“We have a mountain to climb” say the English, when a difficult test awaits them. Which means: We have a (whole) mountain to climb. The same saying was repeated every now and then by Keir Starmer as leader of the opposition Labor Party on his arduous journey to power. The goal has been achieved with the above. “He’s just climbed Mount Everest and now he’s rocketing into space,” says Sky News’ well-known reporter Beth Rigby of Starmer, commenting on Labour’s emphatic victory in the general election.

On the same wavelength and many other commentators: “historic”, “monumental”, “unprecedented” characterizes the victory of the British Social Democrats, after 14 years of omnipotence of the Conservative Party. On Friday, Keir Starmer officially received an order to form a government from King Charles. The 61-year-old Labor leader secures 410 MPs in the House of Commons out of a total of 650, which is almost double what Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson had in 2019.

“The Labor Party has enough seats to be in government and in opposition at the same time,” commented journalist Ian Dale with a mocking tone. “Great Britain sees red” is the Sun headline. Peter Mandelson, prominent Labor leader and former minister, speaks of a “meteor” that hit London.

“Huge challenges” for Starmer

On the other hand, outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party suffered a painful defeat. His parliamentary group is shrinking and now has 131 members, fewer than ever, while until now it had almost three times as many MPs. Sunak has already announced his resignation from the leadership of the party.

An easy task for the new Labor prime minister?Anand Menon, professor of political science at King’s College London, points out that things will not be so simple. “Labour faces huge challenges and is supported by a majority that is very broad, but also vulnerable. One can easily perceive the dangers lurking”, as he points out.

Keir Starmer’s first concern will be to hold together the many and disparate tendencies of the party. Comparing Labor with the German Social Democratic Party (SPD), one finds that it is a clearly broader political formation, stretching from the fringes of the Left to the most conservative wing of social democracy. As Labor continues its march to the Centre, it is certain to face a backlash from left-wing MPs rallying around former party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who was badly beaten by Boris Johnson in the 2019 general election and then floundered by Keir Starmer.

Above all, however, Starmer must do his best to convince those who did not support him out of conviction, but voted for him to end a chaotic 14-year Conservative government, marred by economic stagnation and various scandals. Before the first six polls were even announced on Thursday night, John Curtis, a professor at Strathclyde University in Glasgow and an “authority” on opinion polls, concluded that this election was “not won by Labor, lost by the Conservatives”.

The particularities of the electoral law

The particularities of the electoral law in Great Britain contributed to all of this, which provides for a pure majority system in all districts. Thus, Keir Starmer’s party appears to be reaching a two-thirds majority in the House of Commons, although their vote share is well below 50%. It should be noted that the Liberals are strengthened by quintupling their number of seats, while the ethno-populist Reform UK party also wins 13 seats for the first time. “As the governing party Labor will have to work hard to keep all those who voted for them in this election with them,” says Sky News reporter Beth Rigby.

There are many pending matters. The NHS has collapsed, housing shortages are huge, prisons are overcrowded. The existing workforce is not enough to meet the needs, the British people have not overcome the consequences of Brexit, the trust of citizens in politicians is being eroded. On top of that, there are no resources to finance the necessary state investments. Labor says it will scrap tax breaks for private schools and wealthy foreigners, while taxing the “excess profits” of energy giants. However, for households, which are suffering the biggest tax burden for decades, nothing is expected to change.

Edited by: Yiannis Papadimitriou