LABOUR Party’s Kier Starmer has won the just-concluded United Kingdom (UK) election, emerging as the country’s new Prime Minister, and ending the 14 years of Conservative rule. 

The UK held its national election on Thursday, July 4, for the first time in five years to elect a new Prime Minister and other officials.

The ICIR reported that despite having three major candidates from the Conservative, Labour and Reform parties vying for the position of Prime Minister, the Conservative and Labour parties were the front-runners.

The Conservative Party has ruled for 14 years, hence the election had the potential to significantly change the political landscape of which the Labour Party was perceived to have the strongest candidate.

Delivering his victory speech, the Prime Minister-elect, Keir Starmer, declared that he would usher in a period of “national renewal” and that the British people had given the UK the chance to “get its future back” and return to “the service of working people.

“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.

“Make no mistake, that is the great test of politics in this era. The fight for trust is the battle that defines us our age. It is why we’ve campaigned so hard on demonstrating we are fit for public service.”

He added that service was the precondition for hope and urged the people respect: the bond that united the country.

“Together, the values of this changed Labour Party are the guiding principle for a new government. Country first, party second”, he added.

Conceding defeat, the outgoing Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, took responsibility for the Conservative Party’s losses and congratulated Starmer on his victory.

Starmer is a 61-year-old British politician and lawyer who has led the Labour Party since 2020.

He was a member of parliament in 2015 for Holborn and St. Pancras and also served as the Director of Public Prosecutions for England and Wales from 2008 to 2013.