Keir Starmer, the leader of the British Labour Party, easily defended his seat in Thursday's election to the British House of Commons. With Labour winning decisively, Starmer will be tasked on Friday with forming a new government by King Charles III. Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also won the seat.
The UK general election has ended. According to survey exit poll The Labour Party won it, gaining 410 seats in the 650-seat House of Commons. Officially, the results are being counted successively, but Labour already has a confirmed majority in parliament.
Keir Starmer, who has represented the London constituency of Holborn and St Pancras since 2015, won almost 18,000 votes – more than 11,500 more than the second-placed independent candidate.
Labour Party leader Keir StarmerPAP/EPA/NEIL HALL
Starmer said his term in office was a “huge responsibility” for him and pledged to get to work immediately to improve Britain.
“Our job is to renew the ideals that hold this country together: national renewal,” Starmer said. “The fight for trust will define us. That's why we campaigned so hard to show that we are fit to govern.”
– We have to show that good can be done through politics – said the future prime minister.
Former Labour leader with a mandate
Labour won a landslide victory and will form government after 14 years in opposition, but they suffered defeat in another London constituency, Islington North.
The mandate was defended there by their previous leader, Jeremy Corbyn, who after being thrown out of the Labour party caucus by Starmer and later not allowed to run in elections from the Labour Party list, he ran as an independent candidate. Corbyn won more than 24,000 votes, while the Labour candidate, who came second, won about 16,000.
Radical socialist Corbyn, who was leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020, was elected to parliament for a record 11th time.
Jeremy Corbyn shutterstock
Main image source: PAP/EPA/NEIL HALL