The Labour Party, led by Keir Starmer, won the general elections held this Thursday (4) in the United Kingdom by an overwhelming absolute majority, while the Conservative Party of the current Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, suffered the worst defeat in its history after 14 years in power.
With almost all 650 seats in the new Parliament already defined on Friday morning (5) – with only three remaining to be announced on Saturday (6) – the center-left party has 412, more than double the 202 of the last legislature and its best result since the record of 418 achieved in 1997 by former leader Tony Blair.
In turn, Sunak’s party is sinking into an unprecedented crisis, with only 120 seats so far, a far cry from the 365 achieved in the 2019 elections, which Boris Johnson won with the promise of implementing Brexit.
Sunak concedes defeat
After learning of his re-election as MP for the Richmond and Northallerton constituency, Sunak admitted that “Labour won this election”, while his rival, Keir Starmer, celebrated the victory and declared that “change starts now”.
“We did it!” said an elated Starmer in a speech to supporters, in which he assured that the country now had “the opportunity to reclaim its future”.
In his view, the British will wake up today and find that “a weight has finally been lifted from the shoulders of this great nation”.
On the other side, Sunak congratulated the Labour leader on his victory and apologised for his party’s poor results. “Today, power will change hands in a peaceful and orderly way, with goodwill on all sides. This should give everyone confidence in the stability of our country and its future,” he said.
The current Prime Minister acknowledged that there is “much to learn and reflect on” in light of his party’s disaster and assumed “responsibility for the loss of many conservative candidates who worked hard”.
Sunak apologised and announced he would travel from his constituency in the north of England to London to step down as leader of the government, to which he had “given everything”, and then give more details on the next steps.
Populist advance and independence retreat
The Conservatives’ decline is partly due to the unprecedented surge of right-wing populist Reform UK, led by former MEP Nigel Farage, who personally won a seat in the House of Commons after seven attempts, while his party is expected to win 13 seats in total.
The Liberal Democrat Party, led by Ed Davey and which led a lively election campaign, is once again the third parliamentary force after years of decline, as it now has 71 seats, taken mainly from the Conservatives in the south of England.
Another significant setback in these elections is that of the Scottish National Party (SNP), which so far has nine MPs in the House of Commons – a far cry from the 43 it had in the last legislature.
This means that the independents will no longer be the dominant party in Scotland, in favour of the Labour Party, although in principle the SNP will continue to lead the Scottish self-government until the next regional elections.
In the British electoral system, the candidate with the most votes in each of the 650 electoral districts wins, regardless of the parties’ percentage of votes at national level.
In the next few hours, Sunak will step down as head of the Executive to make way for Starmer, who will become Prime Minister after receiving permission from King Charles III, as tradition dictates.
Once at 10 Downing Street, his office and official residence, he is expected to make his first address to the nation and begin appointing his ministers.
The new Parliament will be inaugurated next Tuesday (9) with the election of the president and on July 17 the king will officially open the session with a speech in which he announces the government’s legislative program.
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