05/07/2024 00:00
SIR KEIR Starmer was tonight on his way to Downing Street – in what could be the biggest election win in a century.
The party leader is set to become Labour's first Prime Minister for 14 years after the exit poll predicted he would win alandslide 410 seats.
The Labour chief, who held hands with wife Victoria as they voted yesterday morning, will become PM after an audience with King Charles tomorrow.
He will then appoint his Cabinet before finalising a blizzard of new laws to be announced to Parliament in a July 17 King's Speech.
The exit poll put him on course for a bigger majority than even Tony Blair secured in 1997.
Exit polls: Everything you need to know
THE exit poll gives Brits a sniff of the election result just minutes after voting ends.
Interviewers at 133 polling stations across the country ask voters to fill in a replica ballot paper and put it in a ballot box as they leave.
The pollsters choose a mix of constituencies which best reflect national trends, many of which aremarginal seats.
Data collected at polling stations is sent in a secure pipeline to a secret location inLondonwhere boffins crunch the numbers.
Theirphonesare taken away and the room is protected by security guards.
It has usually been on the money in recent years – except in 2015, when it predicted a hung parliament only forDavid Cameronto win a majority.
Number-crunchers also got the result wrong in the 2016 Brexit referendum, when the exit poll suggested Remain had won.
The faulty poll even prompted BrexiteerNigel Farageto concede defeat on Twitter – before rejoicing at the Leave victory in the morning.
Expert Javier Sajuria toldChannel 4: “As polls go, it is probably one of the most reliable.
“Even in 2015, when the polling industry suffered a lot of criticism for their failures to anticipate a Tory majority, the exit poll outperformed everyone else.
“In general, I would say that the UK exit polls have been largely successful, and much better than in other countries.”
Veteran BBC presenterDavid Dimblebyhas revealed the exit poll to the nation following 11 different elections from 1979 to 2019.
Dimbleby said revealing the winner of the election can be a “heart-stopping moment”.
But he caused a stir this week by saying the exit poll is “the worst invention ever”.
Dimbleby told theBBC’sNewscast podcast: “The exit poll is the bane of the broadcaster's life.
“It's the worst invention ever brought in – it's like a thriller and you're given the answer before we've even started on page one.
“The exit poll seems to me entirely detrimental to the excitement of election night.
“It gives people something to talk about until three in the morning when the first serious results flow starts.
“But I never liked them. It takes the fun away.”
However polls have shown Sir Keir's own personal appeal will be among the lowest of any incoming premier.
It puts an end to 14 years of Tory rule after Mr Sunak's early election gamble failed to revive the party's fortunes.
The result is crushing for Tory leader Mr Sunak who is set to pick up just 131 seats, with party insiders now expecting him to set out his resignation timetable.
It is even more remarkable as around 100 seats were deemed as "too close to call" before polling day which could have fallen to other parties.
What will Rishi Sunak do next?
By Sophia Sleigh, Political Correspondent
Rishi Sunak repeatedly promised to stay on as an MP if he lost the General Election.
He told ITV’s Loose Women: “Yes of course I'm staying, I love being an MP, I love my constituents, I love my home in North Yorkshire.”
And the outgoing Prime Minister looks on course to hold the seat of Richmond and Northallerton.
However, politicians often say one thing when they are in campaign mode but change their minds in the face of defeat.
David Cameron vowed to remain prime minister even if he lost the Brexit referendum vote in 2016.
But after the UK voted to leave, he brought an abrupt end to his six-year premiership.
Rumours have long swirled that Mr Sunak could head to California's tech heartland Silicon Valley.
Mr Sunak took an interest in technology and Artificial Intelligence throughout his time in Government.
His career before politics included working as a junior analyst at Goldman Sachs and for the hedge fund Thélème Partners in California.
And with the weight of a Tory defeat weighing heavy on his shoulders, he might choose a different path.
The exit poll, commissioned by broadcasters BBC, ITV and Sky, is made up of interviews with thousands of voters in some 130 seats before undergoing analysis be polling gurus.
Projections of a win for Sir Keir's party revealed that Labour's poll lead had hardly budged since the election was called by Mr Sunak on May 22.
Just before the PM went to the country Labour were on 46 per cent, the Conservatives 21 per cent and Reform UK were on 12 points with the Lib Dems on 9 per cent.
He will become the first Labour leader to be in Number 10 since Gordon Brown left in 2010 making way for the coalition government led by David Cameron.
The party chief had continuously told activists over recent days that if they wanted change they had to get the vote out.
Sir Keir today posted on social media: "I've changed the Labour Party. If you put your trust in me by voting Labour, I will change the country."
What happens when Starmer meets the King?
By Julia Atherley, Home Affairs Correspondent
After Labour's election night celebrations have died down, a sleep-deprived but victorious Sir Keir Starmer will be whisked to Buckingham Palace to meet with the King.
In a one-on-one meeting, King Charles will formally invite the Labour leader to form a new government in his name.
It forms part of a constitutional ritual which sees the monarch as head of state appoint the new leader of the country after voters have had their say at the polls.
The King and Keir will then have weekly meetings on a Wednesday to keep the monarch up-to-date with government business – but they are kept completely private.
It is convention that the PM never lets slip what they discuss with no aides present and no notes taken.
After the royal visit, Starmer will return to Downing Street to give his victory speech on the steps of No 10.
Sir Keir will become the third PM the monarch has worked with after Tory leaders Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.
Short-lived Truss was the 15th Prime Minister appointed by the late Queen Elizabeth II just days before she passed away in September 2022.
He has promised to govern as "changed Labour" – a nod to Tony Blair's promise in 1997 to "govern as New Labour".
On a whistlestop tour of the UK on the last full day of campaigning he told supporters in Wales, Scotland and England that scores of seats will come down to a few hundred votes.
But Labour had shown growing confidence during the campaign as they toured seats in traditional Tory heartlands.
His final campaign stop was in Redditch, Worcestershire, where the Tories have a notional majority of 18,423. He told Labour activists there to "imagine a Britain moving forward together with a Labour government".
He added: "That's what we are fighting for, let's continue that fight. If you want change, you have to vote for it." Confident of victory, he also revealed that he was ready to "hit the ground running" when in power.
Sir Keir is now expected to address party supporters before heading to Buckingham Palace where he ask him whether he can form a government with the backing of the Commons.
He will then formally become Prime Minister where he will be driven the short distance to make a speech on the steps of Downing Street.
After going through the famous black door, he will then start to choose his Cabinet starting with the four Great Offices of State.
Rachel Reeves is set to become the first female Chancellor with Yvette Cooper set to be Home Secretary and David Lammy named as Foreign Secretary.
The first Cabinet meeting is expected to be held on Saturday before holding an event over the weekend where he will outline his domestic agenda.
He is expected to move into the grace-and-favour flat above Downing Street with his wife and two teenage children – with his 16-year-old son only just finishing his GCSEs.
He will also be thrust onto the world stage on Tuesday when he attends the Nato summit in Washington DC where he will be meeting US President Joe Biden for the first time.
Starmer told reporters on a flight from Glasgow to Birmingham this week that he had "drilled" into his team that they can't ever get complacent about a victory.
He added that he started preparations for government when Liz Truss was Prime Minister realising they needed to be election-ready.
The party leader brought in his chief of staff Sue Gray and got Morgan McSweeney to be his election chief saying the party wouldn't be forgiven if they weren't ready.
He added: "I'm confident that we'll be ready, I'm not going to pretend it's not going to be difficult." Priorities for government include reducing NHS waiting lists, cutting fuel bills by setting up GB Energy and growing the economy as he embarks on a "decade of national renewal".
Sir Keir voted with wife Victoria in Camden, north London, where actor Charles Dance was also seen in the queue.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty arrived together at the Kirby Sigston Village Hall in his Richmond and Northallerton, north Yorks, constituency.
Starmer became leader of the Labour party in the wake of the party's disastrous 2019 election result which was led by Jeremy Corbyn.
He told The Sun's Never Mind The Ballots debate last month that his party "got it wrong" when they tried to get Mr Corbyn into Number 10.
He set out his vision to change the Labour party internally before he could be given a hearing by the public to take on the Tories.
Sir Keir became an MP in 2015 and campaigned for Remain in the Brexit vote. He then pushed for a second referendum to reverse the country's decision to leave the bloc.
But he now insists Britain will not be leaving the EU institutions including the single market, customs union and the return of freedom of movement.
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