The EU on Friday congratulated Keir Starmer on Labour’s election win in Britain, with Brussels foreseeing warmer ties with London — though little scope to change existing post-Brexit arrangements.

European Council President Charles Michel called Starmer’s victory “historic”, and stressed the EU and Britain “are crucial partners”.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen added she looked forward to working with Mr. Starmer “in a constructive partnership to address common challenges and strengthen European security.”

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Britain’s new Prime Minister has vowed to reduce trade frictions with the European Union, forge closer security arrangements — and relax travel restrictions for touring musicians.

But Mr. Starmer is also adamant his government will never reverse Brexit nor seek to be part of the European single market. His slogan is “Make Brexit Work”.

While that necessarily reduces the scope for better dealings, a more cooperative London will be greatly welcomed in Brussels, according to one EU official and one EU diplomat, both speaking on condition of anonymity.

A “return to internationalist policies” from London would be “refreshing”, the EU official said.

“If there is a different approach, one of cooperation and not with a hostile attitude, then things become easier — but not simpler,” the diplomat said.

They both warned all “easy” points of cooperation had already been hammered out and enshrined in a painstakingly negotiated 2020 EU-U.K. Trade and Cooperation Agreement and a 2023 Windsor Framework.

But even if the overall deal would not be changed, some aspects could have hard edges filed down, they and analysts said.

Defence cooperation

Those could include: easing some rules around plant and animal imports; Britain continually aligning with EU rules on chemicals and standards; opening up youth exchange programmes; and mutual recognition of professional qualifications.

One key area where both sides see a priority is close cooperation is defence.

Increased geopolitical instability, notably with Russia’s war in Ukraine, and the prospect of a new Donald Trump U.S. presidency — with fears America could retreat from its global security role — are fuelling that.

“It is in the interest of the EU and also the U.K.,” the EU diplomat said. “It would be interesting if the British come back on that issue with proposals.”

Mr. Michel said he would see Starmer on July 18 when Britain hosts a European Political Community summit “where we will discuss common challenges, including stability, security, energy and migration”.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas — tapped to become the EU’s next foreign policy chief — noted “the U.K.’s commitment to our common security” in her own congratulatory message to Mr. Starmer.

Mark Leonard, director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, a think tank, told AFP the surge in international volatility and the “big danger” of what a President Trump might do made shared defence “more relevant”.

Britain and 23 of the EU’s 27 member countries are in NATO, the usual forum for defence cooperation. But Mr. Trump during his 2017-2021 presidency called into question America’s commitment to the alliance.

No more ‘psychodrama’

While Britain under the Conservatives ended up taking a very arm’s-length stance with Brussels on ideological grounds of post-Brexit “sovereignty”, Starmer’s government is expected to shift to a “rational policy discussion” about U.K. interests, Leonard said.

The Tories, he said, grappled with a decades-long “psychodrama around Europe… which has destroyed the party”.

But Labour still has to bow to Britons’ general animosity to immigration, he cautioned.

“I think the only really, really strong red line is about returning to freedom of movement, because that’s the only clear signal which came out of the Brexit referendum,” he said.

Barry Colfer, director of research at the Institute of International and European Affairs, also said the result of the U.K. elections was not so prominent in Brussels’ thinking right now.

“What’s happening in France or even what’s happening in the U.S. I think plays a much more central role in the EU,” he said.

That said, European elites were “optimistic” about what Mr. Starmer’s stance would be, he added, anticipating a “generally more pragmatic, evidence-driven, constructive approach” with more diplomatic outreach than under his Tory predecessors.

“I can just see more enhanced cooperation in really obvious areas where it’s a win-win situation between the U.K. and the EU to cooperate: around climate change, and security, around scientific research, around digitalisation,” Mr. Colfer said.

Britain’s outgoing Conservative Party Prime Minister Rishi Sunak looks down as he makes a short speech outside 10 Downing Street before going to see King Charles III to tender his resignation in London, Friday, July 5, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Rishi Sunak’s campaign to remain Britain’s Prime Minister showed a lack of political touch.

The Conservative Party’s problems were grave before Friday’s resounding election defeat but missteps by Britain’s richest Prime Minister contributed to its defeat.

Predecessors such as Tony Blair and Boris Johnson were more politically astute and able to connect with voters. As for Mr. Sunak, he didn’t have to call the election until Jan. 2025. He defied political advice by doing so in May — with Conservative support dwindling steadily amid an economic slump, ethics scandals and a revolving door of leaders over the last two years — and announced the July 4 date in the pouring rain.

Also Read | U.K. General Election 2024 highlights

What’s more, the Conservative Party didn’t appear ready for the campaign compared with Labour, and voters haven’t really felt the improvement in Britain’s economy yet.

“I have heard your anger, your disappointment, and I take responsibility for this loss,” Mr. Sunak said in his final speech as Prime Minister outside the residence at 10 Downing St.

Arguably, Mr. Sunak’s biggest blunder — one that prompted him to apologize and which many analysts think was the final death knell of the Conservative Party’s campaign — was his decision to leave early from the 80-year D-day commemorations in northern France on June 6.

Critics said the decision to skip the international event that closed the commemorations showed disrespect to the veterans and diminished the U.K.’s international standing. Other world leaders including President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy all were present. As was Keir Starmer, the U.K.’s new Prime Minister.

Born in 1980 in Southampton on England’s south coast to parents of Indian descent, Mr. Sunak became Britain’s first leader of color and the first Hindu to become Prime Minister. At 42, he was Britain’s youngest leader for more than 200 years.

A former hedge fund manager at Goldman Sachs who married into a billionaire Indian family, Mr. Sunak rose rapidly within Conservative ranks. Now 44, he become Treasury chief on the eve of the coronavirus pandemic. Within weeks, he had to unveil the biggest economic support package of any Chancellor of the Exchequer outside wartime, a package that many saw as saving millions of jobs.

Long a low-tax, small-state politician despite the high-spending nature of that package, Sunak had a record of idolizing former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Smooth, confident and at ease with the march of modern technology, Mr. Sunak was dubbed “Dishy Rishi” and quickly became one of the most trusted and popular faces within Johnson’s administration during the rigors of the pandemic.

Mr. Johnson was forced to quit in the summer of 2022 after being adjudged to have lied to Parliament over breaches of coronavirus lockdowns at his offices in Downing Street. As if that wasn’t bad enough, trust in the Conservatives tanked further when his successor Liz Truss backed a package of unfunded tax cuts that roiled financial markets and sent borrowing costs surging, particularly for homeowners already struggling with the most acute of cost of living crisis in decades. Her premiership was the shortest in the history of the U.K.

When Mr. Sunak replaced Ms. Truss, he pitched himself as a stable pair of hands. He constantly reminded voters that he had warned Conservative Party members about the recklessness of Ms. Truss’s economic plan when he challenged her to succeed Mr. Johnson. The day he replaced Truss after her traumatic 49-day premiership in Oct. 2022, the Conservatives were trailing Labour by around 30 percentage points.

As Treasury chief, Mr. Sunak was lauded for rolling out his COVID-19 job retention package that arguably saved millions of jobs. But that came at a cost, bringing the country’s tax burden to its highest level since the 1940s.

In his 21 months as Prime Minister, Mr. Sunak struggled to keep a lid on bitter divisions within his Conservative Party. One side wanted him to be much tougher on immigration and bolder in cutting taxes, while another urged him to move more to the center of politics, the space where, historically, British elections are won.

In his concession speech, Mr. Sunak said he would serve a full term in parliament until 2029, and that he would stay on as leader until the Conservative Party has elected a successor.

“It is important that, after 14 years in government, the Conservative Party rebuilds, but also that it takes up its crucial role in opposition professionally and effectively,” he said,

Many think he may be tempted to return to the U.S. in the years to come, perhaps to pursue his interest in artificial technology.

After his school years at Winchester College, one of Britain’s most expensive boarding schools, Mr. Sunak went to Oxford University to study politics, philosophy and economics — the degree of choice for future Prime Ministers. He then got an MBA at Stanford University, which proved to be a launchpad for his subsequent career as a hedge fund manager at Goldman Sachs in the U.S.

There, he met his wife, Akshata Murty, the daughter of the billionaire founder of Indian tech giant Infosys. They have two daughters. The couple are the wealthiest inhabitants yet of No. 10 Downing Street, according to the Sunday Times’ 2024 Rich List, with an estimated fortune of 651 million pounds ($815 million). They’re even richer than King Charles III, a level of wealth that many said left him out of touch with the daily problems of most people.

With his fortune secure, Mr. Sunak was elected to Parliament for the safe Tory seat of Richmond in Yorkshire in 2015. In Britain’s 2016 Brexit referendum, he supported leaving the European Union, a “leave” that came unexpectedly and that many Britons today regret.

The United Kingdom is on the brink of a significant political shift as the country votes today. Labour Party leader Keir Starmer is heavily favoured to win a historic mandate in the general election, marking a potential end to 14 years of Conservative rule.

According to predictions, the Conservatives, led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, are going to face their worst defeat in nearly two centuries.

Where to watch coverage of UK Elections 2024:

Tune in to NDTV for extensive coverage, analysis and results as they come in. Don’t miss out on the excitement as the UK prepares to elect its next government. Watch NDTV for all the latest updates and insights. 

The elections will also be covered by BBC, ITV, Sky News, Channel 4 and GB News. 

Election day

On July 4, registered voters in the UK’s 650 parliamentary constituencies will vote for their preferred candidate at polling stations set up for the day, typically located at schools or community centres.

Voters can vote in person from 7 am to 10 pm (BST) or by post beforehand. During this time, strict rules prevent any reporting or coverage related to politics or policy. 

After polls close at 10 pm, an exit poll will be announced, based on voter surveys in about 150 constituencies.

Election night timeline

• 10 pm (2:30 am IST): Exit polls

The first indicator of the election’s outcome, exit polls will be released, predicting the number of seats each party will win.

• 11 pm (3:30 am IST): Early results

The first results are expected, with Labour holds predicted in Blyth and Ashington and Houghton and Sunderland South.

• Midnight-3 am (4:30-7:30 am IST): Trickle of results

About 85 seats will be declared, including Basildon and Billericay, Swindon North and Rochdale.

• 3 am-5 am (7:30-9:30 am IST): Rush of results

The busiest period of the night, with 443 seats expected to declare, including Glasgow, Bristol and Belfast.

• 5 am-7 am (9:30-11:30 am IST): Final results

The remaining seats will be declared, with the final outcome of the election clear by 7 am.

• 7 am (11:30 am IST): A new government

The election results will be announced, and the UK will begin preparing for a new government.

London:

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak signalled in a speech Wednesday the issues on which he wants to fight the next general election, which he called for July 4.

‘Economic stability’

Despite a cost-of-living crisis and a recent recession, Sunak looks set to make “economic stability” a key plank of the campaign, calling it the “bedrock of any future success”.

Recent opinion polls show that voters trust Labour more than Sunak’s Conservatives on the economy, but Sunak hailed two recent “major milestones” that he is likely to highlight.

They are the return of inflation to under three percent, setting the scene for mortgage rate cuts, and IMF data showing that the UK economy is growing faster than those of France, Germany and the United States.

Covid chancellor

Sunak began his speech by saying that “in the last five years our country has fought through the most challenging times since the Second World War” — and mentioned his own role in those crises.

Sunak was finance minister under prime minister Boris Johnson during the Covid pandemic, and on Wednesday he credited his furlough scheme for preventing “millions of job losses”.

However, the scheme also led to a record amount of peacetime borrowing.

Security

Sunak’s most recent reset as leader was positioning the Tories as the party of defence and security — and he emphasised the point again on Wednesday.

“This election will take place at a time when the world is more dangerous than it has been since the end of the Cold War,” he said.

“I will forever do everything in my power to provide you with the strongest possible protection,” he added.

Of the top 10 key issues, defence is the only one on which the public trusts the Tories more than Labour, according to a YouGov poll.

Immigration

Sunak also noted his party’s record on immigration, just as new annual figures on arrivals were set to be published Thursday.

But the strategy is not without risk, with public anger still high over the number of people arriving by crossing the Channel.

He vowed that his plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda would “stop the boats”, but because of significant legal delays for the proposal, few if any people will actually be sent to the African nation by election day.

Health

The National Health Service (NHS) is the second most important issue to voters. Sunak mentioned it only briefly, saying the Tories had provided it with “record funding”.

But record waiting lists have seen public faith in the government’s ability to run the NHS collapse, and it is likely to be an area Labour will capitalise on during the campaign.

Net zero

Sunak’s decision to push back the UK’s plans to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions is one of the clearest dividing lines between the Tories and opposition parties.

Sunak defended the delay, which was widely denounced by environmental groups, in hopes will appeal to his party’s base, which tends to be more concerned about the economic costs of the net-zero goal.

“We prioritised energy security and your family finances over environmental dogma,” he said.

Keir Starmer

Sunak also gave indications of the attacks his campaign will launch against Labour leader Keir Starmer, the heavy favourite to become the next prime minister.

Sunak said Starmer had no plan for leadership and would “do anything to get power”.

“If he was happy to abandon all the promises he made to become Labour leader once he got the job, how can you know that he won’t do exactly the same thing if he wants to become prime minister?” he said.

While most voters view Starmer negatively according to polls, he is still far more popular than the prime minister, who has a “net favourability” rating of -51 according to a recent YouGov poll.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)