Keir Starmer, who prioritized fighting antisemitism in Labour Party, set to lead Britain after landslide win
Labour Party leader Keir Starmer speaks in London following the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s announcement that it has concluded its monitoring of the Labour Party, Feb. 15, 2023. (Stefan Rousseau/PA Images via Getty Images)
(JTA) — Keir Starmer, a centrist who worked to fight antisemitism in his party, is about to be the next British prime minister following Labour’s landslide victory in British elections Thursday.
Labour’s win, tallying 410 seats out of the 650 in parliament according to a highly-regarded exit poll, ends 14 years of Conservative rule in the United Kingdom. The defeat for the Conservatives, who are projected to win just 131 seats, is the worst in its nearly two-century history. Reform UK, a populist right-wing party, is projected to win 13 seats, while the centrist Liberal Democrats were expected to win 61.
Several of the Conservative Party’s senior figures lost their races, including the U.K.’s Jewish defense secretary, Grant Shapps, who took the post less than a year ago. The political future of the incumbent prime minister, Rishi Sunak, is uncertain.
Starmer took the helm of Labour following its electoral defeat in 2019 under Jeremy Corbyn, a staunchly left-wing leader and harsh critic of Israel. Under Corbyn’s leadership, he and the party faced repeated allegations of antisemitism, and lost Jewish supporters in droves.
Starmer, whose wife, Victoria, is Jewish, worked to pull the party more to the center, including by making a concerted effort to root out antisemitism. Labour blocked Corbyn from running with the party and implemented the recommendations of a government commission investigating antisemitism in its ranks. (During this election, Corbyn ran as an independent in his constituency. It was unclear as of Thursday night whether he won his race.)
“I’ve changed the Labour Party,” Starmer wrote on X earlier on Thursday. “If you put your trust in me by voting Labour, I will change the country.”
A poll of British Jews found that they were expected to vote for Labour in slightly higher numbers than the overall electorate.
Israel came up during the campaign, as pro-Palestinian Labourites protested Starmer’s support for Israel. And in the final days of the campaign, the Conservatives attacked Starmer for signing off work at 6 p.m. on Friday for dinner with his family. The attack drew backlash from Jewish commentators, as Starmer has said for years that the family welcomes Shabbat together.
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