Keir Starmer pledges 'national renewal' after Labour wins UK election
Prime Minister-elect Keir Starmer pledged Friday to start a period of "national renewal" in the UK after his opposition Labour party crossing the 326-seat threshold for a working majority in the House of Commons, defeating the ruling Conservatives in the general election.
Issued on: 04/07/2024 -
06:41
Britain's Labour party leader Keir Starmer delivers a speech during a victory rally at the Tate Modern in London early on July 5, 2024. © Justin Tallis, AFP
Keir Starmer on Friday will become Britain's new prime minister, as his centre-left opposition Labour Party swept to a landslide general election victory, ending 14 years of right-wing Conservative rule.
"The Labour Party has won this general election, and I have called Sir Keir Starmer to congratulate him on his victory," a sombre-looking Rishi Sunak said after he was re-elected to his seat.
"Today, power will change hands in a peaceful and orderly manner with goodwill on all sides," the Tory leader added, calling the results "sobering" and saying he took responsibility for the defeat.
At a triumphant party rally in central London, Starmer, 61, told cheering activists that "change begins here" and promised a "decade of national renewal", putting "country first, party second".
But he cautioned that change would not come overnight, even as Labour snatched a swathe of Tory seats around the country, including from at least eight Cabinet members.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps was the highest-profile scalp of the night so far, with other big names, including senior minister Penny Mordaunt and leading Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg also defeated.
Finance minister Jeremy Hunt hung on to remain an MP, but only by 891 votes.
'Keir we go'
Labour raced past the 326 seats needed to secure an overall majority in the 650-seat parliament at 0400 GMT, with the final result expected later on Friday morning.
An exit poll for UK broadcasters published after polls closed at 2100 GMT on Thursday put Labour on course for a return to power for the first time since 2010, with 410 seats and a 170-seat majority.
Labour raced past the 326 seats needed to secure an overall majority in the 650-seat parliament at 0400 GMT, with the final result expected later on Friday morning.
An exit poll for UK broadcasters published after polls closed at 2100 GMT on Thursday put Labour on course for a return to power for the first time since 2010, with 410 seats and a 170-seat majority.
The Tories would only get 131 seats in the House of Commons – a record low – with the right-wing vote apparently spliced by Nigel Farage's anti-immigration Reform UK party, which could bag 13 seats.
In another boost for the centrists, the smaller opposition Liberal Democrats would get 61 seats, ousting the Scottish National Party on 10 as the third-biggest party.
The projected overall result bucks a rightward trend among Britain's closest Western allies, with the far right in France eyeing power and Donald Trump looking set for a return in the United States.
British newspapers all focused on Labour's impending return to power for the first time since Gordon Brown was ousted by David Cameron in 2010.
"Keir We Go," headlined the Labour-supporting Daily Mirror. "Britain sees red," said The Sun, the influential Rupert Murdoch tabloid, which swung behind Labour for the first time since 2005.
In another boost for the centrists, the smaller opposition Liberal Democrats would get 61 seats, ousting the Scottish National Party on 10 as the third-biggest party.
The projected overall result bucks a rightward trend among Britain's closest Western allies, with the far right in France eyeing power and Donald Trump looking set for a return in the United States.
British newspapers all focused on Labour's impending return to power for the first time since Gordon Brown was ousted by David Cameron in 2010.
"Keir We Go," headlined the Labour-supporting Daily Mirror. "Britain sees red," said The Sun, the influential Rupert Murdoch tabloid, which swung behind Labour for the first time since 2005.
Tory future
Sunak will tender his resignation to head of state King Charles III, with the monarch then asking Starmer, as the leader of the largest party in parliament, to form a government.
The Tories worst previous election result is 156 seats in 1906. Former leader William Hague told Times Radio the projections would be "a catastrophic result in historic terms".
But Tim Bale, politics professor at Queen Mary, University of London, said it was "not as catastrophic as some were predicting" and the Tories would now need to decide how best to fight back.
Right-wing former interior minister Suella Braverman and Mordaunt, who was leader of the House of Commons, both said the Tories failed because they had not listened to the British people.
But Brexit champion Farage, who finally succeeded in becoming an MP at the eighth time of asking, has made no secret of his aim to take over the party.
"There is a massive gap on the centre-right of British politics and my job is to fill it," he said after a comfortable win in Clacton, eastern England.
To-do list
Labour's resurgence is a stunning turnaround from five years ago, when hard-left former leader Jeremy Corbyn took the party to its worst defeat since 1935 in an election dominated by Brexit.
Starmer took over in early 2020 and set about moving the party back to the centre, making it a more electable proposition and purging infighting and anti-Semitism that lost it support.
Opinion polls have put Labour consistently 20 points ahead of the Tories for almost the past two years, giving an air of inevitability about a Labour win – the first since Tony Blair in 2005.
Starmer is facing a daunting to-do list, with economic growth anaemic, public services overstretched and underfunded due to swingeing cuts, and households squeezed financially.
He has also promised a return of political integrity, after a chaotic period of five Tory prime ministers, including three in four months, scandal and sleaze.
(AFP)
Newly-elected PM Keir Starmer poised to bring a low profile to 10 Downing Street
The Labour Party won a landslide victory in the UK general election on Thursday, making Keir Starmer the country’s first Labour prime minister in 14 years. Starmer's victory caps a remarkable political rise for the former human rights lawyer and chief prosecutor, first elected an MP in 2015.
Issued on: 05/07/2024 -
By: Cyrielle CABOT|
Recentering Labour
"He really reshaped the then very left-leaning Labour Party in an attempt to appeal to a more centrist, even centre-right electorate," Harrois said.
Politically, Starmer favours economic interventionism and social policies, while remaining firm on immigration and security, he said.
"But he always remains measured, refusing to make big promises and constantly reminds people that the state coffers are empty", he added.
Harrois also highlighted Starmer’s “cautious” posture, often denounced by Tories and the hard left as “lacking in courage” and "prevents people from seeing his true position".
While he has promised to repeal laws restricting the right to strike, he has backpeddled on his proposal to increase welfare benefits.
Starmer also watered down what was seen as his flagship policy: investing up to 28 billion pounds (€33 billion) a year in renewable energies.
Despite attracting criticism from both ends of the political spectrum for his ideas, Starmer sought to court the public’s favour by calling attention to his modest upbringing.
"Unlike Tony Blair, for example, Keir Starmer is well aware that he is not charismatic," said Harrois. "By emphasising his background, he plays on the image of a man who is above all serious, straightforward and methodical," he said, adding that Starmer’s cultivated image has become an asset "after years of scandals" in UK politics.
But Starmer’s arrival at number 10 is mostly “contextual", driven by "the population's desire for change", Harrois said.
"In the current political landscape and in this particular context, he has succeeded in establishing himself as the serious alternative", he said.
A position perfectly illustrated by Starmer’s campaign slogan, chanted at every meeting: "It's time for change".
This paper is adapted from the original in French.
The Labour Party won a landslide victory in the UK general election on Thursday, making Keir Starmer the country’s first Labour prime minister in 14 years. Starmer's victory caps a remarkable political rise for the former human rights lawyer and chief prosecutor, first elected an MP in 2015.
Issued on: 05/07/2024 -
Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer delivers a speech on Labour's energy policy, at the Greenock Arts Centre, northwest of Glasgow on May 31, 2024.
© Andy Buchanan, AFP
01:37
By: Cyrielle CABOT|
Video by: Charlotte HUGHES
Always neat in appearance, with his well-combed greying hair, stern expression and dispassionate voice, 61-year-old Starmer is an outlier in UK politics compared to his peers and Conservative predecessors.
Far removed from the antics of the likes of Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Jeremy Corbyn and Nigel Farage – whose careers have been peppered with controversy and scandal – the Labour Party leader stands out for his ability to keep a low profile.
So much so, in fact, that little is known about 10 Downing Street’s new occupant.
A knight with humble origins
Sir Keir – he rarely uses the honorific title himself – was awarded a knighthood in 2014 for his services to “law and criminal justice”.
Starmer comes from a modest background. Born to blue-collar parents in 1962, Starmer was named after Keir Hardie, founder of the Labour Party of which his parents were staunch supporters, and grew up in a small town in Surrey.
“My dad was a toolmaker and worked in a factory all his life, and my mum was a nurse,” Starmer often noted in speeches.
The first among four siblings to receive higher education, Starmer attended the University of Leeds from where he graduated with honours and a law degree before heading to Oxford for postgraduate studies.
Starmer then became a barrister in 1987, specialising in human rights law and represented death row inmates in Africa and the Caribbean.
Often providing legal advice for free, Starmer also worked on several high profile cases including the defence of environmental activists against McDonald’s and Shell.
Nicknamed “lefty lawyer” by opponents, Starmer took legal action against human rights violations in the context of the Northern Ireland conflict and helped set up the Northern Ireland Police Board following the Good Friday agreement that ended decades of violent conflict in Northern Ireland.
In 2008, Starmer was appointed Director of Public Prosecutions where he oversaw the prosecution of MPs charged with embezzlement and journalists accused of phone hacking.
A late start in politics
Starmer's entry into politics came fairly late in life, at the age of 52.
He was first elected to parliament in 2015, serving as the member for his London constituency where he lived with his wife and their two children.
Quickly climbing the ranks of the Labour Party, Starmer soon became shadow Home Office minister before quitting the role in protest of former party head Jeremy Corbyn’s lack of leadership during the Brexit campaign.
Starmer went on to become the party’s spokesman on Brexit-related issues and eventually took over the party’s leadership when Corbyn stood down following Labour’s crushing defeat in the 2019 general elections against Boris Johnson’s Conservatives.
It was from that point on that Starmer firmly established himself as a politician, said Thibaud Harrois, lecturer in contemporary British civilisation at Sorbonne-Nouvelle University.
"Keir Starmer made it his mission to turn the page on Jeremy Corbyn," Harrois said, adding that “he started by dismissing all those accused of anti-Semitism from within the party, including Jeremy Corbyn himself."
In May, Starmer expelled Corbyn from the party after suspending him over a row on anti-Semitism.
Intent on winning the popular vote, Starmer also started aligning Labour’s policies with the centre by preventing left-wing candidates from standing for the party.
Always neat in appearance, with his well-combed greying hair, stern expression and dispassionate voice, 61-year-old Starmer is an outlier in UK politics compared to his peers and Conservative predecessors.
Far removed from the antics of the likes of Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Jeremy Corbyn and Nigel Farage – whose careers have been peppered with controversy and scandal – the Labour Party leader stands out for his ability to keep a low profile.
So much so, in fact, that little is known about 10 Downing Street’s new occupant.
A knight with humble origins
Sir Keir – he rarely uses the honorific title himself – was awarded a knighthood in 2014 for his services to “law and criminal justice”.
Starmer comes from a modest background. Born to blue-collar parents in 1962, Starmer was named after Keir Hardie, founder of the Labour Party of which his parents were staunch supporters, and grew up in a small town in Surrey.
“My dad was a toolmaker and worked in a factory all his life, and my mum was a nurse,” Starmer often noted in speeches.
The first among four siblings to receive higher education, Starmer attended the University of Leeds from where he graduated with honours and a law degree before heading to Oxford for postgraduate studies.
Starmer then became a barrister in 1987, specialising in human rights law and represented death row inmates in Africa and the Caribbean.
Often providing legal advice for free, Starmer also worked on several high profile cases including the defence of environmental activists against McDonald’s and Shell.
Nicknamed “lefty lawyer” by opponents, Starmer took legal action against human rights violations in the context of the Northern Ireland conflict and helped set up the Northern Ireland Police Board following the Good Friday agreement that ended decades of violent conflict in Northern Ireland.
In 2008, Starmer was appointed Director of Public Prosecutions where he oversaw the prosecution of MPs charged with embezzlement and journalists accused of phone hacking.
A late start in politics
Starmer's entry into politics came fairly late in life, at the age of 52.
He was first elected to parliament in 2015, serving as the member for his London constituency where he lived with his wife and their two children.
Quickly climbing the ranks of the Labour Party, Starmer soon became shadow Home Office minister before quitting the role in protest of former party head Jeremy Corbyn’s lack of leadership during the Brexit campaign.
Starmer went on to become the party’s spokesman on Brexit-related issues and eventually took over the party’s leadership when Corbyn stood down following Labour’s crushing defeat in the 2019 general elections against Boris Johnson’s Conservatives.
It was from that point on that Starmer firmly established himself as a politician, said Thibaud Harrois, lecturer in contemporary British civilisation at Sorbonne-Nouvelle University.
"Keir Starmer made it his mission to turn the page on Jeremy Corbyn," Harrois said, adding that “he started by dismissing all those accused of anti-Semitism from within the party, including Jeremy Corbyn himself."
In May, Starmer expelled Corbyn from the party after suspending him over a row on anti-Semitism.
Intent on winning the popular vote, Starmer also started aligning Labour’s policies with the centre by preventing left-wing candidates from standing for the party.
Recentering Labour
"He really reshaped the then very left-leaning Labour Party in an attempt to appeal to a more centrist, even centre-right electorate," Harrois said.
Politically, Starmer favours economic interventionism and social policies, while remaining firm on immigration and security, he said.
"But he always remains measured, refusing to make big promises and constantly reminds people that the state coffers are empty", he added.
Harrois also highlighted Starmer’s “cautious” posture, often denounced by Tories and the hard left as “lacking in courage” and "prevents people from seeing his true position".
While he has promised to repeal laws restricting the right to strike, he has backpeddled on his proposal to increase welfare benefits.
Starmer also watered down what was seen as his flagship policy: investing up to 28 billion pounds (€33 billion) a year in renewable energies.
Despite attracting criticism from both ends of the political spectrum for his ideas, Starmer sought to court the public’s favour by calling attention to his modest upbringing.
"Unlike Tony Blair, for example, Keir Starmer is well aware that he is not charismatic," said Harrois. "By emphasising his background, he plays on the image of a man who is above all serious, straightforward and methodical," he said, adding that Starmer’s cultivated image has become an asset "after years of scandals" in UK politics.
But Starmer’s arrival at number 10 is mostly “contextual", driven by "the population's desire for change", Harrois said.
"In the current political landscape and in this particular context, he has succeeded in establishing himself as the serious alternative", he said.
A position perfectly illustrated by Starmer’s campaign slogan, chanted at every meeting: "It's time for change".
This paper is adapted from the original in French.
KEIR STAMERS VICTORY SPEECH
Angela Rayner: Life and career of Labour's soon-to-be Deputy Prime Minister after General Election win
By Sofia Fedeczko
Published 5th Jul 2024
By now, almost everyone in the country knows who Angela Rayner is.
After the General Election, which resulted in a landslide victory for Labour and the first change of government in 15 years, the Ashton-under-Lyne MP is now one of the most powerful people in the country.
As Angela and her Labour colleagues gear themselves up for the first crucial 100 days in power, here is everything you need to know about the life and career so far of the UK’s soon-to-be Deputy Prime Minister.
Angela Rayner’s life outside of politics
Unlike many of her colleagues in Westminster, Angela Rayner’s life started out on a council estate. Angela was many things before politics, including teenage mother, care worker and union official.
In interviews throughout her career, Angela has spoken openly about her difficult childhood, growing up in poverty and having to look after her mother, who had bi-polar and depression. She has two siblings.
Having risen the union ranks, Angela was selected to be a prospective party candidate for Labour in 2014 and then elected to parliament as the MP for Ashton-Under-Lyne in 2015. She was the constituency’s first female MP in its 180-year history.
After just one year in Westminster, Angela was selected for the front bench to serve as the Shadow Minister for Education under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. She was re-elected as MP in the 2017 General Election with a much higher share of the votes at 60.4%, and again in the 2019 snap general election with 48.1%.
She was elected Deputy Leader of the Labour party in 2020 when Keir Starmer became leader of the party. However, she was sacked as Party Chair following a historic Labour loss to the Conservatives in the Hartlepool by-election in 2021. She became Shadow Deputy Prime Minister during a reshuffle in 2023, taking over from Harriet Harmen. She was also appointed Shadow Secretary for Levelling Up. Politically, Angela Rayner has described herself as a socialist.
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By Sofia Fedeczko
Published 5th Jul 2024
By now, almost everyone in the country knows who Angela Rayner is.
After the General Election, which resulted in a landslide victory for Labour and the first change of government in 15 years, the Ashton-under-Lyne MP is now one of the most powerful people in the country.
As Angela and her Labour colleagues gear themselves up for the first crucial 100 days in power, here is everything you need to know about the life and career so far of the UK’s soon-to-be Deputy Prime Minister.
Angela Rayner’s life outside of politics
Unlike many of her colleagues in Westminster, Angela Rayner’s life started out on a council estate. Angela was many things before politics, including teenage mother, care worker and union official.
In interviews throughout her career, Angela has spoken openly about her difficult childhood, growing up in poverty and having to look after her mother, who had bi-polar and depression. She has two siblings.
Deputy leader and Ashton MP Angela Rayner | Getty Images
She attended Avondale School, but left at 16 with no qualifications and pregnant with her first child Ryan. She then returned to college part-time, studying social care and British Sign Language.
Angela went on to work as a carer looking after the elderly for Stockport Council for several years, eventually being elected as a union representative. She rose through the UNISON ranks, becoming the union’s highest elected official in the North West.
In 2010, she married Mark Rayner, a fellow Unison official. Angela had two more sons with Mark – Charlie, who was born 23 weeks premature, and Jimmy. The couple split in 2020 but have remained friends. Angela became a grandmother in 2017, aged 37, when her son Ryan welcomed a baby daughter.
Angela Rayner also had a relationship with fellow Labour MP and former shadow transport minister Sam Tarry. He was sacked from his ministerial role in 2022 after joining the picket line alongside striking rail workers. They split in 2023.
She attended Avondale School, but left at 16 with no qualifications and pregnant with her first child Ryan. She then returned to college part-time, studying social care and British Sign Language.
Angela went on to work as a carer looking after the elderly for Stockport Council for several years, eventually being elected as a union representative. She rose through the UNISON ranks, becoming the union’s highest elected official in the North West.
In 2010, she married Mark Rayner, a fellow Unison official. Angela had two more sons with Mark – Charlie, who was born 23 weeks premature, and Jimmy. The couple split in 2020 but have remained friends. Angela became a grandmother in 2017, aged 37, when her son Ryan welcomed a baby daughter.
Angela Rayner also had a relationship with fellow Labour MP and former shadow transport minister Sam Tarry. He was sacked from his ministerial role in 2022 after joining the picket line alongside striking rail workers. They split in 2023.
Scottish Labour Leader Anas Sarwar and Deputy Labour Party Leader Angela Rayner speak at a campaign event in Hamilton on Friday. Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
Angela Rayner’s life in politics
Angela Rayner’s life in politics
Having risen the union ranks, Angela was selected to be a prospective party candidate for Labour in 2014 and then elected to parliament as the MP for Ashton-Under-Lyne in 2015. She was the constituency’s first female MP in its 180-year history.
After just one year in Westminster, Angela was selected for the front bench to serve as the Shadow Minister for Education under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. She was re-elected as MP in the 2017 General Election with a much higher share of the votes at 60.4%, and again in the 2019 snap general election with 48.1%.
She was elected Deputy Leader of the Labour party in 2020 when Keir Starmer became leader of the party. However, she was sacked as Party Chair following a historic Labour loss to the Conservatives in the Hartlepool by-election in 2021. She became Shadow Deputy Prime Minister during a reshuffle in 2023, taking over from Harriet Harmen. She was also appointed Shadow Secretary for Levelling Up. Politically, Angela Rayner has described herself as a socialist.
Tameside General Election results: Angela Rayner re-elected in Ashton-under-Lyne as Labour storm to landslide
Angela Rayner’s time in politics has not been without controversy. In 2021, she publicly apologised to the Conservative party for calling its members “scum” during the Labour party conference.
In 2022, she hit out at a Daily Mail article that claimed she was intentionally crossing and uncrossing her legs in Parliament as a part of a “Basic Instinct” style ploy to distract then Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Most recently, in March 2024, Angela Rayner was accused of not paying the capital gains tax on the sale of her Stockport council house in 2015. She was cleared in May following an investigation by Greater Manchester Police, who said that no further action was needed.
Angela Rayner’s time in politics has not been without controversy. In 2021, she publicly apologised to the Conservative party for calling its members “scum” during the Labour party conference.
In 2022, she hit out at a Daily Mail article that claimed she was intentionally crossing and uncrossing her legs in Parliament as a part of a “Basic Instinct” style ploy to distract then Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Most recently, in March 2024, Angela Rayner was accused of not paying the capital gains tax on the sale of her Stockport council house in 2015. She was cleared in May following an investigation by Greater Manchester Police, who said that no further action was needed.
