©(Claudia Greco/POOL/AFP)
Newly elected United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday began his first full day in office by declaring himself "restless for change" and pledging that growth would be his Labour government's "number one mission."
Starmer also confirmed his previously declared intention to end the outgoing Conservative government's flagship scheme to deport migrants to Rwanda.
"The Rwanda scheme was dead and buried before it started... I'm not prepared to continue with gimmicks that don't act as a deterrent," he told reporters following his first cabinet meeting.
The party on Friday won a landslide election victory, bringing to a close 14 years of Conservative rule.
The Labour leader told his top team, including Britain's first woman Finance Minister Rachel Reeves and new Foreign Minister David Lammy, it had been "the honor and the privilege of my life" to be invited by King Charles III to form the government.
"We have a huge amount of work to do, so now we get on with our work," he said to applause and smiles around the cabinet table.
Starmer spent his first hours in Downing Street on Friday appointing his ministerial team, hours after securing his center-left party's return to power with a whopping 174-seat majority in the UK parliament.
Notable lower-ranking appointments included Patrick Vallance, chief scientific government adviser during the Covid-19 pandemic, who has been made a Science Minister.
James Timpson, whose shoe repair company employs ex-offenders, was also made a Prisons Minister.
Both would be given seats in the upper house of parliament in order to join the government, as neither is an elected lawmaker.
Starmer said both new ministers were people "associated with change," who illustrate his determination to deliver concrete improvements to people's lives.
"I'm restless for change, and I think and hope that what you've already seen demonstrates that," he told reporters.
Flag-waving crowds of cheering Labour activists on Friday had welcomed Starmer to Downing Street.
But daunting challenges await his government, including a stagnating economy, creaking public services and households suffering from a years-long cost-of-living crisis.
World leaders lined up to congratulate the new British premier.
Starmer spoke by telephone with United States President Joe Biden and "discussed their shared commitment to the special relationship between the UK and the US and their aligned ambitions for greater economic growth," according to London.
He also spoke to President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.
However, former – and potentially future – US President Donald Trump ignored Starmer, instead hailing the electoral breakthrough of his ally Nigel Farage's far-right Reform UK party.
Its capture of five seats and around 14% of the vote, alongside Farage becoming an MP on his eighth attempt, was one of the election's major stories.
However, it paled in comparison to Labour's triumphs, as the party neared its record of 418 seats under former leader Tony Blair in 1997 by winning 412.
Helen Rowe, with AFP
Starmer also confirmed his previously declared intention to end the outgoing Conservative government's flagship scheme to deport migrants to Rwanda.
"The Rwanda scheme was dead and buried before it started... I'm not prepared to continue with gimmicks that don't act as a deterrent," he told reporters following his first cabinet meeting.
The party on Friday won a landslide election victory, bringing to a close 14 years of Conservative rule.
The Labour leader told his top team, including Britain's first woman Finance Minister Rachel Reeves and new Foreign Minister David Lammy, it had been "the honor and the privilege of my life" to be invited by King Charles III to form the government.
"We have a huge amount of work to do, so now we get on with our work," he said to applause and smiles around the cabinet table.
Starmer spent his first hours in Downing Street on Friday appointing his ministerial team, hours after securing his center-left party's return to power with a whopping 174-seat majority in the UK parliament.
Notable lower-ranking appointments included Patrick Vallance, chief scientific government adviser during the Covid-19 pandemic, who has been made a Science Minister.
James Timpson, whose shoe repair company employs ex-offenders, was also made a Prisons Minister.
Both would be given seats in the upper house of parliament in order to join the government, as neither is an elected lawmaker.
Starmer said both new ministers were people "associated with change," who illustrate his determination to deliver concrete improvements to people's lives.
"I'm restless for change, and I think and hope that what you've already seen demonstrates that," he told reporters.
Flag-waving crowds of cheering Labour activists on Friday had welcomed Starmer to Downing Street.
But daunting challenges await his government, including a stagnating economy, creaking public services and households suffering from a years-long cost-of-living crisis.
"Historic" result
World leaders lined up to congratulate the new British premier.
Starmer spoke by telephone with United States President Joe Biden and "discussed their shared commitment to the special relationship between the UK and the US and their aligned ambitions for greater economic growth," according to London.
He also spoke to President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.
However, former – and potentially future – US President Donald Trump ignored Starmer, instead hailing the electoral breakthrough of his ally Nigel Farage's far-right Reform UK party.
Its capture of five seats and around 14% of the vote, alongside Farage becoming an MP on his eighth attempt, was one of the election's major stories.
However, it paled in comparison to Labour's triumphs, as the party neared its record of 418 seats under former leader Tony Blair in 1997 by winning 412.
Helen Rowe, with AFP
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