UK Elections: Sunak Concedes, To Resign As Tory Leader After Crushing Defeat; Keir Starmer Is Next PM | Who Is He

Keir Starmer, the Labour Party leader becoming the UK’s new prime minister, on Friday thanked voters and said the people of the country are "ready for change" and to "end the politics of performance", as he spoke for the first time since the exit poll predicted a landslide for his party in the general election.

Outlook Web Desk

Updated on: 5 July 2024 9:27 am

L: Rishi Sunak and wife Akshata Murty exiting a polling booth | R: Labour Party leader Keir Starmer, on course to become next PM Photo: AP

Rishi Sunak conceded defeat on Friday as the outcome of the UK elections made a historic defeat for the Conservative Party very clear, with its lowest-ever total number of seats. The UK poll verdicts brings to an end to the incumbent Prime Minister's premiership and paves way for Labour leader Keir Starmer's way to be the next PM.

The landslide victory for the Labour Party is putting to an end 14 years of Conservative rule.

After the crushing election defeat, Rishi Sunak also announced his resignation as Conservative Party leader. Sunak said he will resign as Tory leader, but not immediately and only when formal arrangements for a successor have taken place.

The Labour Party has won this general election, and I have called to Kier Starmer to congratulate him on his victory," Rishi Sunak said as poll results' course made his defeat clear.

Matching exit poll, which predicted Labour could win as many as 410 seats, the party comfortably hit the projected mark and was bagging more seats at the time of last updating this report. The incumbent Tories led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak were down to just 119 seats.

Who Is Keir Starmer, On Track To Be Next PM

Keir Starmer on Friday officially became Britain’s new prime minister after an audience with King Charles III at Buckingham Palace, hours after his Labour Party won the general elections.

Born in London to a toolmaker father and an National Health Service (NHS) nurse mother, Keir Starmer grew up in the town of Oxted in Surrey. Starmer told that his mother, Josephine, suffered from the debilitating condition of Still’s disease which she succumbed to a few weeks before he first became an MP in 2015.

Keir Starmer is a human rights barrister-turned-Labour Party leader who was knighted by the late Queen Elizabeth II for his services to law and criminal justice. He spent a significant part of his career in the legal profession before stepping into the world of politics, first elected as Labour's member of Parliament from London in 2015.

Keir Starmer, 61, is the father of two teenage kids, who he and his NHS employee wife Victoria have chosen to keep out of the political spotlight, according to an Associated Press report.

Keir Starmer has been credited with reversing the party's fortunes from one of its worst poll performances in the 2019 general election to the edge of government.

Keir Starmer is a staunch anti-Brexitee. As a new MP in 2016, Starmer assumed the key role of shadow Brexit secretary under then leader Jeremy Corbyn and supported the latter to fight for what he said was the “future of the Labour Party” .

Following the debacle of the 2019 general election, Starmer stepped up as party leader and sought to distance himself from the past party line to stress that Labour under his leadership now has a fully costed manifesto that focuses on the key public concerns of housebuilding, growing the economy and fixing the NHS.

What Rishi Sunak, Keir Starmer Said On UK Poll Results

Conceding defeat while retaining his seat, incumbent-turned-outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said "today power will change hands in peaceful and orderly manner with goodwill on all sides."

"The Labour Party has won this general election, and I have called to Kier Starmer to congratulate him on his victory, Sunak said.

Labour Party leader Keir Starmer on Friday thanked voters and said the people of the country are "ready for change" and to "end the politics of performance", as he spoke for the first time since the exit poll predicted a landslide for his party in the general election.

Starmer, in his victory speech after winning from Holborn and St Pancras, said whether people voted for him or not, "I'll serve every person in this constituency."

"I will speak out for you, have your back, fight your corner every single day," Starmer said, adding people are "ready for change" and to "end the politics of performance".

“Tonight, people here and around the country have spoken," he said.

"The change begins right here because this is your democracy, your community, your future," he said. "You have voted. It's now time for us to deliver."