Britain’s new prime minister Keir Starmer pledged action to fix the country, not just words, on Friday (July 5), but warned the voters who handed him a massive electoral majority and those who voted against, that improvements would take time.
Standing outside his new office and residence at Number 10 Downing Street, Starmer acknowledged the scale of the challenges that faced him after his party’s landslide victory in a parliamentary election ended 14 years of often tumultuous Conservative government.
He was greeted by huge cheers and in turn took time before making his speech to shake hands with and hug aides and well-wishers who lined Downing Street.
Standing behind a lectern, he said he understood that many Britons were disillusioned with politics after years of scandal and chaos under the Conservatives, who were roundly rejected in Thursday’s election, suffering a historical loss.
The centre-left Labour won a massive majority in the 650-seat parliament, prompting Rishi Sunak’s resignation on Friday morning. Starmer then went to meet King Charles and was formally named Prime Minister.
He repeated the campaign pledge to put country first, party second
“You have given us a clear mandate, and we will use it to deliver change,” he said.
The election result has upended British politics. Labour won some 410 seats, an increase of 210, while the Conservatives, the western world’s most successful party, lost about 250 lawmakers, including a record number of senior ministers and former Prime Minister Liz Truss.
The election victory represents an incredible turnaround for Starmer and Labour, which critics and supporters said was facing an existential crisis just three years ago when it appeared to have lost its way after its 2019 drubbing.
(Reuters)