London, Jul 5 (EFE).- Labour party leader Sir Keir Starmer promised Friday to return “politics to public service” during his first speech as the United Kingdom’s prime minister.
During his address outside Number 10 Downing Street, Starmer said he had accepted King Charles III’s invitation to form the next government after Labour secured a landslide victory in Thursday’s general election.
“Our country has voted decisively for change and a return of politics to public service,» Starmer said after paying tribute to “dedication and hard work” of his predecessor, the Conservative Party’s Rishi Sunak, the first British Asian to hold the position of PM.
Labour’s win on Thursday has ended 14 years of Conservative rule in the UK, a period that Starmer said has led to a “weariness in the heart of a nation, a draining away of the hope, of the spirit, of the belief in a better future.”
«This lack of trust can only be healed by actions, not words,” the new prime minister said, promising that his Labour government would “fight every day until you believe again.”
Starmer insisted that “politics can be a force for good. We will show that.”
The Labour leader also spoke “directly” to those who had not voted for his party, pledging that his government would serve all of the UK.
«Country first, party second,” he promised.
But he warned that changing the country “is not like flicking a switch” and that real change “will take a while”, although he said the work “is urgent” and would “begin today.”
He pledged to “rebuild” the UK’s infrastructure “brick by brick” as he spoke of providing more schools and affordable housing that “working class families like mine can build their lives around».
Starmer said the Labour government would embark on a “calm and patient rebuilding”, and invited the country to “join this government of service in the mission of national renewal.” EFE
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