Fourteen years. Five prime ministers. Economic crisis, wars, Brexit, a pandemic. Now Britain turns the page as LabourBritain's main left-of-centre political party. wins its first election in almost two decades.

As of 10am, Labour's majority is the second-biggest since 1945.¹ Meanwhile the ConservativesA traditionally right-wing or centre right political party in the UK. Members are sometimes called Tories. have suffered their worst result in history, with 23% of the vote and just 120 seats so far. 

At least 10 members of the cabinetThe senior ministers in a government, who attend regular direct meetings with the prime minister. have lost their seats, including Penny MordauntA British Conservative politician who ran to be leader twice in 2022. , potential leadership candidate. In all the elections before this one, only 12 cabinet ministers had ever been unseated.²

But Labour did not get it all their own way. Their 34% of the vote was only slightly higher than in their crushing 2019 defeat.³

And both parties will now be threatened by Nigel Farage's ReformMaking big changes to how a system works. Party as he becomes an MPMember of Parliament. There are 650 MPs representing people in different areas of the UK. for the first time.

So what will happen next?

The result is likely to fuel demands for proportional representation. Labour won a third of the vote but 63% of the seats in the House of CommonsThe democratically elected house of the UK Parliament. It consists of 650 Members of Parliament. . The Liberal DemocratsAlso known as the Lib Dems, a liberal political party in the UK. have won 71 seats on 12% of the vote, while Reform picked up just four on 14%.⁴

For centuries, the Conservatives have dominated Britain's political right. Now, for the first time, that space is open to challenge. Reform may try to replace the Conservatives or merge with them.

One of the most successful political parties in the world may vanish almost overnight.

With his massive majority and a loyal party, Keir Starmer is now one of the most powerful prime ministers in history. Supporters are optimistic he can use that power to fix a broken country.

But the size of that majority could cause its own problems. Labour now represents a wide array of constituencies with differing views. Some want Labour to tax the rich, while others are the rich. It cannot keep them all happy.

Either way, Labour cannot afford overconfidence. Starmer enters office the least popular a new prime minister has ever been. Three in five people say they dislike him.⁵ It is not a good starting point for a government that will have to make unpopular choices.

And it will immediately have to weather a series of crises: prisons bursting at the seams, Thames WaterA private company responsible for supplying water to and treating waste water from Greater London and some other areas. collapsing, public sector pay demands, universities going bankrupt.

If the voters are unhappy with their choices, they could take away this big majority as easily as they gifted it.

Will Labour revive Britain?

Yes: Labour has been itching for this moment for two decades. Starmer is a competent leader who gets things done. The party can get to grips with the crisis and deliver a new age.

No: Britain's crisis is deep and lasting, and will take a lot of spending to solve. Labour has put itself in a straitjacket by refusing to raise taxes or borrow money. It does not have any way of solving our problems.

Or... Labour may look powerful but with just a third of the vote, it has not yet won the legitimacy for a drastic transformation of the country. Now begins the task of persuasion.