The U.K.’s Labour Party, led by Keir Starmer, won the July 4 general election by a landslide, securing 412 (+211) seats with outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party down to 121 (-250) seats in the 650-seat House of Commons. Nevertheless, the vote shares told a story of a more modest victory for Labour, while confirming the Conservative defeat, with Labour getting 35% and the Conservatives 24%. Labour had consistently polled 20 points head of the Conservatives in opinion polls.
“In many ways, this looks more like an election the Conservatives have lost than one Labour has won,” political scientist and psephologist John Curtice wrote on the BBC’s website.
Following Labour’s victory, King Charles III, the country’s monarch, appointed Mr. Starmer as the new Prime Minister of the U.K.
Keir Starmer promises change
The U.K.’s new Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, promised to carry fourth the theme of his Labour Party campaign, ‘change’ into his government, brining the notions of “service and respect” back into government.
Standing outside the Prime Minister’s official residence, No. 10 Downing Street with his wife Victoria Starmer, minutes after the residence’s former occupants, outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his family had departed, Mr. Starmer said he his government would put “country first, party second”.
In a thinly veiled reference to the five prime ministers the fourteen years of Tory government had seen, Mr. Starmer said that Britain had an ability to steer itself to calmer waters but that depended on politicians, especially those favouring “stability and moderation”.
But for Labour under Mr. Starmer, “change” has not just meant a change from the Tories but also a move towards the centre that has occurred since he took over the reins of the party from Jeremy Corbyn in 2020. Mr. Starmer has made repeated explicit references through the campaign, including on Friday, to a changed party.
Editorial | Laboured change: on the U.K. general election result
“You have a government unburdened by doctrine, guided only by a determination to serve your interests, to defy, quietly, those who have written off our country,” he said in his first speech as Prime Minister, adding that his government would “tread more lightly “ on the lives of citizens.
Specifically mentioning “nurses, builders, drivers, carers”, Mr. Starmer said their lives had become more insecure. Labour’s manifesto has promised to strengthen workers’ rights in the first 100 days of government as part of its ‘New deal for working people’.
The new Prime Minister made references to other manifesto themes in his Downing Street speech: renewing Britain’s universal health care system, clean energy, border security and safer streets.
“And so my government will fight, every day until you believe again,” Mr. Starmer said. He also paid special tribute to Mr Sunak, acknowledging that the former Prime Minister, who is of Indian-descent, was the first Asian Briton to hold the post.
“His achievement as the first British Asian Prime Minister of our country, the extra effort that will have required, should not be underestimated by anyone,” Mr. Starmer said, as he paid tribute to Mr Sunak’s dedication and hard work.
Keir Starmer appoints new Cabinet
By the early afternoon, the cabinet announcements began emerging.
Angela Rayner, deputy leader of Labour, was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary. Rachel Reeves, a former Bank of England staffer and MP, was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer. David Lammy, a long-time MP from Tottenham, was appointed Foreign Secretary. John Healey, a long time MP from the Tony Blair era, was appointed Defence Secretary.
Mr. Starmer has a hectic two weeks ahead in the foreign policy space with a NATO summit meeting in Washington DC July 9 -11 and the European Political Community Summit scheduled in the U.K. on July 18.
Britain’s Labour Party Prime Minister Kier Starmer makes speech 10 Downing Street in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. Labour leader Stammer won the general election on July 4, and was appointed Prime Minster by King Charles III at Buckingham Palace, after the party won a landslide victory. | Photo Credit: AP
Also Read | U.K. General Election 2024 LIVE updates
Rishi Sunak concedes defeat
Standing outside London’s iconic Tate Modern in the early hours of Friday morning, the 61-year-old Mr. Starmer spoke of change — Labour’s central theme, reflecting “a changed Labour Party” and a change to 14 years of Tory government.
“And now we can look forward, walk into the morning, the sunlight of hope, pale at first, but getting stronger through the day, shining once again on a country with the opportunity — after 14 years — to get its future back,” he said.
In Yorkshire, the outgoing Prime Minister Mr. Sunak, who managed to retain his own Richmond seat, conceded and took responsibility for the results. Mr. Sunak’s political future has been in doubt as some polls projected that he would lose his own seat.
“The Labour Party has won this general election and I’ve caught Sir Kier Starmer to congratulate him on his victory,” Mr. Sunak said, adding, that power would change hands “in a peaceful and orderly manner”.
Later, as he left No. 10 Downing Street for the last time, Mr. Sunak apologised to his supporters and said he would step down from the post of party Leader. Mr. Sunak, a 44-year-old father of two girls, asked the public to support Mr. Starmer and his family as they transition into No. 10. He also made a reference to his being the country’s first non-White British Prime Minister.
“One of the most remarkable things about Britain is just how unremarkable it is,” he said. “That two generations after my grandparents came here with little, I could become Prime Minister, and that I could watch my two young daughters light Diwali [Deepavali] candles on the steps in Downing Street,” he said.
Mr. Sunak and his wife, Akshata Murthy, were then driven to Buckingham Palace, to cheers and boos from onlookers. Mr. Sunak then offered his resignation to King Charles III.
With Mr. Sunak’s departure, the question of party leadership remains open. Former Leader of the House of Commons and a possible candidate for the leadership of the party, Penny Mordaunt, lost her Portsmouth North seat to Labour by a wafer-thin margin of 780 votes, ruling out her leadership run. Another possible contender, Jacob Reese-Mogg, also lost his seat as did several other high-profile Conservatives, including former Defence Secretary Grant Shapps, who lost his Hertfordshire seat. The education secretary, culture secretary, and justice secretary also lost their seats.
U.K. parties left and right of mainstream do well
Although the U.K’s smaller parties won just 17% of the seats in Thursday’s election, they increased their vote share from 2019, winning some 40% of the vote. Parties to the right and left of the two mainstream parties, the Labour Party and the Conservative Party, did well, with the far right eating into the Conservatives’ votes and Labour, which secured a landslide victory, losing some seats because of its stand on the Israel-Gaza conflict.
The Green Party won a record four seats. The Eurosceptic, anti-immigrant Reform UK party won four seats, and its leader, Nigel Farage, won a seat after seven unsuccessful attempts. Mr. Farage was the de facto leader of the Brexit movement.
Reform UK leader and MP for Clacton, Nigel Farage, speaks during a press conference in Westminster, central London, Friday July 5, 2024. | Photo Credit: AP
“Conservative support fell most heavily in seats they were trying to defend. This is primarily the result of a large increase in Reform’s support, especially in places where there was a high Leave [the European Union] vote in 2016,” psephologist John Curtice wrote on BBC.
Mr. Farage described the results as just the beginning of something larger. “Believe me, folks, this is just the first step of something that is going to stun all of you,“ he said.
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn won his seat of Islington North as an independent candidate. He said his victory was a warning to the incoming government that “dissent cannot be crushed without consequences”. Mr. Starmer had suspended Mr. Corbyn from the party in 2020 for his response to an inquiry into anti-Semitism within Labour. The Labour party lost four seats on Thursday to pro-Gaza independents. After Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7 and Israel’s counter-attack on Gaza, Mr. Starmer’s positions on the manner of Israel’s retaliation were criticized for being too soft on Israel. Shadow Cabinet Office minister Jonathan Ashworth was among those who lost his seat (South Leicester), losing it to Shockat Adam. “This is for Gaza,” Mr Adam declared.
In Leicester East, India-born Rajesh Agrawal lost to Conservative Shivani Raja, with the non-Tory vote getting split between various candidates, including former MP Claudia Webbe, who has actively campaigned for Palestine.
Across the Irish Sea, in Northern Ireland (NI), the Republican Sinn Fein became the largest NI party in Westminster, retaining seven seats, while the Democratic and Unionist Party (DUP) won just five seats, a loss of three seats since 2019. Sinn Fein has had a majority in the NI Assembly since 2019 and is in favour of a Irish unification referendum by 2030.
In Scotland, the Scottish National Party woke up to bad news on Friday, winning just nine seats, a loss of 38. The pro-independence party, which has been governing Scotland for 17 years, lost the Westminster seats in the two major cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Published - July 05, 2024 06:19 pm IST
