While the United States spent the Fourth of July celebrating 248 years of independence, major elections took place across the pond. The United Kingdom (UK) voted Keir Starmer and his Labour Party into power, overthrowing the Conservative Party (Tory) after 14 years. Of the 650 seats in the House of Commons, Labour secured a historic 412 seats, whereas the Tories could only collect 121 seats, giving the Labour Party a generous majority. Starmer took oath as the Prime Minister (PM) on July 5.
The UK has a first-past-the-post voting system. The House of Commons’s 650 seats represent constituencies across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the four countries that constitute the UK. To garner a majority, any party needs at least 326 seats to lay a stake in forming the government. After the parliament was dissolved early by former PM Rishi Sunak, he called for a general election, announcing that voting would take place on July 4 and the results to be declared on July 5.
“Across our country, people will be waking up to the news that a weight has been lifted, a burden finally removed from the shoulders of this nation,” Starmer said, addressing his supporters on the morning of July 5.
Starmer, a former barrister, entered politics after being elected a member of the House of Commons in 2015. He was elected as the leader of the Labour Party and the leader of the Opposition in 2020, replacing Jeremy Corbyn.
“Many political observers and Tory politicians announced a long-term dominance of the Conservative Party and the possible end of Labour Party relevance [in 2019]. The world of politics can turn upside down so quickly. Now, Labour is poised to achieve a historic victory and many in Europe are wondering about the long-term viability of the Tories,” said Tech INTA professor Kirk Bowman.
After the result, the former PM and the leader of the Tories, Sunak, took responsibility for their defeat and congratulated Starmer. He also said he had heard people’s anger and decided to step down as Tory leader. Kemi Badenoch is likely to be his successor.
With 121 seats and a 23.7% vote share, the Tories faced their worst defeat in election history. Multiple opinion polls predicted this result, however.
Since forming a government in 2019, the Tories have been riddled with controversies and bad governance. Then PM Boris Johnson was criticized for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. He and his ministers were seen breaking social distancing norms and attending social gatherings when the pandemic was at its peak. This “Partygate” scandal eventually forced Johnson to resign in July 2022.
Lizz Truss replaced him. Following a disastrous economic policy that had to be rolled back, Truss also resigned within 49 days of her appointment, becoming the shortest-serving UK PM.
Eventually, Sunak took the reins and served as PM and the leader of Tories going into the recent elections.
Despite a massive win for Labour, the results reflect dissatisfied Britons. Turnout was 59.9%, the second-lowest since 1885, and Labour only secured 33.8% of the vote share, the smallest of any majority government in history.
Journalist Fraser Nelson described this victory as a “Potemkin landslide.” In political discourse, a Potemkin village is something that looks better on the surface than it actually is.
This election also saw a rise in the appeal of other parties, as they amassed around 43% votes, the highest in history. Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration Reform UK emerged as the third biggest party in vote share. The centrist Liberal Democrats earned 71 seats, the highest after Tory and Labour, and the Green Party and independent candidates also performed well.
Starmer is aware of his fractured mandate and hopes “to restore service and respect to politics, end the era of noisy performance, tread more lightly on your lives and unite our country.”
Starmer’s cabinet includes Rachel Reeves, the first female chancellor of the Exchequer, David Lammy, the foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, the home secretary and John Healey, the defense secretary. Angela Rayner was named Britain’s deputy PM and secretary of state.
Starmer has promised to control illegal immigration across the English Channel. However, he has decided to halt Sunak’s controversial plan to send asylum-seekers back to Rwanda.
Regarding the future of the UK’s ties with the European Union (EU), he said that “the election of Kier Starmer will open paths to strengthen UK-EU ties, even without formally rejoining the European Union. The UK may choose to join individual EU institutions, such as the popular Erasmus student exchange program.” Starmer will be hosting 47 European nations in England for a meeting of the European Political Community on July 18.
As the political landscape of Europe is seeing a rise in right-wing ideologies and ultranationalism, Starmer summarized what lay ahead in his inaugural speech: “Our work is urgent and we begin it today.”