Kathmandu: Sir Keir Starmer is the UK’s new prime minister, after his Labour Party swept to power in a landslide general election victory. The Conservative Party suffered a huge collapse after a tumultuous 14 years in power, which saw five different prime ministers run the country.
Rishi Sunak – the outgoing PM – accepted responsibility for the result and apologised to defeated colleagues during a brief statement outside a rainy 10 Downing Street. He said he would resign as party leader in the coming weeks.
In his first speech as prime minister after greeting dozens of jubilant Labour supporters who had lined Downing Street, Sir Keir vowed to kick start a period of “national renewal” and to put “country first, party second”. “For too long we’ve turned a blind eye as millions slid into greater insecurity,” he said. “I want to say very clearly to those people. Not this time.”
“Changing a country is not like flicking a switch. The world is now a more volatile place. This will take a while, but have no doubt the work of change will begin immediately.” The result marks a stunning reversal from the 2019 election when Labour, led by the veteran left-wing politician Jeremy Corbyn, suffered its worst electoral defeat in almost a century.
On the other side, Robert Buckland, a former Conservative minister who lost his seat, described it as “electoral Armageddon” for the Tories.
It is the party’s worst result in almost 200 years, with an ideological battle over its future direction expected to commence in the coming weeks.
Source: BBC