UK politics
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UK election
UK election 2024 LIVE updates: Labour set to form majority government as polls close
The polls have closed in the UK and Keir Starmer’s Labour Party is poised to take power, sweeping away Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives after 14 years.
- by Rob Harris, Jessica McSweeney, Nick Ralston and Angus Thomson
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Analysis
Analysis
Celebrations will be short-lived for Starmer, staring down Britain’s monumental challenges
Britain’s new prime minister faces perhaps the most monumental challenges of any incoming UK leader since Clement Attlee’s Labour Party won in a landslide in 1945.
- by Rob Harris
Analysis
UK election
So long UK Conservatives, and thanks for all the memes
The tumultuous Thatcher years were memorialised in song and literature, but this current generation of Tories are probably best forgotten.
- by Rob Harris
Updated
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‘A new chapter’: Labour forecast for record-breaking win as polls open in UK election
Rupert Murdoch’s The Sun newspaper has endorsed the opposition Labour Party rather than Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives.
- by Rob Harris
JK Rowling, David Tennant clash over gender issues in UK election
The stoush between the entertainers comes amid a now-familiar political debate on transgender policy, with the issue becoming a key battleground in the UK election.
- by Rob Harris
Analysis
Analysis
Bregrets? They’ve got a few. Most Brits now think leaving EU was a mistake
As Britons head to the polls this week, a majority think that leaving the European Union has delivered few benefits.
- by Rob Harris
Rishi Sunak hurt and angry over Reform volunteer’s racial slur
Nigel Farage said he was dismayed by the language but later said the volunteer was an actor involved in “a political setup” to undermine his party.
- by Alistair Smout and Andrew MacAskill
‘Farage our saviour?’ Divisive Brit’s bid to win over his country’s worst resort town
Long the butt of jokes, Clacton-on-Sea, a 90-minute train ride north-east of London, is at the forefront of British politics ahead of the July 4 election.
- by Rob Harris
‘Stupid error of judgement’: Labour candidate sacked for betting against himself to win
Kevin Craig said he had intended to give “any winnings to local charities” when he made the bet a few weeks ago “when I thought I would never win this seat”.
- by Rob Harris
Opinion
UK election
I mentored the next British PM. Here’s what Australians need to know about him
Keir Starmer does not have the charisma of Boris Johnson or Tony Blair, but charisma in politicians is much overrated.
- by Geoffrey Robertson
Updated
UK election
Spike in bets on day before Rishi Sunak called election prompts probe of PM’s campaign
The allegations are another hammer blow for the 14-year-old government that polls predict is facing a catastrophic defeat on July 4.
- by Rob Harris