Labour Party Leader Keir Starmer, Wins U.K. General Election

Labour Party leader Keir Starmer is now certain to become prime minister in the coming hours, replacing his Conservative Party counterpart, Rishi Sunak, who has presided over one of the worst electoral losses in British political history.

“We did it,” Starmer told a cheering crowd in an early-morning speech in central London. “You voted for it and now it has arrived. Change begins now.”

He thanked voters, saying they had changed Britain.

“A weight has been lifted, a burden finally removed from the shoulders of this great nation, and now we can look forward again,” he said.

Labour’s victory was confirmed at around 5 a.m. local time (12 a.m. ET) when it secured the 326 seats necessary for a parliamentary majority. The precise scale of its victory is still being figured out as vote counts continue throughout the country.

The polls indicated a catastrophic election for the Conservatives, who were projected to win the fewest seats in their history, at 131.

Unlike the U.S., Britain has no monthslong transition.

At some point Friday morning, Starmer will head to Buckingham Palace to be appointed prime minister by King Charles III, a formality in Britain’s constitutional monarchy.

News helicopters will follow his car as it wends its way through London’s ancient streets, flanked by police outriders. It will be Charles’ first post-election prime ministerial appointment, a private meeting that typically lasts just 30 minutes.

His late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, saw 15 leaders come and go during her 70-year reign.

Meanwhile, Sunak and his family will leave No. 10 Downing St., where the prime minister lives and works. Traditionally the outgoing leader leaves a handwritten note wishing his successor luck.

The Starmers will move in soon after, with Starmer giving his first speech to the nation as prime minister at a lectern outside the residence’s famous black door.