Britain's incoming prime minister Keir Starmer said the fight for trust would be the "battle that defines our age”, and he would be judged on his ability to show politics could be a force for good in the world.
Starmer, set to lead a centre-left party into power as the far right makes gains in Europe, said his mandate from the British people was a "great responsibility", and he pledged to start work immediately to improve the country.
Outgoing PM Rishi Sunak, meanwhile, said on Friday he would resign as prime minister and Conservative Party leader after losing heavily to Starmer's Labour Party, leaving with an apology, a tribute to Britain and a call to protect “kindness, decency and tolerance”.
His defeat ends 14 years of Conservative government — a period marked by division, political instability and, more recently, economic pain.
“I have given this job my all but you have sent a clear signal the government of the UK must change and yours is the only judgment that matters,” Sunak said in a speech outside the prime minister's office in Downing Street.
“I have heard your anger, your disappointment and I take responsibility for this loss.”
Sunak spent 20 months in charge of the party, inheriting an economy suffering soaring inflation and a Conservative reputation badly damaged by a messy end to Boris Johnson's tenure and the even more chaotic, and brief, leadership of Liz Truss.
He called the election earlier than expected, banking on an improvement in economic data to help him close the gap with Labour, but failed to make any headway in a campaign beset by missteps and delivered the worst result in the party's history.
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