Keir Starmer’s Labour party has swept to a landslide victory in the UK‘s general election, though it appears to have haemorrhaged votes to pro-Palestinian candidates, several of whom picked up shock wins.
Starmer was formally appointed prime minister by King Charles in a meeting at Buckingham Palace on Friday after his party won 412 out of 650 parliamentary seats in Thursday’s general election.
The outgoing Conservatives, led by Rishi Sunak, plummeted to just 121 MPs, while the centrist Liberal Democrats secured 71 MPs.
Though the exit poll predicted Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration party Reform UK to perform better than expected, in the end its four MPs were outnumbered by independents running on platforms explicitly denouncing Israel’s war on Gaza.
Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader who won his seat as an independent, told Middle East Eye: “Palestine was on the ballot – and I promise to stay true to my word to stand up for the Palestinian people and their right to self-determination.” ….more
