UK GENERAL ELECTION 2024 LIVE: Sir Keir Starmer To Hold First Cabinet Meeting Today As Recount Is Due From 10.30am In Last Of 650 Seats After Tory Wipeout

A photographer has spotted a removal van from ‘Bishop’s Move’ arriving at the rear of Downing Street this morning as Sir Keir Starmer moves into Number 10:

Just days after his appointment, Sir Keir Starmer 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 Prime Minister has already spoken to US President Joe 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 with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, 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.

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 today.

He told BBC Radio 4 that Sir Keir Starmer 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.

In his first speech on Downing Street yesterday, 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.

Read his full speech on MailOnline here:

A recount in the last remaining undeclared seat in the 2024 General Election will begin this morning, amidst reports the SNP candidate has already conceded defeat.

Despite an initial count on Thursday night and a recount yesterday, the result of the contest in Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire remains undecided.

A further recount is due to commence at 10.30am, with the SNP’s Drew Hendry locked in a close battle with Liberal Democrat candidate Angus MacDonald.

The BBC reported last night that Mr Hendry had conceded defeat ahead of the count, and that the seat is expected to become the Liberal Democrats’ sixth in Scotland.

This would come as a further blow to the SNP in what has been a bruising election for the nationalists, having lost 39 of the 48 seats they won in 2019, mainly to a resurgent Labour.

After 649 of the 650 Commons seats had been declared, Labour had 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.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is expected to hold the first meeting of his new Cabinet today as he looks to start working on Labour’s manifesto pledges and preparing for a Nato summit next week.

Sir Keir made a raft of appointments on his first day at Number 10 and spoke with international leaders, including US President Joe Biden.

The Prime Minister confirmed Rachel Reeves as Britain’s first woman chancellor, Yvette Cooper as Home Secretary and David Lammy as Foreign Secretary.

Angela Rayner officially became 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.

Today’s Daily Mail leads with the headline: ‘Now he has to deliver’. The front page also declares Labour’s 34 per cent of the vote as a ‘Loveless Landslide’:

We’ll start with a look at today’s top story on MailOnline – which is that Tory members have bemoaned of a ‘Boris-shaped hole’ in the party and are a demanding a candidate to challenge Nigel Farage and succeed Rishi Sunak as the party’s leader:

Good morning and welcome to MailOnline’s live coverage on Saturday morning after Sir Keir Starmer took the keys to Downing Street.

Voters handed Labour a landslide victory in the General Election as Sir Keir took over from Rishi Sunak, who vacated No 10 after the Conservatives suffered a crushing defeat after 14 years in power.

Stay with MailOnline’s election liveblog throughout today for all the latest updates.