LONDON (news agencies) — Britain’s Labour Party swept to power Friday after more than a decade in opposition, official results showed, as a jaded electorate appeared to hand 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 brutal choreography of British politics, he will take charge in 10 Downing St. hours after the 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 “is the battle that defines our age.”
Speaking as drawn broke in London, he said Labour would offer “the sunlight of hope, pale at first but getting stronger though the day.”
Sunak conceded defeat, saying the voters had delivered a “sobering verdict.”
For Starmer, it’s a massive triumph that will bring huge challenges, as he faces a jaded electorate impatient for change against a gloomy backdrop of economic malaise, mounting distrust in institutions and a fraying social fabric.
“Nothing has gone well in the last 14 years,” said London voter James Erskine, who was optimistic for change in the hours before polls closed. “I just see this as the potential for a seismic shift, and that’s what I’m hoping for.”
Anand Menon, professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs at King’s College London, said British voters were about to see a marked change in political atmosphere from the tumultuous “politics as pantomime” of the last few years.
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