Keir Starmer promises change as he says it's 'time to deliver' in victory speech
5 July 2024, 03:16 | Updated: 5 July 2024, 04:05
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has promised change as he said "it's time to deliver" for the country.
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Sir Keir Starmer was re-elected in his seat of Holborn & St Pancras with 18,884 votes.
His majority was down 16,000 compared to the 2019 election.
Delivering a victory speech, Sir Keir said "change begins right here", adding that it is "time to deliver".
He said being re-elected is a "huge privilege", with the area being where his children have grown up and where his wife was born.
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Labour leader Keir Starmer wins seat in Holborn and St Pancras
"Change begins in this community, with the people who came together to make life better," Sir Keir said.
"I promise this: whether you voted for me or not, I will serve every person in this constituency.
"The mothers I've sat with who lost children to knife crime, the pensioners who can't get the doctors' appointments they desperately need, the businesses who've struggled so hard to keep their heads above water - I will speak out for you, have your back, fight your corner every single day."
Addressing the country, he went on to say: "Tonight, people here and around the country have spoken, and they're ready for change."
"You have voted, it is now time for us to deliver," he said.
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Exit polls on Thursday projected a Labour landslide, with the party set to take 410 seats - a 170 majority.
But early results suggested the final total could be even higher, as the party retained seats such as Barnsley North and Hartlepool that the exit poll had projected would fall to Reform UK.
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Speaking to LBC's Andrew Marr and Shelagh Fogarty, ex-Labour leader Neil Kinnock hailed the exit poll.
Lord Kinnock said: "I'm utterly delighted of this massive advance for the Labour Party. And it's huge success for Keir Starmer. I mean, he's gained 208 seats [if the poll is correct].
"And that is phenomenal. That is really attributable directly to him and the way in which has changed with the last four years."
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Labour won the first seat of the night shortly after 11pm on Thursday, with shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson holding on to Houghton and Sunderland South.
She doubled her majority and increased her vote share while the Conservatives slumped to third place behind Reform UK.
Ms Phillipson said in her victory speech: "Tonight the British people have spoken, and if the exit poll this evening is again a guide to results across our country as it so often is, then after 14 years the British people have chosen change.
"They have chosen Labour and they have chosen the leadership of Keir Starmer. Today our country with its proud history has chosen a brighter future."
