Starmer promises ‘national renewal’ after UK Labour win | Politics News

The Labour leader says Britain has a chance to “take back its future” after 14 years of Conservative rule.

UK Prime Minister-elect Keir Starmer has vowed to usher in an era of “national renewal” after his Labour Party ended 14 years of Conservative rule.

In a victory speech delivered at dawn on Friday, Starmer, 61, said the British people had provided an opportunity for the U.K. to “take back its future” and restore the country “in the service of working people.”

“Our task is nothing less than to renew the ideas that hold this country together. National renewal. Whoever you are, wherever you started in life, if you work hard, if you play by the rules, this country should give you a fair chance to get ahead,” Starmer told supporters.

“Their contribution must always be respected and we must restore it.”

Starmer, a former prosecutor and human rights lawyer, said he would strive to show that politics can be a “force for good.”

Labour passed the 326-seat threshold needed for a parliamentary majority early on Friday, putting it on course for a landslide victory against outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives.

So far, the Labour Party has won 411 seats, giving it a majority in the House of Commons.

Exit polls had predicted the Conservatives were on track to win 131 seats, which would be their worst ever result. As vote counting continues, the party has won 119 seats.

Sunak said he took responsibility for the defeat after voters “delivered a sobering verdict” on his government.

Sunak said he called Starmer to concede defeat after Starmer won his own seats in Richmond and Northallerton in northern England.

Starmer hailed Labour’s landslide victory, saying: “Make no mistake, that is the great test of politics in this era. The fight for trust is the defining battle of our time. That is why we have campaigned so hard to show we are fit for public service.”

Several world leaders have already congratulated Starmer on his success, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

“Taken together, the values ​​of this renewed Labour Party are the guiding principle of the new government. Country first, party second,” he said.

Labour’s landslide victory comes amid widespread discontent with the economy and public services. Under the Conservatives, economic growth stagnated, the cost of living soared and hospital waiting lists tripled.

Reporting from London, Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands said Labour would face a long list of challenges given the “widespread view here that over the last few years, things have been getting worse and worse, that public services in particular are falling apart, that the National Health Service is on its knees… that the chaos of the last few years of Conservative rule has basically distracted the government from doing what governments are supposed to do.”

According to an analysis by a leading research institute, Britons had on average £10,200 ($12,950) less to spend or save in total over the period 2010-2022, compared with economic growth rates in 1998-2010.

Starmer, who replaced left-wing leader Jeremy Corbyn in 2020, has campaigned aggressively to revive the U.K. economy amid widespread anxiety over perceived national decline.

As part of efforts to return Labour to the centre after its worst defeat since 1935 at the last election, he pledged not to raise income tax or VAT and to make wealth creation a top priority.

Although Labour’s electoral success has been compared to former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s victory in 1997, Patrick Diamond, a former political adviser to the Labour government led by Blair and Gordon Brown, told Al Jazeera that the current situation is markedly different.

“In 1997, there was a greater sense of hope and optimism in the country based on the fact that Britain was in a very different position, particularly because it was doing very well economically at the time,” said Diamond, who is a professor of public policy at Queen Mary University of London.

“The country that Keir Starmer inherits today is in a very different position,” he added.

“The economy has been weak for some time, having gone through a series of shocks related to the consequences of COVID, the war in Ukraine, etc.”

In his victory speech, Starmer said the task ahead would not be easy.

“Changing a country is not like flipping a switch. It is hard work, patient work, determined work. And we will have to start acting immediately,” he said.

Follow live results updates here.