STORY: :: 'Change begins now' says Keir Starmer, set to be the UK's next prime minister
:: July 5, 2024
:: London
:: Keir Starmer, British Labour leader
"You campaigned for it. You fought for it. You voted for it. And now it has arrived. Change begins now. And it feels good. I have to be honest. Four and a half years of work changing the party. This is what it is for, a changed Labour Party. Ready to serve our country, ready to restore Britain to the service of working people."
"But a mandate like this comes with a great responsibility. Our task is nothing less than renewing the ideas that hold this country together. National renewal. Whoever you are, wherever you started in life, if you work hard, if you play by the rules, this country should give you a fair chance to get on. It should always respect your contribution. And we have to restore that."
"I don't promise you it will be easy. Changing a country is not like flicking a switch. It's hard work. Patient work. Determined work. And we will have to get moving immediately."
Starmer will be Britain's next prime minister, with his centre-left Labour Party expected to win a huge majority, with many results still to be announced from Thursday's vote.
Labour has already won more than 326 of the 650 seats in parliament, with an exit poll suggesting it would capture about 410.
On a humiliating night for Sunak, the Conservatives have so far only won 70 and were predicted to suffer the worst performance in the party's long history with voters punishing them for a cost of living crisis, failing public services, and a series of scandals.
Sunak conceded defeat and said he had called Starmer to congratulate him on his victory.
