Labour returns to power after 14 years; Keir Starmer named prime minister

TDT | agencies

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, yesterday congratulated Sir Keir Starmer on his appointment as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland by Britain’s head of state King Charles III.

HM King wished the newly appointed prime minister success in performing his duties.

The Labour party leader oversaw a landslide victory in Thursday’s general election, ending 14 years of rule by Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives.

“The work of change begins immediately,” Starmer told reporters outside Downing Street after accepting head of state King Charles III’s request for him to form a government.

“But have no doubt, we will rebuild Britain,” he added. Head of state King Charles III asked Starmer to form a government during a meeting at Buckingham Palace, officially appointing the 61-year-old former human rights lawyer as prime minister.

Starmer, a 61-year-old former human rights lawyer and chief state prosecutor, paid tribute to Sunak, who was appointed Tory leader and prime minister in October 2022 after Liz Truss’s disastrous tenure.

“His achievement as the first British-Asian prime minister of our country, the extra effort that that will have required, should not be underestimated by anyone,” he said.

Congratulations came in from the European Council c h i e f Charles Michel, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who said Starmer would be a “very good, very successful” prime minister.

Meanwhile, taking responsibility for the defeat a sombre Rishi Sunak apologised to the public and said he would step down as party leader.

“To the country, I would like to say first and foremost, I am sorry,” he said outside the Prime Minister’s residence at Downing Street, before heading to Buckingham Palace to tender his resignation as prime minister to King Charles III.

The scale of the defeat made it inevitable that Sunak -- the conservative party’s fifth leader since 2010 -- would have to step down as Tory head as well.

Starmer faces a daunting to-do list, noting that Britons had grown tired of crumbling public services, higher prices and empty promises from politicians.

His government, he said, would put “country first, party second”, promising to restore “respect for politics”, after a succession of scandals under the Tories that eroded public trust.

But he sought to temper high expectations of an immediate transformation. “Changing a country is not like flicking a switch,” he said.

“The world is now a more volatile place. This will take a while. But have no doubt that the work of change begins immediately.”