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The United Kingdom is under new leadership after an overwhelming victory by the Labour Party ousted the Conservatives after 14 years. The new Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, has already met with King Charles to formally accept the new role and taken up his post at No. 10 Downing Street – the UK equivalent of the White House.
The elections were called six weeks ago by former PM Rishi Sunak, who responded to pressure from negative polls. The UK’s election system offers its PM a 5-year term that allows the ruling party to call for an election at any time during the term. Sunak’s numbers at the time were on a brief upswing, but the slight surge in popularity was not enough to secure a victory. In fact, the Conservative Party wound up with the lowest number of Parliamentary seats in its history, leaving just 121 of 650 seats remaining in Tory control.
The road ahead
Prime Minister Starmer was welcomed into his new position by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales (CBCEW), in a letter penned by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, President of the Conference.
The cardinal offered his congratulations to the incoming PM, along with his assurance that Catholics will be praying for a successful term:
“On behalf of the Catholic community in England and Wales I should like to congratulate you on your victory in yesterday’s general election,” wrote Cardinal Nichols. “I assure you of my good wishes as you take up your new responsibilities in forming and leading a government.”
Cardinal Nichols, who is Archbishop of Westminster, acknowledged the “challenges of leadership" and reiterated the Catholic Church’s commitment to work constructively with the government in matters of education and the common good.
He highlighted PM Starmer’s previous statements about a desire to build a government that works with faith communities, noting that the Catholic Church stands “ready to play our part.”
“The Catholic Church has a long record of partnership with the UK Government, not least in the area of education where we run over 2,000 schools in conjunction with the state. We look forward to this continuing and to working constructively in this and other areas with you, your ministers, and officials.” Cardinal Nichols added, “I know that the road ahead is, perhaps, not the easiest one but I wish you well as you embark upon it. I will keep you and your family in my prayers.”
