July 4 massacre as Tories trampled, several top political beasts are booted out:
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer delivering his first speech outside the door of 10 Downing Street promising to serve the nation.
HISTORIC LANDSLIDE WIN FOR LABOUR IN LANDMARK 2024 UK ELECTION, CRUSHING BLOW TO TORIES AS SUNAK BOWS OUT
By SHAMLAL PURI in London
Senior Editor – UK and Associate Publisher
shamlalpuri4@gmail.com
Labour Party won a landslide victory not seen in recent history as the Conservatives suffered a crushing defeat in what is being dubbed as the July 4 massacre as leading Tory Ministers lost their seats in the outgoing Rishi Sunak’s Party, forcing the outgoing Prime Minister to concede defeat and apologise to the nation.
Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer is the new Prime Minister.
Labour won a record 412 seats, adding a whopping 214 seats from the Conservative, decimating its arch-rival, the now, opposition Conservative Party, which lost its 2019 majority and was pipped to a wafer-thin 121 seats, losing 252 seats in the Parliament.
Several top name Cabinet Ministers (called Secretary in UK politics) were ousted, including Defence Secretary Grant Shapps, Penny Mordaunt, Tory leader of the Commons, Alex Chalk, Justice Secretary, Gillian Keegan Education Secretary, Lucy Frazer Culture Secretary, Davies T C Davies Welsh Secretary responsible for Wales’s affairs, Michelle Donelan Science Secretary, Mark Harper, Transport Secretary.
Other Tories who lost their seats include Johnny Mercer, veteran minister; Simon Hart, the chief whip; Victoria Prentice, attorney general and Illegal Migration Minister Michael Tomlinson; and Jacob Rees-Mogg, a close confidante of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, among several top Tories.
The most significant loss was former 45-day Tory Prime Minister Liz Truss in Southwest Norfolk, who Labour ousted.
Rishi Sunak retained his Richmond and Northallerton seat, polling 23,059 votes, with 12,185 majority. He defeated Labour’s Tom Wilson, who polled 10,874 votes.
Sunak still holds the confidence of his electorate but had to concede defeat to Labour due to the overall number of seats captured by Labour.
Sunak announced that he was stepping down from the leadership of the Conservative Party but has the option to remain a back-bench Tory MP.
His supporters feel relieved that he has retained his seat and the confidence of a part of the British electorate.
He made history in October 2022 as the first Asian diaspora British Prime Minister, an honour no one can steal.
The election was largely peaceful except for a couple of incidents: an unprovoked attack on the offices of a Labour candidate in London just before the polls and intimidation of two female candidates in Birmingham, West Midlands, where mainly diaspora communities from Pakistan and India live.
Rogues in London smashed the front window of Labour MP Stella Creasy, the long-serving parliamentarian’s campaign headquarters in the north-east London suburb of Walthamstow, with a large diaspora population.
Vandals smashed the front windows, but a former Shadow Minister Stella Creasy stood up defiantly to the brazen attack in the early hours of Sunday, June 23.
She tweeted, “Message to whoever attacked my office last night: You don’t intimidate me, and you don’t belong in the political process.
She added: “Police are already on this to find you – will press for the strongest penalties for such an anti-democratic attack… I know Walthamstow won’t be cowed down or influenced by your violence either.”
She revealed that malicious and false” leaflets about her had been distributed.
Police said they are investigating the incident between 3.10 am and 3.30 am on Sunday, June 23.
Stella Creasy won her Walthamstow seat with a 59.3% share of the vote, polling 27,172 votes, winning by a massive 17,996 votes.
Of her win, she said, “We have rejected the hatred and division so many wish to foster, and I will do everything to stand up and speak up for the future of hope and change we need.”
Before polling day in Birmingham, West Midlands, two female candidates who won the election complained of intimidation, which is a blot against British democracy.
Critics say that it appears members of the unruly diaspora community, who have imported these nasty habits of intimidation from their original countries, were allegedly suspected of this electoral intimidation during their campaign.
Labour candidate Shabana Mahmood used her victory speech to express her displeasure on how she, her family and supporters were harassed by some people who had sought to “deny” her Muslim faith. She said she is a proud Muslim.
She alleged that physical threats to her and her family had been reported to the Police, calling this an “assault on democracy itself.”
Shabana Mahmood, who represents the Ladywood area of Birmingham, West Midlands, which has a predominantly Muslim community, felt intimidated when masked men disrupted a community meeting, terrifying people in attendance.
Another Labour candidate, Jess Philips, who also won in Birmingham, was heckled during her speech, causing serious concerns.
BBC reported that a spokesperson for West Midlands Police said a number of police officers were stationed at polling stations across Birmingham on Thursday to “offer reassurance and ensure public safety”.
They said: “Our officers are aware of a number of incidents leading up to the election where people have reported criminal damage and harassment, and we are carrying out inquiries to identify those responsible.”
Sadly, tragic events miles away in Gaza rubbed unfairly into the UK elections as some sections of the community raised Free Palestine slogans.
Several independent candidates who stood on the pro-Gaza platform also won the elections.
With that solid pro-Gaza bias, critics wonder what their contribution would be to the welfare of Britons who voted for them and how valuable their efforts would be other than concentrating on matters thousands of miles away in Gaza.
Without a doubt, the plight of the people of Gaza, as other suppressed communities abroad, such as in Ukraine, Myanmar, China and North Korea, need our compassion and support, but to contest an election on the sole criteria of Gaza leads to many questions from critics.
It was a battle between the blues, the colour of the Tories, and the reds, the Labour Party colour; other Parties were merely a sideshow; call them spoilers whom only a few disgruntled voters chose.
There were breathless 24 hours in British politics as soon as the polls closed at 10 pm on July 4.
On Thursday night, Britons went to sleep under the Conservative rule of Rishi Sunak and woke up on Friday with Sir Keir Starmer of the Labour Party as the country’s 58th Prime Minister and the first Labour Prime Minister since 2010.
Opinion polls had indicated a drubbing for the Tories and a landslide for Labour, but knowing opinion polls in other parts of the world could be corrupted and biased, a public relations exercise to bolster those desperately lagging and needing piggybacking, the British opinion polls were different and credible.
However, these polls kept their pace without allowing the Conservatives staring at a crushing defeat the slightest breathing space or even hope of survival.
The Conservatives were spared the ignominy of a wipeout, earning them the tag of serious losers. They will bounce back, as Labour has done after years in the wilderness.
In the UK, general election defeats do not turn into insinuated threats, finger-wagging and defiant plots where politicians bark and use other shenanigans to overthrow the winning government as in countries across the oceans.
In the United Kingdom, outgoing Prime Ministers behave graciously in defeat. Kudos to Mr Sunak for accepting defeat like a true gentleman.
Rishi Sunak said of Prime Minister Sir Keir, “In this job, his successes will be all of our successes, and I wish him and his family well.
“Whatever our disagreements in this campaign, he is decent public-spirited man who I respect.”
While Mr Sunak was preparing his resignation speech outside 10 Downing Street to concede defeat and call in the removal vans to take his personal possessions from his flat in Downing Street to his private house, there was frantic activity in the Labour Party waiting the wings to lead the country.
As Mr Sunak delivered his resignation speech outside Downing Street on July 5, standing behind him was his crestfallen wife, millionaire Mrs Akshata Murty Sunak, wearing a predominantly blue dress with white arrow-like stripes at the top being symbolic of the Tory Party’s 2024 general election results – facing downwards. The bottom section of her dress was red, symbolising Labour’s colours.
Her outfit drew a few snide remarks from idle eagle-eyed Britons on social media with nothing else to do, saying her dress was a metaphor for how the election went for the Conservatives.
Her choice of dress that day may have been an unwittingly innocent move.
Speaking outside 10 Downing Street, Sunak said: “To the country, I would like to say first and foremost, I’m sorry.
“I have given this job my all, but you have sent a clear signal that the Government of the United Kingdom must change, and yours is the only judgment that matters.
“I have heard your anger, your disappointment, and I take responsibility for this loss.
“Following this result, I will step down as party leader, not immediately, but once the formal arrangements for selecting my successor are in place.
“While he has been my political opponent, Sir Keir Starmer will shortly become our Prime Minister.
In this job, his successes will be all our successes, and I wish him and his family well.
“Whatever our disagreements in this campaign, he is a decent, public-spirited man who I respect.”
To be fair to Sunak, he worked hard within his capacity to keep the country together and was on his toes most of the time he was in Downing Street – that one cannot deny.
He inherited a lot of baggage from the disastrous leadership of Boris Johnson and 46-day Prime Minister Liz Truss, who, after being ousted, is now an ordinary British citizen.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is busy with a full in-tray and has many things to do. He did not waste time and got to work.
His first speech as the Prime Minister was held outside a crowded Downing Street area after his traditional meeting with King Charles III at Buckingham Palace to accept his invitation to form a new government.
He said that he was ready for his plans to serve the United Kingdom.
He pitched himself as a leader for “stability and moderation”, and his mission was to rebuild Britain and get the country back to business.
He promised not to discriminate against anyone and would serve the whole country irrespective of who Britons voted for.
Starmer said the elections had united the nation, adding, “Our country has voted decisively for a change, national renewal and a return to the politics of public service.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir paid tribute to the “dedication and hard work” of the outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, saying that his achievement in becoming the first British Asian leader of the UK had required “an extra effort that should not be underestimated by anyone.”
Sir Keir said his Party’s task is to turn around the lack of trust in politics and a lack of confidence under the previous governments.
He brought hope, saying, “This wound, this lack of trust in politics, can only be healed with actions, not words,”
“I know that, but we can make a start today with the simple acknowledgement that public service is a privilege, and your government should treat every single person with respect.
“Whether you voted Labour or not, especially if you did not, I say to you directly, my government will serve you. Politics can be a force for good. We will show that. We changed the Labour Party, returned it to service and that is how we will govern.”
The prime minister also said the UK needed a “bigger reset, a rediscovery of who we are” but that he knew that “one of the great strengths of this nation has always been to navigate a way to calmer waters”.
Starmer said he stood for “stability and moderation” and argued that for too long, governments had turned a blind eye as millions slid into greater insecurity,
His first task was to appoint his Cabinet, including several senior ministers from the diaspora.
Labour and the Conservatives captured most of the 650 seats, while the smaller parties won the remainder.
Liberal Democrats – 72 (with one seat just in at the time of filing the report on Saturday); Scottish National Party 9, the surprise was the entry of Reform – UK 5, whose leader Nigel Farage entered Parliament through his seat in Clacton in his eighth attempt.
Other winning parties include the Greens 4, SDLP 2, Alliance 1, DUP 3, PC 4, SP 7, UUP 1, and Independents 7.
It was a battle between the blues, the colour of the Tories, and the reds, the Labour Party colour; others were merely a sideshow, whom only fewer voters chose.
There were breathless 24 hours in British politics after the polls closed on July 4 at 10 pm.
The entry of Reform-UK on the British political scene, led by Nigel Farage, who had previously failed seven times before entering Parliament, took many Britons by surprise.
He won the seaside town of Clacton seat with 21,225 votes, earning a majority of 8,405.
Unsurprisingly, of the five Reform-UK MPs, all are white Britons, and no one from the diaspora communities hints towards a bias against non-whites in the minds of those who support this Party and voters’ intentions.
Some diaspora candidates with Reform-UK tickets, such as Vinayak Malhotra (Croydon West), failed to make it, winning fewer votes.
Critics say disgruntled Britons who had lost confidence in the Labour and the Tories because of their present and past performances chose to vent their anger by turning away from the main parties to vote for Reform-UK.
Reform-UK is gaining the reputation of a right-wing outfit allegedly with primarily a direction of racism, misogyny, and some say even perception of a group that will sow the seeds of communal hatred in future: allegations that are vehemently denied.
Mr Farage is trying hard to give the impression that his Party is multicultural, but judging by his views and past records show clear hints in that direction.
Some political analysts believe Mr Farage wanted to enter the Parliament anyway because, at first, he had publicly shown reluctance to contest the polls, and then suddenly he changed his views and within days came forward to contest the general election, seeing an opportunity, he turned around and announced that he would be contesting from the seaside town of Clacton from where he won by 10,000 votes. That is his democratic right to change his mind.
Reform UK fielded over 600 candidates nationwide and attracted opportunistic diaspora members who believed they would not get tickets from the bigger parties but wanted to make their presence felt in British politics.
They were keen to dabble in politics, hoping to bolster their personal influence, but they did not necessarily agree with the Party’s philosophy. They chose to stand as Reform UK candidates, but no one won.
The diaspora’s presence could have enhanced the multicultural credibility of the Reform-UK.
The UK General Election on July 4 was largely peaceful. Overall, there were hardly any Police or armed forces near the polling stations except in pre-poll incidents in Birmingham.
Once the polls closed, the next task was to count the paper votes, as Britons have no faith in electronic voting machines (EVMs), which could lead to tampering and mass rigging.
As night fell, there was frantic overnight activity, and volunteers, mainly students and people from local organisations, worked frantically to deliver the sealed ballot boxes to the counting teams.
Media and journalists stayed awake overnight and observed the process during this process.
The elections were held on a single day from 7 to 10 pm when the polls closed.
The UK election was delivered in sincerity and honesty.
There are severe punishments for booth capturing or bribing voters to cast their ballot against their wishes. Voters were allowed to express themselves freely in the UK on polling day.
As a career journalist, I have covered many elections worldwide, but I find that the UK polls are honest.
In other countries, voters are slapped, threatened and intimidated outside polling booths, and even their names deliberately go missing in voter’s lists in a severely corrupted atmosphere and proxy voters, Party workers, instead vote for the ruling Party in the names of dead voters,
Apart from the nasty pre-election incidents in east London and Birmingham diaspora areas, the election was held peacefully on July 4.
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