Labour is divided over the impending presidency of Donald Trump after he declared victory in the US presidential election after a bitterly fought and divisive election campaign felt around the world.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer congratulated the former US president on his “historic election victory”, asserting both countries stood shoulder to shoulder as close allies with shared democratic values.
But the party was not unified in its response to the climactic event, with former Labour frontbencher Emily Thornberry doubling down on her previous comments labelling Trump a predator and racist, asserting “yes, well he is” to BBC Radio 4, and urging the government to tread carefully in its new relationship with the US.
London mayor Sadiq Khan said many people would be fearful of what a second Trump presidency would mean for democracy and women’s rights. “The lesson of today is that progress is not inevitable. But asserting our progressive values is more important than ever,” he said.
Across the political divide, Nigel Farage – who was in the US to watch the results come in – was the first to give his reaction to the impending win, hailing what he described as “the most incredible political comeback of our lifetime”.
Key Points
- Keir Starmer tells Donald Trump ‘we stand shoulder to shoulder’
- Nigel Farage hails Trump’s ‘incredible political comeback’
- ‘Deep breath time in Whitehall,’ says former chancellor Philip Hammond
- Trump declares US election victory as he hails ‘golden age’ for America
- ‘Asserting progressive values more important than ever’, says Sadiq Khan
Rory Stewart says ‘I was wrong’ about Harris
10:58
Angus Thompson
Former Conservative MP and podcasters Rory Stewart has taken to social media platform X this morning to express his misery at a Donald Trump victory.
“For the record - I was completely wrong about Kamala Harris. It is heartbreaking that Trump is now the President,” posted Stewart, who cohosts the popular Rest is Politics podcast with former Blair government adviser Alistair Campbell.
While he didn’t elaborate, he recently told an event in Sydney, Australia, Democratic candidate Harris would win comfortably.
For the record - I was completely wrong about Kamala Harris. It is heartbreaking that Trump is now the President.
— Rory Stewart (@RoryStewartUK) November 6, 2024
‘Disappointed’ Labour MP Emily Thornberry says the government has to work with Trump
10:40
Angus Thompson
Back to BBC 4’s interview with former Labour frontbencher Emily Thornberry, who’s views on Donald Trump were made plain in 2019 when she called the then-US president a racist and predator.
After acknowledging her previous commentary, she said the UK still had to work with the US, and offered a cautionary way forward for the country as British MPs take stock of the election results.
“We need to work with him,” Thornberry acknowledged, adding “we need to look after our interests”.
She said the UK needed to work “multilaterally” with its friends and allies. “I think we also need to stick close to those whose values are simialr to ours,” she said.
“There may well be times when we don’t agree with Donald Trump and we need to stick to our friends.”
‘A predator and a racist’: former Labour frontbencher Emily Thornberry doubles down on previous comments
10:36
Angus Thompson
Former Labour frontbencher Emily Thornberry has deepened the split in the governing party over Donald Trump’s impending victory by doubling down on previous comments that the former US president is a racist and a predator.
Thornberry, who served as shadow attorney-general until the UK 2024 election, told BBC Radio 4 the foreshadowed US election result was “disappointing”.
"We wake up this morning in an unpredictable world with a president we don't really know what his policy on things are going to be."
— BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) November 6, 2024
Labour MP Emily Thornberry, chair of Parliament's Foreign Affairs Select Committee, reacts to Donald Trump's apparent election win.#R4Today
“I think that across most of the west it was hoped the result would be Kamala Harris, not least because it would be predictable,” she said. “I think we wake up this morning in an unpredictable world.”
Thornberry said Britain’s relationship with thwe US under a Trump presidency would be “quite challenging” in terms of knowing how to approach the relationship.
In 2019, when she was shadow foreign secretary, Thornberry said during a BBC interview Trump was undeserving of the honour of a scheduled UK state visit.
“He is a sexual predator, he is a racist, and it’s right to say that. And I think we need to think about when is it that our country got so scared. Why can’t we start saying things as they are?” she said at the time.
When her previous comments were put to her on Tuesday morning, Thornberry doubled down. “Yes, well he is,” she said in response to her labelling of him as a predator and a racist.
Shadow cabinet is no government-in-waiting, says former minister
10:00
Andy Gregory
Sir Conor Burns, former minister of state for trade and for Northern Ireland, has weighed in on Kemi Badenoch’s shadow cabinet.
Ms Badenoch named her full shadow cabinet this morning. But Sir Conor, who served as MP for Bournemouth West between 2010 and 2024, says it “won’t necessarily be a government-in-waiting”.
In a post on X, Sir Conor said: “Anyone watching the rest of the front bench formation @KemiBadenoch is doing and raising any eyebrows should remember: she only has 121 MPs.
“To fill the vacancies 3/4 of them will get jobs. Some are too old, uninterested or unappointable.
“So it won’t necessarily be a Govt-in-waiting. But it doesn’t have to be. It has to be an effective opposition to start with. And above all it has to be a team.”
Anyone watching the rest of the front bench formation @KemiBadenoch is doing and raising any eyebrows should remember: she only has 121 MPs. To fill the vacancies 3/4 of them will get jobs. Some are too old, uninterested or unappointable. So it won’t necessarily be a…
— Sir Conor Burns (@ConorBurnsUK) November 5, 2024
How a Trump victory leaves Starmer isolated on the world stage
09:53
David Maddox
With an impending White House victory for Donald Trump, Prime Minister Keir Starmer is now faced with a US adminstration he is not just far away from ideologically, but one which is openly hostile to a Labour government that Trump’s campaign team previously described as “far left”.
The Trump camp’s recent accusations of Labour interference in the US election lifted the lid on the deep animosity that the MAGA Republicans have for Starmer, his party and his government.
The fallout had undone months of meticulous diplomacy by Labour preparing for this possible eventuality, which had culminated a few weeks ago with what seemed to be a positive meeting between Starmer and Trump in New York.
But the problem Labour has always faced is that their efforts have been led by a foreign secretary David Lammy who described Trump “a neo-Nazi sociopath”.
Starmer also faces a problem that Britain will no longer be seen as Europe’s bridge to America with a Trump administration in the White House.
Read the Independent political editor David Maddox’s full analysis of what a Trump presidency means for Starmer and the UK here.
John Rentoul | Kemi cosies up to her Tory leadership rival – what can she be thinking?
09:45
Andy Gregory
One of the funniest lines in the comic subplot that was the Conservative leadership contest was the “yellow card” system: a rule announced by Bob Blackman, the chair of the 1922 Committee, which ran the MPs’ stage of the ballot, to deter personal attacks.
Blackman said: “The constant backfighting and attacking was one of the contributing reasons why the party did so badly at the general election. We are determined we will not tolerate that.”
In the end, no yellow cards were issued – not even when Kemi Badenoch brought her opponent down with a cynical professional foul in the dying moments of the contest. She said, in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph the weekend before the close of voting: “With me you’d have a leader where there’s no scandal. I was never sacked for anything, I didn’t have to resign in disgrace or, you know, because there was a whiff of impropriety.”
The Independent’s chief political commentator John Rentoul writes:
Tariffs are likely first thing UK will notice about a Trump presidency, says analyst
09:25
Andy Gregory
Tariffs are “probably one of the first things that Britain will notice” under a Donald Trump presidency, Bronwen Maddox, director of the Chatham House think-tank, has suggested.
Ms Maddox warned that tariffs will be “not good” for the “economic growth that Keir Starmer is putting so much weight on”, saying: “We don’t know how quickly Trump will move on it, but I would think very quickly - it’s one of the things he’s promised his followers.”
She added: “We don’t quite know what the tariffs will be and on which goods. Goods on China going into the US will hit global growth and tariffs on other countries like Europe and the UK, they will affect our ability to sell things to the US.
“So it’s not good for exactly the kind of economic growth that Keir Starmer is putting so much weight on.”
‘Asserting progressive values more important than ever’, says Sadiq Khan
09:17
Andy Gregory
Sadiq Khan – who is no stranger to trans-Atlantic spats with Donald Trump, having branded the Republican a racist and homophobe – has warned that “asserting our progressive values is more important than ever”.
The London mayor said: “I know that many Londoners will be anxious about the outcome of the US Presidential election. Many will be fearful about what it will mean for democracy and for women’s rights, or how the result impacts the situation in the Middle East or the fate of Ukraine. Others will be worried about the future of Nato or tackling the climate crisis.
“London is – and will always be – for everyone. We will always be pro-women, pro-diversity, pro-climate and pro-human rights.
“London is a place where we’re proud of our diversity, proud of the contribution of all our communities and proud of our spirit of unity. These are some of the values that will continue to bind us together as Londoners.”
“The lesson of today is that progress is not inevitable. But asserting our progressive values is more important than ever - re-committing to building a world where racism and hatred is rejected, the fundamental rights of women and girls are upheld, and where we continue to tackle the crisis of climate change head on.”
Trump will be ‘magnanimous’ in victory with UK, analyst predicts
09:06
Andy Gregory
Bronwen Maddox, director of the Chatham House international affairs think-tank, has predicted that Donald Trump will be “magnanimous” in victory with the UK – but warned there could be a “fly in the ointment”.
She said: “Keir Starmer’s got his statement out very quickly using the phrase ‘special relationship’, talking about all the ways the UK wants to work with the US.
“He and David Lammy have put in quite a lot of time getting to know Republicans around Trump as well as Trump himself.
“But Trump does bear a grudge, so whether David Lammy’s past remarks ... or the Labour activists going over, it is possible that that is a fly in the ointment.
“But my guess is that Trump will be magnanimous and receive with pleasure all these calls he gets from other heads of state.”
Lib Dem leader laments ‘dark, dark day’ as ‘destructive demagogue’ Trump on course for victory
08:56
Andy Gregory
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey has warned of a “dark, dark day for people around the globe” as “dangerous, destructive demagogue” Donald Trump appeared on course to lead the world’s largest economy and most powerful military.
Sir Ed said: “The next President of the United States is a man who actively undermines the rule of law, human rights, international trade, climate action and global security. Millions of Americans – especially women and minorities – will be incredibly fearful about what comes next. We stand with them.
“Families across the UK will also be worrying about the damage Trump will do to our economy and our national security, given his record of starting trade wars, undermining NATO and emboldening tyrants like Putin.
“Fixing the UK’s broken relationship with the EU is even more urgent than before. We must strengthen trade and defence cooperation across Europe to help protect ourselves from the damage Trump will do.
“Now more than ever, we must stand up for the core liberal values of equality, democracy, human rights and the rule of law – at home and around the world.”
Farage says Trump will be ‘genuine radical'
08:55
Andy Gregory
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has said that Donald Trump is going to be a “genuine radical”.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “He’s going to be a genuine radical.
“What you are going to see from this Trump administration, and I’m guessing that Elon Musk will be the man that is tasked to do it – is there will be a big fightback against the administrative bureaucratic state which is far too big, far too powerful and actually very undemocratic.”
He added: “What is very interesting about the Trump movement is that it’s critics call it all sorts of nasty names, the truth is in many ways it’s bringing Americans together.”
David Lammy says UK ‘looks forward to working with’ Trump and Vance
08:49
Andy Gregory
Foreign secretary David Lammy has offered his congratulations to Donald Trump.
“The UK has no greater friend than the US, with the special relationship being cherished on both sides of the Atlantic for more than 80 years,” he said on X.
“We look forward to working with you and JD Vance in the years ahead.”
In 2017, Mr Lammy said he would protest if “racist and KKK/neo-Nazi sympathiser Trump” visited London.
Brexit negotiator Lord Frost hails ‘very welcome victory’ for Trump
08:48
Andy Gregory
Tory former Brexit negotiator David Frost has hailed what he called a “very welcome victory” for Donald Trump, which he said had come at a “crucial time for the West”.
Lord Frost said: “For the first time, across all our countries, there are real signs of pushback against the conventional wisdom of recent years.
“Trump’s victory strengthens this decisively and sets a different course: to dismantle the over-mighty bureaucratic state, control our borders, protect free speech, stand up for historical and biological reality, end disastrous net zero policies, and get the West’s foreign and defence policies in line with our actual capabilities.
“A Harris victory would have seen another doubling down on all the policies that got us into this mess. That’s why so many progressives are so disappointed this morning: they know their ideas are on the way out, and not before time.”
Ex-PM Liz Truss says ‘let the fightback begin'
08:44
Andy Gregory
The UK’s shortest-serving prime minister Liz Truss, who has been seeking a new phase of political life herself in the United States, has congratulated Donald Trump.
“Great news for the USA and the West. Let the fightback begin!” Ms Truss said on X, formerly Twitter.
Exclusive: UK must reverse Brexit if Donald Trump wins election, Keir Starmer told
08:40
Andy Gregory
Britain must urgently rebuild ties with Europe if Donald Trump is elected on Tuesday, pro-EU campaigners have warned.
With the prospect of a brutal global trade war looming, critics of the UK’s current Brexit deal have said the country needs to rejoin the customs union, single market or the bloc itself to shield itself from the devastating fallout.
The former president has threatened to impose tariffs on all imports to America if he returns to the White House, which would cripple the UK and global economy. The US is Britain’s single biggest trade partner by far, above Germany, the Netherlands, France and China.
Amid fears a solitary UK would face a heightened impact, campaigners called for Sir Keir Starmer to urgently rebuild trade ties with the EU to insulate the country from the trade war that would follow Mr Trump’s re-election.
Political correspondent Archie Mitchell has the details in this exclusive report:
Boris Johnson ‘fired’ from Channel 4’s US election coverage after being branded ‘cheap’ for book plug
08:34
Andy Gregory
Boris Johnson was “fired” from Channel 4’s US election coverage after being criticised for plugging his book.
The former prime minister was booked to commentate on the results of the presidential race alongside Republican supporter and reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner, and Stormy Daniels, the woman at the centre of Mr Trump’s hush money trial.
But, after repeatedly shoe-horning in references to his memoirUnleashed, host Krishnan Guru-Murthy said Mr Johnson had been “fired for banging on about his book too much”.
Just minutes into America Decides: US Presidential Election, Mr Guru-Murthy had told Mr Johnson to “put it away” and “stop it, enough” as he twice referenced his new book and attempted to hold it up to viewers. Guru-Murthy described the former prime minister’s actions as “so cheap”.
Mr Johnson hit back, saying: “There’s absolutely nothing you can do to stop me… I’m allowed to plug my book.” Eventually, Channel 4 replaced the former PM with Michael Cohen, Mr Trump’s former lawyer. It remains unclear if Mr Johnson’s exit was planned.
Our political correspondent Archie Mitchell reports:
Starmer congratulates Trump on ‘historic election victory'
08:24
Andy Gregory
Sir Keir Starmer has congratulated Donald Trump on his “historic election victory” and said that “as the closest of allies, we stand shoulder to shoulder in defence of our shared values of freedom, democracy and enterprise”.
The prime minister had met with Mr Trump in New York in September as he sought to build a relationship with the Republican.
But the Trump campaign went on to accuse Labour of interfering in the US election, citing Labour volunteers going to campaign on behalf of the Democrats, their sister party, which UK government officials dismissed as a routine tradition.
‘Deep breath time in Whitehall,’ says former chancellor
08:20
Andy Gregory
Tory former chancellor Philip Hammond has suggested that Donald Trump’s apparently impending victory in the US election means it will be “deep breath time” in Whitehall.
Speaking to the BBC, Lord Hammond, who was Theresa May’s chancellor during Mr Trump’s last presidency, said: “At least we have a pretty clear view of some of Donald Trump’s thinking. He hasn’t been shy about setting out his thoughts on the campaign trail.
“But many of those thoughts represent significant challenges, certainly for Europe, including the UK – on Nato, on the relationship with Russia, on support for Ukraine, and probably equally as importantly on trade, where some of what Mr Trump has said sounds almost as aggressive towards his allies as it does towards China.
“So I think it’s going to be deep breath time in Whitehall and in governments across Europe as they settle down to try and understand how this new administration is going to work.”
He added: “The Foreign Office will have been preparing for this for a very long time. They’ll have been looking at the scenarios of each candidate winning and they’ll have briefings for ministers across Whitehall.”
UK-based Democrats cry in London as they watch Trump declare victory
08:06
Andy Gregory
Some UK-based Democrats at a gathering in London cried as they watched Donald Trump address his supporters on television from Florida.
Those backing Kamala Harris hugged and consoled each other at the event organised by Democrats Abroad UK at a bar in central London as the results from several swing states, including Pennsylvania, suggested the path to the White House now looked clear for Mr Trump.
Very few attendees had stayed to watch the former president make his speech. Earlier, one woman cried out “that’s it” and walked out of the event as CNN called Pennsylvania for Mr Trump.
Trump declares US election victory as he hails ‘golden age’ for America
08:04
Andy Gregory
Donald Trump has declared victory in the US election as he hailed a “golden age” for America, after he was projected to win the first three swing states, including the crucial state of Pennsylvania, which is worth a whopping 19 electoral college votes, taking him just four away from the required 270.
The Republican declared victory, despite ballots still being counted in some swing states.
Speaking at his campaign watch party in Palm Beach, Mr Trump said: “This is the greatest political movement of all time and now it’s going to reach a new level of importance because we’re going to let our country heal.”
Trump continued: “This will truly be the golden age of America.”
Farage hails Trump’s ‘incredible political comeback'
07:58
Andy Gregory
As the US election results continue to roll in, Nigel Farage was the first high-profile UK politician to remark publicly on the likely outcome.
Having flown to America to back his ally Donald Trump, the Reform UK leader wrote on X: “He’s done it again. The most incredible political comeback of our lifetime.”
Tuesday 5 November 2024 22:04
Andy Gregory
Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s politics live blog.
We’ll bring you the latest updates as the UK wakes up to the results of a monumental election across the Atlantic, while reaction continues to come in following the announcement of Kemi Badenoch’s new shadow cabinet.