Keir Starmer is set to become the UK's new prime minister after the Labour Party's big win in the general election on Thursday, the Associated Press reported.
The Labour Party won the majority of votes to put Starmer, the leader of the Labour Party, in a position of power. Starmer will oust the conservative Rishi Sunak, who has been prime minister since October 2022.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria at the Tate Modern in central London during a party to watch the 2024 general election results in central London, as the party looks set for a landslide victory. Picture date: Friday July 5, 2024.
Starmer, who will become the first Labour prime minister in 14 years, said he intends to put “country first and party second”.
“We need to bring politics back into the public service,” Starmer said, adding that a position of his new rank “carries great responsibility.”
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Thursday's Labour victory is one of the largest in the history of the House of Commons.
Current Prime Minister Sunak said he “takes responsibility for the loss” and that the British people had delivered a “sobering verdict” during a concession speech.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak delivers a speech during his visit to Well Healthcare Supplies as he campaigns in the Midlands on July 1, 2024 in Stoke, Britain. The Prime Minister and Conservative leader makes his final appeals to voters, as election day approaches.
“I take responsibility for the defeat,” Sunak said. “To the many good, hard-working Conservative candidates who lost tonight, despite their tireless efforts, their local backgrounds and their commitment to their communities. I am sorry.”
Sunak said he had already called Labour leader Keir Starmer to congratulate him on his victory.
“Today, power will change hands in a peaceful and orderly manner, with goodwill on all sides. That is something that should give us all confidence in the stability and future of our country,” Sunak said.
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Starmer is expected to visit King Charles III on Friday to seek permission to form a new government, the Associated Press reported.
Sunak conceded the election about 30 minutes before Labour secured the 326 seats needed — out of a possible 650 — to win the election and form a new government.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese tweeted that he looked forward to “working constructively” with the new government, and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon wrote: “New Zealand and the UK are great friends and can do much more together.” Luxon also thanked Sunak “for his service to his nation and his friendship with New Zealand.”
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Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who served for just 49 days, also lost her seat in the election.
Truss lost her Norfolk South West seat by a few hundred votes.
A copy of Liz Truss's “Ten Years to Save the West” is seen in a branch of Waterstones bookstore on April 16, 2024 in London, England. The former Conservative prime minister, who was in office for just 49 days, has published an autobiography in which she writes that “the conservative movement in the West has been faltering for almost a generation.” (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)
Several other high-profile Conservative MPs also lost their seats, including House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt.
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The latest vote count shows Labour won 410 seats in the 650-seat House of Commons, compared to the Conservatives' 118 seats.
Since Margaret Thatcher became leader of the Conservative Party in 1979, the Conservatives have controlled the government for all but 13 years so far.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
