UK election live updates: Starmer is the new prime minister

After a few hours of sleep to shake off a night of celebration and an audience with the king, Keir Starmer stepped through the front door of 10 Downing St. for the first time as prime minister on Friday.

When he did, he entered the alternate reality of a man who meets regularly with King Charles III and has ultimate control of Britain’s nuclear missiles, all while adjusting to life in a creaking 17th-century landmark and trying to balance his work with his personal life.

▶ Read more about the traditions and responsibilities Starmer faces on his first day.

One of the first items on new U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s agenda is to appoint a new Cabinet.

The new ministers will emerge one by one from 10 Downing St. once Starmer makes his picks.

The U.K. has its first change in government in 14 years after the Labour Party won a landslide victory early Friday in a general election that saw the Conservative Party suffer its biggest defeat ever.

The new government faces huge challenges, including fixing the country’s sluggish economic and social malaise resulting in part from Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and several Conservative Party scandals.

▶ Read more about what we learned from the general election.

Some more quotes from Starmer’s speech before he entered the famous black door of No. 10 Downing Street:

• “My government will make you believe again.”
• “We will rebuild Britain.”
• “Brick by brick we will rebuild the infrastructure of opportunity.”
• He vowed to lead a “government of service” on a “mission of national renewal.”

Prime Minister Keir Starmer is giving his first speech outside No. 10 Downing Street as the new leader of the U.K.

He started off by thanking his predecessor, Rishi Sunak, before saying “the work of change begins immediately.”

Keir Starmer has arrived at Downing Street for the first time as the new prime minister of the United Kingdom.

He arrived in a car with his wife, Victoria Starmer, shortly after meeting with King Charles III at Buckingham Palace.

Keir Starmer will give a speech outside No. 10 Downing Street.

Downing Street was lined with Labour Party supporters, who cheered his arrival, waving small Union Jack flags.

Labour leader Keir Starmer has officially become prime minister of the United Kingdom.

Starmer received the blessing of King Charles III to form a government in a ceremony known as the “kissing of hands.”

A photo of the occasion served as the official announcement of Starmer’s new title.

Starmer is now headed from Buckingham Palace to take up residence in No. 10 Downing Street, where he is expected to speak.

Labour leader Keir Starmer has arrived at Buckingham Palace to accept the request of King Charles III to form a government after his party’s landslide victory.

In a ceremony known as the “kissing of hands,” Starmer will officially become U.K. prime minister. He will then head to his official residence at 10 Downing Street.

Starmer’s arrival at the palace is part of the choreography of changing governments that harkens back to a time when the king exercised supreme power and chose his preeminent minister – the prime minister – to run his government.

The modern-day constitutional monarchy echoes that tradition, with the king officially offering the post to the party that holds a majority in the House of Commons.

Rishi Sunak’s campaign to remain as U.K. prime minister showed a lack of political touch.

The Conservative Party’s problems were grave before the election but missteps by Britain’s first multimillionaire prime minister contributed to the party’s defeat.

Predecessors such as Tony Blair and Boris Johnson were politically divergent but able to connect with voters. As for Sunak, he didn’t have to call the election until January 2025.

He defied political advice by doing so in May — with Conservative support dwindling steadily amid an economic slump, ethics scandals and a revolving door of leaders over the last two years. The Conservative Party also didn’t appear ready for the campaign compared with Labour, and voters haven’t feel the improvement in Britain’s economy.

▶ Read more on Sunak’s downfall.

Rishi Sunak has departed from Buckingham Palace following his resignation as prime minister after the Conservative Party suffered staggering losses in the general election.

Sunak officially left the post after tendering his resignation to King Charles III in his final audience with the monarch.

Sunak was driven to the palace in a chauffeur-driven ministerial car, and left in a private vehicle.

Rishi Sunak has left the prime minister’s residence and headed to Buckingham Palace to offer his resignation to King Charles III.

“This is a difficult day, but I leave this job honored to have been prime minister of the best country in the world,” Sunak said in his final speech outside 10 Downing Street. Sunak said he had given the job his all.

Sunak conceded defeat earlier in the morning as vote counts confirmed exit polls that had projected a landslide defeat for his Conservatives to the Labour Party.

After Sunak resigns, Labour leader Keir Starmer will go to the palace to seek the king’s blessing to form a government.

After performing the “kissing of hands,” the new prime minister will head to his official residence, where he is expected to speak.

“Developing a stable and mutually beneficial China-UK relationship is in line with the fundamental interests of the two peoples, and is conducive to both sides responding to global challenges together and promoting world peace and development,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Friday.

“We hope to work with the UK to move China-UK relations forward on the right track on the basis of mutual respect and win-win cooperation,” Mao said at a daily press briefing.

China-UK relations have been roiled in the last few years by blocks on Chinese investment in Britain over national security concerns, tensions in the South China Sea and China’s crackdown on democracy and free speech in the former British colony of Hong Kong in violation of its pledge to keep such institutions intact until 2047.

One of the casualties of the Labour Party’s landslide win was a former member.

George Galloway, the leader of the Workers Party of Britain, lost the seat he won only months ago in a special election where he mobilized support against the Labour Party’s stance on Gaza.

Galloway, who did not stay to listen to the result, lost his Rochdale seat to Labour’s Paul Waugh, a former journalist.

Rochdale, like many other northern towns, has a sizable Muslim population.

Labour leader Keir Starmer has faced criticism within Muslim circles over his strong backing for Israel in the wake of the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7. He has subsequently shifted his position to call for a ceasefire.

Galloway, a left-wing disruptor, was expelled by Labour in 2003.

With almost all the results in, Labour had won 410 seats in the 650-seat House of Commons and the Conservatives 118. For Starmer, it’s a massive triumph that will bring huge challenges, as he faces a weary electorate impatient for change against a gloomy backdrop of economic malaise, mounting distrust in institutions and a fraying social fabric.

▶ Read more on Labour’s historic election win.

Liz Truss, the former prime minister whose premiership lasted just 49 days, has lost her lawmaker’s seat in the election.

Truss lost her Norfolk South West seat to Labour by just several hundred votes.

Several other high-profile and senior Conservative lawmakers also lost their seats, including House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt.

Mordaunt lost her Portsmouth North seat in the south of England to Labour’s Amanda Martin by fewer than 1,000 votes.

Mordaunt came to international attention during King Charles III’s coronation when she held a large sword aloft through the ceremony.

Others who lost seats included education secretary Gillian Keegan and former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg.

Keir Starmer has led Britain’s Labour Party to a landslide election victory, and will become prime minister — the first leader from the center-left party to win a U.K. national election since Tony Blair, who won three in a row starting in 1997.

Like Blair, who refashioned the party as “New Labour” in the 1990s, 61-year-old Starmer led Labour to victory over Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party in Thursday’s election after dragging the party towards the political middle ground.

▶ Read more on the UK’s next prime minister.

The Labour Party has won Britain’s general election, bringing a new party to power for the first time in 14 years. But Labour leader Keir Starmer won’t actually become prime minister until a carefully choreographed ceremony on Friday during which King Charles III will formally ask him to form a new government.

▶ Take a look at how the ceremonial events will unfold.

By CHARLOTTE GRAHAM-McLAY

The leaders of Australia and New Zealand have sent their congratulations to Labour Party leader Keir Starmer on his election victory.

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a social media post on X that he looked forward “to working constructively” with the new British government.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon also took to X to congratulate Starmer, writing: “New Zealand and the UK are great friends and can do so much more together.”

Luxon added his thanks to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak “for your service to your nation and friendship to New Zealand.”

As the U.K. awaits a new prime minister, one feline was also patiently waiting to be let into No. 10 Downing Street.

Larry, Britain’s mouse-catcher in chief and long time resident at the leader’s official residence, was pictured waiting outside the famous black door early Friday.

The tabby cat was not bothered by the large crowd of press photographers waiting outside ahead of the change of power expected later Friday. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to go to King Charles III to tender his resignation, and soon after Labour leader Keir Starmer will meet the monarch to be officially appointed.

Larry was recruited by former Prime Minister David Cameron to tackle rats seen scuttling close to the British leader’s official residence, and entered Downing Street in February 2011.

Labour leader Keir Starmer, who is set to become the first Labour prime minister in 14 years, says his government will always put “country first, party second.”

He said a “mandate like this comes with great responsibility,” and added that his government will be focused on “national renewal.”

“We have to return politics to public service,” he said.

With more than half of all 650 seats counted, Labour looks set to secure one of its biggest ever majorities in the House of Commons.

Starmer is expected to pay a visit to King Charles III later Friday to get the monarch’s permission to form a new government.

The Labour Party has officially won enough seats to have a majority in Britain’s Parliament, as vote counting continues.

The party had won 326 of the 650 seats by 5 a.m. Friday, meaning leader Keir Starmer will become prime minister and can form a majority government.

“We did it,” Starmer told supporters at the Tate Modern museum in London.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says the British people have “delivered a sobering verdict,” and the Labour Party has won the election.

Sunak, who held onto his seat in North Yorkshire, told those gathered: “The Labour party has won this general election.”

“I take responsibility for the loss,” he said. “To the many good, hard-working Conservative candidates who lost tonight, despite their tireless efforts, their local records and delivery, and their dedication to their communities. I am sorry.”

He added that he has called Labour leader Keir Starmer to congratulate him on his victory.

“Today, power will change hands in a peaceful and orderly manner, with goodwill on all sides. That is something that should give us all confidence in our country’s stability and future,” Sunak said.

With more than half of the 650 seats declared so far, Labour is emerging way ahead of other parties with at least 250 seats.

The governing Conservatives have 44 seats, while the left-of-center Liberal Democrats have won 32 seats.

The hard-right, anti-immigration Reform UK has won 4 seats so far.

The Scottish National Party has four seats, while the Green Party has 1 seat.

While the Labour Party appears headed for a landslide U.K. election victory, it seems clear that it has suffered in areas with big Muslim communities over its stance on the conflict in Gaza.

A prominent Labour member, Jonathan Ashworth, lost his Leicester South seat in central England to an independent candidate who had Gaza at the heart of his campaign.

Ashworth, who was expected to be appointed to the Cabinet, lost around 20,000 votes when compared to the election of 2019.

Even Labour leader Keir Starmer saw his majority in his Holborn and St. Pancras seat in north London reduced, with more than 7,000 votes going to a pro-Gaza candidate.

After the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas militants, Starmer took a strongly pro-Israel stance and maintained it even as the death toll in Gaza swelled. Many Muslims who had been traditional Labour voters were aghast and have clearly turned to other candidates.

Jeremy Corbyn, who led the Labour Party into the general elections of 2017 and 2019, has held onto his seat in north London — but this time as an independent.

Corbyn, who had been suspended from Labour following a row over antisemitism, decided to stand as an independent candidate in the Islington North constituency he has represented since 1983.

Corbyn won the seat by nearly 7,000 votes over his Labour opponent. Corbyn had won the seat by more than 26,000 votes at the last election.

Nigel Farage, the leader of the hard-right Reform UK party, has been elected to Parliament.

Farage won the contest in the seaside town of Clacton-on-Sea, becoming a lawmaker at his eighth try after seven failed election attempts.

Partial results show the anti-immigration Reform, successor to the Brexit Party, has taken votes from both the Conservatives and Labour.

Farage said the party was “going to come second in hundreds of constituencies.” It is not yet clear how many seats Reform will win.

He said there is a “massive gap” in the right of British politics, and it was his job to fill it.

“My plan is to build a mass national movement over the course of the next few years,” he said.

U.K. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps, long a key figure in the Conservative Party, has lost his seat in the general election.

Shapps lost his contest for Welwyn Hatfield, a seat north of London, by nearly 4,000 votes, or by 8 percentage points to his Labour Party opponent Andrew Lewin.

Shapps, 55, was widely considered to be the government’s most trusted media performers over many years and had been tipped as a potential Conservative leadership candidate to replace Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Labour leader Keir Starmer says “voters have spoken and they are ready for change” as an exit poll points to a landslide win for his party.

Starmer spoke as he won his seat in north London but on a much-reduced majority.

Addressing the audience, he spoke of the need to return politics to “public service” and the need for “change.”

He thanked voters for electing him to serve “my home, where my kids have grown up, where my wife was born.”

“It all starts with you. Change begins in this community,” he said. “You have voted, it is now time for us to deliver.”

Reform U.K., the recently formed anti-immigration party, has won its first seat in the general election.

Lee Anderson, the former Conservative deputy chairman who defected to Reform a few months ago, held onto his seat in Ashfield in central England with 43% of the vote.

Reform has posed a serious headache to the governing Conservatives, luring many previously staunch Tory voters with its promises to cut immigration.

The exit poll suggested that the party, which is led by divisive right-wing politician Nigel Farage, could win up to 13 seats in the 650-seat House of Commons.

Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour Party who is set to become prime minister if Britain’s exit poll is correct, has arrived at a counting center for his constituency in north London.

Starmer arrived with his wife to rapturous applause from supporters.

Starmer didn’t make any comments but was more than happy to put himself up for selfies.

The independent candidate is hoping to unseat Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in his seat of Richmond and North Allerton.

The self-described intergalactic space warrior is a satirical character created by comedian David Harvey. He has said his ambition was to conquer “the entire omniverse.” He also said he hoped that his campaign will raise a smile and show that “democracy is alive”.

“There’s something wonderful that in the year of 2024 when so many countries are going to the polls and democracy is under threat like never before, it’s still possible to do what I do,” he said in a recent interview.

Newcastle, Sunderland, Blythe and Ashington, and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s constituency of Richmond and Northallerton began counting ballots after voting ended on Thursday evening. An exit poll released moments after voting closed indicated that Britain’s Labour Party is headed for a huge majority.

Labour’s Rachel Reeves, who is set to become the first female Treasury chief if her party wins the U.K. election, said she is “under no illusions” about the scale of the challenge she will face.

“The severity of the inheritance from the Conservatives is truly awful,” she told Sky News.

Reeves noted that the U.K.’s debt burden is running at 100% of the country’s national income and the tax burden at a seven-decade high.

She said she “can’t promise to turn everything around straight away.”

Reeves said the driving mission of an incoming Labour government is to kickstart economic growth.

The Conservative Party has lost the first seat it was defending in the U.K. general election.

Robert Buckland, a former justice minister, lost his Swindon South seat in central England after his vote slumped by 25% compared with the last election 2019. Labour’s Heidi Alexander won the seat, returning to Parliament after she resigned in 2018 to take up a position with the mayor of London.

Voting in the U.K. is done the old-school way — no voting machines are used. Instead, voters put a pencil to paper, and all ballot papers are counted manually.

After ballot boxes are opened, the ballot papers in the box are mixed with postal vote ballot papers and the counting begins at counting centers across the U.K.

Several dozen seats are expected to be declared from now until around 0100GMT to 0200GMT – including Labour leader Keir Starmer’s London seat, Holborn and St. Pancras.

From 0200GMT onwards will be the busiest part of the night, with more than 200 seats expected to be declared.

By around 0300GMT, enough results should be known to suggest which party is on course to win.

A leading political analyst says British voters will see a major change in political atmosphere if Labour wins the election.

Anand Menon, professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs at King’s College London, said the last few years under the Conservatives had been “politics as pantomime. A very unstable Conservative Party with lots of infighting, with lots of ministerial churn, with no stability.

“I think we’re going to have to get used again to relatively stable government, with ministers staying in power for quite a long time, and with government being able to think beyond the very short term as to medium term objectives,” Menon said.

A Labour Party candidate has won the first U.K. seat to report its result in the general election.

Bridget Phillipson, who is Labour’s education spokesperson, won with a majority of 7,169 in the Houghton and Sunderland South seat in the northeast of England from the second-placed candidate.

That’s more than double the majority she won last time the seat was contested in 2019.

The candidate from the recently formed, anti-immigration Reform UK Party came second, pushing the candidate from the governing Conservative Party into third.

Phillipson said the result represented a vote for “hope and unity, not decline and division.”

With an exit poll suggesting that Britain’s Labour Party is set to win a huge majority, some in Britain are recalling the election results of 1997, when Tony Blair led Labour to a landslide victory.

In 1997, the Labour Party had been out of power for longer than it has been now — 18 years compared to the current 14.

So it was quite a turnaround when Labour, under the leadership of the youthful Blair, won the May 1, 1997 general election decisively. “New Labour, New Britain” was the party’s slogan, and “Things can only get better” by D-ream was its theme song.

Under Blair, Labour won a majority of 179 seats, even bigger than the party’s victory over Winston Churchill’s Conservatives soon after the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945.

▶ Read more on how Tony Blair and Labour won in 1997. You can also take a look at other big election moments after World War II, like Margaret Thatcher’s win and Winston Churchill’s defeat.

Leading members of Britain’s main political parties are reacting to the exit poll suggesting the opposition Labour Party winning a landslide victory and returning to power for the first time since 2010.

Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, told Sky News that the Conservatives are getting punished by voters for “14 years of the chaos and the scandals and the decline.”

Labour’s national campaign chief, Pat McFadden, said the transformation of his party since its poor showing in the 2019 election has been “remarkable.”

Meanwhile, Ruth Davidson, the former leader of the Scottish Conservatives, said the exit poll pointed to a “massacre” for the party.

The projection suggests that the Conservatives will end up with its lowest number of seats in the House of Commons since 1906.