For more than a decade, Britain has been governed by the Conservative Party, which pushed its politics to the right, embracing smaller government and Brexit. Last week, that era officially came to an end. Mark Landler, the London bureau chief for The Times, explains why British voters rejected the Conservatives and what their defeat means in a world where populism is on the rise.
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From the New York Times, I'm Natalie Kitroweth, and this is the daily for more than a decade, Britain has been governed by conservatives who push the UK to the right, embracing smaller government and Brexit.
Last week, that era officially came to an end.
My colleague Mark Landler explains why UK voters rejected the conservative party and what a win by the british left means in a world where right wing populism is on the rise.
It's Wednesday, July 10.
Mark, hi.
Welcome back to the show.
Hi there, Natalie.
I want to start this conversation by just asking you to help us break down what exactly happened in the UK elections last week.
Well, the top line was the conservative party, which has been in government here for 14 years, was swept out in a resounding landslide by the labor party.
So remember, the Conservatives, often known as the Tories, are the right of center parties.
Labor is traditionally the left of center party, closely allied with the trade unions.
So what happened in this election is that labor won more than 400 seats in the parliament, compared to only 121 seats for the Conservatives.
And so that puts the labor leader Keir Starmer into ten Downing street as the prime minister.