- Keir Starmer is the UK prime minister following the most recent UK general election
- The Labour Party won a landslide victory with 412 seats
- Starmer has invited Taoiseach Simon Harris to Downing Street following a call between the two on Friday night
- In his first speech as PM, Starmer said: “From now on you have a government unburdened by doctrine, guided only by the determination to serve your interest”
- The DUP has suffered a crushing defeat Northern Ireland, with Ian Paisley jnr losing his seat
- Rishi Sunak is to step down as Conservative leader following the party’s election drubbing
- There is just one seat left to fill – the Scottish Highland constituency of Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire, which is not due to declare until Saturday morning, because of a recount
Best reads:
- Keir Starmer profile: Britain’s new PM shaped by a distant father and deep ‘love’ for Ireland
- Mark Hennessy: Starmer in Downing Street presents UK with opportunities to rebuild old relationships
- Mark Paul: Peers, polls, politics and a proper party: Labour faithful’s prayers answered ... finally
- Analysis: DUP suffers ‘bigger than seismic’ defeat with Ian Paisley losing seat held by family for more than 50 years
- Pat Leahy: Boost for Sinn Féin but result underlines differences between North and South
- ‘I’m absolutely shattered but it has been worth it’: Things only getting better for Starmer’s supporters
Good morning, it’s Harry McGee and I’ll be live reporting on what has been a remarkable day in UK politics where the Labour Party has won a historic landslide with Keir Starmer set to become the first Prime Minister for his party in 14 years.
The Tories have been reduced to a little over 100 seats at this moment in time (final prediction is 127) with some big party figures losing their seats including Penny Mordaunt, Grant Shapps, and Jacob Rees-Mogg.
It was also a poor night for the Scottish National Party, losing most of its seats to Labour. The party will lose 38 seats, and its current seat number is seven (with 10 predicted when the count is over).
In Northern Ireland the big news is that Ian Paisley jnr of the DUP looks like he will lose a seat his family has held for half a century, to Jim Allister of the Traditional Unionist Party. It’s been a poor night for the DUP. While party leader Gavin Robinson has held off the challenge of the Alliance Party leader Naomi Long, the party has lost Lagan Valley to Sorcha Eastwood of Alliance, while Robert Swann of the UUP has also taken a seat from the DUP, returning his party to representation in Westminister.
Schisms and sleaze plague Keir Starmer’s first Labour conference, risking long-term damage
Cities need to be run in new ways, and not just by officials, or councillors, says former British mayor
‘It’s only right that families are given every chance to get to the truth’: Legacy Act change welcome
Westminster elections leave Northern Ireland parties with choices and questions
There were extraordinary scenes a short while ago when Ian Paisley blanked reporters as he crossed the counting centre. It’s a tight result and there is a partial recount ongoing at the moment.
Liz Truss loses her seat in King’s Lynn and West Norfolk
The shortest-living British prime minster in modern history, Liz Truss, has lost her seat in a close-run contest to Terry Jermy of the Labour Party, losing by 630 votes.
She was defending a majority of 26,000. It is a huge humiliation for Truss, who had become a thorn in the side of Rishi Sunak since he succeeded her as leader of the Conservatives and prime minister.
Latest from Ronan McGreevy in London
Former prime minister Liz Truss has lost her seat. Truss, who was prime minister for all of 49 days, lost out to Labour in South West Norfolk by 1,600 votes.
Full Northern Ireland Count details here
We have full details of the Northern Ireland count here
Gains for Liberal Democrats, Reform and for the Greens
The Liberal Democrats are also big winners. It looks like the party will win close to 70 seats.
The Reform Party has made a breakthrough winning four seats so far, including one for leader Nigel Farage.
The Greens have also gained seats and look set to win four seats, a gain of three.
Dublin woman wins London seat for Labour in Ealing Southall
Ronan McGreevy reports that a Deirdre Costigan from Greenhills near Walkinstown, Dublin, has become a MP, winning a seat in west London. She is one of a handful of Dubliners elected to the House of Commons over the past century.
Ms Costigan is a Unison trade union official and gay rights advocate who emigrated to London in the 1990s.
Ms Costigan, who is originally from Greenhills in South Dublin, got 23,000 votes in what is a safe Labour seat.
She is the first MP of non-Asian heritage to represent the constituency since 1992. More than half the population in the constituency are from an Asian background.
Her father is originally comes from Tipperary while her mother is from Greystones in Wicklow.
Ms Costigan’s partner, Anu Prashar, is also involved in the trade union movement.
Claire Tighe, a Mayo woman who also serves on Ealing council and is a former vice chair of the Labour Irish society, lost out in Spelthorne which was former chancellor of the exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng’s former constituency.
She was narrowly defeated by the Conservative candidate Lincoln Jobb.
Taoiseach to make statement on UK election this morning
Taoiseach Simon Harris will make a statement on the outcome of the UK election at 8.30am.
DUP leader Gavin Robinson speaks of the losses for his party
Freya McClements writes that in his victory speech in Belfast East, DUP leader Gavin Robinson alluded to some of the difficulties faced in this election by his party, which has lost three seats – North Antrim, South Antrim and Lagan Valley – and is in a recount in the final seat, East Derry.
In a reference to the shock resignation of the party’s former leader, Jeffrey Donaldson, after he was charged with sexual offences earlier this year – charges Mr Donaldson denies – Mr Robinson said: “none of us, neither me nor my colleagues chose the circumstances in which we stood in this election.”
He also blamed a split within the unionist vote, saying that on Friday “the news will be dominated by the costs of divisions within unionism.
“It’s not a new story, we saw it in the Assembly election, we saw the cost and consequence of divisions within unionism two years ago and yet again, we see it today.
“But we should never lose hope,” he said, citing the independent unionist Alex Easton, who won the seat in North Down, as “but one example of how unionists co-operating and working together can return victory, then I think it’s something we should look to positively.”
Nigel Farage’s Reform had a big impact on Tory seat losses
Ronan McGreevy reports: Polling guru Prof John Curtice has put Labour’s triumph in perspective. In 174 constituencies where the Tories lost a seat, the Reform vote was greater than the margin of loss.
In other words, if Reform wasn’t contesting the election, the Tories could in theory have won those 124 seats. Instead 99 went to Labour, 19 to the Liberal Democrats and four were won by Reform.
Labour’s vote was the same approximately in England, was down in Wales and only increased in Scotland where the party was up against an increasingly unpopular SNP party.
Labour’s expected share of the vote at 36.3 per cent is only 4.2 percentage points higher than that achieved in 2019 by Jeremy Corbyn, who was removed swiftly after that.
The big story of the night though is the collapse in the Conservative vote. It’s rare in any election that a big party halves its support, but that appears to be what has happened. The Tories have gone from 42.4 per cent of the vote in 2019 to 22.3 per cent of the vote this year.
It’s a result akin to the Fianna Fáil meltdown in 2011 when the party went from 41.6 per cent of the vote to 17.4 per cent.
Fianna Fáil have recovered somewhat since then, but it will never aspire to a number above 40 per cent again. Will the Tories suffer a similar fate?
State of the parties with nine seats left to declare
Labour: 410
Conservative: 119
Liberal Democrats: 71
SNP: 8
Sinn Féin: 7
SDLP 2
Alliance Party: 1
UUP: 1
TUV 1
Reform: 4
Ind: 5
Green Party: 4
DUP’s Gregory Campbell hangs on by only 179 votes in East Derry from Sinn Féin
Jack White has been reporting on this constituency for us and captures the moment when Gregory Campbell holds his seat from Kathleen McGurk of Sinn Féin.
Liz Truss loss the ‘Portillo moment’ of this election
Ronan McGreevy reports: The defeat of former prime minister Liz Truss is arguably this election’s “Portillo moment” though there are no shortages of contenders.
Nine cabinet ministers lost their seats including Penny Mordaunt, the leader of the Commons, who was once tipped to be prime minister but is best remembered for holding a ceremonial sword at King Charles III’s coronation.
There will be few tears shed in Ireland for the Veterans Minister Johnny Mercer who was one of those credited with bringing forward the Legacy Act, his stated aim being that former British soldiers would no longer be prosecuted for events during the Troubles.
Other “big beasts” who lost their seats were Jacob Rees-Mogg who lost out in North-West Somerset and bloviating former deputy chairman Jonathan Gullis in Stoke-on-Trent North.
However, these defeats were expected. Liz Truss’s was not and appears to have been a punishment by the electors of South West Norfolk.
Huge night for the Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats leader Ed Davey has led his party to a historic result with a gain of almost 60 seats, winning a grand total of 71.
Davey has resonated with people on a human level because of his own back story as a carer for his mother and also for his son, as well as for the series of campaign stunts he did. They included falling off a paddle board and going down a giant slide with school kids.
The party is now the third-largest in parliament, giving him the right to put questions directly to the new prime minister.
His celebration as he entered his party’s headquarters was true Ed Davy, dad-dancing to Sweet Carolin’.
Moment when former PM Liz Truss became image of the Tory meltdown
Chris Maddaloni has compiled this video on the election results in South West Norfolk where Liz Truss frittered away what was a majority of 26,000 votes.
Ronan McGreevy adds interesting context: There have been five Tory prime ministers since 2010. Of the five constituencies, David Cameron (Witney), Theresa May (Maidenhead), Boris Johnson (Uxbridge & Ruislip) and Liz Truss in South West Norfolk are no longer Tory seats.
Alex Easton wins a seat as an Independent in North Down
Freya McClements reports:
“Wow,” was the response from the Independent Alex Easton – now the constituency’s MP – when the result was read out for the North Down constituency.
His was a convincing victory over the sitting MP, Alliance’s Stephen Farry, who failed to become the first MP from his party to retain his seat.
The expectation had been that it would be a close race; in the event, Easton took the seat by 7,300 votes.
A visibly emotional Easton dedicated his victory to his parents, Alec and Ann Easton, who died in a house fire at their home in Bangor in 2023.
“In my darkest hours ... there’s one person that always believed in me, that was my Dad, and I want to say to my Dad, and my Mum, I did this for you.”
The former DUP Assembly member had in effect been the party’s candidate in the constituency; it chose not to run in the constituency, as did the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV).
The only unionist opposition was the Ulster Unionists’ (UUP) Col Tim Collins, who got off to a rocky start thanks to some poor media interviews, and was criticised for – among other things – not being based in the constituency and promising to buy a house there only if elected.
He made it a rocky end, too, with another of those interviews before midnight on Thursday, conceding that he had come in third place and ruling out running again in Northern Ireland, telling the BBC voters in North Down “are not interested in international affairs, they are interested in potholes and hedges”.
Easton’s victory was singled out by DUP leader Gavin Robinson amid a bruising night for the party as an example of “how unionists co-operating and working together can return victory”.
Mr Farry said it had been a “disappointing” night for him and his party would reflect on the result.
“I look back at the last five years with a lot of pride, we have achieved a lot of things, and I think it was very important that I stood by my vision and my values for North Down and indeed for Northern Ireland and further afield,” he said.
Northern Ireland round-up
Seanín Graham has a summary of the big changes following the Westminster elections:
IN a dramatic night for Northern Ireland politics, Sinn Féin is now the largest party at Westminster, Stormont and at council level.
The Alliance Party also made history with Sorcha Eastwood becoming the first non-unionist MP in the DUP stronghold of Lagan Valley. The 38-year-old MLA is also the first woman to hold the seat that the former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson held for 27 years following her defeat of DUP candidate, Jonathan Buckley by almost 3,000 votes.
It was a bruising Westminster election for the DUP, with the TUV leader Jim Allister delivering the biggest shock of the election by unseating DUP veteran MP, Ian Paisley in North Antrim.
Sinn Féin deputy leader and Stormont First Minister Michelle O’Neill said her party had achieved a “tremendous result right across the board” and that the outcome “means change”.
“This speaks volumes that the change is happening – this place is changing,” she said.
In total, 16 of Northern Ireland’s 18 seats have been declared, with North Antrim and East Derry still to be decided.
The DUP also lost in South Antrim to former health minister Robin Swann – with the Ulster Unionists returning an MP to the House of Commons for the first time since 2017.
DUP leader Gavin Robinson held his seat in the East Belfast constituency where he went head-to-head with Alliance leader Naomi Long.
There was a loss for Alliance’s Stephen Farry in North Down who conceded defeat earlier in the night to Independent unionist Alex Easton.
Reacting to her landmark victory, Ms Eastwood said: “It’s a fantastic night for us but it’s also a fantastic night for the people of Lagan Valley.”
She added: “I’m a Lagan Valley girl born and bred, and this has been in our heart for a long time and I’m just delighted.”
Sinn Féin retained its seats in Mid Ulster, North Belfast, Newry & Armagh, West Tyrone, East Belfast and South Down. In Fermanagh and South Tyrone – the most marginal constituency in the UK in 2019 with just 57 votes carrying Sinn Féin – the party’s new high-profile candidate, Pat Cullen, the former head of the UK’s Royal College of Nursing trade union, secured a majority of over 4,000 votes to win the seat.
In addition to East Belfast and East Derry, the DUP held Upper Bann, East Antrim and Strangford.
The SDLP retained its two seats with party leader Colum Eastwood securing a comfortable win over Sinn Féin’s Sandra Duffy in Foyle – but with a significantly reduced majority of just over 4,000 votes. Claire Hanna also retained her South Belfast seat comfortably receiving 21345 votes and a majority of over 12000.
Sunak to make statement at 10.30am, Starmer to comment at noon
Mark Paul reports:
Outgoing Tory prime minister Rishi Sunak will make a statement at 10.30am before travelling to Buckingham Palace to tender his resignation to King Charles, according to a statement from Downing Street. Labour leader Keir Starmer will then travel to the palace where he will be asked to form a government, before making a public statement at about 12.20pm.
Summary of Conservative losses
Ronan McGreevy writes:
The defeat of former prime minister Liz Truss is arguably this election’s “Portillo moment” though there are no shortages of contenders.
Nine cabinet ministers lost their seats including Penny Mordaunt, the leader of the Commons, who was once tipped to be prime minister, but is best remembered for holding a ceremonial sword at King Charles III’s coronation.
There will be few tears shed in Ireland for the Veterans Minister Johnny Mercer who was one of those credited with bringing forward the Legacy Act, his stated aim being that former British soldiers would no longer be prosecuted for events during the Troubles.
Other so-called “big beasts” who lost their seats were Jacob Rees-Mogg who lost out in North-West Somerset and bloviating former deputy chairman Jonathan Gullis in Stoke-on-Trent North.
However, these defeats were expected. Liz Truss’s was not and appears to have been a punishment by the electors of South-West Norfolk. She lost out to Labour’s Terry Jermy who took 11,847 votes to Truss’s 11,217, a slim majority of 630, but a nick is as good as a cut in British electoral politics.
The most extraordinary thing about her defenestration was that the 26 per cent swing from Conservative to Labour was the largest ever recorded in British electoral politics.
Analysis on dramatic East Derry cliffhanger
Jack White writes:
Although DUP MP Gregory Campbell retained his seat in East Derry, the minimal margin keeping Sinn Féin at bay was perhaps the second-biggest shock of the morning.
The last result to be declared in Northern Ireland came shortly after Ian Paisley jnr lost his seat in North Antrim.
East Derry has been a solid unionist seat since its creation with a comfortable majority held by Mr Campbell at each UK general election since 2001.
This year, however, saw Sinn Féin’s votes skyrocket from just over 6,128 in 2019 to 11,327 on Friday morning.
There was just 179 votes keeping Kathleen McGurk from taking Mr Campbells seat.
Ms McGurk said the result might a shock to man, but not to those in her constituency.
“In East Derry, we set out to make history and I think we’ve done that – even though we didn’t quite get it over the line this time, we have laid the foundation blocks,” she said.
Rishi Sunak will make statement shortly
It’s fitting that Rishi Sunak’s campaign begins as it ends, in pouring rain. Sunak announced the election outside 10 Downing Street during a torrential downpour, in which he got soaked to the skin.
It became a metaphor for the fate of his party.
Now, this morning, after leading his party to a catastrophic defeat in the UK general election, with 119 seats right now (a loss of over 240), we expect him to emerge through the famous black door into a rainy-sodden Downing Street.
He will announce his party has lost the election, that the new government will be led by the Labour Party and Keir Starmer will be the new PM. His own fate is also certain. He will have to step down as leader of his much enfeebled party. The only question is when.
Irish Times video team’s take on the fall of the House of Paisley
The Paisley family has held the North Antrim seat continuously since 1970. However, all that changed during a dramatic count last night.
Taoiseach Simon Harris reacts to UK election result
Simon Harris has been speaking outside Government Buildings where he has congratulated Labour’s Keir Starmer on a comprehensive victory in the UK elections.
He has been speaking in particular about early engagement with the new UK government and the hope of resetting a relationship. While he did not say as much, it is clear the relationship with its closest neighbour was not a priority for Rishi Sunak or the Conservative government.
Kitty Holland was there and she sent this snap report:
Taoiseach Simon Harris expects to speak with incoming British prime minister Keir Starmer “in coming hours”.
Speaking to media at Government Buildings in the last half-hour he said: “This morning from Dublin I want to send a message to London that I will match Keir Starmer’s energy and commitment to our peace process and to our future potential in so many areas.
“I will work to make the Taoiseach-prime minister relationship not only what it should be but what it could be.”
Huge Seat Gain for Labour despite only increasing vote by 2 per cent
It’s a feature of the first-past-the-post system used in the UK elections the leading party gets a substantial vote share. Labour’s vote share has increased by only 2 per cent since the last election when Jeremy Corbyn was leader, which was considered a disaster. It has 34 per cent of the vote compared to abut 24 per cent for the Tories.
That has resulted in a gain of a whopping 210 seats, however, bringing its total to 411 (with five seats left to be filled). It has a seat share of 64 per cent, almost twice its vote share.
The story has been more the collapse of the Tories. It won 42 per cent of the votes in 2019 and lost almost 20 percentage points this time around. It has led to a lost of 249 seats leaving it with 119 seats at present. It is the worst collapse since 1931.
Its demise was exacerbated by the presence of Reform candidates. Besides taking four seats, Nigel Farage’s party also disrupted the Tories and prevented it getting seats in former strongholds by running opposing candidates.
Likewise in Scotland, Labour did increase its percentage but not hugely. It was facilitated by a similar collapse in support for the SNP which has lost 38 seats and returns with only seven MPs.
For once the Liberal Democrats gets a seat share that is in proportion to its vote. It has had an increase of a staggering 63 seats brining its total to 71 er cent. It’s vote share was 12 per cent, propelling it to its best result in a century.
In East Belfast, DUP leader Gavin Robinson saw off challenge of Alliance leader Naomi Long
Freya McClements writes:
As he made his victory speech in the Titanic Convention Centre in the early hours of Friday morning, the DUP leader – and newly re-elected MP for Belfast East – Gavin Robinson had a message for the Alliance Party leader, Naomi Long.
“The fourth time in a row, I want to say, we have to stop meeting like this.”
This had been billed as the battle of the election in Northern Ireland: two party leaders, both former MPs, both east Belfast through and through, slugging it out for the seat.
In the end, Robinson put it beyond all doubt; as he alluded to, he has taken Long on four times, and won all four.
This time, it was with an increased majority of more than 2,500 votes, which he secured even with the presence of a TUV candidate – absent from the previous general election in 2019 – which many had speculated could split the unionist vote and facilitate an Alliance victory.
Robinson took 19,894 votes to Long’s 17,218 in what was a two-horse race; the TUV’s John Ross came a distant third with 1,918.
One of the high points in an otherwise difficult night for the DUP, Robinson put his victory down to “the political campaign our team has run in East Belfast” and “the people who in this election have come out to vote, or come out to vote for the first time in a long time.”
Had Long taken the seat, it would have turned a night of mixed fortunes for Alliance – it lost North Down but gained Lagan Valley – into a resounding success.
Instead, she sought to find the silver lining in the defeat which allowed her remain in the Assembly as an MLA and Minister for Justice.
“It’s a win-win for me. If I won the election, that was great news, but if I didn’t, I get to do a job I love.”
The moment Rishi Sunak conceded defeat
Jeremy Hunt has left 11 Downing Street
The Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt has departed from No 11 Downing Street with his family a short while ago. Hunt was in a battle to retain his own seat but was one of the senior Tory figures who were lucky survived a bruising election.
There is a huge media presence outside the Prime Minister’s residence next door, waiting for Rishi Sunak to leave Number 10 for the very last time.
A motorcade is arriving on Downing Street in preparation for the departure of Mr Sunak and his family.
Nigel Farage becomes an MP on the eighth time of asking
From Irish Times video
SNP Leader John Swinney on his party’s heavy losses
The leader of the Scottish National Party, John Swinney, is talking now in Edinburgh about the calamitous night for his party where it lost 38 of its 47 seats, and saw its vote share fall from 45 per cent to 30 per cent.
“This tough night adds to what has been a very difficult period for the SNP, a tough period which has gone on for some time,” he said.
He said that despite becoming leader only eight weeks ago he took “full responsibility for the SNP campaign and the outcome that has been achieved”, he said. “That is what leadership is about.”
He said that out of the campaign the party was now committed to listen and to learn “from the very obvious setback we had last night”. He said the SNP had failed to convince the Scottish electorate of the urgency of Scottish independence.
Rishi Sunak to appear outside Downing Street in a few minutes
The departing prime minister will come out the black door of 10 Downing Street for the last time imminently. The lectern has now been placed outside the door and there is a huge media scrum.
It is a historic moment after Mr Sunak has led his party into its worst election campaign in almost a century.
Once he makes his speech, Mr Sunak will go to Buckingham Palace to tender his resignation to King Charles.
Ronan McGreevy is there for us at the scene.
How North Belfast panned out
Freya McClements writes
What a difference five years makes. In 2019, the clash between Sinn Féin’s John Finucane and one of the DUP’s big beasts, Nigel Dodds, in North Belfast was one of the stories of the election, as the constituency passed from a unionist to a nationalist MP for the first time.
Come the 2024 general election and, for all Sinn Féin emphasised it was taking nothing for granted, throughout the campaign the result never really felt in doubt.
And so it proved. Sitting MP Mr Finucane – a well-known lawyer and son of another lawyer, Pat Finucane, murdered by loyalists in 1989 – held his seat with a substantially increased majority of 5,612.
It says something about the recent history of north Belfast that his opponent Philip Brett, a DUP MLA, also lost a family member to violence during the Troubles – his 18-year-old brother, Gavin, who was shot dead in 2001 in a sectarian killing by loyalists who mistakenly believed he was a Catholic.
Boundary changes helped Sinn Féin this time round – the constituency lost around 2,000 unionist votes with the move of the Shankill Road area into west Belfast, while approximately the same number of nationalist votes moved into the constituency.
It is another sign of the North’s changing political landscape that this seat will be a relatively safe Sinn Féin hold next time around.
Speaking of changing political landscapes, Mr Finucane used his victory speech to make an appeal to the incoming Labour government in London to resource public services, reset the relationships “that have been damaged by so cruelly by the Tories” and to build Casement Park and the A5 upgrade.
Sinn Féin comfortably retains Newry and Armagh with new candidate
Seanín Graham reports:
Sinn Féin won comfortably in Newry and Armagh, one of the safest constituency seats in Northern Ireland, and even increased its majority.
Despite being out of local politics for the past decade, the party’s candidate, Dáire Hughes, secured 22,299 votes – gaining an extra 2,012 votes more than the party’s departing high-profile MP, Mickey Brady, in the 2019 poll.
Hughes, a former shop steward who is Sinn Féin’s deputy general secretary, was a mayor of Newry and Mourne district council but failed to get elected to its new supercouncil.
In his victory speech, he pledged to work for a united Ireland in partnership with all of Sinn Féin’s MLAs, TDs and MEPs to “reach our economic, cultural and social potential”.
“This election was about endorsing strong leadership and positive change and the people of Newry and Armagh have done just that,” he said.
There was disappointment for the SDLP’s Pete Byrne, who came second and saw his vote drop from the previous election, receiving 6,806 votes compared to 9,449 in 2019.
Mr Byrne singled out the “respect” shown by each candidate throughout the six-week election campaign despite their “wildly different visions”.
“I came into politics to make this place a better place to live, work and raise a family. I said when I stood here in 2019 in third place that I was just rolling up my sleeves. They are still fully rolled up; I still believe in that vision,” he said.
Gareth Wilson of the Democratic Unionist Party took third place with 5,900 votes; with Keith Ratcliffe of the TUV receiving 4,099 votes.
Sam Nicholson, son of former MEP Jim Nicholson, polled 3,175 votes. Helena Young of the Alliance Party received 2,692 votes. Aontú’s Liam Reichenberg won 888 votes, while Conservative Samantha Rayner got 83.
Rishi Sunak leaves Downing Street saying sorry and acknowledging anger
After a turbulent 20 months as prime minister Rishi Sunak has left Downing Street for the final time, making a short speech to the waiting media as he departed.
“I have heard your anger and your disappointment and I take responsibility for this loss.”
Addressing his many colleagues who had lost their seats, he said: “I am sorry that we could not deliver what your efforts deserved.”
Mr Sunak said he will stay on as leader of the Conservative Party until a new leader is elected.
He also paid a compliment to new prime minister Keir Starmer who he said is a decent public-spirited man.
Talking of his Indian heritage he said: “One of the most remarkable things about Britain is just how unremarkable it is that two generations after my grandparents came here with little I could become prime minister, and that I could watch my two young daughters light Diwali candles on the steps in Downing Street.”
PMs may come and go from Downing Street but not Larry the Cat
International politicians congratulate Keir Starmer
Election Podcast
It’s been one of the most dramatic election results in a generation with the Conservatives routed after 14 years in power. Conversely, Labour has won a landslide victory, with a gain of 210 seats bringing it to 412. In the Inside Politics podcast, host Hugh Linehan and guests tease out the implications of this sea-change election. Hugh talks to London correspondent Mark Paul, Northern editor Freya McClements and Beijing correspondent Denis Staunton, who reported from Westminster throughout the Brexit era.
Election results special: New political maps for Britain and Northern Ireland
Labour has won the 2024 UK general election with a massive landslide. Beyond that, huge shifts have taken place across the political map of Britain and Northern Ireland. To take a look at what has happened and what comes next, Hugh talks to London correspondent Mark Paul, Northern editor Freya McClements and Denis Staunton.
The high-profile casualties
A useful round-up of the prominent Conservative Party politicians who lost their seats in the UK general election.
Kissing the Hands
So Rishi Sunak has left Buckingham Palace after his meeting with the king and we are in that strange interim period where the UK has no prime minister. Over the next short period of time, Keir Starmer will leave an address in central London and travel to the palace where the king will invite him to form a government, and become the seventh Labour Party prime minister of the UK.
This period is known as the “kissing of the hands” even though no actual kissing of hands takes place.
Strangford one of few constituencies where DUP vote held up
Freya McClements writes:
Before the election, Strangford had been mooted as a constituency where the DUP may have been in trouble.
The opposite proved to be the case; in a difficult election night for the DUP, Strangford was one of its success stories.
The sitting MP, Jim Shannon – who has represented Strangford at Westminster since 2010 – was returned with a majority of 5,131, the DUP’s second-best of the night.
His challenger, Alliance councillor Michelle Guy, held her party’s vote largely steady, polling only one per cent less – 27 as compared with 28 – than her colleague, MLA Kellie Armstrong, managed in 2019; it raised the question as to what Alliance might have managed had it run a higher-profile candidate, though it will see Guy’s success as building for the future in the constituency.
Shannon’s vote share declined – from 47 per cent in 2019 to 40 per cent this time around – but for the DUP it was a solid, and very welcome, win.
In this constituency as in others the presence of a TUV candidate – Ron McDowell polled 3,143 votes – which was not in the mix in 2019 took from the DUP vote.
Fittingly, Shannon’s message from the stage during his victory speech was the perennial appeal to unionist unity.
“Where unionism is divided, unionism loses,” he said. “My urge for all of those of the unionist parties that ran in this election and across this province is simple. Unionism needs to look at themselves and where they are and work together.”
Belfast South and Mid-Down remains stronghold for SDLP’s Claire Hanna
Freya McClements writes:
Of all Northern Ireland’s 18 constituencies, this was the only one in which the boundary changes were sufficient to merit a new name: the old constituency of Belfast South became Belfast South and Mid Down.
In practice, it lost around ten per cent of the old constituency, which moved into Belfast east, in return for gains from Lagan Valley and Strangford; there was no change in the constituency’s representation, with the SDLP’s Claire Hanna again returned as its MP.
Hanna’s posters have been prominent on the lamp-posts of South Belfast since virtually the moment the election was called; it said something of the scale of her personal vote that it was her name and picture that was emphasised, ahead of her party allegiance.
This was borne out in the size of her victory, polling 49 per cent of the vote and taking 21,345 votes – roughly two and a half times as many as her nearest competitor, Kate Nicholl of Alliance.
This is all remarkable because of the four-way split in the constituency at Assembly level – two Alliance and one each for the SDLP, DUP and Sinn Féin; it would seem that, at Westminster, Hanna’s reputation is the unifying factor.
In the wake of the Labour landslide in Britain, Hanna predicted a “step change” in London’s attitude towards the North, saying that the Labour leader Keir Starmer – who previously worked for the Northern Ireland Policing Board – “clearly has an institutional memory and an attachment to Northern Ireland, as do many others.
“I think there’s a keenness to understand and to help,” she said.
Keir Starmer has become prime minister of the United Kingdom
At Buckingham Palace, King Charles has invited Keir Starmer to form a government. He will leave the palace soon and travel to Downing Street for the first time as prime minister.
It’s been a remarkable rise for the former lawyer who only became an MP in his 50s and whose leadership of the Labour Party got off to a bumpy start with the loss of the Hartlepool byelection.
He now will lead a party that has a majority of 170 seats in the House of Commons. He is the seventh Labour prime minister.
Keir Starmer arrives in Downing Street
Starmer address nation for first time on the steps of 10 Downing Street
Keir Starmer, the new prime minister, sets out his stall saying that he has brought the Labour Party back to public service. He says that his Government will be one of service, that will bring reform and change. However, he warned that it will not happen with a flick of a switch but will take time. He says there is a mission of national renewal but the change will happen in a calm and patient way.
His Government, he says, will be “unburdened by broken doctrine”.
Profile of Keir Starmer
London correspondent Mark Paul has this wonderful profile of Keir Starmer where he traces how the character of this slightly diffident politician was shaped by a distant father and by a loving mother. He also describes how fond the new prime minister is of Ireland and his desire to forge a strong relationship with its nearest neighbour.
It’s about the time of day when you need a very long maritime metaphor
‘Join this Government of Service in the Mission of National Renewal’
A deeper dive into the speech given by new prime minister Keir Starmer outside 10 Downing Street.
Starmer first of all paid tribute to Rishi Sunak and the fact that he was the first British Asian prime minister.
He then turned to his mission.
“Our country has voted decisively for change, for national renewal and a retune of politics to public service. When the gap between the sacrifices made by people and the services done by politicians grows big, it leads to a weariness in the heart of the nation.
We need to mover forward together. Now this wound, this lack of trust, can only be healed by actions, not words. I know that.”
He said the Government would start with “the simple acknowledgment that public service is a privilege, and the Government should treat every single person in this country with respect.
“If you voted Labour yesterday we will carry the responsibility of your trust as we rebuild our country.”
He then said his Government would suit all voters, irrespective of how they voted.
“Politics can be a force for good. We will show that. We have changed the Labour Party, returned it to service. That is how we will govern. Country first. Party second.
“It is surely clear to everyone that our country needs a bigger reset, a rediscovery of who we are, because no matter how fierce the storms of history, one of the greatest strengths of this nation has always been our ability to navigate a way to calmer waters.”
He said such a change would rest with politicians, especially those who stand on stability and moderation as I do.
“Changing a country is not like flicking a switch. This will take time.
My Government will fight every day until you believe again. From now on you will have a Government unburdened by doctrine
“You have given us a clear mandate and we will use it to deliver change, to restore service and to give respect.”
Angela Rayner is the first MP to be called in by prime minister
Labour Party deputy leader Angela Rayner is the first to be called into 10 Downing Street to be given a portfolio by Keir Starmer. She is expected to be appointed deputy prime minister. She has had a sometimes uneasy relationship with Starmer and resisted his efforts to shift her into another portfolio.
Five Takeaway from the UK and NI Elections
1. Dramatic shifts
The demise of the Tories was coming from a long way off. There were the debacles over Boris Johnson’s Partygate scandal followed by Liz Truss’s disastrous premiership. Rishi Sunak inherited a party in decline as the UK continued to decline in the aftermath of Brexit.
Historically, the swing is even bigger than that which brought Tony Blair and New Labour into power in 1997. A total of over 410 seats for the Labour Party and the Tories losing 249 seats, leaving it with a paltry 121 seats.
There were other huge trends too. The Liberal Democrats went from eight seats to a massive 71, a gain of 63 seats. Ed Davey gave a spirited rendition of Sweet Caroline at party headquarters, which is well worth seeing.
In Scotland, the SNP lost 38 seats, seeing its representation pared down to 9 MPs (possibly 10). It lost all its seats in Glasgow to Labour.
The Tories retained only a handful of seats in Scotland and lost all 12 seats in Wales.
There were breakthroughs too for the Green Party, which won four seats.
2. Sinn Féin the biggest Party in NI as the Paisley stronghold of North Antrim crumbles
Sinn Féin went into the election with seven seats and came out with seven. So did the SDLP which retained its two seats.
The story was elsewhere, mainly in the fall of support for the DUP. The party’s representation was reduced to five seats, making Sinn Féin the biggest Westminster party in Northern Ireland for the first time. It was a blue letter day for the party.
The story was the DUP. It lost out in Lagan Valley (Jeffrey Donaldson’s old constituency) to the Alliance Party’s Sorcha Eastwood. The most dramatic development was in North Antrim where Ian Paisley junior was sensationally beaten by Jim Allister of the Traditional Unionist Party. The Paisleys have held that seat since 1970 and Paisley’s blanking of reporters as he walked through the count centre became one of the snapshots of the night. It lost three seats, bringing its total to five.
Elsewhere, Gregory Campbell held on by a paltry 179 votes in East Derry against the challenge of Sinn Féin.
Alliance had been hoping for further gains but it ended up with a single seat, Ms Eastwood’s. Party leader Naomi Long had stood against DUP leader Gavin Robinson in East Belfast but in one of the few boons for his party, he survived comfortably.
3. Tory Big Beasts ousted
With so many losses it was inevitable that there would be casualties among senior Conservative MPs. Among ministers and former ministers who fell were Jacob Rees-Mogg, leadership contender Penny Mordaunt, defence secretary Grant Shapps, and Liam Fox.
However, the biggest name was former prime minister Liz Truss who was ousted on South West Norfolk. The swing against her was huge, given she was defending a majority of 26,000. Her defeat was portrayed by Labour as the “Portillo” moment of the election. Tory MP Michael Portillo (now a TV presenter) lost his Chelsea and Kensington seat in 1997 to the Labour Party.
4. Nigel Farage is back
On his eighth time of asking in Westminster elections, Nigel Farage has finally been elected in Clacton for the Reform Party. The party won four seats (perhaps five if the recount in Basildon goes in its favour), most of them in so-called Red Wall constituencies in the north of England – places where there was strong support for Brexit.
5. The percentage share versus vote share ratio in the UK is stark
If you look at the graphic in the tweet below, you can see how massive the ‘seat bonus’ in the UK can be for the winning party. Labour’s result is less than a 2 per cent gain on its election result in 2019, which was considered a disaster. Yet with only 34 per cent of the vote it gets 64 per cent of the seats, a whopping 411 seats. Indeed, it won far less votes than Tony Blair did in 1997, yet gained far more seats.
The Conservatives have lost 20 per cent of the vote but the party’s seat-share lags far behind its vote-share.
It’s a quirk of the first-past-the-post system. It is not proportionate. Reform had a higher share of the vote nationally but got four seats, while the Lib Dems actually got a smaller national vote than Nigel Farage’s outfit but ended up with 71 seats.
The system is almost like a winner takes all. Reform actually worked as a disrupter for the Tories and its splitting of Brexit voters caused the Tories dozens of seats.
Shape of the new Labour Government
New prime minister Keir Starmer has been calling in senior MPs to Downing Street all afternoon and the shape of his Cabinet is beginning to emerge. Angela Rayner was the first in and has already been confirmed as deputy prime minister and minister for levelling up and housing. Others who have made the short walk along the closed street – and are expected to be given the following portfolios – are Rachel Reeves (chancellor of the Exchequer); Yvette Cooper (home secretary); John Healey (defence); Wes Streeting (health); David Lammy (foreign secretary); Jonathan Reynolds (business); Peter Kyle (science and technology); Bridget Phillipson (education); Pat McFadden (unsure, but one of Starmer’s closes confidantes); Shaban Mahmoud; as well as chair of the Labour Party Anneliese Dodds.
It’s Harry McGee signing out after a long but fascinating shift of live reporting of a truly momentous election in Britain and Northern Ireland. Great day for Labour, Liberal Democrats, Sinn Féin, the Greens and Reform. Terrible day for the Tories and the Scottish National Party. Glen Murphy will be taking you through for the rest of the day. Thanks for staying with The Irish Times.
Good afternoon everyone, Glen Murphy here for the rest of the evening. Thanks to Harry McGee for his work earlier in the day.
As things stand, just two seats remain to be filled out of 650 across the UK – Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire in Scotland and South Basildon and East Thurrock near London.
Starmer has on Friday afternoon also begun naming the first members of his new cabinet. Labour Party UK deputy leader Angela Rayner has been named deputy prime minister and levelling up secretary while Rachel Reeves has been named the first woman chancellor of the exchequer in the UK’s history.
Robinson calls for ‘greater cohesion’ within unionism in wake of election losses
Our Northern Editor Freya McClements writes:
DUP leader Gavin Robinson has called for “greater cohesion” within unionism in the wake of his party’s shock election losses – including that highly symbolic defeat in North Antrim.
In a statement on Friday afternoon, he thanked all those who voted DUP on Thursday and acknowledged the outcome of the election was “not what we had wanted.
“We must be realistic about the significant job of work ahead to get unionism into a stronger and more strategic position,” he said.
The DUP leader described the loss of outgoing MPs Ian Paisley and Paul Girvan – who lost their seats in North Antrim and South Antrim respectively – as a “sad day for us” and paid tribute to the “tremendous campaign” found by Jonathan Buckley “in very difficult and challenging circumstances.”
Mr Buckley was defeated by Alliance’s Sorcha Eastwood in Lagan Valley, the seat previously held by the former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson, who is awaiting trial charges with sexual offences – charges he strenuously denies.
Mr Robinson, who held his own seat in east Belfast, pledged to “reflect on all we have heard and ... learn from the experience”.
The message of the election, he said, was that unionism cannot afford a split vote.
“While unionism went into this election with eight seats and comes out with eight seats, we can never again see a situation where pro-union voters are so divided that seats are lost to those who will not promote the union,” he said.
“The combined nationalist vote in 1998 was around 40 per cent and last night it was again around 40 per cent. There has been no groundswell of support for a border poll as some within Sinn Féin would claim,” he said.
More cabinet posts announced
From our London correspondent Mark Paul:
Shabana Mahmood has been appointed lord chancellor and secretary of state for justice; Wes Streeting is secretary of state for health and social care; Bridget Phillipson is secretary of state for education; Ed Miliband is secretary of state for energy security and net zero.
Pat McFadden is chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster; David Lammy is foreign secretary; Yvette Cooper is home secretary; John Healey is defence secretary. So far, Starmer has transplanted his Labour shadow cabinet into the real portfolios exactly as they were.
More from Mark Paul:
Liz Kendall is the secretary of state for work and pensions; Jonathan Reynolds is business secretary; Louise Haigh is transport secretary; and Peter Kyle, a former Northern Ireland shadow secretary, is the secretary of state for science. No word yet on who is being appointed the new Northern Ireland Secretary – the shadow role was filed by Hilary Benn.
Speaking of Northern Ireland, our Northern editor Freya McClements has updated her analysis of the election results here:
Farage promises to rid Reform UK of ‘bad apples’ as protesters disrupt party event
Nigel Farage gave a “100 per cent promise” to rid Reform UK of “bad apples”, as multiple protesters disrupted an event designed to celebrate the party’s election gains.
The Reform UK leader walked on stage to lights and dance music, then faced a barrage of heckles from protesters in the audience as he tried to start a speech in central London to mark what the party described as a “political earthquake”.
He suggested one of the protesters had had a “bigger lunch than I have”, and that another was at risk of having a stroke before questioning if they were actors, a nod to a Reform canvasser filmed using a racial slur to describe now former prime minister Rishi Sunak.
Mr Farage accused a man who interrupted his speech of being “steaming” and shouted “boring!” nine times as a second heckler started speaking.
He told his party’s supporters: “This is good preparation for the House of Commons I suppose, isn’t it? It’s going to be very lively in there.”
When Mr Farage asked: “Any more for any more?”
There was a long pause before a man shouted: “Actually, yes.”
Mr Farage added: “We haven’t organised this very well, have we?”
All heckling members of the audience were escorted out of the Westminster venue.
The chaotic scenes took place at an event where Mr Farage, the new MP for Clacton, was joined by his fellow parliamentarians after Reform secured four seats in the Commons. – PA
Benn named Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Mark Paul in London writes:
Hilary Benn has now been confirmed as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with Ian Murray taking the corresponding role for Scotland and Jo Stevens for Wales. Lisa Nandy is the secretary of state for culture, media and sport.
There have been no surprises in Keir Starmer’s cabinet appointments – a straight transplantation of his former shadow team.
Reform UK wins fifth seat leaving just one seat left to fill
Elsewhere, in a further boost for Farage, a Reform UK candidate has won the seat in the Basildon South and East Thurrock constituency.
James McMurdock won the seat with a majority of 98 votes, with Labour candidate Jack Ferguson in second following a recount.
The seat was previously held by the Conservatives.
With that declaration, there is just one seat left to fill, in Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire in the Scottish Highlands.
A recount is not due to finish there until Saturday morning, after a close race between Liberal Democrat Angus MacDonald and the SNP’s Drew Hendry. It is a new constituency, but Hendry was SNP MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey from 2015 until 2024.
This means that a full election result will not be known until Saturday.
‘I’m absolutely shattered but it has been worth it’: Things only getting better for Starmer’s supporters
From Ronan McGreevy in London:
New British prime minister Keir Starmer spoke of Labour’s victory in the UK general election as a “sunshine of hope”, but it was raining heavily in London on Friday morning.
The brutal finalities of the British general election means there is no finessing or negotiation after the voting is done. Outgoing prime minister Rishi Sunak went to King Charles and then in the back entrance to Downing Street addressed the public and staff and left via the front entrance to a cacophony of boos from the assembled crowd outside.
Chief among them was arch-Remainer and tormentor of Brexiteers Steve Bray, who has made a name for himself in recent years protesting outside Downing Street.
Read the full article here.
Corbyn: ‘Our victory is a glimpse of a different future’
A fresh post on X from Islington North’s newly elected Independent MP, and one-time Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn.
He lead the party between 2015 and 2020 and beat the Labour candidate who contested in the constituency he has represented since 1983 with a tally of 24,120 votes.
Corbyn was expelled from Labour last year when he announced he would run in the constituency as an Independent after being blocked from standing for Labour by Starmer.
Biden congratulates Starmer
More words of congratulation for the new UK prime minister, this time from US president Joe Biden.
Tánaiste speaks with new UK foreign secretary
Not one for wasting time since his appointment earlier this evening, the new UK foreign secretary David Lammy has spoken with Tánaiste Micheál Martin.
In a statement, Mr Martin said the pair “agreed that there is now a significant opportunity for a reset of our bilateral relationship. Now is a moment to embrace the spirit of partnership that we know can and does deliver for the people who call these islands home.
“We face challenges and we face opportunities, from the local to the global, from the Middle East to Ukraine, from positive UK engagement with the EU, to defending the multilateral order.
“There is much for us to discuss and I am looking forward to engaging on all these issues with the Foreign Secretary over the period ahead.
“Our countries share a relationship that is as rich as it is important. We are near neighbours with close cultural connections. We are significant trading partners with countless family ties, reaching across these islands.
“Most critically, together, the British and Irish Governments are co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement. I look forward to building on that foundation to ensure positive progress together and to take forward our shared agenda.”
New NI Secretary previously said Labour would repeal Troubles Legacy Act
A little more information on the new Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Hilary Benn, after his earlier appointment by Keir Starmer.
Benn had been serving as the shadow secretary since 2023 and was chairman of the Brexit Select Committee for years.
He has previously said a Labour government would repeal the controversial Legacy Act, introduced by the Tories to address Troubles legacy issues and widely opposed by all main political parties in Northern Ireland.
The Leeds MP was also vocal in urging the powersharing institutions to be revived during the three-year hiatus.
He served in Gordon Brown’s government as environment secretary and was a candidate to be deputy leader of Labour in 2007.
Best known in the earlier stages of his career as the son of Tony Benn – the long-serving Cabinet minister, anti-war campaigner and pivotal figure on the Labour left – Benn has not inherited all of his father’s beliefs.
During the 1999 contest for the Leeds Central seat that he would go on to represent for decades, Benn described himself as a “Benn, but not a Bennite”.
He supported the Iraq War while serving in Tony Blair’s government and later, as shadow foreign secretary, defied then-leader Jeremy Corbyn to back military action against Islamic State in Syria. – PA
The latest piece from our London correspondent Mark Paul:
The Labour Party crowd began arriving at 9pm on Thursday, election night, at the venue beneath the railway arches near Southwark station in south London. It was a Turkish restaurant, but would delight be on the menu for the nervous party faithful? They would find out within the hour.
The event, hosted by the Labour-linked lobbying firm Lodestone Communications, was billed as Labour’s “official unofficial” watch party for election results night. Food and drink were laid on with a DJ and big screens showing BBC News political coverage like a wedding crossed with a World Cup match viewing, but with Westminster as the pitch and the reds of Labour tackling the Tory blues.
The three linked rooms beneath the arches were filled with Labour staffers, advisers and supporters. Senior party figures were also there such as Tom Watson, its former deputy leader who now sits in the House of Lords, and fellow peer Roy Kennedy, who is Labour’s chief whip in the Lords. Another peer, Jack McConnell, the former Labour First Minister of Scotland, was also there as a harbinger of the party’s dream to end the Westminster tartan hegemony of the Scottish National Party.
Every good wedding, if not every good World Cup match, always has an Irish contingent.
Read the article in full here.
Voter turnout on track to be lowest for more than 20 years
Turnout for the UK election is on track to be the lowest for more than 20 years.
After 649 of 650 results had been declared, the turnout figure stood at 59.8 per cent.
This is down sharply from an overall turnout of 67.3 per cent at the last election in 2019.
It is also the worst turnout at a general election since 2001, when the figure slumped to 59.4 per cent – the lowest since before the second World War.
The highest turnout at a general election since the war was 83.9 per cent in 1950, according to figures compiled by the House of Commons Library.
Turnout remained above 75 per cent at every postwar general election until 1970, when it dipped to 72.0 per cent.
It then stayed above 70 per cent at every election until plunging to 59.4 per cent in 2001 – since then it has never been above 70 per cent.
The final turnout figure for the 2024 election will be confirmed on Saturday morning, when the last result is due to be declared, for the seat of Inverness, Skye & West Ross-shire. – PA
The election result is a boost for Sinn Féin but underlines differences between North and South, writes political editor Pat Leahy
In Northern Ireland’s zero-sum politics, a bad night for the DUP is a good night for Sinn Féin. If the split – as Brendan Behan said – used to be the first item on any republican agenda, it is unionism which is now increasingly divided, with predictable electoral consequences.
Sinn Féin has now achieved quite a hat-trick: the largest party in local government, in Stormont, and now in Westminster – though the party does not, of course, take its seats in the British parliament (a detail that didn’t stop Mary Lou McDonald from promising to badger Keir Starmer for additional funding for Northern Ireland).
Read Pat’s analysis in full here.
[ Boost for Sinn Féin but result underlines differences between North and SouthOpens in new window ]
O’Neill and Little-Pengelly hold ‘constructive’ first phone call with Starmer
From Northern editor Freya McClements:
Northern Ireland’s First and Deputy First Ministers, Michelle O’Neill and Emma Little-Pengelly, have had their first conversation with the new prime minister Keir Starmer in a “constructive” phone call on Friday evening.
They congratulated him on his success in the UK general election and raised a number of “critical” issues, including the “challenging budget situation”, Ms O’Neill said.
“We pressed upon him the urgent need for the British government to put a proper funding model in place so that we can provide the public services our citizens deserve,” she said.
Ms Little-Pengelly said they had discussed “the importance of investment to ensure fiscal stability for Northern Ireland” and the “benefits of a building a positive working relationship and strengthening the links between the NI Executive and the UK Government moving forward.”
In a social media post on Friday evening, Ms O’Neill added that they had discussed “the need to reset British-Irish relations”.
She also emphasised “the necessity for immediate funding to be released to build Casement Park” and urged the new prime minister to “follow through on his commitments to bin the Tories’ shameful Legacy Act which has failed victims and survivors”.
From our Ireland and Britain Editor Mark Hennessy:
There were times over the last few years when efforts were made by Government Buildings in Dublin to organise calls with No 10 Downing Street between the respective heads in both buildings.
During Rishi Sunak’s term as prime minister, the calls usually took place, but not immediately and often not for a few days. Liz Truss was not around long enough for a call diary of significance to be kept.
During Boris Johnson’s reign, the calls sometimes did not happen at all, or, when they did, they were so perfunctory, or dismissive, that they added little to the efforts to sort out the problems of the day.
If nothing else, a new dawn has broken after Labour leader Keir Starmer’s arrival into No 10, with Dublin confident the damage of the last decade to Anglo-Irish relations can be repaired.
Read the piece in full here.
Tánaiste holds ‘positive first call’ with new NI Secretary
Tánaiste Micheál Martin has spoken with the new Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Hilary Benn, in a “positive first call”.
“I had a positive first call tonight with Hilary Benn and congratulated him on his new role as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. We both agreed on the importance of close co-operation between our Governments on a range of issues related to Northern Ireland and in our role as guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement.
“A strong and visible joint approach between the Irish and British Governments on Northern Ireland is the bedrock of positive progress and I look forward to working closely with the Secretary of State in this respect.
“We had a constructive conversation on legacy issues and agreed to work together on a path forward. This is a vital endeavour and I am committed to taking it forward with urgency with the Secretary of State.”
Starmer invites Harris to Downing Street
From political editor Pat Leahy:
Taoiseach Simon Harris congratulated the new British prime minister Keir Starmer in a phone call this evening, with Mr Harris telling Mr Starmer that he looked forward to “having a close and constructive working relationship”, officials said. They pledged “regular engagement”.
The two men agreed to “re-set and strengthen” the relationship between Dublin and London and “to set about that task with urgency and ambition”, according to a readout of the call shared by Government Buildings.
Mr Starmer invited Mr Harris to visit Downing Street on July 17th when he will be in the UK for a meeting of the European Political Community.
According to the Government Buildings account, they discussed “Northern Ireland, welcoming the restoration of the institutions, including the full operation of North South and East West Good Friday Agreement institutions, as well as legacy issues.”
And with the news of Simon Harris’ invitation to London, we’ll end our live coverage of the UK general election results there.
Keir Starmer is the new UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak has stepped down as leader of the thoroughly defeated Conservatives and Sinn Féin is the biggest party from Northern Ireland in Westminster.
Thank you for sticking with us and we look forward to keeping you up to date on what may come for Starmer’s premiership in print and on irishtimes.com.
