Sir Keir’s predecessor Jeremy Corbyn, now standing as an independent, also held onto Islington North
All eyes are now on our new PM with Piers Morgan telling our Never Mind The Ballots election show that Sir Keir MUST deliver real change after the Tory disaster
Making an appeal to those who did not vote for his party yesterday, he said: “Whether you voted Labour or not, in fact, especially if you did not, I say to you directly: my government will serve you.”
Sir Keir acknowledged changing a country is not “like flicking a switch” and that will “take a while”.
But he went on to say: “I have no doubt that the work of change begins immediately. I have no doubt that we will rebuild Britain with wealth created in every community.”
The new Prime Minister also invited the country to join him in his mission.
And he pledged to bring an end to “the era of noisy performance”.
To rapturous applause, Sir Keir said: “We will show that we’ve changed the Labour Party, returned it to service, and that is how we will govern.
“With respect and humility, I invite you all to join this government of service in the mission of national renewal.
“Country first, party second. Our work is urgent and we begin it today.”
Britain’s new PM added: “For too long now, we’ve turned a blind eye.
“As millions slid into greater insecurity, nurses, builders, drivers, carers, people doing the right thing, working harder every day, recognized at moments like this before.
“Yet, as soon as the cameras stopped rolling, their lives are ignored.
“I want to say very clearly to those people: Not this time.”
Sir Keir said his work is “urgent” and vowed “to begin it today”.
The incoming PM must mull over which Labour MPs to include in his Cabinet.
It came as Rishi Sunak made an emotional statement from Downing Street, where he thanked his “beautiful daughters” for the sacrifices they made while he governed the country.
The ex-PM will stay on as leader of the opposition until “the formal arrangements for selecting my successor are in place”.
With a glimmer in his eye, Mr Sunak said: “I would like to say first and foremost, I am sorry.
“I have given this job my all.
“But you have sent a clear signal that the government of the United Kingdom must change.
“And yours is the only judgement that matters.”
“I have heard your anger, your disappointment, and I take responsibility for this loss.”
The ex-PM hailed “just how unremarkable it is that two generations after my grandparents came here with little I could become prime minister”.
He described the beauty in being able to watch his young daughters “light Divali candles on the steps in Downing Street.”
Turning to his successor, Mr Sunak said: “Whilst he has been my political opponent, Sir Keir Starmer will shortly become our prime minister.
“In this job, his successes will be all our successes, and I wish him and his family well.
“Whatever our disagreements in this campaign, he is a decent, public spirited man who I respect.”
Mr Sunak then travelled to Buckingham Palace, where the King formally accepted his resignation.
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Who is Keir Starmer’s wife Victoria?
Victoria Starmer, also known as Lady Victoria Starmer, is a former solicitor turned NHS occupational health worker and the wife of British politician Keir Starmer.
Despite her husband’s prominent political career, she plans to continue her work with the NHS, if he should become Prime Minister.
A commitment Keir Starmer has confirmed, stating, “She wants to and she loves it.”
The pair both reportedly met in the early 2000s, before they later tied the knot in 2007.
She made her first appearance as the then-new Labour leader’s wife when the pair were filmed clapping for the NHS in 2020, outside their Camden home in North London.
More Cabinet appointments
Sir Keir Starmer has named Liz Kendall Work and Pensions Secretary, Downing Street said as it announced the latest Cabinet appointments.
Jonathan Reynolds is Business and Trade Secretary and the president of the Board of Trade.
The new Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology is Peter Kyle.
Louise Haigh was made Transport Secretary, with all retaining the roles they held in the shadow cabinet.
Official portrait released
The new Prime Minister’s official portrait has been released.
Sir Keir Starmer’s snap was put out this afternoon.
Reeves says there’s ‘no time to waste’
Freshly named Chancellor Rachel Reeves said “there is no time to waste” as she spoke to Treasury staff for the first time.
She said: “I have been a Member of Parliament for 14 years now.
“And if I’m honest, I’ve spent a lot of those years frustrated. Talking, not doing. Responding to constituents’ problems, but not being able to get to the root cause of those problems.
“So as far as I’m concerned, there is no time to waste.
“I will judge my time in office a success if I know that, at the end of it, there are working-class kids from ordinary backgrounds living richer lives, their horizons expanded, and their potential realised.
“If we are leaving to the next generation a country that is more prosperous, with more good jobs paying decent wages, and a country better able to thrive in an uncertain world.”
Michael Gove congratulates Rayner
Senior Tory Michael Gove, who did not stand for re-election, congratulated Angela Rayner on her new role this afternoon.
More MPs arrive at Downing Street
Hilary Benn and Steve Reed have made their way into No 10.
Cabinet appointments
Shabana Mahmood has been named Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice.
The former barrister, a key ally of the new Prime Minister, held on to her Birmingham Ladywood seat.
Wes Streeting is the new Health Secretary after clinging on to his Ilford North seat by just a few hundred votes.
Bridget Phillipson has been appointed Education Secretary.
She became the first MP elected overnight as her constituency, Houghton and Sunderland South, was the first to declare results.
Sir Keir Starmer also appointed Ed Miliband Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.
The MP for Doncaster North led the Labour party from 2010 to 2015.
David Lammy has been named the UK’s new Foreign Secretary and said it was “the honour of my life”.
He said in a tweet on X: “It is the honour of my life to be appointed Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs.
“The world faces huge challenges, but we will navigate them with the UK’s enormous strengths.
“We will reconnect Britain for our security and prosperity at home.”
Rachel Reeves was confirmed as Britain’s first woman chancellor, Angela Rayner is Sir Keir’s Deputy Prime Minister and retained the levelling up, housing and communities brief, and Yvette Cooper is Home Secretary.
The first batch of appointments contained no surprises as Pat McFadden, who played a central role in shaping Labour’s election campaign, was named Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and John Healey Defence Secretary.
More MPs rolling in
Jo Stevens and Darren Jones have also made their way into No 10 as Sir Keir names his Cabinet.
In pictures: MPs arriving at No 10
Sir Keir Starmer has today named his new Labour Cabinet.
Here are some snaps of the MPs making their way up Downing Street.
Angela RaynerCredit: Reuters
Ed MilibandCredit: EPA
Lucy PowellCredit: Reuters
Angela SmithCredit: Reuters
Lisa NandyCredit: SWNS
Rachel ReevesCredit: Getty
Shabana MahmoodCredit: Getty
Bridget PhillipsonCredit: EPA
Yvette CooperCredit: SWNS
Jonathan ReynoldsCredit: Rex
Reeves makes history
Rachel Reeves is the UK’s first female chancellor.
She beamed as she arrived at No 10 this afternoon.
Who has walked into Downing Street this afternoon?
As it stands, Angela Rayner, Pat McFadden, Rachel Reeves, Shabana Mahmood, John Healey, Wes Streeting, David Lammy, Peter Kyle, Bridget Phillipson, Yvette Cooper, Jonathan Reynolds, Ed Miliband, Lisa Nandy, Ian Murray, Louise Haigh, Lucy Powell and Liz Kendall have made their way inside No 10.
Louise Haigh has arrived at No 10
The Shadow Secretary of State for Transport has walked into Downing Street.
Louise Haigh is the self-dubbed ‘passenger-in-chief’ – or Transport Secretary in non-Labour speak.
With train cancellations, faulty lines, and never-ending strikes a constant blight on the UK network, the 26-year-old has said that she will get Britain moving again and fix our railways.
When she was elected as MP for Sheffield Heeley in the 2015 election she became the youngest Labour member of that parliament – aged just 27.
After her first year in Westminster she was declared the “most hard-working” new MP in a study of those elected in 2015.
Before she ran for public office she worked as public policy manager for insurance company Aviva.
She first joined the shadow cabinet in 2015 when Jeremy Corbyn was Labour leader and has previously been Shadow Minister for Civil Service and Digital Reform and Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
She nominated Corbyn as a candidate for the Labour leadership in 2015 then later said she regretted it.
Ed Miliband heading into Downing Street
Shadow Energy Secretary Ed Miliband is the latest Labour bigwig to enter No. 10
Miliband previously clashed with Starmer and Rachel Reeves after they scrapped Labour’s £28billion eco pledge.
It’ll be interesting to see if Starmer trusts his predecessor-but-one as Labour leader with a big role.
Reeves confirmed as Chancellor
Labour’s Rachel Reeves has been appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer.
New Chancellor Rachel Reeves
Reeves will be the first female Chancellor in the role’s 800-year history.
It is one of the few appointments Sir Keir Starmer confirmed going into the election.
Jonathan Reynolds arrives in Downing Street
Shadow Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has arrived in Downing Street for his meeting with Keir Starmer.
Reynolds is one of Keir Starmer’s top allies and a plum post likely awaits.
Angela Rayner named Deputy Prime Minister
Downing Street says Angela Rayner has been appointed Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
Angela Rayner will be Deputy PM
Rayner will also be Deputy Prime Minister.
Labour appear to have kept the Tory catchphrase “Levelling Up” after mulling alternatives.
Diane Abbott to be Mother of the House
Labour’s Diane Abbott will be Mother of the House in the new Parliament.
Diane Abbott will be Mother of the House
The title goes to the longest-serving female MP in the House of Commons.
Abbott was first elected MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington in 1987.
Bridget Phillipson heads into No. 10
The daughter of a single mum, Bridget was brought up on a tough street in the former mining town of Washington in Sunderland.
But her mum was a powerful force of nature, a Labour activist who ran a women’s refuge.
She signed her daughter up for acting lessons after school and Bridget ended up becoming an extra on Byker Grove.
Bridget was just 26 when she won the seat of Houghton & Sunderland South making her one of Labour’s youngest MPs.
She loathed Jeremy Corbyn and was promoted by Sir Keir Starmer – first to Shadow Treasury Minister and then to Shadow Education Secretary.
The mother-of-two has been pushed hard by team Starmer, but remains an enigma and has not announced much policy apart from VAT on private schools.
Yvette Cooper enters No. 10
Married to Ed Balls, Yvette is one-half of one of New Labour‘s star power couples.
She was born to a trade union boss and a maths teacher and flew academically – studying at Oxford, Harvard and the LSE.
Yvette, 55, started out in politics in the early 1990s, working as a researcher for then Labour leader John Smith before jetting stateside to help Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign in 1992.
Elected as the MP for Pontefract and Castleford in Tony Blair’s 1997 landslide victory, she has landed a string of frontbench jobs.
But she refused to serve under Jeremy Corbyn, instead becoming boss of the powerful Home Affairs select Committee.
Yvette, was nicknamed the ‘Tory assassin’ after her forensic cross examination led to Amber Rudd to quit as Home Sec.
The mother-of-three’s first job was on a farm picking strawberries and driving a tractor.
Yvette’s attention to detail makes her a formidable opponent.
David Lammy enters Downing Street
Set to become Britain’s chief diplomat, Tottenham choirboy David Lammy is known as one of the most outspoken members of Keir’s shadow cabinet.
He was promoted in the Tony Blair years before backing Jeremy Corbyn in the leadership election – before U-turning and saying he regretted it.
He has strong transatlantic ties with the Democrats stemming from when he met Barack Obama while studying at Harvard University.
Not exactly known for his tact, he faces a frosty reception from presidential hopeful Donald Trump after previously describing him as a Nazi sympathiser.
The shadow foreign secretary has also expressed support for charging Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu with alleged war crimes.
In 2022 he was found to have breached the ministerial code after he failed to declare almost £40,000 worth of financial interests on time.
Birds of a feather…
The incoming Parliament includes the MPs Maria Eagle, Jodie Gosling, Angela Eagle, Robin Swann, Sean Woodcock, Peter Swallow and Stephanie Peacock.
Ashley Fox, Peter Lamb and Lorraine Beavers will also help represent the animal kingdom, at least with their surnames.
Wes Streeting enters No. 10
A Blairite tipped as a future Labour leader and Prime Minister, Mr Streeting’s background reads like a Danny Dyer script.
Wes, 41, was brought up on a council estate in London’s East End to a single mum who often had to pawn her jewellery to pay the bills.
His granddad Bill was a Royal NavyWorld War II veteran – but also a bank robber who hung out with the East End’s infamous Kray twins and spent his life in and out of jail.
His nan Libby ended up getting embroiled in Bill’s crimes and sharing a prison cell with Christine Keeler, the model at the heart of the Profumo Affair.
The Ilford South MP is a proud patriot who often talks of his love for King and country – values he got from his granddad Bill.
Wes has warned the NHS must “reform or die”. He has set himself the mammoth task of fixing it. It is a goal that could seal his political fate.
Rachel Reeves entering Downing Street
Labour’s pre-election shadow chancellor is the latest MP to enter No. 10.
Rachel Reeves has spent the past 18 months carefully reinventing herself as the new, non-nonsense ‘Iron Chancellor’ in waiting.
It is a deliberate nod to Margaret Thatcher and designed to show Brits that she can be trusted with their hard-earned cash.
Reeves was a schoolgirl chess champion, studied PPE at Oxford and worked at the Bank of England.
After getting elected as Leeds West MP in 2010, Rachel quickly became a rising star of Ed Miliband’s frontbench.
But Reeves has her critics in Labour ranks after refusing to serve in Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet.
Her career really took off when Sir Keir Starmer promoted her to shadow chancellor in his first big reshuffle in 2021.
Since then the pair have been joined at the hip – they are probably the closest No10 and No11 pairing since David Cameron and George Osborne.
A tough cookie, she was key in scrapping Labour’s £28 billion a year green eco pledge – much to the fury of Ed Miliband and Angela Rayner.
Seven protesters heckle Farage
At least seven protesters have heckled Nigel Farage at his victory presser.
There were shouts of “You’re a racist” and “You don’t represent the working class”.
More to follow.
Farage claps back at hecklers
Two hecklers were escorted out of Nigel Farage’s press conference just now.
Farage repeatedly shouted “Boring” at the pair of protesters.
He says this it be good preparation for the reception he will get in the Commons.
