his successor are in place.

The election result is the most distorted in history after Labour won nearly two thirds of seats with just a third of the popular vote.

With almost all seats counted, Labour has won 410 constituencies – 63.7 per cent of the seats available – with a vote share of just 33.9 per cent.

The 29.9 point gap between the popular vote and seat share makes this the most skewed result ever, far outpacing the previous 22 point gap recorded in 2001 under Tony Blair.