Keir Starmer will become Britain’s new prime minister following the Labour Party’s landslide victory in Thursday’s general election, the Associated Press reported.
The Labour party won a majority of the vote, propelling Labour leader Starmer to power and ousting the Conservative leader, Rishi Sunak, who has been chancellor since October 2022.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria attend a watch party for the results of the 2024 general election, which Labour is heading for a landslide victory, at the Tate Modern in central London on Friday, July 5, 2024.
Starmer, the first Labour prime minister in 14 years, said he would put “country first, party second”.
“We must put politics back into the public service,” Starmer said, adding that his new position came with “huge responsibility”.
UK election exit polls suggest Labour heading for landslide victory
Labor’s victory on Thursday will be one of the biggest ever victories for the House of Commons.
Current Chancellor Rishi Sunak said he “takes responsibility for the defeat” and said in his concession speech that the British people had handed him a “harsh sentence”.
On July 1, 2024, in Stoke, England, British Chancellor Rishi Sunak visited and spoke at Well Healthcare Supplies as part of his election campaign in the Midlands. As election day approached, the Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party made his final appeal to voters.
“I take responsibility for the defeat,” Mr Sunak said, “and I am sorry to the many excellent, hard-working Conservative candidates who were defeated tonight, despite their tireless efforts, their local track records and achievements, and their commitment to their communities.”
Mr Sunak said he had already called Labour leader Keir Starmer to congratulate him on his victory.
“Today, power is being transferred peacefully, orderly and in good faith on both sides, which should give us all confidence in the stability and future of our country,” Mr Sunak said.
British citizens voted in the highly anticipated British Parliamentary elections
Mr Starmer is due to visit King Charles III on Friday to seek permission to form a new government. Associated Press report.
Sunak conceded the election about 30 minutes before Labour was set to have the 326 seats (out of a possible 650) it needed to win the election and form a new government.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese tweeted that he looked forward to “working constructively” with the new government, while New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon wrote that “New Zealand and the UK are great friends and we can do so much more together.” Luxon also thanked Treasurer Sunak for his “service to the country and friendship with New Zealand.”
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Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who served as prime minister for just 49 days, also lost her seat as an MP in the election.
Truss lost her Norfolk South West seat by a few hundred votes.
“Ten Years To Save The West” by Liz Truss is displayed at a branch of Waterstones bookstore in London, England on April 16, 2024. The former Conservative Prime Minister, who was in office for just 49 days, has published a memoir in which she writes that “the conservative movement in the West has been stagnating for almost a generation.” (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)
A number of other prominent Conservative MPs, including House of Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt, also lost their seats.
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The latest vote tally shows Labour has 410 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons, compared with 118 for the Conservatives.
Since Margaret Thatcher became leader of the Conservative Party in 1979, the party has been in power for all but 13 years.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
