Following the Labour Party's landslide victory in the UK Elections 2024, the new parliament was sworn in on July 9 and is now open for business. Making his first address as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Sir Keir Starmer welcomed his Party and one of the "most diverse parliaments this country has seen".
Furthermore, the Conservative sat on the opposition after 14 years as former PM and party leader Rishi Sunak welcomed the new ruling party as the interim leader of the opposition.
UK Parliament: Starmer Welcomes 'Most Diverse Parliament'
For the first time in 14 years, the Labour Party has moved to the opposite side of the House of Commons and formed the ruling party.
Kicking off the new parliament, newly elected PM Keir Starmer welcomed the most diverse parliament the UK has ever seen in terms of race and gender.
As per the House of Commons library, 40 percent of the MPs in the chamber as now women. a record 263 women MPs were elected in this election, up from 220 in 2019.
Meanwhile, 90 MPs are from minority ethnic backgrounds (14 percent), an increase from 66 five years ago. Of this, 25 MPs are from a Muslim background.
In his first speech as UK PM, Starmer "vowed to put an end to a politics that has too often seemed self-serving" and replace it with "the politics of service".
After opening the parliament, Starmer headed for the United States to attend the NATO Summit 2024 in Washington DC.
UK Parliament: Rishi Sunak Takes Charge As Interim Opposition Leader
Following his resignation as Prime Minister and the leader of the Conservative Party, Sunak took charge as the interim leader of opposition as he welcomed the Labour Party as the ruling government.
For the time being, Sunak will serve as the opposition leader until the Conservative elect a new leader to replace the Indian-origin MP.
Rishi Sunak repeated his apology to the Conservative MPs who were not re-elected in the national elections and vowed to take up the role of opposition "professionally, effectively, and humbly".
