Outside 10 Downing Street, new UK PM Starmer promises Labour will ‘rebuild Britain’

Keir Starmer has swept into Downing Street for the first time as UK prime minister, promising urgent action to restore the country’s fortunes.

The Labour party leader oversaw a landslide victory in Thursday’s general election, ending 14 years of rule by Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives.

“The work of change begins immediately,” Starmer tells reporters outside Downing Street after accepting head of state King Charles III’s request for him to form a government.

“But have no doubt, we will rebuild Britain,” he adds.

Starmer, a 61-year-old former human rights lawyer and chief state prosecutor, pays tribute to Sunak, who was appointed Tory leader and prime minister in October 2022 after Liz Truss’s disastrous tenure.

“His achievement as the first British-Asian prime minister of our country, the extra effort that that will have required, should not be underestimated by anyone,” he says.

“We pay tribute to that today. We also recognize the dedication and hard work he brought to his leadership,” he adds.

Newly elected Prime Minister Keir Starmer with his wife Victoria Starmer enter his official London residence at No 10 Downing Street for the first time after the Labour Party won a landslide victory at the 2024 General Election, Friday July 5, 2024. (Stefan Rousseau/pool photo via AP)

His government, he says, will put “country first, party second,” promising to restore “respect for politics,” after a succession of scandals under the Tories that eroded public trust.

But he sought to temper high expectations of an immediate transformation. “Changing a country is not like flicking a switch,” he says.

“The world is now a more volatile place. This will take a while. But have no doubt that the work of change begins immediately.”