‘We did it’: Keir Starmer’s victory speech as Labour crosses key 326 seat line

Labour leader Keir Starmer has declared that “we did it” after Labour reached the key threshold of 326 seats that it needs to secure a majority in parliament.

He is the first Labour leader since Tony Blair in 2005 to win a general election, and will head to Buckingham Palace later on Friday to meet the King and then to Downing Street.

At around 5am, he addressed supporters shortly after Tory leader Rishi Sunak conceded defeat.

“We did it! You campaigned for it, you fought for it, you voted for it, and now it has arrived. Change begins now.”

He added: “Across our country, people will be waking up to the news, relieved that a weight has been lifted, a burden finally removed from the shoulders of this great nation.”

He said that the country will “get its future back” after 14 years of Conservative rule.

Read more of our 2024 general election results coverage (article continues below):

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Luke Tryl: ‘Labour’s won back the electorate’s confidence: now it needs to shake up the status quo’

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Starmer also warned that election victories do not “fall from the sky” and this contest was only won through hard work and a “changed Labour party”, in what appeared a veiled warning to the left of the party – as well as a message of reassurance to sceptical voters.

“We ran as a changed Labour party, and we will govern as a changed Labour party.”

He also said change is “not like flicking a switch”,  which seemingly suggests a desire to manage huge voter expectations of change after 14 years of the Tories.

Read more on how the night unfolded:

Scotland results: Labour makes big gains as SNP obliterated

Wales results: Labour bags 27 of 32 seats as Tories wiped off the map

Red Wall: Gains in Stoke, Grimsby, Redcar, Workington, Hartlepool, Barrow, Bishop Auckland, Darlington, Bolsover

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:

Day one: What would happen on Starmer’s first day in charge?

100 days: What would happen during the first 100 days of a Labour government?

Delivering pledges: ‘Change is hard – how can Labour achieve it?’

Manifesto: ‘12 great policies you may never have heard of’

Foreign affairs: ‘Whatever happens to Biden, Starmer faces a US challenge’

Trilemma: IFS warns Starmer will likely have to pick cuts, debt or tax hikes

Read more on how Labour fought this campaign in key battlegrounds:

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