The election in Great Britain

Rishi Sunak to resign as party leader: "I have heard your anger"

Rishi Sunak will step down as leader of the Conservative Tory Party. He announces this during his speech outside 10 Downing Street in London after the election loss. However, it will not happen immediately, but only when a successor has been appointed.

- I have given this job everything I have, but the public has sent a clear message of change, says Sunak.

In his last speech as prime minister, he also apologizes.

- I'm sorry. I have heard your anger and disappointment and I take responsibility for this loss.

Sunak says his most important mission was to stabilize the British economy and that the country is stronger now.

Furthermore, he describes the Labor leader and the new Prime Minister Keir Starmer as a "generally educated and decent man who I respect".

At 12.30pm, Buckingham Palace confirmed that King Charles has accepted Sunak's resignation as Prime Minister, following the election loss.

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Keir Starmer is expected to appoint his new government as early as today

Britain's incoming prime minister, Labor leader Keir Starmer, is already expected to appoint his entire government today. This is announced by the party's campaign manager Pat McFadden, The Guardian reports.

The new ministers are expected to meet for the first time on Saturday.

McFadden points out that several major international commitments await Starmer shortly.

- We have a NATO meeting next week. It will be his first moment on the international stage. And when he is there, he wants his new government to have started work, he tells the BBC.

Starmer is expected to meet King Charles after lunch to be formally tasked with forming a government.

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Labor has secured a majority in parliament - Starmer: "The change starts now"

Just before 06:00 on Friday morning, it was clear that the Labor Party passes 326 mandates and has thus secured a majority in the British Parliament. The party thus wins the election and party leader Keir Starmer will become the new Prime Minister.

Shortly after victory was confirmed, Starmer spoke in central London.

- We did it. You campaigned for it, you fought for it and now it's here. The change begins now, he said to cheering supporters.

He further said that people all over the country will wake up to the feeling of a burden being lifted from their shoulders.

- The light of hope, first weak and then stronger, shines again on a country that after 14 years has the opportunity to get its future back, he said.

A polling station survey during election night indicates that the party will win 410 mandates and thus take an expected landslide victory.

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A third of the vote gave Labor a huge majority - Farage wants to change the system

The Labor Party has secured almost two-thirds of the seats in the British Parliament despite the party only getting just over a third of the votes, writes The Telegraph. It is the biggest difference between vote share and representation in parliament ever.

According to the newspaper, the result is expected to lead to debate about the British electoral system with single-member constituencies.

The big loser in the electoral system was the right-wing populist Reform UK, which only got four seats despite over 14 percent of the vote. This can be compared with the Scottish Nationalist Party, which secured nine seats with 2.5 percent of the vote.

Immediately after the election, Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage said he will work to change the electoral system.

- Believe me, the hunger for a reformed system will be huge after this election, he said according to The Independent.

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Political scientist: The result provides stability - but no major changes to be expected

The big victory for Labor could bring more stability to British domestic politics. This is what political scientist Nicholas Aylott, lecturer at Södertörn University and affiliated with the Foreign Policy Institute, tells TT.

However, he does not believe that the change of husband will necessarily lead to major political changes.

- Labor was very careful in its election platform not to promise too much, especially what could cost money and thus possibly mean tax increases. They are very careful to promise not to raise taxes for ordinary citizens, says Aylott.

To SVT Nyheter, Aylott says that Labor benefited from the British electoral system with one-man constituencies. This is because the main opponent, the conservative Tories, has been challenged from the right by Reform UK.

- It means two parties in roughly the same space in politics who compete against each other in one-man constituencies. It is very problematic for the Tories, says Aylott.