Labour Party sweeps UK polls, Starmer new PM

Keir Starmer became UK’s new prime minister on Friday and vowed to rebuild Britain, hours after his Labour Party secured a landslide victory in a general election in which the weary voters inflicted a “sobering verdict” on Rishi Sunak-led Conservatives, who suffered their worst electoral drubbing.

Starmer, 61, assumed charge as the 58th prime minister after his customary audience with King Charles III at Buckingham Palace, following Sunak’s meeting with the British monarch.

The Labour Party secured 412 seats in the 650-member House of Commons, up 211 from the last election in 2019. Sunak’s Conservatives won just 121 seats, down 250 seats from the previous election. While the Labour had a vote share of 33.7 per cent the Conservatives had 23.7 per cent.

“Our country has voted decisively for change, for national renewal and a return of politics for public service,” said Starmer in his inaugural address from a lectern outside 10 Downing Street, the official residence of the British prime minister.

As leader of a new Labour Party-led government, Starmer said that the work ahead is “urgent and we begin it today”. However, he said this would not be as simple as “flicking a switch”.

“When the gap between the sacrifices made by people and the service they receive from politicians grows this big, it leads to the weariness in the heart of a nation, a draining away of the hope, the spirit, the belief in a better future. But we need to move forward together,” he said.

Starmer acknowledged that the lack of trust could only be healed by actions, not words and pledged that his government would treat every single person in the country with respect.