The Labour Party, headed by Keir Starmer, has won an outright majority in the lower house of the British parliament, according to a tally of seats by broadcaster Sky News.
Sky News on Friday said that with 467 of the parliament’s 650 seats declared, Labour party won 326 .
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak conceded defeat in the general election minutes before any media outlet declared that the threshold of 326 seats was reached.
The exit poll commissioned by three broadcaster, the BBC, ITV, and Sky News forecast earlier that the Labour would achieve a landslide win of 410 seats, while the number of seats for the Conservatives would be reduced to 131.
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“The Labour Party has won this general election, and I’ve called Sir Keir Starmer to congratulate him on his victory,” Sunak said.
“The British people have delivered a sobering verdict tonight, there is much to learn… and I take responsibility for the loss,” he said.
Sunak is expected to announce his resignation soon to pave the way for Starmer to take over as Britain’s new prime minister after meeting Britain’s King Charles III.
“We did it. You campaigned for it, you fought for it and now it has arrived,” Starmer addressed crowds in central London after the Labour majority was confirmed. “Change begins now.”
The British people “had to look us in the eye and see that we can serve their interests and that doesn’t stop now,” he said.
“I don’t promise you it will be easy,” he added. “But even when the going gets tough and it will be remembered tonight and always what this is all about.’’
Absolute majority
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.
In another boost for the centrists, the smaller opposition Liberal Democrats ousted the Scottish National Party as the third-biggest party.
Former PM Liz Truss loses seat
AP reports that Liz Truss, the former prime minister whose premiership lasted just 49 days, has lost her lawmaker’s seat in the election.
Trusslost her Norfolk South West seat to Labour by just several hundred votes.
Several other high-profile and senior Conservative lawmakers also lost their seats, including House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt.
Mordaunt lost her Portsmouth North seat in the south of England to Labour’s Amanda Martin by fewer than 1,000 votes.
Mordaunt came to international attention during King Charles III’s coronation when she held a large sword aloft through the ceremony.
Others who lost seats included education secretary Gillian Keegan and former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg.
King Charles to formally usher in new PM in choreographed ceremony
Al Jazeera reports that Labour leader Keir Starmer will become prime minister only after a studiously choreographed ceremony later today, during which King Charles III will formally ask him to form a new government.
The ceremony indicates that in the UK, the right to govern is still derived from royal authority – even centuries after real political power was transferred to elected members of parliament.
Here’s how the ceremony will play out.
- Outgoing leader Rishi Sunak will go to Buckingham Palace to offer his resignation to the king. Starmer will arrive soon after.
- Starmer will then undergo a ceremony in the palace known as the “Kissing of Hands” – with no actually kissing, however. After the king asks Starmer to form a government, the new leader will bow and shake Charles’s hand.
- As soon as power is transferred, a photo will be taken to mark the occasion.
- News helicopters are expected to follow Starmer and Sunak’s cars to the palace and back. While there’s no public delivery of what is said between the new prime minister and the king, commentators will usually speculate about what’s being said behind closed doors.
- The new prime minister will then leave the palace in a prime ministerial car and return to Downing Street to make a statement, before entering the famous black door of Number 10 and beginning his term as the UK’s leader
