UK Election: Labour Party Wins Big, Keir Starmer to Become Prime Minister

The Labour Party has won a major victory in the UK general election, gaining hundreds of seats across the country and ending 14 years of Conservative rule. Sir Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour Party, will be appointed prime minister, bringing an end to a period that saw five different Conservative leaders in charge.

Rishi Sunak, the outgoing Prime Minister, admitted defeat early in the morning, around 4:40 AM, and called Sir Keir to congratulate him. In his victory speech, Sir Keir promised “national renewal” and emphasized his commitment to putting the country first. "We have earned the mandate to relight the fire," he said, addressing Labour supporters. "Our task is nothing less than renewing the ideas that hold this country together."

This win marks a major turnaround from the 2019 election when Labour, led by Jeremy Corbyn, experienced its worst defeat in nearly a century. Robert Buckland, a former Conservative minister who lost his seat, described the outcome as “electoral Armageddon” for the Conservative Party. It is expected to be the party’s worst result in almost 200 years, and a debate over the future direction of the party is likely to begin soon.

Keir Starmer, a 61-year-old former human rights lawyer, is set to become the next prime minister of Britain. Though he may lack the star power of some previous leaders, he has led a remarkable revival for the Labour Party. In his speech, Starmer spoke of the "sunlight of hope" rising over the country and expressed his determination to lead the nation into a brighter future after 14 years of Conservative governance.

Starmer will replace Rishi Sunak, who has been in office for less than two years. Starmer’s disciplined and pragmatic approach has been praised by many, including Jill Rutter, a research fellow at the London research group UK in a Changing Europe, who noted his "relatively prime-ministerial" demeanor.

Raised in a working-class family in Surrey, Starmer was named after Keir Hardie, Labour's first leader. His background as a lawyer includes representing protesters and serving as Britain’s chief prosecutor, for which he was knighted. Elected to Parliament in 2015, Starmer succeeded Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader in 2020 and began shifting the party towards the center. He dropped plans to nationalize Britain’s energy companies, pledged not to raise taxes on working families, and showed strong support for the military, distancing the party from the anti-patriotic image it had during Corbyn's time.

Starmer also addressed the antisemitism that had plagued the party under Corbyn. His wife, Victoria Starmer, comes from a Jewish family in London, though Starmer has not publicly connected his efforts to combat antisemitism with his personal life.

In his early morning speech on Friday, Starmer acknowledged the deep changes within the party that led to the victory but warned that the hard work was just beginning. "I don’t promise you it will be easy. Changing a country is not like flipping a switch," he said. "We will have to get moving immediately."