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Official portrait, 2024
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Premiership of Keir Starmer 5 July 2024 – present | |
Monarch | Charles III |
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Cabinet | Starmer ministry |
Party | Labour |
Election | |
Seat | 10 Downing Street |
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Keir Starmer's tenure as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom began on 5 July 2024 when he accepted an invitation from King Charles III to form a government, succeeding Rishi Sunak of the Conservative Party, after the Labour Party had won the 2024 general election.
Domestically, Starmer has said he will focus on economic growth, planning system reforms, infrastructure, energy, healthcare, education, childcare, and strengthening workers' rights, all of which were outlined in the Labour Party's 2024 election manifesto. He has stated his intention to establish the Border Security Command to replace the Rwanda asylum plan. In foreign policy, Starmer has supported Ukraine in its war against Russia and Israel in its war against Hamas.
On 4 January 2020, Keir Starmer announced his candidacy for the Labour Party leadership election.[1] By 8 January, it was reported that he had gained enough nominations from Labour MPs and MEPs to get onto the ballot paper, and that the trade union Unison was backing him. Unison, with 1.3 million members, said Starmer was the best placed candidate to unite the party and regain public trust.[2] He also gained support from former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.[3]
During the leadership election, Starmer ran a left-wing platform. He positioned himself in opposition to austerity, stating that the outgoing leader Jeremy Corbyn was "right" to position Labour as the "party of anti-austerity".[4][5] He indicated he would continue with the Labour policy of scrapping tuition fees as well as pledging "common ownership" of rail, mail, energy and water companies and called for ending outsourcing in the NHS, local governments and the justice system.[6]
Starmer was announced as the winner of the leadership contest on 4 April 2020, defeating rivals Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy, with 56.2% of the vote in the first round.[7]Asopposition leader, contrary to his leadership campaign, he moved the party toward the political centre, and also emphasised the project of eliminating antisemitism within the party. Starmer's leadership has been widely compared to Tony Blair's leadership and New Labour, having taken the party rightward to gain perceived electability.
Labour entered the 2024 general election with a large lead over the Conservatives in opinion polls, and the potential scale of the party's victory was a topic of discussion during the campaign period.[8][9] In June 2024, Starmer released the Labour Party manifesto Change, which focuses on economic growth, planning system reforms, infrastructure, what Starmer describes as "clean energy", healthcare, education, childcare, and strengthening workers' rights.[10][11] It pledges a new publicly owned energy company (Great British Energy), a "Green Prosperity Plan", reducing patient waiting times in the NHS, and renationalisation of the railway network (Great British Railways).[12] It includes wealth creation and "pro-business and pro-worker" policies.[13] The manifesto also pledged to give votes to 16 year olds, reform the House of Lords, and to tax private schools, with money generated going into improving state education.[14][15]
In July 2024, Starmer led Labour to a landslide victory in the general election, ending fourteen years of Conservative government with Labour becoming the largest party in the House of Commons.[16] Labour achieved a 174-seat simple majority and a total of 411 seats,[a] the party's third-best result in terms of seat share following the 1997 and 2001 general elections. The party became the largest in England for the first time since 2005, in Scotland for the first time since 2010, and retained its status as the largest party in Wales.[17]
In his victory speech, Starmer thanked party workers for their hard work – including nearly five years of revamping and rebranding Labour in the face of Conservative dominance – and urged them to savour the moment, but warned them of challenges ahead and pledged his government would work for "national renewal":[18][19]
We did it! You campaigned for it, you fought for it, you voted for it and now it has arrived. Change begins now. And it feels good, I have to be honest. Four-and-a-half years of work changing the party. This is what it is for – a changed Labour Party ready to serve our country, ready to restore Britain to the service of working people. And across our country people will be waking up to the news, relieved that a weight has been lifted, a burden finally removed from the shoulders of this great nation. And now we can look forward. Walk into the morning, the sunlight of hope, pale at first but getting stronger through the day, shining once again, on a country with the opportunity after 14 years to get its future back. We said we would end the chaos and we will. We said we would turn the page and we have. Today we start the next chapter, begin the work of change, the mission of national renewal and start to rebuild our country.
As the leader of the majority party in the House of Commons, Starmer was appointed as prime minister by King Charles III on 5 July 2024, becoming the first Labour prime minister since Gordon Brown, the first one to win a general election since Tony Blair, and the first Labour government formed during the reign of Charles III.[20] He and his wife Victoria Starmer were driven from Buckingham PalacetoDowning Street. Starmer stopped the car on the way back from the palace and went on a walkabout outside Downing Street to meet cheering crowds. In his first speech as prime minister, Starmer paid tribute to the previous prime minister Rishi Sunak, saying "His achievement as the first British Asian Prime Minister of our country should not be underestimated by anyone," and also recognised "the dedication and hard work he brought to his leadership" but said that the people of Britain had voted for change:[21][22]
You have given us a clear mandate, and we will use it to deliver change. To restore service and respect to politics, end the era of noisy performance, tread more lightly on your lives, and unite our country. Four nations, standing together again, facing down, as we have so often in our past, the challenges of an insecure world. Committed to a calm and patient rebuilding. So with respect and humility, I invite you all to join this government of service in the mission of national renewal. Our work is urgent and we begin it today.
Other world leaders including Joe Biden and Justin Trudeau, as well as Blair and Brown, congratulated Starmer after he was appointed prime minister.[23] In his first day as prime minister, Starmer contacted Volodymyr Zelenskyy and told him that the change of government would make no difference to the UK's support for Ukraine, and that the UK would continue supplying defensive support amid the Russian invasion of the country.[24] Starmer also contacted Biden, and discussed their shared commitment to the special relationship between the UK and US, and their plans for economic growth.[25]
One of his first acts as prime minister was cancelling the controversial Rwanda asylum plan, claiming it to be "dead and buried."[26][27] Home secretary Yvette Cooper started setting out the first steps towards establishing a Border Security Command, to tackle smuggling gangs which facilitate illegal migrant crossings over the English Channel.[28][29] Starmer went on a tour of the four countries of the United Kingdom and met with the leader of the Scottish Labour Party Anas Sarwar, and also met with First Minister of Scotland John Swinney at the official residence of the First Minister, Bute House.[30] He also met with mayors including Andy Burnham and Sadiq Khan.[31]
His new government was formed throughout 5–7 July, with the new Cabinet first meeting on 6 July and the new Parliament being called to meet on 9 July.[32][33] Starmer appointed women to a record half of the Cabinet (including Rachel Reeves as the first female Chancellor of the Exchequer in British history) and three of the five top positions in the British government, including Angela RaynerasDeputy Prime Minister.[34][35][failed verification]
Starmer also appointed three politically independent experts: scientist Patrick VallanceasMinister of State for Science, rehabilitation campaigner James TimpsonasMinister of State for Prisons, Parole and Probation, and international law expert Richard HermerasAttorney General for England and Wales.[36] The government includes a few ministers from the New Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, including Hilary Benn, Yvette Cooper, David Lammy and Ed Miliband in the Cabinet, and Jacqui Smith and Douglas Alexander as junior ministers.[37][38][39]
In 2023, Starmer set out five missions for his government, targeting issues such as economic growth, health, clean energy, crime and education. On 2 June 2024, Starmer pledged to reduce record high legal immigration to the UK. Net migration to the UK was 685,000 in 2023.[40][failed verification]
In June 2024, Starmer released the Labour 2024 general election manifesto Change, which focuses on economic growth, planning system reforms, infrastructure, what Starmer describes as "clean energy," healthcare, education, childcare, and strengthening workers' rights.[41][42] It pledges a new publicly owned energy company (Great British Energy), a "Green Prosperity Plan," reducing patient waiting times in the NHS, and renationalisation of the railway network (Great British Railways).[43] It includes wealth creation and "pro-business and pro-worker" policies.[44] The manifesto also pledged to give votes to 16 year olds, reform the House of Lords, and to tax private schools, with money generated going into improving state education.[45][46]
Following the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, Starmer tweeted "Political violence in any form has no place in our societies" and wished Donald Trump and his family his best wishes.[47]
Following the general election, chairs and member of select committees are yet to be appointed.[48]
Starmer attended the 2024 NATO summit for his first international trip.[49][50] On the flight to the summit, Starmer layed out a "cast iron" commitment to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP, following a “root and branch” review of Britain’s defences.[51][52] At the summit, Starmer signaled that Ukraine could use Britain’s Storm Shadow missile donations to strike military targets inside Russia, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[53] In a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Starmer called for an “irreversible” membership strategy for Ukraine to join NATO.[54] Starmer presented US President Joe Biden with an Arsenal shirt during their introductory meeting, while emphasising the importance of the US-UK Special Relationship.[55]
Country | Location | Date | Details |
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Washington D.C. | 9–11 July | Starmer attended the 2024 NATO summit.[56] |
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New York City | September | Starmer is expected to attend the 79th United Nations General Assembly. |
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Apia | 21–25 October | Starmer is scheduled to attend the 2024 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.[56] |
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TBD | 7 November | Starmer is expected to attend the 5th European Political Community Summit. |
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Rio de Janeiro | 18–19 November | Starmer is expected to attend the 2024 G20 summit. |
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Baku | November | Starmer is expected to attend COP29. |
British premierships | ||
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Preceded by | Starmer premiership 2024–present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
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Premiership |
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Opposition Leadership |
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Electoral history |
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