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New Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledges action not words to fix Britain

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would lead a “government of service” on a mission of national renewal in his first official remarks Friday after his Labour Party swept to power in a landslide victory after more than a decade in opposition. Starmer acknowledged in his first speech outside 10 Downing St. that many people are disillusioned and cynical about politics, but said his government would try to restore faith in government. “My government will make you believe again,” Starmer said as supporters cheered him on outside 10 Downing St. “The work for change begins immediately,” he said. “We will rebuild Britain. …. Brick by brick we will rebuild the infrastructure of opportunity.”

Quick Read

  • New Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged action over words to fix Britain, acknowledging the challenges ahead and the need for time to see improvements.
  • Standing outside Number 10 Downing Street, Starmer addressed a crowd of cheering supporters and emphasized his commitment to serve all Britons, regardless of their vote.
  • Starmer highlighted the disillusionment with politics and scandals under the previous Conservative government, promising to restore trust through tangible actions.
  • After Labour’s landslide victory, which ended 14 years of Conservative rule, Starmer was formally named Prime Minister by King Charles III at Buckingham Palace.
  • Labour secured 410 seats in the 650-seat parliament, marking a historic shift in British politics and prompting Rishi Sunak’s resignation.
  • Sunak, in his farewell speech, apologized to the nation and took responsibility for the Conservatives’ defeat, acknowledging the public’s demand for change.
  • Despite the victory, Starmer noted the daunting challenges Britain faces, including a high tax burden, public service issues, and economic concerns.
  • Labour’s ambitious plans, including green spending, have been scaled back, and Starmer has vowed not to raise taxes for working people.
  • Starmer also promised to scrap the Conservative policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda, while addressing the migration issue.
  • He aims to improve relations with the EU post-Brexit and maintain strong support for Ukraine, aligning with some of Sunak’s foreign policies.
  • The election result showed increased support for the right-wing Reform party, reflecting a European trend of rising far-right support.
  • Starmer’s leadership represents a significant turnaround for Labour, which faced an existential crisis just three years ago after a severe electoral defeat.

The Associated Press has the story:

New Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledges action not words to fix Britain

Newslooks- LONDON- (AP)

Britain’s new prime minister Keir Starmer pledged action to fix the country, not just words, on Friday, 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 cut a serious figure, acknowledging 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.

Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks in front of 10 Downing Street in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. Britain’s Labour Party swept to power Friday after more than a decade in opposition, as a jaded electorate handed the party a landslide victory, but also a mammoth task of reinvigorating a stagnant economy and dispirited nation. (AP Photo/David Cliff)

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.

“This lack of trust can only be healed by actions, not words. I know that,” he said.

Britain’s newly elected Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria enter his official London residence at No 10 Downing Street for the first time after the Labour Party won a landslide victory in the 2024 general election, in London, Friday July 5, 2024. (Stefan Rousseau/Pool Photo via AP)

“Whether you voted Labour or not, in fact, especially if you did not, I say to you directly – My government will serve you. Politics can be a force for good. We will show that.”

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.

Britain’s King Charles III, right, speaks with Keir Starmer where he invited the Labour Party leader to become prime minister and to form a new government, following the landslide general election victory for the Labour Party, in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. (Yui Mok, Pool Photo via AP)

“My government will fight every day until you believe again. From now on, you have a government unburdened by doctrine, guided only by the determination to serve your interest,” he said,underlining something he had repeated during the campaign – that he would put country first, party second. “To defy, quietly, those who have written our country off. You have given us a clear mandate, and we will use it to deliver change.”

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.

Britain’s King Charles III, right, shakes hands with Keir Starmer where he invited the Labour Party leader to become prime minister and to form a new government, following the landslide general election victory for the Labour Party, in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. (Yui Mok, Pool Photo via AP)

Sunak’s Conservatives suffered the worst performance in the party’s long history as voters punished them for a cost of living crisis, failing public services and a series of scandals.

“To the country I would like to say first and foremost I am sorry,” Sunak said in a final speech outside Downing Street, adding he would stay as Conservative leader until the party was ready to appoint his replacement.

Britain’s outgoing Conservative Party Prime Minister Rishi Sunak looks down as he makes a short speech outside 10 Downing Street before going to see King Charles III to tender his resignation in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. Sunak and his Conservative Party lost the general election held July 4, to the Labour Party, whose leader Keir Starmer is set become Prime Minister later Friday. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

“I have given this job my all, but you have sent a clear signal that the government of the United Kingdom must change, and yours is the only judgment that matters. I have heard your anger, your disappointment and I take responsibility for this loss.”

TOUGH ROAD AHEAD

Despite Starmer‘s convincing victory, polls have suggested there is little enthusiasm for Starmer or his party. Thanks to the quirk of Britain’s first-past-the-post system and a low turnout, Labour’s triumph was achieved with fewer votes than it secured in 2017 and 2019 – the latter its worst result for 84 years.

Britain’s Labour Party Prime Minister Kier Starmer and his wife Victoria arrive in Downing Street and greet supporters in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. Labour leader Stammer won the general election on July 4, and was appointed Prime Minster by King Charles III at Buckingham Palace, after the party won a landslide victory. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

The pound and British stocks and government bonds rose marginally on Friday, but Starmer comes to power at a time when the country is facing a series of daunting challenges.

Britain’s tax burden is set to hit its highest since just after World War Two, net debt is almost equivalent to annual economic output, living standards have fallen, and public services are creaking, especially the much cherished National Health Service which has been dogged by strikes.

Britain’s Labour Party Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria walk towards supporters outside 10 Downing Street in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. Labour leader Starmer won the general election on July 4, and was appointed Prime Minster by King Charles III at Buckingham Palace, after the party won a landslide victory. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Some of Labour’s more ambitious plans, such as its flagship green spending pledges, have already been scaled back while Starmer has promised not to raise taxes for “working people”.

Likewise, he has promised to scrap the Conservative’s controversial policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda, but with migration a key electoral issue, he will be under pressure himself to find a way to stop tens of thousands of people arriving across the Channel from France on small boats.

Britain’s outgoing Conservative Party Prime Minister Rishi Sunak makes a speech in front of the massed banks of media outside of 10 Downing Street before going to see King Charles III to tender his resignation in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. Sunak and his Conservative Party lost the general election held July 4, to the Labour Party, whose leader Keir Starmer is set become Prime Minister later Friday. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

“I don’t promise you it will be easy,” Starmer said earlier at a victory rally. “Changing a country is not like flicking a switch. It’s hard work. Patient, determined, work, and we will have to get moving immediately.”

Britain’s election result showed growth in support for the right-wing Reform party, led by Nigel Farage, echoing recent similar results in Europe where the far right have been surging.

But, unlike France where Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party made historic gains in an election last Sunday, overall the British public has plumped for a centre-left party to bring about change.

Britain’s outgoing Conservative Party Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and his wife Akshata Murty leave after Sunak made a short speech outside 10 Downing Street before going to see King Charles III to tender his resignation in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. Sunak and his Conservative Party lost the general election held July 4, to the Labour Party, whose leader Keir Starmer is set become Prime Minister later Friday. (Lucy North/PA via AP)

Starmer has promised to improve relations with the European Union to resolve issues created by Britain’s split from the bloc. However, despite opposing Brexit, rejoining the EU is not on the table.

He may also have to work with Trump if he wins November’s presidential election. Trump has already sent congratulations to Farage, via his social media platform Truth Social.

While he has promised to bring change domestically, Starmer has vowed to continue London’s unequivocal support for Ukraine in its war against Russia. On many foreign issues, his policies are similar to Sunak’s.

Britain’s outgoing Conservative Party Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty walk from 10 Downing Street to a waiting car before going to see King Charles III to tender his resignation in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. Sunak and his Conservative Party lost the general election held July 4, to the Labour Party, whose leader Keir Starmer is set become Prime Minister later Friday. (Gareth Fuller/PA via AP)

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.

A series of Conservative scandals – most notably revelations of parties in Downing Street during COVID lockdowns – undermined then prime minister Boris Johnson and its commanding poll lead evaporated.

FILE – An anti-Boris Johnson protester holds up a placard with an image of him and his Finance Minister Rishi Sunak, backdropped by the Elizabeth Tower, known as Big Ben, and the Houses of Parliament, in London, Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File)

In the merciless choreography of British politics, Starmer took over the official residence about two hours after Conservative leader Rishi Sunak and his family left the home and the king accepted the Conservative leader’s resignation.

“This is a difficult day, but I leave this job honored to have been prime minister of the best country in the world,” Sunak said in his farewell address.

Sunak had conceded defeat earlier in the morning, saying the voters had delivered a “sobering verdict.”

ADDS LOCATION AND FURTHER INFORMATION Members of the media in central London watch an exit poll giving the Labour Party a huge majority in the 2024 General Election, at the headquarters of Camden Council at 5 Pancras Square in Camden, north London, during the count for the Holborn and St Pancras constituency, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)

In a reflective farewell speech in the same place where he had called for the snap election six weeks earlier, Sunak wished Starmer all the best but also acknowledged his missteps.

“I have heard your anger, your disappointment, and I take responsibility for this loss,” Sunak said. “To all the Conservative candidates and campaigners who worked tirelessly but without success, I’m sorry that we could not deliver what your efforts deserved.”

Labour’s triumph and challenges

With almost all the results in, Labour had won 410 seats in the 650-seat House of Commons and the Conservatives 118.

For Starmer, it’s a massive triumph that will bring huge challenges, as he faces a weary electorate impatient for change against a gloomy backdrop of economic malaise, mounting distrust in institutions and a fraying social fabric.

Britain’s Labour Party leader Keir Starmer gives a thumbs up to his supporters after he was elected for the Holborn and St Pancras constituency, in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. Britain’s Labour Party appears to be headed for a huge majority in the 2024 UK election, an exit poll suggested. The poll released moments after voting closed indicated that Labour leader Keir Starmer will be the country’s next prime minister.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

“Nothing has gone well in the last 14 years,” said London voter James Erskine, who was optimistic for change in the hours before polls closed. “I just see this as the potential for a seismic shift, and that’s what I’m hoping for.”

And that’s what Starmer promised, saying “change begins now.”

Anand Menon, professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs at King’s College London, said British voters were about to see a marked change in political atmosphere from the tumultuous “politics as pantomime” of the last few years.

“I think we’re going to have to get used again to relatively stable government, with ministers staying in power for quite a long time, and with government being able to think beyond the very short term to medium-term objectives,” he said.

Labour Party leader Keir Starmer and wife Victoria arrive at a polling station to cast their vote in London, Thursday, July 4, 2024. Voters in the U.K. are casting their ballots in a national election to choose the 650 lawmakers who will sit in Parliament for the next five years. Outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak surprised his own party on May 22 when he called the election. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Britain has experienced a run of turbulent years — some of it of the Conservatives’ own making and some of it not — that has left many voters pessimistic about their country’s future. The U.K. divorce from the European Union followed by the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine battered the economy, while lockdown-breaching parties held by then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his staff caused widespread anger.

Rising poverty, crumbling infrastructure and overstretched National Health Service have led to gripes about “Broken Britain.”

Johnson’s successor, Liz Truss, rocked the economy further with a package of drastic tax cuts and lasted just 49 days in office. Truss, who lost her seat to Labour, was one of a slew of senior Tories kicked out in a stark electoral reckoning.

Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer walks out of a polling booth after casting her vote in the 2024 General Election at Redland Park United Reformed Church in Bristol, England, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP)

While the result appears to buck recent rightward electoral shifts in Europe, including in France and Italy, many of those same populist undercurrents flow in Britain. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage roiled the race with his party’s anti-immigrant “take our country back” sentiment and undercut support for the Conservatives and even grabbed some voters from Labour.

Conservative vote collapses as smaller parties surge

The result is a catastrophe for the Conservatives as voters punished them for 14 years of presiding over austerity, Brexit, a pandemic, political scandals and internecine conflict.

The historic defeat — the smallest number of seats in the party’s two-century history — leaves it depleted and in disarray and will spark an immediate contest to replace Sunak, who said he would step down as leader.

FILE – Liz Truss, right, and Rishi Sunak on stage after a Conservative leadership election hustings at Wembley Arena in London, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)

In a sign of the volatile public mood and anger at the system, the incoming Parliament will be more fractured and ideologically diverse than any for years. Smaller parties picked up millions of votes, including the centrist Liberal Democrats and Farage’s Reform UK. It won four seats, including one for Farage in the seaside town of Clacton-on-Sea, securing a place in Parliament on his eighth attempt.

The Liberal Democrats won about 70 seats, on a slightly lower share of the vote than Reform because its votes were more efficiently distributed. In Britain’s first-past-the-post system, the candidate with the most votes in each constituency wins.

The Green Party won four seats, up from just one before the election.

One of the biggest losers was the Scottish National Party, which held most of Scotland’s 57 seats before the election but looked set to lose all but handful, mostly to Labour.

Labour was cautious but reliable

Labour did not set pulses racing with its pledges to get the sluggish economy growing, invest in infrastructure and make Britain a “clean energy superpower.”

Britain’s Labour Party leader Keir Starmer shakes hands with other candidates after he was elected for the Holborn and St Pancras constituency, in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. Britain’s Labour Party appears to be headed for a huge majority in the 2024 UK election, an exit poll suggested. The poll released moments after voting closed indicated that Labour leader Keir Starmer will be the country’s next prime minister. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

But the party’s cautious, safety-first campaign delivered the desired result. The party won the support of large chunks of the business community and endorsements from traditionally conservative newspapers, including the Rupert Murdoch-owned Sun tabloid, which praised Starmer for “dragging his party back to the center ground of British politics.”

Conservative missteps

The Conservative campaign, meanwhile, was plagued by gaffes. The campaign got off to an inauspicious start when rain drenched Sunak as he made the announcement outside 10 Downing St. Then, Sunak went home early from commemorations in France marking the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.

Several Conservatives close to Sunak are being investigated over suspicions they used inside information to place bets on the date of the election before it was announced.

Britain’s outgoing Conservative Party Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty walk from 10 Downing Street to a waiting car before going to see King Charles III to tender his resignation in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. Sunak and his Conservative Party lost the general election held July 4, to the Labour Party, whose leader Keir Starmer is set become Prime Minister later Friday. (Gareth Fuller/PA via AP)

In Henley-on-Thames, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of London, voters like Patricia Mulcahy, who is retired, sensed the nation was looking for something different. The community, which has long voted Conservative, flipped to the Liberal Democrats this time.

“The younger generation are far more interested in change,’’ Mulcahy said ahead of the results. “But whoever gets in, they’ve got a heck of a job ahead of them. It’s not going to be easy.”

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