The Red revolution began with coffee and congratulations today as Keir Starmer gathered his new Cabinet.
Sir Keir and his jubilant senior ministers met in Downing Street for the first time after his dramatic landslide triumph, saying it had been the ‘honour and privilege of my life’ to be asked to form a government.
Flanked by deputy PM Angela Rayner, Sir Keir warned his team they have a ‘huge amount of work to do’.
Sir Keir is holding a press conference around lunchtime, although he is expected to take time to watch the England match later.
The premier appointed the Cabinet last night after the extraordinary scale of his victory – achieved despite Labour receiving fewer votes than under Jeremy Corbyn in 2017 – became clear.
Rachel Reeves has made history as the UK’s first woman Chancellor and Yvette Cooper is Home Secretary.
Sir Keir spoke to a host of foreign leaders last night, including reaffirming the ‘Special Relationship’ with Joe Biden and telling EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen he wanted ‘close cooperation’.
He has made clear the government will make good on its promise to ditch the Rwanda deportation plan, despite claims it was having an effect on Channel boats.
Meanwhile, incoming Health Secretary Wes Streeting has already opened talks with the BMA over the junior doctors’ strikes, sparking fears he could offer big concessions to their demands for 35 per cent pay hikes.
And new Transport Secretary Louise Haigh has pledged to nationalise Britain’s railways ‘as soon as possible’.
As Britain wakes up to a dramatically changed political map:
Sir Keir told Cabinet: ‘Look colleagues, it is absolutely fantastic to welcome you to the Cabinet, our first meeting.
‘And it was the honour and privilege of my life to be invited by the King, His Majesty the King yesterday to form a government and to form the Labour Government of 2024.
‘And now we hold our first Cabinet meeting. So I welcome you to it.
‘We have a huge amount of work to do, so now we get on with our work.’
Sir Keir made a raft of appointments last night as he swapped places with defeated Rishi Sunak and basked in the blow of Labour’s historic landslide.
He stayed at his London home with wife Victoria last night, but is expected to move into Downing Street soon.
The PM confirmed Ms Reeves as Britain’s first woman chancellor, Yvette Cooper as Home Secretary and David Lammy as Foreign Secretary.
Ms Rayner has officially become his Deputy Prime Minister and retained the levelling up, housing and communities brief.
John Healey was named Defence Secretary; Shabana Mahmood Justice Secretary; Wes Streeting Health Secretary; Bridget Phillipson Education Secretary; and Ed Miliband Energy Secretary.
In surprise moves, former government science chief Patrick Vallance – a familiar face from Covid press conferences – has been given a peerage and made science minister.
James Timpson, a campaigner on prisons reform and also head of the key-cutting and shoe repairs firm, has also been elevated and made prisons minister.
But Emily Thornberry has been snubbed for the job of Attorney General, which she shadowed in Opposition. Instead a close ally of Sir Keir, Richard Hermer KC, has been handed the role.
After 649 of the 650 Commons seats declared Labour has a majority of 176.
Labour had 412 seats and the Tories 121, the worst result in the Conservative Party’s history.
The Liberal Democrats won 71 seats, while Reform netted five.
A recount in the last seat left to declare: Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire; will not start until 10.30am on Saturday, delaying the final result of the General Election.
In his first speech on Downing Street, Sir Keir said the British people had voted ‘decisively for change’.
He said the country could ‘move forward together’ as Labour took office following 14 years of Conservative rule.
Mr Streeting posted on social media last night: ‘I have just spoken over the phone with the BMA junior doctors committee, and I can announce that talks to end their industrial action will begin next week.
‘We promised during the campaign that we would begin negotiations as a matter of urgency, and that is what we are doing.’
Pat McFadden, who played a central role in shaping Labour’s election campaign and was named Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said the new Cabinet would meet on Saturday.
He told BBC Radio 4 that Sir Keir would have to quickly allocate responsibilities and ‘give his new Cabinet their marching orders and then there’s big international events coming.
‘We have a Nato summit next week. That will be his first moment on the international stage. And while he’s doing that, he will want his new Cabinet to get on with it pretty quickly.’
He said high on Sir Keir’s agenda will be the six first steps Labour has set out: delivering economic stability, cutting NHS waiting times, launching a new border security command, setting up Great British Energy, cracking down on anti-social behaviour, and recruiting 6,500 new teachers.
Just days after his appointment, Sir Keir will be propelled onto the international stage, jetting to Washington DC for the Nato leaders’ summit, where discussions will include support for Ukraine.
He is also due to host the European Political Community summit in the UK on July 18.
The PM and Mr Biden and discussed their commitment to the special relationship between the UK and US, protecting the gains of the Good Friday Agreement and support for Ukraine.
Sir Keir also spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and reassured him of the ‘unwavering commitment’ and said the UK would continue supplying defensive support.
He had calls Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
He also talked to Irish premier Simon Harris, who accepted an invitation to visit Downing Street on July 17 and Scottish First Minister John Swinney.