The elections to the UK Parliament held on Thursday saw the Labour Party, led by Keir Starmer, posting a landslide win, ending the 14-year reign of the Conservative Party. Starmer, who is set to enter Number 10 Downing Street with a commanding majority, has already declared a win, stating "the change starts now".
Thanking Labour volunteers, volunteers, candidates and campaigners as the party crossed the 326-seat threshold, Starmer said: "We did it. You campaigned for it, you fought for it - and now it has arrived."
"It feels good, I have to be honest. Britain has the chance to get its future back." "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.
Starmer, 61, is a social liberal, fiscal moderate and leader of the United Kingdom’s Labour Party. He's been a member of parliament since 2015, and leader of the opposition — Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's main rival — since 2020.
The 61-year-old former human rights lawyer was raised in a left-wing, working-class family in Surrey, outside London. Keir, who rose from a lawyer to Britain’s chief prosecutor, was awarded a knighthood. Ironically, he had once called for the British monarchy to be abolished, but years later knelt before Charles, then prince of Wales, to be knighted.
He succeeded Jeremy Corbyn as Labour party leader and one of his first steps was to root out the antisemitism that had gripped the party ranks. Under him, the Labour Party also dropped Corbyn’s proposal to nationalise Britain’s energy companies. He also supported Britain’s military, hoping to banish an anti-patriotic label that clung to Labour during the Corbyn era.
Starmer's other promises include restoration of competency to government, nationalising some railways and utility companies, raising minimum wage, taxing private school tuition, improving the public health system and offering free breakfast in public elementary schools.
However, its challenges galore for Starmer. Political observers say Starmer's leadership comes at a daunting time, especially when the country is facing a series of daunting challenges. While Britain's tax burden is set to hit its highest since just after World War Two, net debt is almost equivalent to annual economic output.
There is widespread anger against the fall of living standards and alleged inefficiency of public services, especially the National Health Service. Starmer himself has acknowledged that it won't be easy. "I don't promise you it will be easy," Starmer said. "Changing a country is not like flicking a switch. It's hard work. Patient, determined, work, and we will have to get moving immediately."
Fun fact: There are unverified rumours that Starmer was the inspiration for the brooding lawyer character of Mark Darcy, the love interest of the main character in the Bridget Jones book and movie franchise. Many thought this because of the similarities both share; both Darcy (played by Colin Firth on screen) and Starmer are human rights lawyers. Starmer lived in Oxford and Leeds, just like the series' creator, Helen Fielding. Starmer's big McDonald's litigation was making headlines in the late 1990s, around the time Fielding wrote the first Bridget Jones novel.