Keir Starmer on Friday promised to “rebuild Britain” as he took office as the UK’s new prime minister following his centre-left Labour party’s landslide general election victory that ended 14 years of Conservative rule.
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New UK PM Starmer Vows To ‘Rebuild Britain’ After Election Win
Head of state King Charles III asked Starmer to form a government during a meeting at Buckingham Palace, officially appointing the 61-year-old former human rights lawyer as prime minister.
Flag-waving crowds of cheering Labour activists lined Downing Street as Starmer arrived as the party’s first prime minister since Gordon Brown in 2010.
“Now, our country has voted decisively for change, for national renewal and a return of politics to public service,” he said in his first speech in the role.
“The work of change begins immediately, but have no doubt, we will rebuild Britain.”
‘Sorry’
A sombre Rishi Sunak conceded defeat during a torrid night for his Conservatives that claimed the scalps of at least 12 of his senior Cabinet colleagues — and his predecessor Liz Truss.
Truss’s disastrous 49-day tenure effectively sealed the Tories’ fate with the public two years ago, when her unfunded tax cuts spooked markets and crashed the pound.
Before leaving Downing Street for the final time as prime minister, Sunak said “sorry” to the public and that he would step down as Tory leader once formal arrangements for a successor are in place.
Labour raced past the 326 seats needed to secure an overall majority in the 650-seat House of Commons at 0400 GMT, with the final result expected on Saturday.
As of 1200 GMT on Friday, the party had won 412 seats in the House of Commons with only two results left to declare, giving it a majority of more than 170.
The Tories won just 121 seats — a record low — with the right-wing vote apparently spliced by Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration Reform UK party.
In another boost for the centrists, the smaller opposition Liberal Democrats ousted the Scottish National Party as the third-biggest party.
World reaction
The results buck a trend among Britain’s closest Western allies, with the far right in France eyeing power and Donald Trump looking set for a return in the United States.
Congratulations came in from the European Council chief Charles Michel, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who said Starmer would be a “very good, very successful” prime minister.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the two countries would “continue to be reliable allies through thick and thin”.
Outside London’s busy Waterloo station, Ramsey Sargent called it a “super exciting time”.
“It was absolutely a momentous election. It has been very rocky over the last few months and years. I’m really excited to see what happens next,” the 49-year-old engagement officer told AFP.
‘Catastrophic’
Sunak tendered his resignation to the king shortly after returning to London from his rural constituency in northern England, where the depth of his party’s defeat quickly became apparent.
The Tories’ worst previous election result was 156 seats in 1906. Former leader William Hague told Times Radio the result was “a catastrophic result in historic terms”.
But Tim Bale, politics professor at Queen Mary, University of London, said it was “not as catastrophic as some were predicting” and the Tories would now need to decide how best to fight back.
Right-wing former interior minister Suella Braverman said the Tories failed because they had not listened to the British people.
But Brexit champion Farage, who finally succeeded in becoming an MP at the eighth attempt, has made no secret of his aim to take over the party.
“There is a massive gap on the centre-right of British politics and my job is to fill it,” he said after a comfortable win in Clacton, eastern England.
To-do list
Labour’s resurgence is a stunning turnaround from five years ago, when hard-left former leader Jeremy Corbyn took the party to its worst defeat since 1935 in an election dominated by Brexit.
Starmer took over in early 2020 and set about moving the party back to the centre, making it a more electable proposition and purging the infighting and anti-Semitism that cost it support.
Opinion polls consistently put Labour 20 points ahead of the Tories since Truss’s resignation, giving an air of inevitability about a Labour win — the first since Tony Blair in 2005.
But as the count neared the end, the gap was around 11 percent, with Labour looking set to win fewer votes than it did in 2019, partly reflecting a lower turnout.
Starmer is facing a daunting to-do list, with economic growth anaemic, public services overstretched and underfunded due to swingeing cuts, and households squeezed financially.
He has also promised a return of political integrity, after a chaotic period of five Tory prime ministers in 14 years, scandal and sleaze.
International News
Maguire: Tuchel Told Me By Video Call I Was Out And I Said I Was Very Disappointed
On “The Rest is Football” podcast, Manchester United center-back Maguire discussed how Tuchel informed him via video call that he had not been selected for the World Cup squad.
Maguire revealed: “He (Tuchel) video-called everyone. It was quite an awkward call. I first received a message asking if he could talk to me around 4 PM. It was quite a unique approach, and certainly difficult, because he could see everyone’s reactions.
“I said directly that I was really very disappointed. I felt I had done well enough to deserve to be in the squad, and I felt I could have helped the team, playing a role on and off the pitch. He said he couldn’t give me any excuses, but he chose the four players who had helped him through a difficult period last autumn.
“It was hard to accept. After being called up by him for the first time in the March training camp, I did think I would be in the squad. I performed well in both games and then returned to Manchester United, finishing the season with a very strong performance.”
Tuchel ultimately chose to take Stones, Guehi, Konsa, Quansah, and Dan Burn to the World Cup.
No Plans to Retire from England Duty
Furthermore, even with Tuchel’s contract extending to Euro 2028, Maguire is unwilling to close the door on playing for England.
He added: “I don’t think I’ll retire from England duty. I still feel I can shine. Sooner or later there will be a time and a point where I no longer deserve to be selected for England, but even then, I most likely won’t proactively step out and announce my retirement. If I can play for England one more time, it will all be worth it.”
Maguire will use the off-season to fully recover and prepare for Manchester United’s return to the Champions League in the 2026-27 season. While his England teammates face the immense pressure of a major international tournament, the experienced defender will strive to maintain his excellent club form. If he is to earn a recall to the England squad later this year, proving his endurance in the Premier League remains crucial.
Bukayo Saka said that Arsenal’s critics were “not laughing at us anymore” as the club celebrated their first Premier League title in more than two decades.
Gunners players and staff gathered at the club’s London Colney training ground on Tuesday to watch closest challengers Manchester City draw 1-1 away to Bournemouth—a result which gave Arsenal an unassailable four-point lead at the top of the table with just Sunday’s final round of matches remaining.
As the Arsenal squad relished the club’s first Premier League title since 2004, there were also joyous scenes at the north London side’s Emirates Stadium, where thousands of supporters gathered to mark the occasion by lighting fireworks and flares.
Arsenal, runners-up in the league for the previous three seasons, had faced accusations of “bottling” their title bid, with several observers questioning their temperament and ability to handle pressure following a 2-1 defeat at City on April 19.
But while City subsequently drew at Everton and then at Bournemouth, Arsenal won their next four league games without conceding a goal.
Arteta, who rejoined Arsenal as manager in December 2019 with the club in dire straits, installed a blacked-out Premier League trophy at Colney which would light up only when the Gunners won the title
“Light that up,” Saka said in footage posted by defender Jurrien Timber on his Instagram account.
“Let me tell you something. Twenty-two years, 22 years. there was laughing, there was joking, they’re not laughing anymore,” the England international added. “Look, it is going to be shining, it is going to be shining bright.”
In an Instagram post, this time on Saka’s channel, Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly was seen holding a champagne bottle.
“They called us bottlers,” said Lewis-Skelly who, like Saka, came through the club’s Hale End Academy youth system. “And now we’re holding the bottle.”
Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger featured in a celebratory post put out by his old side.
The Frenchman, who won three Premier League titles with the Gunners, including the 2004 ‘Invincibles’, said: “You did it. Champions go on when others stop. This is your time. Now, go on and enjoy every moment.”
City manager Pep Guardiola, who had Arteta as his assistant for two of the Manchester club’s league titles, paid tribute to his fellow Spaniard.
“On behalf of everyone at Manchester City, we congratulate Mikel and all the staff, players and fans on winning the Premier League,” Guardiola told Sky Sports. “They deserve it, for so much hard work and effort.”
Arsenal will be presented with the Premier League trophy after their final match of the domestic season at Crystal Palace on Sunday.
The Gunners could yet end the campaign with an impressive double when they go in search of their first Champions League title against Paris Saint-Germain in a Budapest final on May 30.
AFP
A women right group, ‘The Women Advocates’ (TWA) has petitioned the First Lady, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu over male domination of elective and appointive positions in Oshodi/Isolo Federal Constituency II ahead of the forthcoming primaries of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Lagos State.
In a petition addressed to the wife of the president, the group sought the intervention of the First Lady over what it described as total neglect of the women folks in aspiring for the House of Representatives seat from the constituency.
The group in the petition which was jointly signed by its coordinator, Adejoke Olaogun and Secretary Helen Nwachukwu respectively noted with dismay that since the advent of the second republic in 1999, no female politician has been given the opportunity to represent the constituency at the House of Representatives.
The group listed six male politicians who have represented the constituency to include Gbolahan Okuneye, Jaiyeola Ajatta, Hakeem Muniru, Tony Nwulu, Ganiu Johnson and now currently Okey Joe Onuakalusi.
The Women Advocates said the total domination of elective and appointive positions by male politicians in the constituency negates the gender equality and all-inclusive principle of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who recently supported constitutional amendment initiated by the National Assembly for increased women’s participation in governance by advocating for at least 35% affirmative action in elective and appointive positions.
The initiative of the National Assembly also gained the affirmation of the ruling party, All Progressive Congress APC (APC) which officially pushed for reduced political hostility, greater inclusion in leadership and also introduced initiatives like ‘774 Explore’ for grassroot mobilization, aiming to boost female representation ahead of the 2027 elections.
“For this obvious gender imbalance, we are constrained to seek your intervention in addressing this anomaly. Being gender-friendly and a strong advocate of women’s inclusion in governance, we are convinced your timely intervention would restore hope of leadership opportunities for the women folks who are expectedly to mobilize extensively for the re-election bid of the president in 2027,” the petition read in part.
It continued: “To this end, we earnestly solicit consideration of female aspirants as APC candidates in a fair and equitable manner ahead of the forthcoming party primaries across the 25 LGAs and 37 LCDAs in Lagos particularly in Oshodi/Isolo Federal Constituency II where we lost the last House of Representatives election to the Labour Party (LP).”
The group specifically appealed for support for Angela Yinka Akintunde as a candidate for the House of Representatives seat in Oshodi-Isolo Federal Constituency II, describing her candidacy as a step toward bridging the gender gap in elective offices.
Women Advocates further urged party leaders and stakeholders to embrace inclusivity and fairness in the forthcoming primaries, emphasizing that equitable representation would enhance political development and social progress in the state
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