Keir Starmer appointed UK prime minister after historic victory

July 05 -  Sir Keir Starmer has become Britain’s new prime minister after winning a historic Labour majority of more than 170 seats.

Starmer travelled to Buckingham Palace at midday on Friday and was invited by King Charles to form a government, as he prepared to lead the first Labour administration since 2010.

Labour’s massive victory at Westminster saw the centre-left party win 412 seats, largely at the expense of Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives, who collapsed to the worst defeat in the party’s history.

Nigel Farage’s Reform UK swallowed up Tory votes, leaving the Conservatives with just 121 seats. Labour was able to win its majority with only 34 per cent of the vote, the lowest-ever winning share.

Sunak announced in Downing Street that he would be tendering his resignation as prime minister to King Charles and would also quit as Tory leader once procedures for choosing his successor were in place.