Keir Starmer vowed to rebuild Britain as its next prime minister after his Labour Party surged to a landslide victory in the parliamentary election on Friday, ending 14 years of often tumultuous Conservative government.
The centre-left Labour Party secured a massive majority in the 650-seat parliament. Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives experienced their worst performance in the party’s long history, as voters punished them for the cost-of-living crisis, failing public services, and a series of scandals.
“We did it,” Starmer declared in his victory speech. “Change begins now. We said we would end the chaos, and we will. We said we would turn the page, and we have. Today, we start the next chapter, begin the work of change, the mission of national renewal, and start to rebuild our country.”
The election results have dramatically reshaped British politics. Labour won approximately 410 seats, an increase of 210, while the Conservatives, historically the western world’s most successful party, lost about 250 lawmakers, including a record number of senior ministers and former Prime Minister Liz Truss.
The Scottish National Party (SNP) imploded, losing 38 seats and ending its decade of dominance in Scotland, leaving its dream of independence in tatters. Meanwhile, the Irish nationalists Sinn Féin became Northern Ireland’s largest party for the first time.
Additionally, the populist right-wing Reform UK party, led by Nigel Farage, the prominent Brexit campaigner and ally of Donald Trump, won more than four million votes. Although it secured only four parliamentary seats, its significant siphoning of Conservative support will make Farage a major thorn in the side of the two major parties.
