Britain’s Labour Party swept to power Friday after more than a decade in opposition, as a jaded electorate handed the party a landslide victory — but also a mammoth task of reinvigorating a stagnant economy and dispirited nation.
Labour leader Keir Starmer will officially become prime minister later in the day, leading his party back to government less than five years after it suffered its worst defeat in almost a century.
In the merciless choreography of British politics, he will take charge in 10 Downing St. hours after Thursday’s votes are counted — as Conservative leader Rishi Sunak is hustled out.
“A mandate like this comes with a great responsibility,” Starmer acknowledged in a speech to supporters, saying that the fight to regain people’s trust after years of disillusionment “is the battle that defines our age.”
Speaking as dawn broke in London, he said Labour would offer “the sunlight of hope, pale at first but getting stronger through the day.”
Sunak conceded defeat, saying the voters had delivered a “sobering verdict”
With almost all the results in, Labour won 410 seats in the 650-seat House of Commons and the Conservatives 118.
