Starmer delivers first national speech as prime minister after Labour\u2019s victory against Conservatives
\nLONDON
\nBritain\u2019s 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.
\nStanding 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\u2019s landslide victory in a parliamentary election ended 14 years of often tumultuous Conservative government.
\nHe 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.
\nStanding 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\u2019s election, suffering a historical loss.
\n\u201cThis lack of trust can only be healed by actions, not words. I know that,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cWhether you voted Labour or not, in fact, especially if you did not, I say to you directly \u2014 My government will serve you. Politics can be a force for good. We will show that.\u201d
\nThe centre-left Labour won a massive majority in the 650-seat parliament, prompting Rishi Sunak\u2019s resignation on Friday morning. Starmer then went to meet King Charles and was formally named prime minister.
\n\u201cMy 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,\u201d he said, underlining something he had repeated during the campaign\u2013that he would put country first, party second.
\n\u201cTo defy, quietly, those who have written our country off. You have given us a clear mandate, and we will use it to deliver change.\u201d
\nThe election result has upended British politics. Labour won some 410 seats, an increase of 210, while the Conservatives, the western world\u2019s most successful party, lost about 250 lawmakers, including a record number of senior ministers and former Prime Minister Liz Truss.
\nSunak\u2019s Conservatives suffered the worst performance in the party\u2019s long history as voters punished them for a cost of living crisis, failing public services and a series of scandals.
\n\u201cTo the country I would like to say first and foremost I am sorry,\u201d 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.
\n\u201cI 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,\u201d he added.
\nTough road ahead
\nDespite Starmer\u2019s convincing victory, polls have suggested there is little enthusiasm for Starmer or his party. Thanks to the quirk of Britain\u2019s first-past-the-post system and a low turnout, Labour\u2019s triumph was achieved with fewer votes than it secured in 2017 and 2019 \u2014 the latter its worst result for 84 years.
\nThe 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.
\nBritain\u2019s 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.
\nSome of Labour\u2019s more ambitious plans, such as its flagship green spending pledges, have already been scaled back while Starmer has promised not to raise taxes for \u201cworking people\u201d.
\nLikewise, he has promised to scrap the Conservative\u2019s 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.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t promise you it will be easy,\u201d Starmer said earlier at a victory rally. \u201cChanging a country is not like flicking a switch. It\u2019s hard work. Patient, determined, work, and we will have to get moving immediately.\u201d
\nBritain\u2019s 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.
\nBut, unlike France where Marine Le Pen\u2019s 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.
\nStarmer has promised to improve relations with the European Union to resolve issues created by Britain\u2019s split from the bloc. However, despite opposing Brexit, rejoining the EU is not on the table.
\nHe may also have to work with Trump if he wins November\u2019s presidential election. Trump has already sent congratulations to Farage, via his social media platform Truth Social.
\nWhile he has promised to bring change domestically, Starmer has vowed to continue London\u2019s unequivocal support for Ukraine in its war against Russia. On many foreign issues, his policies are similar to Sunak\u2019s.
\nThe 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.
\nA series of Conservative scandals \u2014 most notably revelations of parties in Downing Street during COVID lockdowns \u2014 undermined then prime minister Boris Johnson and its commanding poll lead evaporated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Starmer delivers first national speech as prime minister after Labour\u2019s victory against Conservatives LONDON Britain\u2019s 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 …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":67015,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66999"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66999\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67016,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66999\/revisions\/67016"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}