Keir Starmer has victoriously made it to No10 – but must first meet with King Charles to be formally appointed Prime Minister.The Labour leader, 61, will travel to Buckingham Palace today where he will be asked to form a Government by the King, after bringing an end to 14 long years of Conservative rule. Mr Starmer will be the third PM during the monarch’s reign, after Tory’s Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, whose stint in charge was the shortest in British history.
But it will be the first time Charles, 75, has appointed a prime minister following a general election. As Head of State, it is the King’s duty to appoint a PM and he must choose someone who can command the confidence of the House of Commons. This is usually the leader of the party with the overall majority of seats – in this case, Mr Starmer.
The King has travelled from Scotland to Windsor Castle, following a busy run of engagements in Edinburgh for Holyrood Week, to be on standby for the private meeting. The Court Circular, the official record of royal engagements which is published the next day, will record that the politician was requested to form ‘a new administration’ and ‘kissed hands on appointment’.
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