Historic victory gives Labour majority in UK

The Labour Party won the British general election, held on Thursday (4), with an overwhelming majority in Parliament, ending 14 years of neoliberal policies by the Conservatives. The Labour Party secured a parliamentary majority, with 410 seats, and will be able to nominate the next prime minister, leader Keir Starmer.

The number of seats won by the Labour Party far exceeds the minimum required to secure a majority in the House, 326 seats out of the 650 available in Parliament.

With the result, Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party, was named the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on Friday. During his speech, he said that the mandate will require “great responsibility” and promised to work immediately to improve the country.

“We have to return politics to public service. Show that politics can be a force for good,” he said.

Minutes before the parliamentary majority result was announced, Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Rishi Sunak conceded defeat, telling people counting from his seat: “I’m sorry.”

“Labour has won this general election,” Sunak said, adding that he had called Starmer to congratulate him and concede the election.

Labour is ending a 14-year period of Conservative rule in the UK Parliament, marked by the dismantling of the public service, the disastrous exit from the European Union (Brexit) and the flattening of the purchasing power of the working class in the country.

Sunak said he had heard the anger and disappointment of the British people. “I have given my all to this job, but you have sent a clear signal that the UK government needs to change, and your judgement is the only one that matters.”

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak resigned from office on Friday (5), following the Conservative Party’s unprecedented defeat in the British legislative elections. Sunak, who had governed since October 2022, handed in his resignation in a half-hour meeting with King Charles III at Buckingham Palace in London.

Electorally, the Conservatives obtained one of the worst results in their history, with 119 seats so far. The Liberal Democrats came in third place with at least 71 MPs, which represents a gain of 63 seats in the House.

The Scottish National Party is set to see its number of MPs reduced from 47 to nine, and the radical right-wing Reform UK, represented by Nigel Farage, which previously had no seats in Parliament, has gained four.

The Green Party, which only had one seat, will now have four MPs, the same number of representatives as the Welsh Party (Plaid Cymru), which doubled its number of seats.