UK election latest: Cabinet announced - as Reform wins fifth seat after Farage speech sabotaged (2024)

Conservative peer Lord Patten has told Sky's Mark Austin that the Tories were "ruined" not by Rishi Sunak but by Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and others.

He said: "It is really important that the Conservative Party recognises that its first job is to be the loyal opposition.

"That means opposing when it thinks things are fundamentally wrong but recognising as patriots that it is in our interest that Starmer should make a success of clearing things up."

He said "you will get more of the Suella Braverman drivel over the next few weeks" which is a "very bad idea".

"Whoever is going to be leader should be as sensible and as responsible as William Hague was," he added.

"This is the oldest party in democratic history and it's now been reduced to rubble by awful fractures and lousy policies and a collapse of any sense of values.

"It hasn't been ruined by Rishi Sunak. It's been ruined by people like Boris Johnson and Liz Truss and others."

Sir Keir Starmer has appointed Richard Hermer KC as attorney general after making him a peer.

Mr Hermer is a high-profile human rights lawyer from Matrix Chambers.

The role had been expected to go to Emily Thornberry, who has served as shadow attorney general since 2021.

Our chief political correspondent Jon Craig says this was a "shock".

Ms Thornberry was criticised by the Tories during the election campaign for claiming the policy of ending tax breaks for private schools would mean bigger classes in state schools.

There will be pressure on the Tories not to rush the leadership election, to make sure they don't choose the wrong leader - which many of them would say they did with Liz Truss.

But we still have a system where the members pick the leader, the MPs select a final two and those two go on to a ballot of the party members.

Now, some leadership contenders have gone, including Grant Shapps and Penny Mordaunt.

So who are we left with? Kemi Badenoch, Suella Braverman and Robert Jenrick...

My tip would be James Cleverly.

I think he's had a good election campaign. He's a grown-up, he's had several senior cabinet posts and he's a very affable guy who will get on well with the party membership.

But of course, there will be three or four probably, at least, who put their hats in the ring.

And what about the bookies?

I was with Jeremy Hunt last night - talk about Houdini Hunt, he won by 891 votes - the bookies have drastically shortened the odds on Mr Hunt today.

Sir Alan Campbell has been appointed parliamentary secretary to the Treasury - or chief whip.

The 66-year-old won his seat in Tynemouth with a majority of 24,491, taking home a 50.6% share in the vote.

Before entering politics, Mr Campbell was a teacher. He was a government whip when Labour were last in government, and served as a parliamentary private secretary in the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Defence.

Darren Jones has been appointed chief secretary to the treasury.

Mr Jones was the first Darren to ever enter parliament when he won the Bristol North West seat in the 2017 election.

He was re-elected in 2019 and was chair of the business and trade select committee from 2020-2023. Since September 2023, he has been shadow chief secretary to the treasury.

Joe Biden has held a phone call with new Prime Minister Keir Starmer to congratulate him, according to the White House.

In a tweet after the conversation, the US president said: "Congratulations to Prime Minister Keir Starmer on becoming Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

"I look forward to our shared work in support of freedom and democracy around the world, and to further strengthening the special relationship between our two countries."

The UK is said to have a "special relationship" with the US and has always maintained close ties.

Sir Keir Starmer has appointed Baroness Smith as leader of the House of Lords and lord privy seal.

She previously served in the shadow cabinet in the same role.

Sir Keir Starmer has appointed Lucy Powell as leader of the House of Commons and lord president of the council.

A former chief of staff to Ed Miliband, Ms Powell won her seat in Manchester Central with a majority of 20,184.

She was appointed to the front bench under both Jeremy Corbyn and Sir Keir, being shadow housing secretary under the former and shadow secretary for digital, culture, media, and sport for two years under the latter.

By Tomos Evans, Wales reporter

The first minister of Wales has said it’s important to "take stock" of the results in Wales after a surge in support for Reform UK.

Labour won 27 out of 32 seats in Wales, but the party's overall vote share here dropped by 3.9%.

Reform finished second in nearly half of Labour's seats in Wales – 13 in total – and increased their vote share by 11.5%.

"I think all of us need to take stock of the results," Vaughan Gething told Sky News. "But the [Senedd] election in nearly two years' time has not been fought yet.

"We look forward to going into that with a record of delivery from the last 25 years and more.

"But much more than that, to renew faith yet again with the people of Wales, not to take them for granted, and to have a really positive offer about what we can do for Wales.

"We have always stood up for Wales, I look forward to doing that again and showing real ambition for our future."

'Feeling on the doorstep has been very, very different'

But Mr Gething said Labour had turned a corner after a "devastating" result for the party in 2019, crediting that with Sir Keir Starmer's leadership.

"[His leadership is] a really big factor in why people have chosen to trust the Labour party again," Mr Gething added.

"2019 was a devastating defeat for us. I remember knocking doors through the cold and the rain and the dark, and knowing the election results wouldn’t be good.

"This time around, the feeling on the doorstep has been very, very different."

Plaid Cymru won four seats for Wales and secured their best ever vote share at a general election, while the Liberal Democrats won back the seat of Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe.

David Lammy has outlined his first priorities as foreign secretary, saying he wants to "see a reset on Europe, a reset on our relationships with the Global South and a reset on climate".

He also says he wants to see "some gearshifts" on European security and global security "given all the problems we're seeing in the Middle East", as well as to "centre our foreign policy on British growth".

Addressing a question on whether Labour's position on Gaza lost the party seats, he says: "Clearly, many people across our country are distressed at the images that we have been seeing from Gaza over many, many months.

"All of us want to see an immediate ceasefire, and I will do all I can diplomatically to support Joe Biden in bringing about that ceasefire.

"We also want the hostages out, and we want unfettered aid to get into Gaza. And in the end, we must work towards that two-state solution and have a clear path to progress."

Asked if he regretted describing former US president Donald Trump as "a woman-hating, neo-Nazi sympathising sociopath", Mr Lammy says: "I will work with whomever the United States chooses to be their next president."