Labour and the Conservatives were rocked earlier this year when a string of MPs quit en masse to form The Independent Group (eventually, Change UK) over Brexit and anti-Semitism.
Most of them then quit Change UK to join the Lib Dems, some going independent along the way.
In some cases, they were veteran MPs who likely hoped that their personal popularity would overshadow party loyalties among the electorate, and that they would be returned to parliament.
Except that isn’t what’s happened.
All 11 of the MPs who quit Labour or the Tories have lost their seats. Only former Labour MP Luciana Berger was on track to take Finchley and Golders Green for the Lib Dems from Conservative Mike Freer, but she too failed to get over the line.
Before they fade into obscurity, here’s a rundown of some names you might not hear again for a while...
Luciana Berger
Seat: Finchley and Golders Green
Defection: Labour to Change UK to Independent to Liberal Democrats
Result: Despite a positive showing from BBC’s exit poll analysis, she failed to win the seat from Mike Freer. She took 17,600 votes to Freer’s 24,162.
Sarah Wollaston
Seat: Totnes
Defection: Conservative to Change UK to independent to Liberal Democrats
Result: A Conservative hold – Wollaston’s gamble was a failure with 15,027 votes to Anthony Mangnall’s 27,751.
Mike Gapes
Seat: Ilford South
Defection: Labour to Change UK
Result: A Labour hold – Gapes’s gamble was a failure, after Labour’s Sam Tarry stormed to victory with a majority of 24,137 to Gapes’s 3,891.
Sam Gyimah
Seat: Kensington
Defection: Conservative to independent to Liberal Democrats
Result: Tory candidate Felicity Buchan won with 16,768 votes, while Gyimah received 9,312.
Chris Leslie
Seat: Nottingham East
Defection: Labour to Change UK
Result: A Labour gain – Leslie’s gamble was a failure with just 1,447 votes.
Gavin Shuker
Seat: Luton South
Defection: Labour to Change UK to independent
Result: A Labour hold – Shuker’s gamble was a failure with 3,893 votes.
Angela Smith
Seat: Penistone and Stocksbridge
Defection: Labour to Change UK to independent to Liberal Democrats
Result: Smith lost in Altrincham and Sale West.
Chuka Umunna
Seat: Cities of London and Westminster
Defection: Labour to Change UK to independent to Liberal Democrats
Result: Conservative hold – Ummuna’s gamble did not pay off with 13,096 votes.
Phillip Lee
Seat: Wokingham
Defection: Conservatives to Liberal Democrats
Result: A Conservative hold – Lee’s gamble amounting 23,351 votes was a failure.
Ann Coffey
Seat: Stockport
Defection: Labour to Change UK
Result: A Labour hold – Coffey’s gamble was a failure.
Antoinette Sandbach
Seat: Eddisbury
Defection: Conservatives to independent to Liberal Democrats
Result: A Conservative hold – Sandbach’s gamble was a failure, finishing a distant third with 9,582 votes.