Sir Keir Starmer has declared a historic Labour victory in Britain’s general election, achieving a majority of at least 172 seats. Rishi Sunak acknowledged the Conservative party’s devastating defeat, which saw its worst-ever result. Despite Labour’s historic win, its public support remains shallow, securing power with about 34% of the national vote. Starmer, addressing activists, emphasised hope and progress. Labour’s victory mirrors Tony Blair’s 1997 landslide, but with a lower vote share. Its success was partly due to the rightwing vote being split by Nigel Farage’s Reform party. One pollster commented that it seemed more a Conservative loss than a Labour win. The Liberal Democrats won 71 seats (compared with only eight in 2019), and the other big losers were the Scottish National Party, which lost 38 seats in the Labour ‘tsunami’. Overall turnout was only 60%, almost the lowest-ever proportion in a general election.