Britain woke Friday to the scene of a complete political turn as the opposition Labour Party, after 14 years in the political wilderness, handed a brutal defeat to the ruling Conservatives. Party leader Keir Starmer is now certain to become prime minister in just a few hours, replacing his Conservative counterpart, Rishi Sunak, who has presided over one of the worst electoral losses in British political history.
“We did it,” Starmer told a cheering crowd in an early-morning speech in central London. “You voted for it, and now it has arrived. Change begins now.”
A reliable exit poll published late Thursday found Labour on course to win 410 seats—just eight short of its highest-ever total. The Conservatives were projected to win just 131 seats, marking the worst result in their almost 200-year history. Labour’s victory was confirmed at around 5 a.m. local time (12 a.m. ET) when it secured the 326 seats necessary for a parliamentary majority. The precise scale of its victory is still being figured out as vote counts continue throughout the country.
The catastrophic election for the Conservatives signals a dramatic shift in the British political landscape. The once-dominant party has been relegated to a minor presence in Parliament, projected to win the fewest seats in its history, at 131.
Starmer will soon head to Buckingham Palace to be appointed prime minister by King Charles III, a formality in Britain’s constitutional monarchy. News helicopters will follow his car as it wends its way through London’s ancient streets, flanked by police outriders. This will be Charles’ first post-election prime ministerial appointment, a private meeting that typically lasts just 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, Sunak and his family will leave No. 10 Downing St., where the prime minister lives and works. Traditionally, the outgoing leader leaves a handwritten note wishing his successor luck. The Starmers will move in soon after, with Starmer giving his first speech to the nation as prime minister at a lectern outside the residence’s famous black door.
The Labour Party inherits a nation grappling with significant challenges: a stagnant economy, crumbling public services, rising child poverty and homelessness, and a National Health Service that, though taxpayer-funded and beloved, has become decrepit and dysfunctional. Starmer’s leadership will be immediately tested as he begins to address these pressing issues, fulfilling his promise of change and renewal for Britain.
