The EU on Friday congratulated Keir Starmer on Labour’s election win in Britain, with Brussels foreseeing warmer ties with London — though little scope to change existing post-Brexit arrangements.

European Council President Charles Michel called Starmer’s victory “historic”, and stressed the EU and Britain “are crucial partners”.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen added she looked forward to working with Mr. Starmer “in a constructive partnership to address common challenges and strengthen European security.”

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Britain’s new Prime Minister has vowed to reduce trade frictions with the European Union, forge closer security arrangements — and relax travel restrictions for touring musicians.

But Mr. Starmer is also adamant his government will never reverse Brexit nor seek to be part of the European single market. His slogan is “Make Brexit Work”.

While that necessarily reduces the scope for better dealings, a more cooperative London will be greatly welcomed in Brussels, according to one EU official and one EU diplomat, both speaking on condition of anonymity.

A “return to internationalist policies” from London would be “refreshing”, the EU official said.

“If there is a different approach, one of cooperation and not with a hostile attitude, then things become easier — but not simpler,” the diplomat said.

They both warned all “easy” points of cooperation had already been hammered out and enshrined in a painstakingly negotiated 2020 EU-U.K. Trade and Cooperation Agreement and a 2023 Windsor Framework.

But even if the overall deal would not be changed, some aspects could have hard edges filed down, they and analysts said.

Defence cooperation

Those could include: easing some rules around plant and animal imports; Britain continually aligning with EU rules on chemicals and standards; opening up youth exchange programmes; and mutual recognition of professional qualifications.

One key area where both sides see a priority is close cooperation is defence.

Increased geopolitical instability, notably with Russia’s war in Ukraine, and the prospect of a new Donald Trump U.S. presidency — with fears America could retreat from its global security role — are fuelling that.

“It is in the interest of the EU and also the U.K.,” the EU diplomat said. “It would be interesting if the British come back on that issue with proposals.”

Mr. Michel said he would see Starmer on July 18 when Britain hosts a European Political Community summit “where we will discuss common challenges, including stability, security, energy and migration”.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas — tapped to become the EU’s next foreign policy chief — noted “the U.K.’s commitment to our common security” in her own congratulatory message to Mr. Starmer.

Mark Leonard, director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, a think tank, told AFP the surge in international volatility and the “big danger” of what a President Trump might do made shared defence “more relevant”.

Britain and 23 of the EU’s 27 member countries are in NATO, the usual forum for defence cooperation. But Mr. Trump during his 2017-2021 presidency called into question America’s commitment to the alliance.

No more ‘psychodrama’

While Britain under the Conservatives ended up taking a very arm’s-length stance with Brussels on ideological grounds of post-Brexit “sovereignty”, Starmer’s government is expected to shift to a “rational policy discussion” about U.K. interests, Leonard said.

The Tories, he said, grappled with a decades-long “psychodrama around Europe… which has destroyed the party”.

But Labour still has to bow to Britons’ general animosity to immigration, he cautioned.

“I think the only really, really strong red line is about returning to freedom of movement, because that’s the only clear signal which came out of the Brexit referendum,” he said.

Barry Colfer, director of research at the Institute of International and European Affairs, also said the result of the U.K. elections was not so prominent in Brussels’ thinking right now.

“What’s happening in France or even what’s happening in the U.S. I think plays a much more central role in the EU,” he said.

That said, European elites were “optimistic” about what Mr. Starmer’s stance would be, he added, anticipating a “generally more pragmatic, evidence-driven, constructive approach” with more diplomatic outreach than under his Tory predecessors.

“I can just see more enhanced cooperation in really obvious areas where it’s a win-win situation between the U.K. and the EU to cooperate: around climate change, and security, around scientific research, around digitalisation,” Mr. Colfer said.

Britain’s King Charles III, right, shakes hands with Keir Starmer where he invited the Labour Party leader to become prime minister and to form a new government, following the landslide general election victory for the Labour Party, in London, Friday, July 5, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

The U.K.’s Labour Party, led by Keir Starmer, won the July 4 general election by a landslide, securing 412 (+211) seats with outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party down to 121 (-250) seats in the 650-seat House of Commons. Nevertheless, the vote shares told a story of a more modest victory for Labour, while confirming the Conservative defeat, with Labour getting 35% and the Conservatives 24%. Labour had consistently polled 20 points head of the Conservatives in opinion polls.

“In many ways, this looks more like an election the Conservatives have lost than one Labour has won,” political scientist and psephologist John Curtice wrote on the BBC’s website.

Following Labour’s victory, King Charles III, the country’s monarch, appointed Mr. Starmer as the new Prime Minister of the U.K.

Standing outside London’s iconic Tate Modern in the early hours of Friday morning, the 61-year-old Mr. Starmer spoke of change — Labour’s central theme, reflecting “a changed Labour Party” and a change to 14 years of Tory government.

“And now we can look forward, walk into the morning, the sunlight of hope, pale at first, but getting stronger through the day, shining once again on a country with the opportunity — after 14 years — to get its future back,” he said.

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In Yorkshire, the outgoing Prime Minister Mr. Sunak, who managed to retain his own Richmond seat, conceded and took responsibility for the results. Mr. Sunak’s political future has been in doubt as some polls projected that he would lose his own seat.

“The Labour Party has won this general election and I’ve caught Sir Kier Starmer to congratulate him on his victory,” Mr. Sunak said, adding, that power would change hands “in a peaceful and orderly manner”.

Later, as he left No. 10 Downing Street for the last time, Mr. Sunak apologised to his supporters and said he would step down from the post of party Leader. Mr. Sunak, a 44-year-old father of two girls, asked the public to support Mr. Starmer and his family as they transition into No. 10. He also made a reference to his being the country’s first non-White British Prime Minister.

“One of the most remarkable things about Britain is just how unremarkable it is,” he said. “That two generations after my grandparents came here with little, I could become Prime Minister, and that I could watch my two young daughters light Diwali [Deepavali] candles on the steps in Downing Street,” he said.

Mr. Sunak and his wife, Akshata Murthy, were then driven to Buckingham Palace, to cheers and boos from onlookers. Mr. Sunak then offered his resignation to King Charles III.

With Mr. Sunak’s departure, the question of party leadership remains open. Former Leader of the House of Commons and a possible candidate for the leadership of the party, Penny Mordaunt, lost her Portsmouth North seat to Labour by a wafer-thin margin of 780 votes, ruling out her leadership run. Another possible contender, Jacob Reese-Mogg, also lost his seat as did several other high-profile Conservatives, including former Defence Secretary Grant Shapps, who lost his Hertfordshire seat. The education secretary, culture secretary, and justice secretary also lost their seats.

Across the Irish Sea, in Northern Ireland (NI), the Republican (i.e., seeking a united Ireland), Sinn Fein became the largest NI party in Westminster, retaining seven seats, while the Democratic and Unionist Party (DUP), won just five seats, a loss of three seats since 2019. Sinn Fein has had a majority in the NI Assembly since 2019 and is in favour of a Irish unification referendum by 2030.             

 In Scotland, the Scottish National Party woke up to bad news on Friday, winning just nine seats, a loss of 38. The pro-independence party, which has been governing Scotland for 17 years, lost the Westminster seats in the two major cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Former Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, won his seat of Islington North as an independent candidate. He said his victory was a warning to the incoming government that “dissent cannot be crushed without consequences”. Mr. Starmer suspended Mr. Corbyn from the party in 2020 for his response to an inquiry into antisemitism within the party. The Labour party lost four seats on Thursday to pro-Gaza independents. After Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7 and Israel’s counter-attack on Gaza, Mr. Starmer’s positions on the manner of Israel’s retaliation were criticized for being too soft on Israel. Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Jonathan Ashworth was among those who list his seat (South Leicester).

Friday morning was good for several other parties. The Liberal Democrats gained 63 seats, taking their tally to 71 seat. The Green Party won a record four seats. The Eurosceptic, anti-immigrant, Reform U.K. party won four seats, and its leader, Nigel Farage, won a seat after seven unsuccessful attempts. Mr. Farage was the de facto leader of Brexit movement.

“Conservative support fell most heavily in seats they were trying to defend. This is primarily the result of a large increase in Reform’s support, especially in places where there was a high Leave [the European Union] vote in 2016,” Mr. Curtice said.

Mr. Farage described the results as just the beginning of something larger.

“Believe me, folks, this is just the first step of something that is going to stun all of you,“ he said.