New UK PM vows to build “service gov’t

New UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has promised to build a "government of service" after becoming the UK's first Labour prime minister since 2010. Speaking outside 10 Downing Street after his party's landslide election win, he pledged to restore trust in politics and "navigate away to calmer waters". Appealing directly to voters who did not back his party, he vowed to put "country first" and govern "unburdened by doctrine". Speaking from the lectern, he cautioned that despite Labour's huge parliamentary majority of 174, his aim of "rebuilding" Britain "will take a while". Sir Keir, who has formally replaced Tory leader Rishi Sunak after an audience with the King at Buckingham Palace, is expected to begin appointing his new cabinet on Friday afternoon, before it meets for the first time on Saturday. Keir Starmer (born September 2, 1962, London, England) is a British politician and barrister (lawyer) who became leader of the Labour Party in 2020. He has served as a member of Parliament for Holborn and St. Pancras since 2015. While practicing law, Starmer focused largely on criminal defense work, with a special emphasis on human rights issues, both in the U.K. and overseas. He was politically active from an early age and joined the Labour Party Young Socialists at the age of 16. Following the retirement of MP Frank Dodson in December 2014, Starmer was selected as the Labour Party candidate for the London constituency of Holborn and St. Pancras. He was elected to that seat in the House of Commons on May 7, 2015. Following the 2019 general election, in which the Labour Party suffered its worst defeat since 1935, Jeremy Corbyn stepped down as party leader. Starmer announced his candidacy for the position in January 2020 and won the election on April 4. Source: Kuwait News Agency