Starmer begins UK 'rebuild' on first day in office

LONDON, July 06 (AFP): Newly elected Labour prime minister Keir Starmer will kickstart his plan to "rebuild Britain" on his first full day in charge Saturday, after his party's landslide election win ended 14 years of Conservative rule.
Starmer spent his first hours in Downing Street on Friday appointing his ministerial team, hours after securing centre-left Labour's return to power with a whopping 174-seat majority in the UK parliament.
He is expected to hold his first cabinet meeting on Saturday, with Britain's first woman finance minister Rachel Reeves and new Foreign Secretary David Lammy in attendance.
"The work of change begins immediately," Starmer said Friday shortly after being confirmed as prime minister by King Charles III and flag-waving crowds of cheering Labour activists welcomed him to Downing Street.
"But have no doubt, we will rebuild Britain", he added.
Reiterating his five key "missions" for government in his maiden speech, the 61-year-old vowed to get the state-run National Health Service "back on its feet", ensure "secure borders" and safer streets.
But daunting challenges await his government, including a stagnating economy, creaking public services and households suffering from a years-long cost-of-living crisis.
"Changing a country is not like flicking a switch. The world is now a more volatile place. This will take a while," Starmer said, as he sought to temper expectations.
World leaders lined up to congratulate the new British leader Friday following his sweeping victory.
Starmer spoke by phone with US President Joe Biden, when the pair "discussed their shared commitment to the special relationship between the UK and US, and their aligned ambitions for greater economic growth", according to London.
However, former-and potentially future-US president Donald Trump ignored Starmer, instead hailing the electoral breakthrough of his ally Nigel Farage's far-right Reform UK party.
Its capture of five seats and around 14 percent of the vote, alongside Farage becoming an MP on his eighth attempt, was one of the stories of the election.
But it paled in comparison to Labour's triumphs, after the party neared its record of 418 seats under ex-leader Tony Blair in 1997 by winning 412.