UK election latest: Starmer hits out at 'mess' left by Tories - and warns 'tough decisions' to come (2024)

At least 242 women have been elected as MPs - a record number.

The previous high came in the last general election in 2019 when 220 women were elected - out of 650 MPs in the House of Commons.

Our political correspondent Mhari Aurora explains more below:

The new health secretary has said Westminster will look to "lift" the devolved administrations when approaching how to fix the NHS.

"Following this morning's cabinet meeting, I held calls with health ministers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland," Wes Streeting said in a statement online.

"A Labour government in Westminster will be a rising tide that lifts all ships and we'll work constructively with devolved administrations."

The new prime minister said he would visit all four of the nations of the UK, beginning tomorrow in Scotland, and it appears his new cabinet is keen to follow suit and show eagerness to work with the devolved administrations.

Sir Keir Starmer is the oldest prime minister to enter office in 48 years.

At 61, he is starting his new job older than Tory predecessors Rishi Sunak (42), Liz Truss (47), Boris Johnson (55), Theresa May (59) and David Cameron (now Lord Cameron, 43).

You have to go all the way back to April 1976 to find an older new prime minister - when a 64-year-old James Callaghan entered Number 10 for Labour.

He was succeeded by Margaret Thatcher (who was 53 when she entered office), John Major (47), Tony Blair (43) and Gordon Brown (56).

The oldest prime minister ever is William Gladstone, who began his fourth term at 82 years of age in 1894.

Sir Keir Starmer has entered 10 Downing Street as the first Labour leader to become prime minister after an election since Sir Tony Blair in 1997.

While it is Sir Keir who has the top job, credit for his rise to power has also been given to the tight-knit team that surrounds him.

In the below article, our political reporter Alexandra Rogerstakes a look at the figures in the prime minister's inner circle who are likely to play a crucial role in the running of Downing Street.

Read more here.

Sir Keir Starmer has been photographed walking up the famous No 10 staircase, past portraits of his predecessors.

Lord Cameron, Gordon Brown, Theresa May and Tony Blair are among the portraits of past prime ministers he passes in the first image.

The new prime minister is quickly being thrown in at the deep end of his new job - as he's expected to represent the UK on the world stage just days after his appointment.

Sir Keir Starmer will debut on the international stage as Britain's leader when he flies to Washington DC for the NATO summit on Tuesday.

We'll get an early indication on his stance on the conflict in Ukraine - with discussion in the US set to be dominated by Russia's continuing war - although he had said throughout his time as leader of the opposition that any government he formed would continue to support Kyiv.

Sir Keir was a strong supporter of the Tory government's substantial financial and military contributions to Ukraine - and has pledged that his government would do the same.

He said earlier: "It is for me to be absolutely clear that the first duty of my government is security and defence, to make clear our unshakable support of NATO.

"And of course to reiterate, as I did to President Zelenskyy yesterday, the support that we will have in this country and with our allies towards Ukraine."

That's not where it ends for Sir Keir on the international stage either, as he'll then host the European Political Community summit on 18 July.

That comes just a day after the state opening of parliament and the King's Speech - which sets out the new government's agenda.

From the cost of living crisis and small boat crossings to the drive for green energy and the war in Ukraine, the Labour government has its work cut out.

To get a sense of the challenges facing Sir Keir Starmer, we spoke to our specialist correspondents about their patches.

ByJason Farrell, home editor

When she was home secretary, Priti Patel made a concerted investment in tackling county lines drug dealing and was often seen out on dawn raids with the police, her focus on disrupting the gangs.

Labour, it seems, will put a greater emphasis on crime prevention, keeping children out of gangs by launching a "Young Futures programme".

New Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has spoken about the "tough love" plan to tackle knife crime, which would see youth workers placed in A&E units, custody centres and pupil referral units.

Ms Cooper also promises a police reform plan to bring in mandatory standards in policing so that vetting, training and dealing with misconduct doesn't vary across forces.

The youngest MP is likely 22-year-old Sam Carling in North West Cambridgeshire.

Born in 2002, he was a toddler when his opponent, Conservative Shailesh Vara, first wonNorth West Cambridgeshire in 2005.

He beat the veteran MP by a razor-thin 39 votes.

"Thank you so much to everyone in North West Cambridgeshire that came out to vote for me yesterday. I am beyond honoured to have been elected as your MP," he said.

He previously said he entered politics to "fight the continuing decline in public services" under the Conservatives.

Mr Carling will be nicknamed "baby of the House" when he enters the Commons, taking over the traditional moniker from Labour MP Keir Mather.

He graduated from the University of Cambridge last year and has been a councillor at Cambridge City Council since 2022, according to his LinkedIn.

Nigel Farage says he will provide "opposition in the country" - not necessarily parliament.

Reform UK underperformed exit poll expectations, winning five out of a forecast 13.

"Everyone thinks about opposition as being what happens in parliament. We will do what we can with five in parliament," he said.

"What I will do for certain is provide real opposition in the country."

Mr Farage continued: "We are not downhearted, we know the system really, really hard. We know it is very unfair on us. But you know what, we're a new party, we've built the bridgehead into parliament."

From the cost of living crisis and small boat crossings to the drive for green energy and the war in Ukraine, the Labour government has its work cut out.

To get a sense of the challenges facing Sir Keir Starmer, we spoke to our specialist correspondents about their patches.

By Tom Clarke, science and technology editor

Labour has made some big promises on clean energy. If they deliver on them, it could bring meaningful long-term reductions in energy bills, as well as improve energy security and help reduce the dangers from climate change.

There are companies waiting to invest if Labour can ease the current planning and supply-chain constraints. But how they plan to deliver on other less investment-friendly pledges, like improving energy efficiency of homes and installing heat-pumps in social housing, without spending a lot more public money isn't clear.

Like their predecessors, Labour wants the UK to become a "science superpower". They want to start by healing rifts between researchers and the last government, caused first by Brexit which severed funding sources from the EU, then by the Tories' "war on woke" that seriously undermined trust among universities and saw academics unfairly targeted for their views.

A first test will be the details on a 10-year budget for key research institutions which Labour claims will elevate UK biosciences to "superpower" status. But so far there's been no detail on what those budgets might be.

One interesting area to watch is Labour's stance on AI. The UK's close relationship with big tech firms such as Google has helped us become a heavyweight in AI research and deployment, bringing real economic benefit. Maintaining Labour's commitment to protecting workers from an AI takeover without capitulating to Silicon Valley will be a tightrope walk.