U.K. General Election 2024 highlights: Landslide win for Labour; Keir Starmer appointed new PM

New Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday appointed David Lammy as Britain’s new foreign minister and John Healey the Defence Minister, while Yvette Cooper was named Interior Minister.

Mr. Lammy and Mr. Healey take charge at a time of two global conflicts and have pledged to maintain continued support for Ukraine in its conflict against Russia and press for a ceasefire in the fighting in Gaza.

-Reuters

The Kremlin sees no desire from Britain’s Labour Party to repair relations with Russia and continues to view the U.K. as a hostile state, Dmitry Peskov, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, said on Friday.

Mr. Peskov was commenting after the Labour Party won a landslide general election victory after 14 years of Conservative rule.

The party has indicated it will continue to support Ukraine with weapons and money against Russia.

-Reuters

New U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer appointed Angela Rayner as his deputy on Friday after Labour swept to power in a landslide general election win over the Conservatives.

Ms. Rayner, 44, became Mr. Starmer’s first confirmed appointment to his cabinet and will also hold the brief of minister for levelling up, housing and communities, Downing Street said in a statement.

New British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday appointed Rachel Reeves as finance minister, or Chancellor of the Exchequer, in his new Labour government, making her the first woman to hold the role.

-Reuters

The pro-separatist Scottish National Party was virtually obliterated at the U.K. general election on Friday, suffering a devastating blow to its withering independence movement.

Keir Starmer’s Labour party overturned more than a decade of SNP domination by storming to a majority of Scotland’s 57 seats, as it rode to power in Westminster.

The SNP lost dozens of lawmakers as it recorded its worst result in a British general election since 2010, with leader John Swinney lamenting a “very, very difficult and damaging” night for his party.

Mr. Swinney had targeted winning 29 seats as a mandate for reopening negotiations with the British government for another independence referendum, but it returned only nine MPs, with one result still to declare.

That was down from the 48 it won at the last election in 2019.

-AFP

As the Labour Party registers a landslide victory in the U.K. general elections, Onamthuruth — a quaint village nestled in the backwater landscape of Kottayam — has erupted in celebrations. This joyous occasion is in honour of Sojan Joseph, a 49-year-old man from the village, who has been elected to the British Parliament from Ashford, one of the constituencies in Kent.

On his first day in office, Starmer will get briefings from senior civil servants about key issues facing the government, receive congratulatory phone calls from world leaders and begin the process of appointing his Cabinet.

Here is a look at some of the other traditions and responsibilities he faces on his first day inside No. 10.

The first time a prime minister walks through the uber-polished door of 10 Downing St., household staff and civil servants by custom line the entrance and clap for the new leader and his senior team.

It is Starmer’s introduction to the people he will live and work with, most of whom served his predecessor only a few hours earlier.

One of the first decisions Britain’s new prime minister will have to make is whether to live in the two-bedroom apartment above 10 Downing St., traditionally the home of Britain’s leaders, or the more spacious four-bedroom apartment over No. 11, formerly dedicated to the treasury chief.

Before the day is over, Starmer may have his first meeting with Larry the cat, far and away the most famous permanent resident of Downing Street.

Larry, a gray and white tabby who roams the heart of government as if it is his own personal realm — has been a fixture of the residence for more than 13 years, outlasting five prime ministers.

-AP

The Labour Party has won Britain’s general election, bringing a new party to power for the first time in 14 years. But Labour leader Keir Starmer didn’t actually become Prime Minister until a carefully choreographed ceremony on Friday during which King Charles III formally asked him to form a new government.

It’s a moment that embodies the fact that, technically at least, the right to govern in the United Kingdom is still derived from royal authority, centuries after real political power was transferred to elected members of Parliament.

The process is swift, if somewhat brutal for departing Prime Ministers, like Rishi Sunak. Here’s how ceremonial events unfold after an election.

While Britain is a constitutional monarchy where the King’s power is strictly limited by law and tradition, much of what happens here has echoes of the past. In this case, the process harkens back to a time when the King exercised supreme power and chose his Pre-eminent Minister — the Prime Minister — to run his government.

-AP

Spain’s socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday congratulated new British premier Keir Starmer and hailed Labour’s “historic victory” in U.K. elections.

“Congratulations Keir Starmer, new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Congratulations, Labour, for the historic victory for labourism. Spain and the United Kingdom are friends, partners and allies,” Mr. Sanchez wrote on X.

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.

Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Støre offered his congratulations to Starmer and the Labour Party on the “historic election win”. “I’m looking forward to continuing our close cooperation between the U.K. and Norway, including on the energy transition, our common security and trade,” he said further.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese congratulated Keir Starmer on his “resounding” election victory. Mr. Albanese added that he was looking forward to working constructively with the incoming Labour government.

Victoria Starmer, whose husband Keir is the new UK prime minister, works in the public health service, is hardly photographed and has kept a low profile on the campaign trail.

But in the coming days, many Britons will begin to recognise the face of the elegant 50-year-old brunette who has been married to the head of the Labour government for more than 15 years.

Since Keir Starmer became Labour leader in 2020 and during the election campaign, Victoria Starmer has not given an interview and has only rarely partaken in politics.

Her public appearances are few and far between: at the polling station on election days, in the stands at the Wimbledon tennis tournament and Taylor Swift’s London concert, or at Buckingham Palace for state dinners and receptions.

A rare exception was when she joined her husband on the stage at the party’s annual conference in 2023, donning a red dress in Labour’s colours.

Even with the move into Downing Street, the former lawyer intends to continue as an occupational health worker in the NHS.

-AFP

King Charles III showed little sympathy to Conservative Prime Minister Liz Truss when they met during her ill-fated premiership in October 2022, saying to her: “Back again? Dear oh dear. Anyway.”

Truss resigned eight days later, just seven weeks into Charles’s reign, after her radical tax-cutting proposals spooked the financial markets.

She was followed into office by Rishi Sunak, who resigned on Friday after the Conservative Party’s crushing defeat in the general election.

As a constitutional monarch, Charles is not supposed express any political opinion in public and does not vote.

When Truss objected to his plans to attend the 2022 COP 27 climate summit in Egypt, Charles -- a long-time defender of the environment -- did not go.

Experts have suggested Charles has some ideological affinity with Starmer -- a one-time anti-monarchist -- and will likely greet his arrival with some relief, hoping he can restore political stability.

“We know a lot about King Charles III because he expressed so many opinions when he was Prince of Wales before he became king,” professor Ed Owens, a specialist in the monarchy, told AFP.

-AFP

Keir Starmer on Friday promised that his Labour government will work from day one on national renewal, in his first speech as U.K. Prime Minister from Downing Street.

“The work of change begins immediately. But have no doubt, we will rebuild Britain,” he said, after Labour ended 14 years of Conservative rule in a landslide election win.

-AFP

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday congratulated Keir Starmer for his election win in Britain, while thanking “friend” Rishi Sunak for “these years of intense collaboration”.

“My congratulations to Keir Starmer on his election success,” Meloni wrote on X. “The state of relations between Italy and the United Kingdom is excellent and I am sure that we will continue to cultivate a strong and reliable collaborative relationship between our great nations.”

In his first speech as the Prime Minister of the U.K., Keir Starmer thanked outgoing PM Rishi Sunak. Addressing the nation outside 10 Downing Street, Mr. Starmer lauded Mr. Sunak’s achievements as the first British Asian Prime Minister of the country. 

Mr. Starmer also thanked the country for a ‘decisive change’ in the elections. 

“If you voted Labour yesterday, we will carry the responsibility of your trust as we rebuild our country. But whether you voted Labour or not, in fact, especially if you did not, I say to you directly: my government will serve you,” he said. 

Labour on Friday secured a huge majority in the U.K.’s general election, giving it a massive mandate but also a few headaches once celebrations die down.

Before the vote, the Conservatives warned voters not to hand Labour party leader Keir Starmer the “blank cheque” of a “supermajority”, but as Prime Minister, he will now have a majority of over 170 and five years up against a demoralised main opposition.

“The main advantages are clarity. It means the government of the day can get on with its programme, unhindered and encumbered,” Tony McNulty, lecturer at Queen Mary University of London and a Labour Minister under Tony Blair, told AFP.

However, a “supermajority” does not have any constitutional significance in the U.K., as it does in the United States, explained King’s College London professor Vernon Bogdanor.

“A government with a majority of 30 can do more or less what it wants, just as much as a government with a majority of 200,” said Bogdanor, one of the country’s leading constitutional experts.

-AFP

Rishi Sunak’s campaign to remain Britain’s prime minister showed a lack of political touch.

The Conservative Party’s problems were grave before Friday’s resounding election defeat but missteps by Britain’s richest prime minister contributed to its defeat.

Predecessors such as Tony Blair and Boris Johnson were more politically astute and able to connect with voters. As for Sunak, he didn’t have to call the election until Jan. 2025. He defied political advice by doing so in May — with Conservative support dwindling steadily amid an economic slump, ethics scandals and a revolving door of leaders over the last two years — and announced the July 4 date in the pouring rain.

What’s more, the Conservative Party didn’t appear ready for the campaign compared with Labour, and voters haven’t really felt the improvement in Britain’s economy yet.

Arguably, Sunak’s biggest blunder — one that prompted him to apologize and which many analysts think was the final death knell of the Conservative Party’s campaign — was his decision to leave early from the 80-year D-day commemorations in northern France on June 6.

-AP

Labour leader Keir Starmer officially became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on Friday.

Mr. Starmer received the blessing of King Charles III to form a government in a ceremony known as the “kissing of hands.” A photo of the occasion served as the official announcement of Mr. Starmer’s new title.

The London stock market advanced Friday after Britain’s centre-left Labour Party clinched an expected landslide election victory to end 14 years of right-wing Conservative rule.

London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index climbed following news that Keir Starmer will become Britain’s new Prime Minister after Labour trounced Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives.

The widely-forecast triumph has sparked investor hope of economic stability amid easing inflation, although Starmer faces tough challenges in the form of strained public finances, a stretched state health service and flagging economic growth.

Frankfurt and Paris stocks also climbed Friday with eurozone investors on tenterhooks before France’s crucial legislative vote this weekend.

The British pound gained versus the dollar and euro.

“U.K. stocks say yes to Starmer,” summarised Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading firm XTB.

-AFP

Britain outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on July 5 apologised to the public after his Conservatives were trounced by Labour in the UK general election, and said he would step down as party leader.

“To the country, I would like to say first and foremost, I am sorry,” he said outside the Prime Minister’s residence at Downing Street, before heading to Buckingham Palace to tender his resignation as prime minister to King Charles III.

“I have given this job my all, but you have sent a clear signal that the government of the United Kingdom must change. And yours is the only judgement that matters.”

“I have heard your anger, your disappointment, and I take responsibility for this loss.”

The scale of the defeat made it inevitable that Mr. Sunak — the conservative party’s fifth leader since 2010 — would have to step down as Tory head as well.

The EU on Friday congratulated Keir Starmer on Labour’s election win in Britain, with Brussels foreseeing warmer ties with London -- though little scope to change existing post-Brexit arrangements.

European Council President Charles Michel called Starmer’s victory “historic”, and stressed the EU and Britain “are crucial partners”.

Britain’s new prime minister has vowed to reduce trade frictions with the European Union, forge closer security arrangements -- and relax travel restrictions for touring musicians.

But Starmer is also adamant his government will never reverse Brexit nor seek to be part of the European single market. His slogan is “Make Brexit Work”.

While that necessarily reduces the scope for better dealings, a more cooperative London will be greatly welcomed in Brussels, according to one EU official and one EU diplomat, both speaking on condition of anonymity.

A “return to internationalist policies” from London would be “refreshing”, the EU official said.

“If there is a different approach, one of cooperation and not with a hostile attitude, then things become easier -- but not simpler,” the diplomat said.

-AFP

Britain’s Keir Starmer arrived at Buckingham Palace on Friday for King Charles to formally appoint him prime minister, after his Labour Party won on a landslide election victory.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has left the prime minister’s residence and headed to Buckingham Palace to offer his resignation to King Charles III, hours after elections results showed his Conservative Party had lost to the left-of-center Labour Party, which will form a government for the first time in 14 years.

Mr. Sunak said earlier that he took responsibility for his party’s loss, and that he had called Labour leader Keir Starmer to congratulate him on his victory.

- AP

A record number of around 26 Indian-origin members of Parliament have been elected to the House of Commons in the UK’s general election as results were announced on Friday, with several Conservatives surviving an overall brutal outcome for their party. 

Outgoing prime minister Rishi Sunak leads the Tory charge of British Indians holding on to their seats, with a decisive win in his Richmond and Northallerton constituency in Yorkshire. It would have come as small consolation for the Tory leader, who saw his party haemorrhage over 200 seats as the Labour Party’s landslide victory unfolded. 

“On this difficult night, I would like to express my gratitude to the people of the Richmond and Northallerton constituency for your continued support. Since I moved here a decade ago, you have made me and my family feel so at home and I look forward to serving you for years to come,” said Mr. Sunak, in a message clearly aimed at dismissing pre-election chatter around his future plans as a politician. 

Other prominent British Indian Tories holding on to their seats included former home secretaries, Suella Braverman and Priti Patel, as did Sunak’s Goan-origin Cabinet ally Claire Coutinho. Gagan Mohindra held on to his South West Hertfordshire seat for the Conservatives, with Shivani Raja registering a gain for the party in the keenly watched constituency of Leicester East where she was contesting against fellow Indian-origin Labour candidate Rajesh Agrawal. They had both canvassed around the topic of saving the city’s famous Diwali lights from being switched off over council budget cuts, as did former MP Keith Vaz who was contesting as an Independent this time. -- PTI

”I have given this job my all. But you have sent a clear message, and yours is the only judgement that matters. This is a difficult day, but I leave this job honoured to have been Prime Minister of the best country in the world,” says Rishi Sunak

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Labour Party leader Keir Starmer on July 5 for his “remarkable victory” in Britain’s general election. 

“Heartiest congratulations and best wishes to @Keir_Starmer on the remarkable victory,” Mr. Modi wrote on the social media platform X. “I look forward to our positive and constructive collaboration... fostering mutual growth and prosperity.” 

“Thank you @RishiSunak for your admirable leadership of the UK, and your active contribution to deepen the ties between India and the UK during your term in office,” he added. “Best wishes to you and your family for the future.”

Mr. Sunak became the first British Prime Minister of South Asian descent in 2022 — a milestone year for India’s relationship with its former colonial ruler.

That August marked the 75th anniversary of India’s independence from Britain, weeks before the South Asian country overtook Britain to become the world’s fifth-largest economy.

Mr. Modi said he looked forward to “positive and constructive collaboration” with Starmer to foster “mutual growth and prosperity”.

Britain’s centrist Liberal Democrats, right-wing Reform UK, Greens and other smaller parties won more than 40% of the votes in July 4 election, but secured just 18% of the seats in parliament due to the country’s first-past-the-post system. 

The Labour Party will form the next government after winning 63% of seats with 34% of all votes cast, according to near-complete results, more than doubling its number of seats with fewer votes than it received in the last election in 2019. 

Labour leader Keir Starmer’s path to Downing Street was cleared by a collapse in the Conservative vote, which saw disaffected supporters splinter into backing the centrist Liberal Democrats and right-wing populists Reform UK. 

That trend, and a lower turnout, outweighed Labour losing some of its own support to the Greens and independents over issues such as Gaza. 

Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, won more than 4 million votes but just four seats. 

It pushed the Conservatives into third place or lower in scores of seats won by Labour, particularly in areas that voted leave in the 2016 EU referendum. 

Farage, who won his first seat in Britain’s parliament in Clacton, said first past the post was a “very demanding problem for smaller parties”. 

He said he would build a national movement over the course of the next few years and “hopefully be big enough to challenge the general election properly in 2029”. 

The Liberal Democrats turned 3.49 million votes, fewer than Reform, into a record 71 seats, thanks to targeting areas where it was already the challenger to the Conservatives, mainly in southern England. 

The Green party, which until now had only ever won a single seat in Brighton on England’s south coast, received 1.9 million votes. Like the Lib Dems, it targeted its campaign, and was rewarded with four seats. -- Reuters

Nigel Farage finally succeeded in winning a parliamentary seat on his eighth attempt as he won from Clacton and his hardline rightwing Reform U.K. party won four seats in the UK general election, according to media reports on July 5. 

The 60-year-old defeated the Conservative candidate, Giles Watling, who had represented the coastal constituency in Essex since 2017, The Guardian newspaper reported. 

Mr. Farage polled 21,225 votes to Watling’s 12,820, defeating him by a margin of 8,405 votes. Clacton had been regarded as Reform UK’s best hope as it was the only constituency to return a UK Independence Party MP in a general election when it was won in 2015 by Douglas Carswell. 

Carswell had successfully retained the seat during a by-election the previous year after defecting from the Tories, the report said. 

In a speech after his victory, Farage said that his party would be turning its guns on the Labour Party that hurled towards a landslide majority in the elections and dealt a bruising defeat for incumbent premier Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party. 

“We are coming for Labour … be in no doubt about that,” he said, in a short speech at a leisure centre in the seaside town. 

Mr. Farage, revelling in the Conservatives’ heavy defeat across the country, railed against the party of which he had once been a member. Farage said, “This is the beginning of the end of the Conservative Party”. 

“They are literally a broad church that has no shared religion,” he said. 

The Reform UK leader ruled out working in Parliament with the Conservative Party itself but opened the door to Tory MPs coming over to his party. 

Answering a question about whether he wanted to become prime minister, he replied, “Whatever happens, happens, and probably by 2029 this movement will have found someone younger and better looking than me.” -- PTI

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British homebuilders’ shares rallied as investors cheered Keir Starmer’s Labour Party’s comprehensive win in a national election and his plans for the housebuilding sector.

Analysts see Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and Vistry as key beneficiaries of increased focus on boosting affordable homes and a reform to planning. Shares of Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and Vistry rose more than 2% each. The U.K. housebuilders’ index soared 1.9%. - Reuters

Britain’s next prime minister Keir Starmer spent the election campaign accusing Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives of “14 years of economic failure”, but he has no obvious quick fix to lift the country out of its slow-growth rut.

Living standards have stagnated since Conservatives took power in 2010 and Britain’s recovery from the COVID pandemic has been the weakest among big rich nations after Germany.

Mr. Starmer will be under pressure to use Labour’s huge majority in parliament to end the sense of decline, from creaking public services and inflation-hit personal finances to a shortage of housing and weak business investment.

But with public debt at almost 100% of gross domestic product and taxes at their highest since just after World War Two, Mr. Starmer stresses the turnaround will take time. - Reuters

Britain’s outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will make a statement in Downing Street at around 9:30 a.m. GMT before meeting with King Charles to formally resign, his office said.

The newly elected Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer will then meet with King Charles at Buckingham Palace before making a speech in Downing Street at around 11:20 a.m. GMT, the statement added. - Reuters

European Council President Charles Michel on congratulated Keir Starmer on a “historic election victory” in Britain and said he looked forward to working with London under a Labour government.

“The EU and Britain are crucial partners, cooperating in all areas of mutual interest for our citizens,” Mr. Michel said on X. He added that he would see Mr. Starmer at a European Political Community summit to be held in Britain on July 18 “where we will discuss common challenges, including stability, security, energy and migration”. - AFP

Former U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss, in power for 49 chaotic days in 2022, sensationally lost her seat at the British general election as the Conservatives suffered a landslide defeat.

Ms. Truss - an member of parliament since 2010 who sparked financial turmoil during her short tenure as British leader - lost her Norfolk South West constituency in eastern England to Labour by 630 votes. - AFP

Labour leader Keir Starmer won’t actually become prime minister until a carefully choreographed ceremony during which King Charles III will formally ask him to form a new government.

It’s a moment that embodies the fact that, technically at least, the right to govern in the United Kingdom is still derived from royal authority, centuries after real political power was transferred to elected members of Parliament.

The process is swift, if somewhat brutal for departing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. - AP

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn retained his Islington North seat as an independent despite being expelled from the party.

Mr. Corbyn won the Islington constituency with 24,120 votes, 7,247 more votes than Labour’s Indian-origin candidate Praful Nargund, who secured 16,873 votes.

The 75-year-old former Labour leader served the ward as a Labour member since 1983, winning the seat 10 times at elections. But at this contest, he stood as an independent candidate after the Labour Party whip was suspended from him in 2020, The Independent newspaper reported. - PTI

Suella Braverman, the sacked British Indian Conservative Party leader, apologised to the public for the Conservative Party’s performance over the last 14 years after winning a seat in the 2024 General Election.

Saying ‘Sorry’ for her Conservative Party’s performance over the last 14 years, UK-born Ms. Braverman, who is of Indian heritage with a Goan-origin father and Tamil-origin mother after winning the newly-created Fareham and Waterlooville constituency said: “I want to briefly address the results around the country, and there’s only one thing I can say... sorry. I’m sorry,” 

“The Great British people voted for us over 14 years and we did not keep our promises... we acted like we were entitled to your votes,” BBC quoted the 44-year-old barrister as saying. “I’m sorry my party didn’t listen to you,” she said.

Mr. Braverman has represented the people of Fareham since 2015, being re-elected in 2017 and 2019, on both occasions increasing the share of the vote for the Conservatives.

Mr. Braverman was sacked in late 2023 by Sunak after she defied No 10 over an article accusing the Metropolitan Police of bias in the policing of pro-Palestine protests. - PTI

Leader of the Commons Penny Mordaunt, who shot to international attention as a sword carrier at King Charles III’s coronation last May, lost in Portsmouth North on England’s south coast.

A former defence secretary, she tried twice to become Tory leader, and was tipped to try again after Thursday’s election, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak expected to stand down. - AFP

A record number of Cabinet ministers lost their seats, leaving only a couple of obvious contenders for the party leadership if Rishi Sunak resigns.

Nine members of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s top team failed to be re-elected, beating the previous high of seven who lost out in 1997, as the ruling Conservatives suffered a mauling at the hands of the main opposition Labour party. - AFP

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese congratulated U.K. Prime Minister-elect Keir Starmer on his “resounding election victory”.

Describing fellow Labour leader Mr. Starmer as “my friend”, Mr. Albanese said he was looking forward to “working constructively” with the incoming government. - AFP

Brexit figurehead Nigel Farage claimed to have kickstarted a “revolt against the establishment”, as his hard-right party made significant gains.

Reform U.K., a re-brand of the Brexit Party that Farage founded in 2018, had won four seats after around four-fifths of the UK’s 650 constituencies had declared their results.

They include Clacton, eastern England, where Farage prevailed in his eighth attempt to become an MP, beating the Conservative incumbent by a wide margin.

Meanwhile, his party appeared on course to win an unprecedented vote share for a party on Britain’s far-right fringes.

“This is just the first step of something that is going to stun all of you,” Mr. Farage said from the podium of Clacton’s polling station, shortly after his win was announced. - AFP

Prime Minister-elect Keir Starmer pledged to start a period of “national renewal” in the U.K. after his opposition Labour party defeated the ruling Conservatives in the general election.

“Today we start the next chapter -- begin the work of change, the mission of national renewal and start to rebuild our country,” Mr. Starmer said in a triumphant victory speech in London after his party secured a majority in parliament. - AFP

After British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak conceded defeat, Labour Party leader Keir Starmer said “change begins now”.

“Our task is nothing less than renewing the ideas that hold this country together. We have to return politics to public service”, Mr. Starmer said.

“We must show politics can be a force for good”, he said.

- Reuters

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 Who is Keir Starmer, the next British Prime Minister?  

UK Election Results 2024: Who is Keir Starmer, the next British Prime Minister?  

Britain’s opposition Labour Party has won 326 seats in the parliamentary election, broadcaster ITV said, meaning it now holds a majority in the 650-seat strong House of Commons. - Reuters

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak conceded defeat in the national election, saying the opposition Labour Party had won.

“The Labour Party has won this general election and I have called Sir Keir Starmer to congratulate him on his victory,” Mr. Sunak said after winning his parliamentary seat in northern England.

“Today, power will change hands in a peaceful and orderly manner, with goodwill on all sides. That is something that should give us all confidence in our country’s stability and future.” - Reuters

Reform U.K., the right-wing populist party led by Nigel Farage, looks set to emerge as a new force in British politics, winning its first seat in an election and squeezing the Conservative vote in the early results declared.

Mr. Farage, a driving force behind Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, only entered the election race last month, a move that caused shockwaves in a Conservative Party that was already far adrift of centre-left Labour.

Lee Anderson, who defected from the Conservatives to Reform in March, won Ashfield in the East Midlands with 34% of the vote, pushing the Conservatives into fourth with just 8.2%. - Reuters

Labour Party leader Keir Starmer was re-elected as MP as he won his seat in Holborn and St Pancras.

UK is ‘ready for change’,Mr. Starmer said after the win. - AFP

Grant Shapps, the U.K.’s defence secretary for nearly a year, lost his seat as a Conservative MP in general election results, the Conservatives’ highest-profile casualty so far.

Mr. Shapps, an MP since 2005, lost to a rival Labour candidate, with the opposition party on course to secure a landslide victory and the ruling Tories predicted to suffer a historic defeat. - AFP

Veteran left-winger Jeremy Corbyn won his parliamentary seat, beating the candidate of the Labour Party he used to lead and promising to be a thorn in the side of Keir Starmer’s incoming government after an acrimonious falling out with his successor.

Mr. Corbyn resigned as Labour leader in 2019 after the party suffered its worst election defeat since 1935, and Mr. Starmer threw him out of the parliamentary party less than a year later, accusing him of undermining efforts to tackle anti-Semitism. - Reuters

Nigel Farage, leader of the right-wing Reform U.K. party, won a seat in the British parliament for the first time in the seaside English town of Clacton-on-Sea, as voters deserted Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party.

Mr. Farage, whose career of anti-immigration, pro-Brexit campaigning has made him one of Britain’s most recognisable and divisive political figures, comfortably beat the Conservative candidate Giles Watling who had previously held the seat.

His surprise entry into the election a month ago, having initially ruled out standing, boosted support for Reform UK across the country. That helped scupper Mr. Sunak’s hopes of closing the gap on the centre-left Labour Party, which is on course for a huge national victory. - Reuters