Keir Starmer has pushed with Israel’s Prime Minister for a ceasefire in Gaza in one of his first international phone calls since assuming office.
The new Prime Minister “set out the clear and urgent need for a ceasefire” to Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call this morning, a Downing Street statement has confirmed.
Starmer also said that he looked forward to “further deepening” relations between the United Kingdom and Israel during the call.
In a subsequent call with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, the Prime Minister said that statehood was an “undeniable right” for the Palestinian people.
Read more of our 2024 general election results coverage (article continues below):
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It comes after many Labour candidates faced assertive challenges from independents standing on a pro-Palestine platform, with frontbencher Jonathan Ashworth being among the most high profile party figures to lose his seat to such an independent.
The Muslim share of a seat's population is highly predictive of Labour vote losses. Labour's vote collapsed in their seats with higher Muslim populations. Of their seven losses, five were in seats where over a quarter of the population was Muslim according to the 2021 census. pic.twitter.com/UhA3wTZN55
— Patrick Flynn (@patrickjfl) July 7, 2024
Other constituencies including Ilford North and Birmingham Ladywood – represented by cabinet members Wes Streeting and Shabana Mahmood – saw their Labour incumbents narrowly hold on in the face of pro-Palestine independent challengers.
Keir Starmer drew fierce criticism following an LBC interview last autumn when he seemed to suggest Israel had a right to withhold power and water supplies from Gaza amid Israel’s military operations following the October 7 Hamas terror attacks.
He later said he had only referred to Israel’s right to defend itself and that its retaliation to the Hamas attacks must follow international law.
Read more on how the night unfolded:
Liz Truss loses South West Norfolk: Beaten by a lettuce, beaten by Labour
Scotland results: Labour makes big gains as SNP obliterated
Wales results: Labour bags 27 of 32 seats as Tories wiped off the map
Jacob Rees-Mogg: Senior Tory loses seat as Labour mayor Dan Norris wins
Gaza: Jon Ashworth loses in Leicester as independents win Blackburn and Batley
Islington North: Jeremy Corbyn holds on in strong result over Labour
Nuneaton, Stevenage, Swindon, Worcester: Labour wins in key bellwether marginals
Read more on what could come next for Labour in power:
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Foreign affairs: ‘Whatever happens to Biden, Starmer faces a US challenge’
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Read more on how Labour fought this campaign in key battlegrounds:
Aldershot: Can Labour win the ‘Home of the Army’ for the first time in a century?
Bolsover: Labour’s Natalie Fleet on death threats, Dennis Skinner and class today
Brighton Pavilion: Can Labour win the Greens’ one seat?
Bristol Central: Inside Labour’s battle to counter the insurgent Green Party
East Thanet: Inside the battle for coastal ex-UKIP stronghold not won since 2005
Edinburgh endgame: The seat where SNP defeat would signal Labour majority
Dover and Deal: Small boats and Tory mutineers: Can veteran Mike Tapp win?
Finchley and Golders Green: Can Labour win back Britain’s most Jewish seat?
Glasgow South West: Meet the NHS doctor fighting one of Scotland’s tightest marginals
Monmouthshire: ‘Why this CLP is setting the standard in this campaign’
Sheffield Hallam: ‘Can Labour’s Olivia Blake hold on in Nick Clegg’s old seat?’
South West: Could Labour take ‘non-battleground’ Tory seats?
Wimbledon‘s battle of the bar charts: Inside a rare election three-horse race
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