Summary
On his first full day as prime minister Keir Starmer, held his first cabinet meeting at Downing Street where he told his assembled ministers: “We have a huge amount of work to do, so now we get on with our work”. Starmer later told journalists: “I had the opportunity to set out [to] my cabinet precisely what I expect of them in terms of standards, delivery and the trust that the country has put in them.” He also said he was proud to have cabinet ministers who “didn’t have the easiest of starts in life” and reflect the “aspiration” at the heart of Britain.
In his first press conference, Starmer announced that he would be setting off tomorrow to visit all four nations of the United Kingdom, saying “we clearly on Thursday got a mandate from all four nations”. He said his plan is to visit Scotland, followed by Northern Ireland and then Wales before returning to England. Later on Tuesday next week, Starmer will set off for Washington to attend the Nato summit.
Starmer labelled the previous government’s Rwanda scheme a “gimmick” which was “dead and buried before it started”. Speaking to the media in Downing Street, Starmer said the Rwanda scheme had “never been a deterrent”.
The results for the final seat in the 2024 general election have come in, with Liberal Democrat Angus MacDonald winning Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire and becoming the sixth Liberal Democrat MP in Scotland. Drew Hendry of the SNP conceded the seat with MacDonald 2,160 votes ahead.
The overall turnout for the general election was the lowest it has been for more than 20 years. Just 59.9% of the population voted, a sharp decrease from the 67.3% that voted at the 2019 election. It was the worst turnout at a general election since 2001, when just 59.4% showed up to the polls – the lowest since before World War II.
Jeremy Hunt, the former chancellor who previously ran as a Tory leadership hopeful, has ruled himself out of the race, telling GB News that the “time has passed”.
The new health secretary, Wes Streeting, has declared the NHS is broken as he announced talks with junior doctors in England would restart next week. The Ilford North MP said patients were not receiving the care they deserved and the performance of the NHS was “not good enough”.
Nigel Farage said his aim is to “build a mass movement for real change leading up to the next sets of elections”. Speaking from Wyldecrest sports country club in Essex on Saturday, the Reform UK leader said: “We will do what we can with five in parliament, what I will do for certain is provide real opposition in the country.”
Tory grandees including David Cameron are pushing back against the idea of a swift Conservative leadership contest, saying they want the candidates to be tested. Prospective candidates, including Robert Jenrick, Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly, Suella Braverman, Tom Tugendhat, Priti Patel, and Victoria Atkins, are among the long list of names believed to be preparing possible bids.
Some of Rishi Sunak’s closest allies are facing an angry backlash after being awarded honours by the former prime minister, despite their apparent role in the “insane” decision to call an early election. The former deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden and chief of staff Liam Booth-Smith were singled out by angry candidates and aides for their role in the “cataclysmic defeat” that several sources claimed had been made worse by the early election decision.
Seven MPs won their seat at the general election by a majority of under 100, PA news agency is reporting.
David Pinto-Duschinsky, Labour MP for Hendon in north London, had the smallest majority of just 15 votes. Neil Duncan-Jordan, Labour MP for Poole in Dorset, had a majority of 18, while Conservative party chairman Richard Holden, MP for Basildon and Billericay in Essex, had a majority of 20.
Sam Carling, Labour MP for Cambridgeshire North West won by a majority of 39 and Mel Stride, Conservative MP for Devon Central won by 61 votes. In Havant in Hampshire, Conservative MP Alan Mak won by 92 while James McMurdock, Reform MP for Basildon South and East Thurrock in Essex, won by 98.
Twenty MPs won with majorities of under 500, but eight MPS won with majorities over 20,000. Peter Dowd, Labour MP for Bootle in Merseyside, had the largest majority of the election, with 21,983. He is followed by Catherine West, the Labour MP for Hornsey & Friern Barnet in north London who won by 21,475, and Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale in Cumbria who won by 21,472.
