The center-left Labour Party has won a landslide victory in the UK general election unseating the incumbent Conservatives after 14 years.
Early projections show Labour would gain its second-largest majority after former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s 179-seat majority in 1997. A nationwide result will likely be declared early Friday, with Keir Starmer, leader of centre-left Labour, expected to become the country’s next prime minister.
Labour is expected to win 410 seats in the 650-member House of Commons, with the Conservatives of Rishi Sunak’s on 144, which would be the lowest seat tally in the party’s history.
After winning his seat in Holborn and St Pancras, Starmer said “the change begins right here…it is time for us to deliver.
“I will speak out for you, have your back, fight your corner every single day. People here and around the country have spoken and they’re ready for change, to end the politics of performance and return to politics as public service,” he added.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak congratulated Starmer for the Labour victory. “Today, power will change hands in a peaceful and orderly manner, with goodwill on all sides. That is something that should give us all confidence in our country’s stability and future.
“The British people have delivered a sobering verdict tonight, there is much to learn… and I take responsibility for the loss.
Populist politician Nigel Farage has won his first-ever seat in British parliament, after seven prior failed attempts. The infamous Brexiteer won 46.2 percent of the vote in the Clacton constituency, with the Conservative Party coming in second with 27.9 percent.
UK’s Labour Party victory halts right-wing surge in Europe
In a manifesto released in June, the party said it would focus on “wealth creation” and “economic growth.”
The party’s flagship pledges include the creation of a new publicly owned energy company, a ban on awarding new North Sea oil and gas licenses, reducing patient waiting times in the strained National Health Service, and renationalizing most passenger rail services.
It also plans to raise money for public services by cracking down on tax loopholes for so-called nondomiciled individuals, removing tax breaks for independent schools, closing what has been described as a “tax loophole” for private equity investors, and raising taxes on the purchases of residential properties by non-UK residents. It said it would make additional green investments through a “time-limited windfall tax” on oil and gas firms.
The party said it would recognize a Palestinian state, calling statehood “the inalienable right of the Palestinian people.”
The Labour Party victory in the UK comes at the same time Europe is broadly in the grip of what some call a right-wing populist surge.
Last month’s European elections saw a historic number of lawmakers from hard-right and far-right parties elected to the European Parliament. The results caused such chaos that French President Emmanuel Macron called a snap parliamentary election in his own country, the first round of which the far-right National Rally won last week.
A government comprised of far-right figures was formed in the Netherlands this week. Italy is led by the most right-wing leader since the rule of fascist wartime leader Benito Mussolini.
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