Saturday’s front pages lead on Labour’s landslide victory as Sir Keir Starmer promises to build a “government of service” after becoming the UK’s first Labour prime minister since 2010. The Guardian offers a special souvenir issue to mark the 2024 general election, as it quotes the new PM’s address to the nation: “We will fight everyday until you believe again.”
The Daily Express urges its readers to “be gracious in defeat” as it notes Sir Keir’s “historic victory”. It goes on to picture outgoing Conservative Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, and his wife Akshata Murty, as the paper says Mr Sunak showed “generosity of spirit and true graciousness” in one of his last acts as PM.
The Times also reports on Labour’s electoral performance, with the new government gaining a parliamentary majority of 174 seats – the largest since Tony Blair’s landslide in 1997. The paper goes on to direct readers to a 24-page election results special.
The front page of the Daily Mirror, which supported Sir Keir’s campaign, says a lot with few words. “Now we begin,” is its headline, as the paper pictures the new prime minister and his wife smiling and waving outside the door to No 10.
“Now he has to deliver” leads the Daily Mail. The newspaper says Sir Keir secured a “loveless landslide on just 34% of the vote”. Sir Keir’s share of votes increased by less than two percentage points since the 2019 election, but his party gathered 63% of seats in Parliament. Conservatives trailed behind obtaining 24% of votes, while Reform UK, Liberal Democrats and Green parties won 14%, 12% and 7% of votes respectively.
In its weekend edition the Financial Times reports that big-name exits after the general election have thinned the field of eligible replacements for Mr Sunak as Tory leader, with Penny Mordaunt and Grant Shapps among those to lose their seats. But in its lead is a buoyant Sir Keir, who has pledged to prioritise the UK’s economic growth.
The i newspaper leads with a snippet from Sir Keir’s speech outside No 10, as he addressed the nation saying “politics can be a force for good”. It lays out Sir Keir’s Cabinet appointments, while picturing the Conservative party’s “casualty list”, as “big beasts” like Jacob Rees-Mogg and Liz Truss lost their seats.
The Daily Star pictures King Charles’s encounter with Sir Keir as the King formally invited him to form the next government. But the paper’s main focus is the England versus Switzerland Euro 2024 match later on Saturday.
The Daily Telegraph leads on incoming Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s remarks on the state of the health service his government is inheriting. “The NHS is broken,” it quotes him as saying. In its report the paper says Sir Keir has “killed off the Rwanda deportation plan”, which is in line with the new prime minister’s stance throughout his electoral campaign.