UK election latest: Starmer to give cabinet 'their marching orders'; victory claimed in last undeclared seat after multiple counts (2024)

The leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats has claimed victory in the final undeclared election seat.

Alex Cole-Hamilton posted on X: "Now the SNP have conceded Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire".

Votes have already been counted twice in the constituency, with another recount to begin at 10.30am.

The SNP's Drew Hendry is locked in a close battle with Liberal Democrat candidate Angus MacDonald.

The BBC reported on Friday evening that Mr Hendry had conceded defeat ahead of the count, meaning the seat would become the Liberal Democrats' sixth in Scotland.

This would come as a further blow to the SNP in what has been a bruising election, having lost 39 of the 48 seats they won in 2019, mainly to a resurgent Labour.

Labour now has 37 seats to the SNP's nine, a marked turnaround from the 2019 UK election when Labour returned just one MP.

The Scottish Conservatives lost one of their six seats after leader Douglas Ross was narrowly defeated by the SNP's Seamus Logan in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East.

With just the Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire seat left to be officially declared, here is how Scotland stands:

• Labour, 37
• SNP, nine
• Conservatives, five
• Liberal Democrats, five.

Sir Keir Starmer is expected to hold the first meeting of his new cabinet this morning.

He made a raft of appointments yesterday, including Rachel Reeves as the UK's first female chancellor, Yvette Cooper as home secretary and David Lammy as foreign secretary.

Pat McFadden, who played a central role in shaping Labour's election campaign and was named chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said Sir Keir will quickly allocate responsibilities and "give his new cabinet their marching orders".

"We have a NATO summit next week. That will be his first moment on the international stage. And while he's doing that, he will want his new cabinet to get on with it pretty quickly.”

High on the agenda will be the six first steps Labour has set out: delivering economic stability, cutting NHS waiting times, launching a new border security command, setting up Great British Energy, cracking down on anti-social behaviour, and recruiting 6,500 new teachers.

And Sir Keir will be propelled onto the international stage on Tuesday, jetting to Washington DC for the NATO leaders' summit, where discussions will include support for Ukraine.

Welcome back to the Politics Hub for the first Saturday digesting the results of the election.

Sir Keir Starmer is set to hold the first meeting of his new cabinet as he looks to start working on Labour's manifesto pledges and preparing for a NATO summit next week.

Here's what you need to know today:

• Despite an initial count on Thursday night and a recount on Friday, the result of the final contest in Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire remains undecided, with another recount due to commence at 10.30am;
• Appointments of junior ministers are likely to continue, as will calls from world leaders and first ministers of the devolved nations;
• Legislative priorities will also need to be worked out and Sir Keir has signalled that at least three housing announcements could be made in the first two weeks;
• The Labour leader will also require briefings to be readied on the NATO summit and decisions to be made about which officials should accompany him;
• We'll be speaking to co-leader of the Greens Adrian Ramsay this morning, as well as Lib Dem MP Munira Wilson.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has announced much of his new cabinet - hours after taking power in a landslide victory.

Here's a rundown of who the new prime minister has appointed...

It's been a historic moment after a landslide Labour victory in the General Election.

Here is a quick update of the latest appointments:

• Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer got straight to work assembling his cabinet ad Rachel Reeves was confirmed as Britain's first woman chancellor;
• Angela Rayner is Sir Keir's deputy prime minister and retained the levelling up, housing and communities brief, and Yvette Cooper is home secretary.
• David Lammy was appointed foreign secretary.
• The first surprise in the assemblywas the promotion of Lisa Nandy to culture secretary, after the holder of the brief in his shadow cabinet, Thangam Debbonaire, lost her seat to the Green Party.
• Otherwise, the cabinet mirrors Sir Keir's shadow team, including Pat McFadden, who played a central role in shaping Labour'selection campaign, being named chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster;
• Then there was John Healey who is defence secretary, Shabana Mahmood justice secretary, Wes Streeting health secretary, Bridget Phillipson education secretary and Ed Miliband energy secretary;
• Shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry will not take on the post in government, with Sir Keir instead choosing barrister Richard Hermer KC.

A new government is now in power and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer got straight to work assembling his cabinet after promising to rebuild trust in politics and restore hope to the nation.

After 648 of the 650 Commons seats had been declared, Labour had a majority of 176.

Labour had 412 seats and the Tories 121, the worst result in the party's history.

Here, we take a look at how new MPs spend their first day...

The historic nature of the general election results has largely focused on the seismic reversal of the previous Tory majority and the magnitude of the Labour landslide.

But amid discussion of those headline developments, the new governing party recorded a less heralded milestone in Earley and Woodley in Berkshire, a constituency being contested for the first time after boundary changes.

There, Yuan Yang claimed a narrow victory for Labour over the Conservatives' Pauline Jorgensen - in the process becoming the first Chinese-born candidate to be elected to British parliament.

Previously she has been a journalist for the Financial Times.

England manager Gareth Southgate has wished new Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer well.

Asked if he had any advice for the new PM, Southgate replied: "Well, I'm not envious of his job. No, I don't have any advice.

"I think when you're in a position of responsibility, as I am, you realise that advice comes from every direction.

"Everybody has a simple solution to complex problems, so I'm sure he's going to be inundated with that sort of feel.

"Yeah, having been in the role I have, the one thing I would do is not be offering any additional issues for him by speaking publicly about anything, so I wish him well.

"We want a strong country. We all want the best possible conditions in the UK and whoever is in charge, whichever government is in charge, that's what we all desire."

So, the UK has yet another new prime minister - the fifth since David Cameron resigned in 2016.

But this election has not only delivered a new PM, it has also put a different party in power.

It is the biggest change in the UK political landscape since 2010.

If you are not British - and find the whole thing a little confusing - we have put together the following explainer...

Former defence secretary Ben Wallace has tweeted his congratulations to Labour's John Healey, who has taken up the role.

Mr Healey had served as shadow defence secretary since 2020, while Mr Wallace was defence secretary between 2019 and 2023.

Mr Wallace said he wished his former opposition well, adding: "We agreed on much in my time."