'Change begins now': Keir Starmer claims victory for Labour Party in UK election

The UK's centre-left Labour Party had been ahead in opinion polls for months and a landslide victory was projected.

Labour Party leader Keir Starmer hugs his wife Victoria during a post election rally. Source: AP / Kin Cheung

Key Points

• Keir Starmer and the Labour Party have won a historic victory in the UK elections.
• Labour won 326 seats in the parliamentary election, now holding a majority in the 650-seat strong House of Commons.
• The result brought the curtain down on 14 years of Conservative-led government.

Labour leader Keir Starmer declared that "change begins now", claiming a victory for the Labour Party in the UK election.

Britain's Labour Party has officially ended the Conservative Party's 14 years in power, winning 326 seats in the parliamentary election, meaning it now holds a majority in the 650-seat-strong House of Commons.

"It feels good, I have to be honest," Starmer said.

"A changed Labour Party, ready to serve our country, ready to restore Britain to the service of working people.

"We ran as a changed Labour Party and we will govern as a changed Labour Party.

"We said we would end the chaos, and we will. We said we would turn the page, and we have."

Earlier, Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has conceded defeat, saying the opposition Labour Party had won.

"The Labour Party has won this general election and I have called Sir Keir Starmer to congratulate him on his victory," Sunak said after winning his parliamentary seat in northern England.

Labour is on course to capture 410 of the 650 seats in parliament, an astonishing reversal of fortunes from five years ago when it suffered its worst performance since 1935.

Exit polls suggest UK public has moved to centre left

Sunak's party were forecast to only win 131 seats, the worst electoral performance in its history, as voters punished them for a cost of living crisis, and years of instability and in-fighting, with five different prime ministers since the Brexit vote of 2016.

The centrist Liberal Democrats were predicted to capture 61 seats while the right-wing populist Reform UK party, headed by Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage who had pledged to destroy the Conservative party, was forecast to win 13.

While the prediction for Reform was far better than expected, the overall outcome suggests the disenchanted British public has shifted support to the centre-left, unlike in France where Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally party made historic gains in an election last Sunday.

A Labour victory has brought an end to 14 years of conservative government in the UK. Source: Getty / Hugh R Hastings

It was not just the Conservatives whose vote was predicted to have collapsed. The pro-independence Scottish National Party was forecast to win only 10 seats, its worst showing since 2010, after a period of turmoil in which two leaders have quit in little over a year.

In the last six UK elections, only one exit poll has got the outcome wrong. Official results will follow over the next few hours.

Sunak's troubled inheritance, Starmer's promise of change

Sunak stunned Westminster and many in his own party by calling the election earlier than he needed to in May with the Conservatives trailing Labour by some 20 points in opinion polls.

The Conservative leader came to power in October 2022 when he inherited a party and an economy in turmoil after Liz Truss' short-lived term as prime minister.

Starmer, a lawyer and former chief prosecutor for England and Wales, worked hard to steer his party away from the more overtly socialist policies of former leader Jeremy Corbyn and quelled internal divisions.

Critics call him unexciting and unambitious, but Labour has surged in popularity under his leadership.

In the final days of campaigning, Sunak insisted that "the outcome of this election is not a foregone conclusion".

But in a message to voters on Wednesday, Sunak said: "If the polls are to be believed, the country could wake up tomorrow to a Labour super-majority ready to wield their unchecked power."

He urged voters to back the Conservatives to limit Labour's power.

Labour led a campaign pledging to restart the economy, invest in infrastructure and make Britain a "clean energy superpower".

The party won the support of many in the business community and received endorsements from the traditionally conservative newspapers, including the Rupert Murdoch-owned Sun tabloid.

The Sun said in an editorial that "by dragging his party back to the centre ground of British politics for the first time since Tony Blair was in No.10, Sir Keir has won the right to take charge," using the knighted Starmer's formal title.

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UK conservatives appeal to minority voters ahead of election

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The Conservatives' campaign was plagued by gaffes. Recently, Sunak went home early from commemorations in France marking the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.

Several Conservatives close to Sunak are being investigated over suspicions they used inside information to place bets on the date of the election before it was announced.

Additional reporting by Reuters