July 05, (THEWILL) – Opposition Labour has swept a landslide General election victory, ending 14 years of right-wing Conservative rule in Britain.
As Sir Keir Starmer is set to become Britain’s new Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak said on Friday, after he was re-elected to his seat, “The Labour Party has won this general election, and I have called Sir Keir Starmer to congratulate him on his victory.
“Today, power will change hands in a peaceful and orderly manner with goodwill on all sides.”
“I took responsibility for the defeat”, the Tory leader added.
At a triumphant party rally in central London, Starmer, 61, told cheering activists that “change begins here” and promised a “decade of national renewal”, putting “country first, party second”.
But he cautioned that change would not come overnight, even as Labour snatched a swathe of Tory seats around the country, including from at least eight Cabinet members.
Labour raced past the 326 seats needed to secure an overall majority in the 650-seat parliament at 0400 GMT, with the final result expected later on Friday morning.
An exit poll for UK broadcasters published after polls closed at 2100 GMT on Thursday put Labour on course for a return to power for the first time since 2010, with 410 seats and a 170-seat majority.
The Tories would only get 131 seats in the House of Commons – a record low, with the right-wing vote apparently spliced by Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration Reform UK party, which could bag 13 seats.
In another boost for the centrists, the smaller opposition Liberal Democrats would get 61 seats, ousting the Scottish National Party on 10 as the third-biggest party.
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