The Labour government has ditched the phrase “levelling up” as Sir Keir Starmer met with England’s metro mayors.
Secretary of state Angela Rayner said Labour will govern in the nation’s interest, without gimmicks and slogans.
“A government of public service means fixing the fundamentals to deliver for the British people,” she said.
Senior Tories Suella Braverman, Jacob Rees-Mogg and Lord Frost are today at a Popular Conservatism, “PopCon”, post-election event, with the Tory’s election defeat at the top of the agenda.
Also among the speakers was historian David Starkey, who said it was “deranged” that a Conservative prime minister, David Cameron, cited enabling same-sex marriage as his greatest achievement.
Ahead of today’s event, Ms Braverman sparked a backlash as she criticised recent Tory governments’ records on LGBT+ issues, describing government buildings flying rainbow flags as “occupied territory”.
Former PM Tony Blair today painted a gloomy picture of the UK’s finances as he delivered a speech at the Tony Blair Institute’s Future of Britain conference.
He warned that, unless the country improves growth and productivity, and drives value and efficiency through public spending, it will become “much poorer”.
Key Points
- ‘We must not assume that we just come back automatically’ - Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg
- ‘Devastating’ election result - Suella Braverman
- Historian and TV presenter David Starkey takes to the stage
- CCHQ has become more a command and control centre - PopCon chief
- Our failure has been we have forgotten the lessons of Margaret Thatcher - David Starkey
- Braverman hits out at ‘liberal Conservatives’ after the party’s defeat at the general election
Wes Streeting ‘optimistic’ ahead of pay talks with junior doctors
12:57
Alex Ross
The Health Secretary has said he is “optimistic” ahead of talks with junior doctors aimed at ending their long-running dispute over pay.
Wes Streeting said the talks mark an “important reset moment” in relations between the Government and junior doctors in England.
Medics from the British Medical Association (BMA) are to meet Department of Health and Social Care officials on Tuesday afternoon to start discussions with a view to ending strikes which have been causing widespread disruption across the health service.
Speaking at the Tony Blair Institute’s Future of Britain Conference 2024, Mr Streeting said: “I’m seeing the junior doctors this afternoon, they are coming into the Department of Health. I know they’re coming in not just from my diary, but from the army of cameras and journalists currently stationed outside the department.”
Asked if he was optimistic about the talks, he said: “Optimistic? Yes.
“This is an important reset moment in the relationship between junior doctors and their Government.”
‘From the ashes of the disaster grow the roses of success’ - Rees-Mogg
12:51
Alex Ross
Sir Jacob calls on the audience to recognise there is value in conservatism, and that the party can reinvent itself and come back from the position opppostion.
He finishes by saying: “So ladies and gentlemen, I don’t say go back to your constituencies and prepare for government, I say go back to your constituences and put ashes on your roses because from the ashes of the disaster grow the roses of success.”
Tory members must hold vote in leadership content - Rees-Mogg
12:40
Alex Ross
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg addresses speculation that Tory memebrs could lose their vote in an upcoming party leadership vote.
He says: “If any of you belong to Conservative associations, bear in mind that rule can only be changed if Conservative association chairmen agree to it.
“Do you want me to tell you how hanging, drawing and quartering takes place because that is what you should do to your association chairmen if he or she even thinks of voting to take away your vote.
“Democracy must never be rolled back and the idea that the MPs are so wise and know better than our members, well, look who they gave us and look who the members gave us. I am with the members every time.”
‘We mustn’t pretend that election wasn’t a disaster’ - Rees-Mogg
12:38
Alex Ross
Turning to the election result, Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg says it was an “alarm bell” and a “reminder” against “the arrogance of presumption that we thought we had a devine right to rule and a devine right to certain voters”.
“We didn’t,” he adds.
“We mustn’t pretend that election wasn’t a disaster,” he says.
“We thought our core vote had nowhere else to go.... they did,” he says.
“And we cannot just assume that the pendulum will swing back to us or the Reform voters will suddenly repent,” he says, before adding “we need to win them over one way or another”.
‘Deeply shameful’ - Rees-Mogg describes Tory government’s dealing of constitutional pillar
12:33
Alex Ross
As Sir Jacob runs through the pillars fo the constitution as he assesses where the Tory government went wrong during its term ahead of the election, he turns to the right of property.
He says: “The rights of property we were trampling over at the end of the last conservative government, which was deeply shameful and I opposed every effort to trample on the rights of proprty and enter into free contract.”
Starmer urged to ditch his Brexit red lines and rejoin the single market by Labour voters
12:23
Alex Ross
Away from the PopCon event this morning, we’ve just broken an exclusive on new poolling that shows the vast majority of voters who went to the polls to vote for a Keir Starmer government want Labour to drop its Brexit ‘red lines’ and reverse the Tory legacy on Europe.
Read the full story by our political editor David Maddox here:
‘There are things we can do’ - Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg
12:20
Alex Ross
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg quotes Margaret Thatcher, saying “the facts of life are conservative”, adding it is a line “we should always remember, it’s why the left moved to the centre and we get tempted.... and it is a mistake”.
He gets a laugh when he says the “broader conservative family” won 11 million votes, including the votes for Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.
“Sometimes family have their differences but we need to reunite that Tory family and recognise Conservatism is more popular than the Conservative Party.”
The former business secretary says “there are things we can do” including learning from the party’s history, mentioning the launch of the Primrose League in 1883 as an example.
Within 10 years, the Conservative body had one million members, Sir Jacob says.
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg appears on stage
12:13
Alex Ross
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, who lost his Hanham and North East Somerset seat at the general election, takes to the stage and begins by stating slowly to the audience: “We have no power”.
And he takes a dig at party leader Rishi Sunak, saying his announced shadow cabinet yesterday “doesn’t matter”.
“The power, the excitement, the charisma of power has been taken from us,” he says.
“We must not assume that we just come back automatically.”
Tory Party ‘weak, squeamish’ over immigration - Braverman
12:06
Alex Ross
Former home secretary Suella Braverman tells PopCon activists her party has been “weak, squeamish” over immigration.
She says the Conservative Party should bid to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and axe the Human Rights Act, and adds: “We’ve never been unequivocal about this pressing cause of the problem.”
Immigration spiralled out of control, Suella Braverman says.
12:05
Alex Ross
Voters felt angry and betrayed by the Tory’s record on immigration because the party failed to deal with it, resulting in added pressure on public services, Ms Braverman says.
“We did not do what we promised to do,” she says.
The “Reform phenomenon” was predictable and “all our own fault”, she says. She calls for an end to smearing Reform supporters, saying it is a “fundamental error.
She says the Tory Party had historically benefited from having a monopoly on the right-wing vote – the left, she says has been split.
Reform is now presenting a threat to the party, she says. She adds: “We need to do everything we can to win voters back”.
‘Devastating’ election result - Braverman
12:04
Alex Ross
Suella Braverman appears via video link from America, and begins by thanking the audience for it support after a “devastating” election result.
She says the campaign was “challenging, gruelling and brutal”.
“We have to face the facts on who we ended up int his situation and what we can do about it”.
Asking herself “what went wrong?”, she says the Tory government “promised to do what the British people wanted, we were going to use our Brexit freedoms…to stop the waves of illegal migrants on our shores, we were going to cut taxes.”
She adds: “The harsh reality is that we did none of that and then tried sometimes when campaigned, pretended that we had done it.”
Lord David Frost takes to the stage
12:02
Alex Ross
“We meet today at a moment of calamity for the Conservative Party,” says Lord David Frost as he starts his speech from the stage at the PopCon event.
Pointing at the election result last week, he said members had to accept the “painful reality” that “nobody out there is that much interested in what we think”.
He then draws an applause as he says those who decided on the political strategy “that got us here”, those who stuck to it and those who attacked party members needed to “move off the stage as soon as possible and let the rest of us move on”.
He finishes his speech, saying “hold our nerve, get to work and keep the faith”.
Tories couldn’t get past ‘hostile bureaucrats and judges’ - Lord Daniel Hannan
11:35
Alex Ross
On what went wrong for the Tories, Lord Daniel Hannan says a space was created for Reform UK because of an inability by ministers to get legislation past “hostile bureaucrats and judges”.
“Until we fix that we are always going to find ourselves back where we are,” he says.
The surge in support for Reform UK was a result of Tory failure, he adds.
Be nice to have more people advising Mr Sunak on election date, rather than betting on it - Lord Daniel Hannan
11:31
Alex Ross
Lord Daniel Hannan draws a laugh from the crowd as he criticises the planning and organisation of the election campaign.
He first says it’s surprising some people in the audience were “not allowed to fight winnable seats” with “contestable” decisions made in favour of other candidates.
“We need to look at those mechanics,” he says.
He then jokes: “It would have been nice, wouldn’t it, if we had a few more people in the party machine advising the PM on the election date, rather than betting on it.
“We somehow managed to call an election that caught ourselves off guard, but not the other parties.”
You can read about the Tory election betting scandal by clicking here.
Starkey attacks David Cameron over ‘greatest achievement’ enabling same-sex marriage
11:22
Alex Ross
David Starkey says it is “deranged” that a Conservative prime minister would cite enabling same-sex marriage as his greatest achievement.
At the PopCon gathering, Mr Starkey spoke about Lord Cameron’s bid to move the Tories into the centre ground ahead of the 2010 election.
Mr Starkey said, in reference to the Conservative defeat in last week’s General Election and pointing to 2010: “The catastrophe begins there.
“What’s a Conservative prime minister doing when he says his greatest achievement is gay marriage? It’s deranged.”
Lord Daniel Hannan takes to the stage
11:19
Alex Ross
“We played a blinder on the expectation management”, jokes Lord Daniel Hannan as he takes to the stage at the PopCon summit.
He adds that when the exit poll came up, the feeling felt among Tory friends was relief.
“We lost half of our vote, two thirds of our MPs and the immediate reaction was it could have been worse. This was a self-inflicted defeat.”
Our failure has been we have forgotten the lessons of Margaret Thatcher - David Starkey
11:14
Alex Ross
David Starkey continues to compare today situation facing the Tories with the rise of Margaret Thatcher, talking about how she brought the Tory party together following the collapse of Edward Heath’s government.
He said Mr Heath’s government suffered from inflation, like Rishi Sunak’s - beer prices he sent rose three times in 1972 and 1973, Mr Starkey said.
Thatcher recognised that, and knew what real conservatism was, Mr Starkey says, who goes on to say she led the genuine recovery of conservatism.
She had to cope with an “internal enemy”, Mr Starkey says.
She also had to “undo before she could do”, Mr Starkey says, saying she repealed union legislation, repealed nationalisation and opened up public sector housing.
Mr Starkey says: “An incoming Tory government will have to do all of those things. Our failure has been we have forgotten the lessons of Margaret Thatcher.”
Historian and TV presenter David Starkey takes to the stage
11:05
Alex Ross
“We’ve been here before,” says historian David Starkey as he takes to the stage to discuss what happened at the general election last week.
He points back to the defeat of Edward Heath in 1974, when Tory member Keith Joseph said “I’ve not been a Conservative, I’ve called myself a Conservative, I’ve been part of a Conservative government, but that government hasn’t done Conservative things”.
Mr Starkey says that led to “Margaret Thatcher’s revolution”.
Watch Popular Conservatism post-election event live
10:57
Alex Ross
CCHQ has become more a command and control centre - PopCon chief
10:55
Alex Ross
The Conservative Party is in danger of replicating the centralised, detached and arrogant practices in the state, Mark Littlewood, director of Popular Conservatism, says.
Membership has fallen as members feel disenfranchised and powerless, he says.
He adds: “CCHQ, many feel, has become more a command and control centre than a service centre which is what it should be.
“Democratising the party is a necessary step to building a thriving and effective grassroots movement.”
‘We need to work out what went wrong’ - PopCon chief
10:50
Alex Ross
Introducing the agenda for this morning’s PopCon summit, Mr Littlewood says: “We need to work out what went wrong, why and how it needs to be put right.
“Such an enquiry needs to be deep, meaningfuly, forensic and sincere.”
He says the electorate care about the “bread and butter issues” such as tax, healthcare, cost-of-living crisis, but he says it also matters how power is exercised, saying there was a general feeling decision-making had become detached from the public.
‘Brutal’ election result - director of Popular Conservatism
10:44
Alex Ross
Mark Littlewood, director of Popular Conservatism, takes to the stage.
He describes the election result as “brutal”.
“In truth, looking back now, we could all feel it on the doorstep,” he said while referring to a conversation with one person who told him if Labour or the Conservatives win, he’d leave the country.
“Perhaps that summed up our campaign,” he says.
Popular Conservatism post-election event begins
10:40
Alex Ross
“It’s time to understand why the electorate left us and how we can turn that around,” the host for the Popular Conservatism says as the post-election event begins.
We’re going to be hearing from Lord Frost, Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg and Suella Braverman from the Emmanuel Centre in London this morning.
The host concludes: “The hard work starts here.”
10:33
Alex Ross
Ahead of Tuesday mornign’s Popular Conservatism event, Suella Braverman hit out at “liberal Conservatives” after the party’s defeat at the general election.
The former home secretary, who is among the likely candidates to succeed Rishi Sunak as leader of the Conservatives, told the National Conservatism conference in Washington the party had taken a “good hiding”.
She put the blame for the defeat, in which the Conservatives lost more than 250 seats, on failures to keep their promises.
“We won a great majority in 2019 promising to do what the people wanted,” she said.
Ms Braverman, who will speak via a video link to a Popular Conservatism post-election event alongside Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg and Lord Frost on Tuesday, also criticised the flying of the Progress Pride flag to “show how liberal and progressive we are”.
Reform UK has arrived at Westminster
10:21
Alex Ross
Nigel Farage has arrived at Parliament for his first day in the Commons at the head of Reform UK’s first elected MPs.
The group of five men, including party chairman Richard Tice and former Tory MP Lee Anderson, arrived on Tuesday morning.
The other new arrivals were Rupert Lowe, former chairman of Southampton FC and now MP for Great Yarmouth, and James McMurdock, a 38-year-old former banker who unexpectedly edged the contest in South Basildon and East Thurrock by 98 votes.
The men paused for photographs by Parliament’s St Stephen’s Entrance, but made no statement to the press. Responding to a shout of “Have fun” from a photographer, Mr Tice replied: “We will.”
Tony Blair warns of politics splintering left and right amid turmoil in the US and France
10:05
Alex Ross
Sir Tony Blair has warned that politics around the world is “splintering”, with the rise of the far right and far left in France and Donald Trump’s takeover of the US Republican Party.
The former prime minister said western politics is facing the challenge of turmoil within political parties, including the Republicans and increasingly the Democrats under Joe Biden.
And he said political systems are under threat from “new entrants”, adding that “the main parties there are parties that weren’t really in existence a few years ago”.
Read the story on Sir Tony’s interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today programme here
One foot in both camps
09:45
Alex Ross
Among the regional mayors meeting Sir Keir Starmer this morning is Dan Norris, West of England Mayor, who was also elected as MP for North East Somerset and Hanham last week.
He’s decided to keep his second job, with the next mayoral election in May 2025.
Locally, it’s raised some eyebrows with people questioning how he can fully commit to both roles on social media. He’s set to also receive two salaries.
The Independent has approached Mr Norris’ team for comment on the issue.
Sir Keir Starmer wants ‘real partnership’ with mayors across country
09:30
Alex Ross
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the Government wanted to build a “real partnership” with mayors during a meeting with regional leaders in Downing Street.
Sir Keir told the mayors at the meeting inside No 10: “I know many of you already have growth plans in place – some of you have shared them and that is fantastic. What we want to do is build on that with a real partnership where you feel that the Government is up alongside you, supporting what you’re doing.”
The Prime Minister added: “I think it’s the first meeting like this in Downing Street. I don’t think all the metro mayors have come together in Downing Street like this – so this is a first and that’s good.”
The Downing Street meeting was attended in person by 11 mayors from England, with Mayor of South Yorkshire Oliver Coppard absent through ill health.
Among those present were London mayor Sadiq Khan, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, and Liverpool City Region mayor Steve Rotheram.
Conservative Tees Valley mayor Lord Houchen was also present at the meeting.
‘I think people want controls’ - Sir Tony Blair on immigration
09:15
Alex Ross
Sir Tony Blair says Keir Starmer will need to strike the balance on immigration as he warned that people “want controls” on immigration.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4 Today programme, the former prime minister was asked about the rise of Reform UK, with party leader Nigel Farage declaring he was now targeting Labour voters.
Sir Tony said: “I think it is very clear that on immigration I think there is a centre ground that can hold which is where people understand there are enormous benefits to immigration, and by the way a lot of what we are talking about, these great AI innovations, look at the people leading them, many of them are immigrants into this country.
“But at the same time I think people want controls. So this is the balance that you need to strike because as I say, if you don’t have rules you get prejudices.”
Country needs to take action - Sir Tony Blair
08:57
Alex Ross
Spearking at the Tony Blair Institute’s Future of Britain conference in London today, Sir Tony is set to say that the modern technological revolution means “there has never been a better time to govern”.
He will set out how a package of measures including private and public sector adoption of artificial intelligence, preventative healthcare, digital ID and embracing technology in education could boost growth and generate savings.
The former prime minister will say that Britain faces an “unenviable triple whammy” of high taxes, debt and poor outcomes, with the “worse to come” due to an ageing population, “deep structural health problems” and rising numbers of long-term sick.
He is set to warn that, unless the country improves growth and productivity and drive value and efficiency through public spending, it will become “much poorer”.
Starmer to meet US President Joe Biden at Nato summit
08:34
Alex Ross
Keir Starmer is joining Nato leaders in Washington, where he will meet US President Joe Biden for the first time.
The Prime Minister’s schedule will mean he will not join the Nato summit until the main working sessions begin on Wednesday, as Parliament reconvenes following the election on Tuesday.
Sir Keir will appear in the Commons as Prime Minister for the first time as the formal process of re-electing Sir Lindsay Hoyle as Speaker takes place.
The Prime Minister said he would be flying to Washington on Tuesday night to demonstrate his “unshakeable” support for the alliance.
Tory slogan ‘levelling up’ scrapped by government
08:03
Alexander Butler
The Tory slogan “levelling up” will be stripped out of Government departments and ministerial job titles, Jim McMahon has suggested.
The communities minister was asked by BBC Breakfast if the slogan would remain a part of his job title. He replied: “No, it was firmly tippexed out of the department yesterday, so we are now the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
“Why that is important for me is levelling up was only ever a slogan, it wasn’t a thing that people felt in their communities.”
After adding that it was also important to ensure local government was included in the department’s title, he said: “It is a reshaping of the department. It is a refocus, but frankly it is also just grown up politics.”
‘I am not AI’: Reform UK candidate accused of being bot speaks out
08:01
Alexander Butler
Suffering from pneumonia, Reform candidate Mark Matlock checked social media after he missed election nightto find he was being accused of being an AI bot.
Looking at his glossy profile picture, online commentators had decided he was computer-generated and the inevitable Twitter pile-on ensued.
Fuel was added to the fire when he didn’t show up for hustings or even the election count after winning 1,758 votes for Brixton and Clapham Hill on a day of national success for Nigel Farage and his fledgling party.
Schedule for today
07:48
Alexander Butler
Good morning. As the House of Commons is to sit with Labour on government front benches for the first time in 14 years, prime minister Keir Starmer and his cabinet are set for a busy day.
This is the schedule for today:
7.30am: Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer and deputy prime minister Angela Rayner will meet metro mayors from around the country.
9.30am: Sir Keir Starmer chairs his Cabinet.
2.30pm: Parliament returns with Labour ministers on the Government frontbench for the first time in more than a decade.
Junior doctors to enter talks with Labour government
07:34
Alexander Butler
Negotiations between junior doctors in England and the new Government are expected to start today with a view to end the long-running dispute over pay.
Medics from the British Medical Association (BMA) are to meet with Department of Health and Social Care officials to try and hammer out a deal to see an end to strikes which have been causing widespread disruption across the health service.
Officials from the union have previously said that they expect the conversation could be “tough”. But the BMA’s junior doctors committee has said Labour comments about pay rises being a “journey and not an event” align with their pay restoration goals.
Health leaders urged the Government to resolve the dispute as a “priority” after it emerged that tens of thousands of appointments were postponed as a result of the latest strike.
NHS England said 61,989 appointments, procedures and operations were postponed as a result of the walkout from June 27 to July 2.
UK mayors arrive at Downing Street
07:31
Alexander Butler
UK mayors have arrived at Downing Street for a roundtable meeting with prime minister Keir Starmer as he pledged to loosen Whitehall’s “tight grip” over big cities and regions.
London mayor Sadiq Khan, Manchester mayor Andy Burnham and Liverpool mayor Steve Rotherham were among those who walked into No 10 this morning.
Before entering No 10, Mr Khan said: “I’m looking forward to meeting the new Prime Minister.”
Monday 8 July 2024 20:36
Maryam Zakir-Hussain
We are now pausing this liveblog. Thank you for tuning in!
Starmer confirms Rwanda policy to be scrapped
Monday 8 July 2024 20:30
Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Rwanda “has fully upheld its side of the agreement”, its government said after Sir Keir Starmer confirmed the deportation policy is to be scrapped.
The Prime Minister announced over the weekend the previous Conservative government’s plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda was “dead and buried before it started”.
In a statement, a Rwandan government spokesperson said: “Rwanda takes note of the intention of the UK Government to terminate the Migration and Economic Development Partnership Agreement, as provided for under the terms of the treaty passed by both our parliaments.
“This partnership was initiated by the Government of the UK in order to address the crisis of irregular migration affecting the UK - a problem of the UK, not Rwanda.
“Rwanda has fully upheld its side of the agreement, including with regard to finances, and remains committed to finding solutions to the global migration crisis, including providing safety, dignity and opportunity to refugees and migrants who come to our country.”
Who is in Rishi Sunak’s shadow cabinet?
Monday 8 July 2024 19:57
Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Rishi Sunak has named his shadow cabinet in the face of Conservative’s devastating election loss.
The party has named Jeremy Hunt, who narrowly held his seat on Thursday, its shadow chancellor, with James Cleverly shadow home secretary, mirroring the portfolios they held in government.
Former deputy foreign secretary Andrew Mitchell will become the shadow foreign secretary as Lord Cameron stepped back from frontline politics, while Richard Fuller, the former economic secretary to the Treasury, has been made the new Conservative chairman.
Leadership frontrunner Kemi Badenoch has been shifted to become shadow levelling-up secretary, while Kevin Hollinrake will shadow her former Business Secretary post.
Breaking: David Cameron steps back from frontline politics after election defeat - but keeps Lords seat for life
Monday 8 July 2024 19:41
Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Lord Cameron has stepped back from frontline politics after last week’s election defeat but will keep his House of Lords seat for life.
He was given a peerage last November so that Rishi Sunak could make him his foreign secretary.
But the ex-PM has tendered his resignation and will not serve in the shadow cabinet now the party is out of government.
Rachel Reeves scraps ‘absurd’ Tory onshore windfarm ban
Monday 8 July 2024 19:30
Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Rachel Reeves has ditched the Conservatives’ “absurd” onshore windfarm ban in a bid to reboot the economy, claiming the new Labour government’s economic inheritance was the worst since the Second World War.
The chancellor has ordered civil servants to compile a dossier on the state of the economy after 14 years of Tory rule.
In a speech at the Treasury, she said she had repeatedly warned about the dire state of the public finances during the general election and “what I have seen in the past 72 hours has only confirmed that”.
Suella Braverman blasts ‘entitled Tories’ in speech seen as a leadership pitch
Monday 8 July 2024 19:00
Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Suella Braverman has blasted “entitled Tories’” in speech in Washington that will be widely seen as a leadership bid.
The outspoken former home secretary also said that the Conservatives had yet to wake up to the existential threat of Nigel Farage and his Reform party – despite the scale of the election defeat.
In a blistering speech, she told the audience that at the election: “We were slaughtered. Shellacked. Given a good hiding. Kicked while we were on the ground. Headbutted by reality.”
Full list of 175 Tory MPs that lost their jobs in election bloodbath
Monday 8 July 2024 18:30
Maryam Zakir-Hussain
The Conservative Party suffered a crushing defeat in last week’s election, losing grip on power after 14 years in government.
The party lost over 244 seats across the country to a parties across the political spectrum, with seats being handed over to Labour, Reform, Liberal Democrats and even the Green Party in places.
Prior to the vote on July 4, a raft of Tory MP’s including Michael Gove and Nadhim Zahawi made it clear they would not be running again - perhaps pre-empting their fate in the face of dire opinion polls.
Why is Starmer sticking two fingers up at Blair’s advice?
Monday 8 July 2024 18:06
Maryam Zakir-Hussain
If I were to sum up in one sentence the strategy that won Keir Starmer a landslide at this general election, it would probably be: “Hey – do you guys remember Tony Blair?”
It’s a fair tactic – after all, the former leader was the most successful in Labour’s history. His 179-seat majority in 1997 was the high watermark that Starmer aimed for and, to his credit, came within a whisker of hitting.
As my Independent colleague John Rentoul has noted, Labour’s 174-seat majority this time is mathematically the same as New Labour’s, when adjusted for a smaller House of Commons: Blair won 63.5 per cent of 659 MPs, and Starmer won 63.4 per cent of 650.
Naz Shah: ‘The grown ups are backs in charge’
Monday 8 July 2024 17:33
Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Leaving the first meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party since the election, MP Naz Shah said the central message of Sir Keir Starmer’s speech to his MPs had been “the grown-ups are back in charge”.
She said: “It’s not a playground, this is running the country and hitting the ground running.”
A full house: UK’s new prime minster stands and his Labour MPs
Monday 8 July 2024 17:20
Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer stands with Labour Party MPs, including some who won seats in the recent general election, at Church House in Westminster on July 8, 2024 in London, England.
