UK’s Labour Party ends 14 years of Conservative Party rule; Keir Starmer becomes prime minister
Nigel Farage wins parliament seat for first time
The United Kingdom's Labour Party won a landslide victory in the parliamentary election, capturing nearly two-thirds of the seats with just a third of the popular vote as Sir Keir Starmer became the nation's new prime minister. A British newspaper calls it the most "distorted" election in history.
The result marks the most skewed election in the country's history, with Labour winning 411 constituencies, representing 63.7% of the seats, on a mere 33.9% of the vote share. The Telegraph notes that the 29.9-point point disparity between seat share and popular vote surpasses the previous record of a 22-point gap set in 2001 under Tony Blair.
Starmer took office as prime minister on Friday as his Labour Party has ended 14 years of Conservative Party rule. He holds a commanding majority akin to Blair's in 1997, though with a significantly lower vote share of just under 35.2%, which Blair had achieved in the 2005 elections.
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Labour's victory also reflects a significant shift in voter allegiance, particularly from the Conservatives, who suffered a dramatic decrease to a century-low vote share of 23.2%, a stark decline from the 43.6% secured by Boris Johnson in 2019.
Starmer met at Buckingham Palace with King Charles III before he delivered a speech outside No. 10 Downing Street, saying the country "voted decisively for change, for national renewal and the return of politics to public service."
"Weariness in the heart of the nation — a draining away of the hope, the spirit, the belief in a better future," he said. "This wound — this lack of trust — can only be healed by actions, not words. I know that. But we can make a start today. … Public service is a privilege."
One of Starmer's biographers admitted struggling to define Starmer despite having complete access to him, The Washington Post noted. Using this enigmatic persona, Starmer has allowed voters to see in him how they wish, even capitalizing on a false rumor that he was the real-life inspiration behind the suave, human-rights-lawyer character Mark Darcy, famously played by Colin Firth in the "Bridget Jones" series.
His ambiguity contributed significantly to his victory, the newspaper notes.
The election's results have sparked debates about the effectiveness of the first-past-the-post electoral system. Record support for third parties like the Greens and Reform UK translated into minimal seat gains due to their votes being spread thinly across the nation.
The Greens and Reform UK only secured 0.6% of the available seats despite collectively winning millions of votes. Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats capitalized on concentrated support in specific regions to win 71 seats with 3.5 million votes, fewer than those garnered by Reform, The Telegraph reports.
Trump supporter Nigel Farage secured his first parliamentary position for Reform UK in Clacton-on-Sea. Farage's entry into Parliament points to a significant political shift, with the right-wing Reform UK emerging as a new force in British politics. His victory comes after several unsuccessful attempts to win a seat in Parliament.
"What is interesting is, there's no enthusiasm for Labour, there's no enthusiasm for Starmer whatsoever. In fact, about half of the vote is simply an anti-Conservative vote," the BBC quoted Farage as saying.
Farage's victory marks a significant milestone for the party, which also secured wins in Great Yarmouth, Boston and Skegness, highlighting a considerable Conservative to Reform voter migration.
The Reform party's success could be due to disaffection with the main parties, capturing four seats with an impressive total of 4.1 million votes, although translating to a high number of votes per seat due to the distribution of their support.
"We are coming for Labour," Farage declared after his victory, which he said was "the first step of something that is going to stun all of you."
"There is a massive gap on the centre-right of British politics and my job is to fill it," he added. "My plan is to build a mass national movement over the course of the next few years and hopefully be big enough to challenge the general election properly in 2029."
The election not only confirmed a landslide victory for Labour and a breakthrough for Farage but also revealed a deeply fragmented electorate with a historic low turnout of 59.6%, the lowest in over two decades.
It reflects a growing voter apathy, mirroring the turnout in 2001. This election's unique dynamics and the significant swing from the Conservatives to Labour has set the stage for potentially volatile future political shifts, given the high number of seats won with less than 40% of the vote share.
