Great Britain is experiencing a radical change. For the first time in 14 years, Labour is the head of government. The party is achieving an overwhelming victory. But it owes its success to its political opponent.
For the first time in more than a decade, Great Britain has a social democratic prime minister. Keir Starmer (61), whose Labour Party won the parliamentary election by a clear margin, called for a fresh start. “Our work is urgent and we are starting today,” he said at his first appearance in Downing Street in London. But he also admitted that this cannot be achieved in the short term and showed understanding for the disillusionment with politics in the country.
Changing a country is not like flipping a switch. “It will take some time,” said Starmer after King Charles III commissioned him to form a government. After 14 years, he and his party will replace the Conservatives of the previous Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who are left with a shambles.
Starmer is the first Labour Prime Minister since Gordon Brown, who resigned in 2010. After almost all constituencies have been counted, his party has at least 412 of 650 seats in the House of Commons. In the 2019 election, the party won 202 seats. The Conservatives have fallen from 365 to around 120 seats. More cabinet members have been voted out than ever before.
One of Starmer’s first decisions is historic: Rachel Reeves is the first woman in British history to head the Treasury. Labour’s deputy Angela Rayner is the new deputy prime minister and, as minister, is responsible for housing and “levelling up”. This means equalising living conditions across the country. David Lammy will take over the Foreign Office, Yvette Cooper will become Home Secretary and John Healey will become Defence Secretary.
How an election researcher explains the upheaval
Labour owes its election victory primarily to the dwindling support for the conservative Tories. The Social Democrats received only 34 percent of the vote. The fact that it still managed to secure a comfortable majority of seats in the House of Commons is mainly due to the British majority voting system, in which only the candidate with the most votes in each constituency enters Parliament.
Sunak was already his party’s third head of government in the last legislative period, which was marked by economic stagnation, numerous scandals and sharply rising living costs. He took over in October 2022 from Liz Truss, who resigned after only 49 days in office and is now also losing her seat in the House of Commons.
British Conservatives face a shambles
For Sunak’s Conservatives, the election is a nightmare. “Landslide” and “Massacre” are some of the headlines in the British press. Sunak announced his resignation as party leader. He wants to give up the post as soon as the formal arrangements for the succession have been clarified, he said. “First of all, I want to say to the country: I am sorry.”
The question for the Conservatives is who should lead the party and thus the opposition in the London Parliament. Penny Mordaunt, who is also known for carrying a sword at Charles’ coronation, was considered a candidate. The former Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, however, failed to gain a seat in Parliament.
Current Trade Minister Kemi Badenoch and former Home Secretary Suella Braverman, both of whom are even further to the right, are also said to be interested. Current Home Secretary James Cleverly and current Secretary of State Tom Tugendhat are considered more moderate potential candidates. When asked whether he would run for office, Cleverly gave a rather evasive answer to Sky News.
Right-wing populist Farage declares war
Many Britons have had enough of the problems
The new prime minister faces a number of challenges – such as the overloading of the national health service NHS, problems in housing policy and the question of how the country wants to deal with immigration. Starmer is likely to overturn the previous government’s plan to deport irregular migrants to Rwanda regardless of their origin. He has ruled out his country’s return to the EU.
The politician, who is considered boring, does not inspire great enthusiasm among the British. He remained vague in many areas of politics. Starmer took over the party leadership from the old leftist Jeremy Corbyn, who was accused of not doing enough to combat anti-Semitism in his party. Starmer took action against this and led the party back to the political center. However, the war in the Gaza Strip repeatedly led to tensions in his party, which is traditionally close to the Palestinians.
During the election campaign, Starmer emphasized his middle-class origins – his father was a toolmaker and his mother a nurse. Because his mother was seriously ill, Starmer took on responsibility in the family at an early age, as his biographer Tom Baldwin writes. Starmer is a fan of the London football club Arsenal FC and wants to play on the football pitch himself from time to time. He wants to keep Friday evenings free for his wife Victoria and his two teenage children.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
