“With respect and humility, I invite you all to join this service-minded Government in its mission to launch a national renewal. Our task is urgent, and we begin today,” announced Keir Starmer in his inaugural speech outside 10 Downing Street. It was the first message to the nation following the historic victory of the Labour Party in the UK elections.
The process of transition of power in that country is full of liturgy, but it is expeditious. In just two hours, Rishi Sunak presented his resignation to King Charles III at Buckingham Palace. Shortly afterwards, Starmer arrived there, formally received the task of forming a new government from the monarch and became the 58th prime minister in the history of the country.
Hundreds of supporters waited in the street outside the new official residence for the new head of government. Accompanied by his wife, Victoria, Starmer handed out hugs and kisses as he walked towards the lectern prepared for his speech.
“When the gap between the sacrifices made by citizens and the service they receive from their politicians becomes as great as it is now, it leads to a draining of the heart of the nation, to the disappearance of hope and belief in a better future,” the Labour leader said. “This wound, this lack of trust, can only be healed by action, not words. I know that. But we can start by simply recognising that being a public servant is a privilege, and that your Government will treat every person with the respect they deserve.”
The new prime minister has pledged to immediately begin “rebuilding Britain” and push forward with the goals announced during the campaign: improvements in public health and education, new infrastructure, cheaper energy and safer streets. Starmer already has the names of all the new ministers in mind, and wants to have his Cabinet set up by the weekend.
Knowing what’s happening outside means understanding what’s going to happen inside, so don’t miss anything.
KEEP READING
The elegance of transition
Winners and losers alike have conspired to show the world that the United Kingdom remains a civilized democracy that carries out every battle with grace. “I want to acknowledge here the dedication and hard work that [Sunak] “incorporated into his leadership,” said Starmer, highlighting the historic achievement of a politician of Asian origin having occupied Downing Street for the first time.
Just two hours earlier, Sunak had said goodbye from the same podium. He too had kind words for his rival: “His success will be the success of all of us. I wish him and his family the best. Despite the disagreements expressed during the campaign, I believe he is a decent man with a vocation for public service, whom I respect,” he said.
His speech, which lasted just four minutes, contained all the elements, if not to make it memorable, then to command the respect of allies and rivals alike. “First of all, I want to say that I am sorry. I have put all my energy into this job, but you have sent a clear signal that the government of the United Kingdom must change. And yours is the only judgment that matters,” his then-Prime Minister told British citizens.
Behind him, his wife Akshata Murthy, with a sad and serious face, listened. She held an umbrella in her hands, ready to protect Sunak if the rain, which had been present all morning in Downing Street, returned. She was not going to allow her husband to end their adventure as soaked as he began it six weeks ago, when he announced an early election by surprise.
His withdrawal, Sunak explained, will be controlled. He will also resign as leader of the Conservative Party, he announced, but will remain at the helm until the conditions for the renewal of that leadership are clear. “It is important that, after 14 years in government, the Conservative Party rebuilds itself, but also that it assumes its key role as opposition in a professional and effective manner,” he assured.
“The best country in the world”
Sunak also wanted to highlight to the public a historic event that the urgency of politics and the normality with which everything sometimes happens in British public life had blurred: the arrival in Downing Street of a man of Indian origin and Hindu religion. “That two generations after my grandparents came to this country I became Prime Minister and that I could see how my two daughters lit the candles of the diwali (the traditional Hindu New Year celebration) on the steps of Downing Street is something extraordinary,” he said. Although this Friday, he admitted, was a tough day “at the end of many other tough days,” the man who accidentally arrived at the head of the British Government just two years ago with the mission of straightening out an economy that was sinking into disrepute wanted to say goodbye by pointing out to his compatriots that the United Kingdom “is the best country in the world,” and that “he had felt honored to be its prime minister.”
For the last time, the conservative politician has recounted his achievements during a short term in office: the reduction of galloping inflation, the recovery of economic growth, the resumption of relations with the EU or the firm support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression. And he left, among many of those listening to his farewell, the feeling of being present at a tragedy in which a single conservative politician, also responsible for his own mistakes, nevertheless carried on his shoulders the excesses and inefficiency of all his predecessors and received exclusively the punishment of voters that in reality was destined for Cameron, May, Johnson or Truss.
Follow all the international information at Facebook and Xor in our weekly newsletter.
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits
_
#Keir #Starmer #promises #national #renewal #office
