New UK PM Keir Starmer enters No 10 vowing to rebuild Britain ‘brick by brick’ :::: What went wrong with tactics and Conservatives' leadership

 New PM says government ‘will fight, every day, until you believe again’ and give security to working-class families - The Guardian  

“From now on, you have a government unburdened by doctrine, guided only by a determination to serve your interests. To defy, quietly, those who have written our country off.”

Keir Starmer entered Downing Street as Labour prime minister with a promise to use his historic election victory to rebuild Britain “brick by brick” and provide security for millions of working-class families.

He said now was the time to change course because for “too long now we have turned a blind eye” to people’s problems. It was inevitable they had lost trust in successive governments who had abandoned them, he said.

“My government will fight, every day, until you believe again,” Starmer said in a speech outside No 10 that had echoes of Tony Blair’s vow to act as the servants of the people in 1997.

PM Narendra Modi extended congratulations to Keir Starmer on his historic victory in the UK general election. He also thanked outgoing British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for his leadership and efforts to deepen India-UK ties.

Modi said he was eager to collaborate with the new UK government to further bolster bilateral and strategic ties between the two nations.

Starmer's Labour Party secured a commanding majority in Thursday’s parliamentary polls, securing 412 seats in the 650-seat House of Commons, and ending 14 years of Conservative rule.  

In a dramatic landslide victory, Labour ended 14 years of Conservative rule, with the worst ever performance for the party that ushered in Brexit and delivered chaotic and at times dishonest government.

The Tories lost dozens of constituencies they won for the first time in 2019 under Boris Johnson, with Liz Truss among those ousted. Starmer’s party won 412 seats to the Tories’ 121, while the Liberal Democrats were on a record 71, the Scottish National party (SNP) on 10, Reform UK on five and the Greens on four.

What went wrong for the Conservatives?

Many Tories, both winners and losers, are almost speechless and still processing it.
A post-mortem on what went wrong with their tactics and leadership, and where to go next, is now beginning. - BBC  

They have had five leaders, and prime ministers, in less than 10 years.

Seismic events, from Brexit to Covid to multiple leadership contests, splintered the party into ideological factions. Some Tories spent more energy plotting to take each other down than their opposition - and never really patched things up.

Scandals rocked the party in a whack-a-mole fashion, from lockdown parties to sexual misconduct allegations to a mini-budget that contributed to raising interest rates. An election betting saga was the cherry on top.

Then there was the undoubted desire for change - a word Labour deployed in its campaign.

The cost of living, NHS waiting lists, and small boats were all issues voters raised on the doorstep - and felt had been getting worse, not better.

Nigel Farage's late return to the fray meant the latter theme became a particular thorn in Tory sides, with some right-leaning voters who switched to Reform UK wanting tougher immigration policies and lower taxes.

Rhetoric and policies attempting to win them back alienated some more centrist Tories who abandoned the party for Labour or the Liberal Democrats, leaving the Tories pincered in between.

This was a more comfortable switch for some centrists who didn’t feel they could vote Labour under Jeremy Corbyn.