For the first time since 2010, Britain officially has a Labour prime minister. As expected, Keir Starmer and his party achieved a landslide victory in the July 4 General Election, gaining 410 seats—84 more than the 326 required for a majority in the House of Commons. In a speech at Tate Modern this morning, the newly elected PM declared that “change begins now,” insisting that the Labour Party is “ready to serve our country, ready to restore Britain to the service of working people.”
“Across our country, people will be waking up to the news, relief that a weight has been lifted, a burden finally removed from the shoulders of this great nation,” he continued, “and now we can look forward, walk into the morning, the sunlight of hope, pale at first but getting stronger through the day, shining once again, on a country with the opportunity after 14 years to get its future back.” Starmer is expected to announce his Cabinet in due course, after meeting with King Charles III today to formally confirm his appointment.
Rishi Sunak, too, is due to meet with the king in London before giving his resignation speech. The outgoing prime minister conceded defeat in the early hours of the morning from his constituency of Richmond and Northallerton, admitting that “the British people have delivered a sobering victory [for Labour] tonight.” “There is much to learn and reflect on, and I take responsibility for the loss. To the many good, hardworking Conservative candidates who lost tonight, despite their tireless efforts, their local records of delivery, and their dedication to their communities, I am sorry.”
Among the senior Tories who lost their seats on July 4: Liz Truss, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Alex Chalk, Gillian Keegan, Johnny Mercer, Grant Shapps, and Penny Mordaunt. (Adding insult to political injury: the fact that Nigel Farage’s Reform took four seats, having split the Conservative vote in much of the country.) Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats made considerable gains, winning more than 70 seats in the new parliament—beating the party’s previous record of 62 seats in 2005—and the Green Party achieved its goal of having four MPs elected.
Read Starmer’s full victory speech, below.
You campaigned for it; you fought for it; you voted for it—and now it has arrived. Change begins now.