Britain’s Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has been swept to power with landslide Labour victory in the UK general election.
Outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has conceded defeat noting it had been a “difficult night” for his party and he took “responsibility” for their catastrophic set of results.
“The Labour Party has won this general election and I have called Sir Keir Starmer to congratulate him on his victory,” he said.
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Starmer will become the country’s first Labour prime minister in 14 years.
Starmer’s party swept into office with a projected 410 seats, while the Tories are expected to be reduced to 144.
As the exit polls predicted, Rishi Sunak’s term as prime minister has ended in electoral disaster, with Nigel Farage’s Reform UK establishing a foothold in Parliament and the Liberal Democrats making significant gains.
Speaking after being re-elected in his seat of Holborn and St Pancras, Starmer said, “you have voted, it is now time for us to deliver”.
“Tonight, people here and around the country have spoken and they are saying they’re ready for change,” he said.
“To end the politics of performance and return to politics as public service.”
Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson held Houghton and Sunderland South for Labour in the first confirmed result of the night, but Reform pushed out the Conservatives in an early indication of the advances made by Farage’s party.
“Tonight the British people have spoken and if the exit poll this evening is again a guide to results across our country — as it so often is — then after 14 years, the British people have chosen change”, Phillipson said.
“They have chosen Labour, and they have chosen the leadership of Keir Starmer.
“Today, our country with its proud history has chosen a brighter future.”
The results mean a Labour prime minister in No.10 for the first time since 2010 and the Conservatives facing a fight for the future direction of the party.
Former justice secretary Sir Robert Buckland was the first high-profile Tory casualty as he lost to Labour in Swindon South.
He warned that a lurch to the right after the election would be “disastrous” for the Conservatives, and took aim at “ill-discipline” within the Conservative Party after losing his seat.
“I’m afraid the reason why the Conservative Party has been swept out is because it’s been a clown show and people are paying a heavy price for it,” he said.
Former Cabinet minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said it was “clearly a terrible night”, suggesting voters had been put off by the revolving door in No.10 which saw Boris Johnson replaced first by Liz Truss and then by Sunak.
“Voters expect the prime minister they have chosen to remain the prime minister and for it to be the voters who decide when that person is changed”, Rees-Mogg told the BBC.
Populist politician Nigel Farage has won his first-ever seat in the UK’s parliament as he looks to shake up the country’s politics with his right-wing Reform UK party.
The win by the infamous Brexiteer follows seven failed attempts to become a member of British parliament.
After 14 years in power, it was always going to be a difficult election for the Conservatives, but the sometimes shambolic campaign — triggered at a time of Sunak’s choosing — has contributed to the party’s likely defeat.
From the rain-drenched speech announcing the surprise July 4 poll, through to the D-Day debacle as he left Normandy early to record a TV interview, Sunak struggled to convince the electorate he was the right man to lead the country.
The Prime Minister was not helped by the scandal of Tory candidates and officials allegedly heading to the bookies armed with inside knowledge of the date.
Sunak is expected to resign after leading his party to a massive defeat.
– With Reuters