London (UK): Labour leader Keir Starmer officially became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom as the Labour Party registered a landslide victory in UK elections on Friday. Starmer received the blessing of King Charles III to form a government in a ceremony known as the “kissing of hands.”
What Keir Starmer Said in His Maiden Speech
“It is surely clear to everyone that our country needs a bigger reset. A rediscovery of who we are.”
He further went on to say that one of the great strengths of the United Kingdom has always been “ability to navigate a way to calmer waters”.
“And yet this depends upon politicians, particularly those who stand for stability and moderation as I do, recognising when we must change course. For too long now we turned a blind eye as millions slid into greater insecurity,” UK Prime Minister said.
He said that his government will fight every day to make people believe in them.
“From now on you have a government unburdened by doctrine, guided only by the determination to serve your interest,” Starmer said.
Keir Starmer also paid tribute to Rishi Sunak and said that the “extra effort” he faced as “the first British Asian prime minister”.
“We also recognise the dedication and hard work he brought to his leadership,” he said.
Country First, Party Second
The newly elected Prime Minister also said that his priority will be to govern the country first and party later.
“Whether you voted Labour or not, in fact, especially if you did not I say to you directly. My government will serve you. Politics can be a force for good. We will show that. We’ve changed the Labour party, returned it to service, and that is how we will govern. Country first, party second,” he said.
“We can make a start today with the simple of knowledge that public service is a privilege, and that your government should treat every single person in this country, with respect,” Starmer said.
Starmer added, “You have given us a clear mandate, and we will use it to deliver change. To restore service and respect to politics. End the era of noisy performance. Tread more lightly on your lives. And unite our country.”
“Four nations standing together again. Facing down, as we have so often in our past, the challenges of an insecure world. Committed to a calm and patient rebuilding. So with respect, and humility I invite you all to join this government of service, in the mission of national renewal. Our work is urgent and we begin it today,” he further mentioned.
Earlier on Friday, Rishi Sunak offered his resignation as Prime Minister to the King.
Voters in the U.K. cast their ballots Thursday in a national election to choose the 650 lawmakers who will sit in Parliament for the next five years.
After more than a decade in power under five different prime ministers, Sunak’s Conservatives suffered a major defeat.
Keir Starmer arrived at Downing Street for the first time as the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He arrived in a car with his wife, Victoria Starmer, shortly after meeting with King Charles III at Buckingham Palace. Downing Street was lined with Labour Party supporters, who cheered his arrival, waving small Union Jack flags. Before going to Downing Street, Starmer arrived at Buckingham Palace for a meeting with the king to accept the request of King Charles III to form a government after his party’s landslide victory.
In a ceremony known as the “kissing of hands,” Starmer officially became U.K. prime minister.
Starmer’s arrival at the palace is part of the choreography of changing governments that harkens back to a time when the king exercised supreme power and chose his preeminent minister – the prime minister – to run his government.
The modern-day constitutional monarchy echoes that tradition, with the king officially offering the post to the party that holds a majority in the House of Commons.
Sunak officially left the post after tendering his resignation to King Charles III in his final audience with the monarch. Sunak was driven to the palace in a chauffeur-driven ministerial car, and left in a private vehicle.
“This is a difficult day, but I leave this job honored to have been prime minister of the best country in the world,” Sunak said in his final speech outside 10 Downing Street.
Sunak wished his victorious rival, Labour leader Keir Starmer, all the best: “Whatever our differences in this campaign, he is a decent, public-spirited man who I respect.”
Sunak conceded defeat earlier in the morning as vote counts confirmed exit polls that had projected a landslide defeat for his Conservatives to the Labour Party.
Meanwhile, China has said that it hopes to work with the UK ‘on the basis of mutual respect’
“Developing a stable and mutually beneficial China-UK relationship is in line with the fundamental interests of the two peoples, and is conducive to both sides responding to global challenges together and promoting world peace and development,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Friday.
“We hope to work with the UK to move China-UK relations forward on the right track on the basis of mutual respect and win-win cooperation,” Mao said at a daily press briefing.
China-UK relations have been roiled in the last few years by blocks on Chinese investment in Britain over national security concerns, tensions in the South China Sea and China’s crackdown on democracy and free speech in the former British colony of Hong Kong in violation of its pledge to keep such institutions intact until 2047.
Former Prime Minister Liz Truss loses her seat
Liz Truss, the former prime minister whose premiership lasted just 49 days, has lost her lawmaker’s seat in the election.
Truss lost her Norfolk South West seat to Labour by just several hundred votes. Truss quit as prime minister in 2022 after a tumultuous and historically brief term marred by economic policies that roiled financial markets.
Several other high-profile and senior Conservative lawmakers also lost their seats, including House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt, education secretary Gillian Keegan and former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg.
Australia, New Zealand leaders congratulate Starmer
The leaders of Australia and New Zealand have sent their congratulations to Labour Party leader Keir Starmer on his election victory. Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a social media post on X that he looked forward “to working constructively” with the new British government. New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon also took to X to congratulate Starmer, writing: “New Zealand and the UK are great friends and can do so much more together.” Luxon added his thanks to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak “for your service to your nation and friendship to New Zealand.”
Larry the cat waiting patiently outside Downing Street
As the UK was waiting for a new prime minister, one cat was also patiently waiting to be let into No. 10 Downing Street.
Larry, Britain’s mouse-catcher in chief and long time resident at the leader’s official residence, was pictured waiting outside the famous black door early Friday.
The tabby cat was not bothered by the large crowd of press photographers waiting outside ahead of the change of power expected later Friday. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to go to King Charles III to tender his resignation, and soon after Labour leader Keir Starmer will meet the monarch to be officially appointed.
Larry was recruited by former Prime Minister David Cameron to tackle rats seen scuttling close to the British leader’s official residence, and entered Downing Street in February 2011.
With more than half of all 650 seats counted, Labour looks set to secure one of its biggest ever majorities in the House of Commons.
Sunak, who held onto his lawmaker’s seat in North Yorkshire, told those gathered: “The Labour party has won this general election.” He said he took “responsibility” for his party’s loss, and that he had called Labour leader Keir Starmer to congratulate him on his victory.
He added that he will head to London in the coming hours, and promised that the transition to Labour will be orderly.
The Scottish National Party has four seats, while the Green Party has 1 seat.
Labour suffers in some areas over its Gaza stance
While the Labour Party appears headed for a landslide U.K. election victory, it seems clear that it has suffered in areas with big Muslim communities over its stance on the conflict in Gaza. A prominent Labour member, Jonathan Ashworth, lost his Leicester South seat in central England to an independent candidate who had Gaza at the heart of his campaign. Ashworth, who was expected to be appointed to the Cabinet, lost around 20,000 votes when compared to the election of 2019.
Even Labour leader Keir Starmer saw his majority in his Holborn and St. Pancras seat in north London reduced, with more than 7,000 votes going to a pro-Gaza candidate.
After the Oct 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas militants, Starmer took a strongly pro-Israel stance and maintained it even as the death toll in Gaza swelled. Many Muslims who had been traditional Labour voters were aghast and have clearly turned to other candidates.
Former Labour leader Corbyn holds onto his London seat
Jeremy Corbyn, who led the Labour Party into the general elections of 2017 and 2019, has held onto his seat in north London — but this time as an independent. Corbyn, who had been suspended from the party following a row over antisemitism, decided to stand as an independent candidate in the Islington North constituency he has represented since 1983. Corbyn won the seat by nearly 7,000 votes over his Labour opponent. Corbyn had won the seat by more than 26,000 votes at the last election.
Defense Secretary Grant Shapps loses his seat
U.K. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps, long a key figure in the Conservative Party, has lost his seat in the general election. Shapps lost his contest for Welwyn Hatfield, a seat north of London, by nearly 4,000 votes, or by 8 percentage points to his Labour Party opponent Andrew Lewin.
Shapps, 55, is the most senior Cabinet minister to lose their seat so far. He was widely considered to be the government’s most trusted media performers over many years and had been tipped as a potential Conservative leadership candidate to replace Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
The U.K. has 67 million residents and 46 million were registered to vote in the last general election in 2019. Turnout at that time was 67 per cent.
In local elections in May when Conservatives suffered heavy losses in council seats and mayoral offices, turnout averaged 30 per cent, the Institute for Government, an independent think tank, reported.
Conservatives expressed optimism that reports of high turnout Thursday could help them overcome polls that have suggested a widespread Labour victory.
“The younger generation are far more interested in change,” she said. “So, I think whatever happens in Henley, in the country, there will be a big shift. But whoever gets in, they’ve got a heck of a job ahead of them. It’s not going to be easy.”
Keir Starmer was chosen as leader to replace Corbyn and he has rebuilt it and moved it closer to the center. Pollsters and politicians expect Labour to win the largest number of seats. Starmer, had warned his supporters not to take the election for granted despite polls and politicians predicting a landslide, voted in his London neighborhood while Sunak, who tried to bring stability to a Conservative Party in chaos when he was picked as leader in October 2022, spent the past six weeks trying to persuade voters across the U.K. to give his party another term after 14 years in power.
Pollsters have given Labour a double-digit lead since before the campaign began six weeks ago.
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