The United Kingdom parliamentary election has come and gone. It has produced a new Prime Minister in less than twenty-four hours of voting.
Sir Keir Starmer, the leader of the labour party for just five years, is the UK’s new prime minister, after his Labour Party swept to power in a landslide general election victory.
Sir Kier started his professional life as a barrister in the 1990s and was appointed the director of public prosecutions in England and Wales in 2008.
He was first elected in the Holborn and St Pancras constituency in north London in 2015, and took over leadership of Labour after the party’s poor performance in the 2019 general election, pledging to start a “new era” after the left-wing leadership of Jeremy Corbyn.
Sir Kier was re-elected in the same constituency on Thursday, saying in his victory speech to the people “we’re ready for change” and promising to “end the politics of performance.”
“The change begins right here because this is your democracy, your community, your future,” he said. “You have voted. It’s now time for us to deliver,” he told labour party members and voters.
The Conservative Party that ruled for fourteen years straight suffered a significant collapse after challenging years in power that produced five prime ministers that governed the United Kingdom.
The outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says as he conceded defeat that he takes full responsibility for the outcome and apologized to defeated conservative candidates during a brief statement outside 10 Downing Street. He wished his successor well in governing the UK. Sunak resigned as party leader despite winning reelection. His resignation will take effect after completing the legal process as provided for the UK laws.
The new prime minister in his acceptance speech vowed to kick start a period of “national renewal” and put “country first, party second.”
Sir Keir said, “For too long, we’ve turned a blind eye as millions slid into greater insecurity.”
“I want to say very clearly to those people; not this time, “the UK prime minister assured the voters and citizens.
Sir Keir reminded the people that “Changing a country is not like flicking a switch. The world is now a more volatile place. This will take a while, but I have no doubt that the work of change will begin immediately.”
“You have given us a clear mandate, and we will use it to deliver change,” he vowed.
The result marks a 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.
The election provided the huge victory for the Labour Party out of Britain’s House of Commons 650 seats with 412 seats win, surpassing the mandatory 326 seats for the overall majority.
The Conservatives, with 121 seats, is likely to end as the minority party and provide leadership for the opposition in the UK parliament.
As a result of the UK General Election outcome the outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has vacated 10 Downing Street and Sir Keir Starmer occupied the seat of government in the UK swiftly to allow for smooth process of transition.
World leaders, including Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, have congratulatory the new UK prime minister and assured him of their commitment to work with the Labour Party and government for their mutual benefits.
It is expected that the new labour government in UK will announce members of cabinet and the Sir Keir government would strive to “rebuild” British public services such as the National Health Service NHS, slash energy bills and secure the country’s border as promised in the coming months for the desired change in the UK.