Who is new UK PM Keir Starmer? Rishi Sunak suffers defeat; Labour Party comes to power after 14 years

UK PM Elections 2024: Keir Starmer-led Labour Party is eyeing a landslide victory marking an end to the 14-year rule of the Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Exit polls indicated a resounding victory for the Labour Party, riding a wave of anti-incumbency.

Keir Starmer's promise to be the agent of change has appealed to voters in the UK as the Conservatives lost credibility amid post-Brexit economic crises, a string of scandals, and political upheaval, which saw five Conservative Prime Ministers in eight years.

UK Exit Polls suggest resounding victory of Labour Party

After the conclusion of UK General Elections voting, exit polls, on Thursday, indicated a landslide victory of the main opposition Labour Party.

The centre-left Labour would win 410 seats in the 650-seat House of Commons, marking its victory for the first time after 2010. The Keir Starmer-led party is likely grab power with a 170-seat majority, AFP reported.

Sunak's Tories would only get 131 -- a record low -- with the right-wing vote apparently spliced by Nigel Farage's anti-immigration Reform UK party, which could bag 13 seats.

The official results of the UK PM Elections are yet to be announced. Here's all you need to know about Keir Starmer, who is likely to be the next Prime Minister of the UK.

Who is Keir Starmer?

Keir Starmer has spent four years as opposition leader and steered Labour's ideological stance from the far left towards the political middle ground. Throughout the campaign, his message to voters has been that a Labour government will bring change. That probably reassured voters sceptical of Labour.

Starmer, who served as prosecutor for England and Wales between 2008 to 2013, was described by his political opponents as a“lefty London lawyer,” AP reported.

He was knighted for his role leading the Crown Prosecution Service, and Conservative opponents made use of the title Sir Keir Starmer to portray him as elite and out of touch.

Keir Starmer's humble background

Born in 1963, Starmer, who hails from a humble background, is the son of a toolmaker and a nurse, who named him after Keir Hardie, the Labour Party's first leader. One of the family's four children, he was raised in a cash-strapped household in a small town outside London, AFP reported.

An avid soccer fan, Starmer enjoys watching Premier League team Arsenal over a beer in his local pub. He prefers to keep his family away from media scrutiny. Starmer has two teenage children with his wife, who works in occupational health for the National Health Service.