Britain has a new government after Keir Starmer's center-left Labour Party won a landslide victory in Thursday's election, winning 412 seats and a huge 172-seat majority in parliament. How might Britain and its role on the international stage change under Prime Minister Starmer
National renewal
Addressing the nation Friday from outside 10 Downing Street, the 61-year-old former lawyer promised to lead a "government of service" on a mission of national renewal.
"From now on, you have a government unburdened by doctrine, guided only by the determination to serve your interest, to defy quietly those who have written our country off," Starmer said, promising to prioritize Britons who had been ignored until now.
"No matter how fierce the storms of history, one of the great strengths of this nation has always been our ability to navigate away to calmer waters. And yet this depends upon politicians, particularly those who stand for stability and moderation as I do, recognizing when we must change course," Starmer added.
Conservative losses
The result brings a crushing end to 14 turbulent years of rule under the Conservatives. Their loss of 251 seats, and a final tally of 121 lawmakers in the 650-seat parliament, represents the party's worst result since its formation in 1834.
Outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak apologized to the nation.
"To the country, I would like to say, first and foremost, I am sorry. I have given this job my all,” Sunak said Friday morning before leaving Downing Street. “But you have sent a clear signal that the government of the United Kingdom must change, and yours is the only judgment that matters. I have heard your anger, your disappointment, and I take responsibility for this loss.”
Turmoil
The past decade has seen a period of relentless political turmoil, with five prime ministers in just the past eight years.
Britain's vote to leave the European Union in 2016 prompted then-Prime Minister David Cameron to quit. His successor, Theresa May, repeatedly failed to get her Brexit deal through, forcing her resignation.
Boris Johnson took over and won the last election in December 2019, just weeks before the coronavirus pandemic swept across the world. Revelations that Johnson and his staff had held parties in Downing Street during the COVID-19 lockdown, along with a series of party scandals, forced Johnson from office.
Liz Truss won the Conservative leadership race in 2022 but quit just a month later following a financial and sterling currency crash, as the markets saw her economic policies as too risky. Sunak took over, but immediately faced an inflation crisis — and failed to inspire the electorate to stick with the Conservatives in Thursday's vote.
Rwanda scheme scrapped
Challenges lie ahead for Labour and Starmer. Immigration remains a big political issue. The Conservative scheme to send some asylum-seekers to Rwanda for processing is set to be scrapped.
"Labour is going to need to find a solution to the small boats coming across the Channel,” said Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London. “It's going to ditch the Rwanda scheme, but it's going to have to come up with other solutions to deal with that particular problem. Intelligence-led policing will be one of them, trying to smash the gangs is another, and faster processing of those asylum-seekers already in the country.”
Ukraine
Britain is unlikely to see dramatic changes in foreign policy under Starmer, according to Bale.
"Keir Starmer's Labour government will continue to back Ukraine against Russia very strongly, will try to maintain the special relationship with the United States of America, although that will get a little bit more difficult if President Trump is reelected.
"And when it comes to the European Union, I would expect to see Britain actually try to get a little bit closer to the European Union, in economic terms in particular. So, we will see a renegotiation of the trade and cooperation agreement next year. And Labour will try and reduce the trade friction that has damaged growth in this country," Bale told The Associated Press.
With growing global instability, Starmer's strong mandate could give Britain a bigger role in global geopolitics, according to Malcolm Chalmers of the Royal United Services Institute in London.
"Over the next four months, the presidents of both the U.S. and France will be focused on their own political survival, with their ability to shape world events correspondingly reduced,” Chalmers said. “The U.K., in contrast, has the most stable government of all the major Western democracies. It therefore has the opportunity, and responsibility, to help steady the ship of Western unity at a time of exceptional political fluidity.”
China
"The new government will also need to set a clearer course on the biggest geopolitical challenge of our time: how to manage the West's relationship with China,” Chalmers wrote in an email to VOA. “If recent trends are extrapolated, we are now in the foothills of a new Cold War between the U.S. and China. But the rules and limits of this competition remain in flux. Many countries — especially in the so-called Global South — are strongly resisting being drawn into either camp.”
NATO summit
Starmer's first foreign visit will likely be to next week's NATO summit in Washington. Alliance Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed Starmer's appointment Friday.
"I know that he's a strong supporter of NATO, of the transatlantic alliance, and also committed to ensure that United Kingdom continues to be a strong and very committed NATO ally," Stoltenberg told reporters in Washington.
Defense spending
However, there are defense challenges at home, noted Anand Menon, a professor of international politics at King's College London.
"We keep hearing in this country that our armed forces are stretched to the bone, that they haven't been invested in enough, that the U.K. military is incapable of defending U.K. territory,” Menon said. “So, a new government is going to immediately face the issue of what it wants to do about that. Labour have said they want to take defense spending up to 2.5% of GDP when economic circumstances allow."
Labour's new chancellor, Rachel Reeves — the first woman to hold the post — warned Friday that there isn't "a huge amount of money" to spend.
Any mission of national renewal will have to be a long-term project.
