Keir Starmer formally appointed as Britain’s new PM after meeting King Charles

Keir Starmer, the Labour Party leader, has been officially appointed as Britain’s new prime minister following a ceremonial ‘kissing of hands’ with King Charles III.
Starmer met King Charles following his landslide victory in Thursday’s parliamentary election. With Labour’s resounding election win, Starmer becomes the first leader of a center-left party to win a national election in the United Kingdom since Tony Blair, who did so three times in a row beginning in 1997.

In a landslide victory, the U.K.’s Labour Party, led by Keir Starmer, secured 412 (+211) seats in the 650-seat House of Commons, while the Conservative Party, led by retiring Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, lost 121 (-250) seats. With Labour receiving 35% of the vote and the Conservatives receiving 24%, the vote shares nevertheless confirmed the Conservative defeat while painting a picture of a more restrained victory for Labour. In opinion polls, Labour had routinely outperformed the Conservatives by 20 points.

The country’s monarch, King Charles III, named Mr. Starmer the new prime minister of the United Kingdom after Labour won the election. Keir Starmer says the UK will be rebuilt. Speaking to the public outside Downing Street following his appointment as prime minister “Our work is urgent, and we begin it today,” stated Mr. Starmer. He went on, “But have no doubt, we will rebuild Britain”, Mr. Starmer paid tribute to Mr. Sunak, who was appointed prime minister and leader of the Conservative Party in October 2022.