London, UK - July 4, 2024

Storyline:
Political analysts warn the new UK government led by the Labour Party's Keir Starmer faces a difficult time ahead in addressing multiple issues left unresolved by the Conservatives despite achieving an historic landslide in Thursday's general election.

Starmer officially became the new British prime minister on Friday after Labour won a massive outright majority in the vote, while outgoing Conservative leader Rishi Sunak saw his party record their worst ever electoral performance.

In an election night event at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), analysts gave their reaction after the exit poll released immediately after the polls closed on Thursday evening showed Starmer was on course for a resounding victory.

Laura Serra, a research officer at the LSE's Electoral Psychology Observatory, said that after 14 years in power, the Conservatives have failed to to meet voters' expectations in addressing key issues like Brexit, rising living costs, and immigration controls.

Despite Labour's considerable winning margin, politics professor Tony Travers said that the party - which has not governed since 2010 - is now left with the daunting task of addressing a series of longstanding issues, including revitalizing the economy, managing immigration, and enhancing public services.

Since becoming Labour leader four years ago, Starmer has overseen a shift in the party's direction as he sought to lead it towards government, and despite ousting the Conservatives from power, Travers believes there is unlikely to be any substantial changes under a Labour administration in the UK.

Shotlist:
London, UK - July 4, 2024 :
1. Various of lecture hall for election night event, attendees in discussion;
2. Screen showing broadcast of exit poll result;
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Laura Serra, research officer, Electoral Psychology Observatory, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) (ending with shot 4):
"I think the most important reason is that this country has had a Conservative government for such a long time. And this government hasn't really delivered on the policies that people were expecting them to deliver. All the voters that chose them because of immigration are disappointed. All the voters that chose them because of economic competence are disappointed. And so Labour has managed to get this landslide, not so much because the population has suddenly become really left-wing, rather because the population is just really upset with the way that this government has behaved.";
4. Sign of polling station on tree;
5. Election night lecture in progress;
6. Politics Professor Tony Travers speaking;
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Tony Travers, professor of politics, LSE:
"[For] the Labour Party, the first challenge it faces is that the UK economy hasn't been growing very fast in recent years. So it's got to try to get growth up. They promise to get growth up, which is a very major commitment and a very difficult thing to do.";
8. Polling station signs on notice board;
9. Direction sign of poling station;
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Tony Travers, professor of politics, LSE (ending with shots 11-13):
"The policies on offer from the Labour Party are not different from those that the Conservative Party was offering or has been running. The truth is there isn't that much public money to spend on new services. The amount of resources they've got to spend on new services or changing it much is limited. So, it doesn't give any party taking power a lot of freedom to move away a lot from what the previous government was offering and delivering.";
London, UK - July 4-5, 2024
11. Various of UK national flag, Palace of Westminster, Big Ben;
London, UK - July 4, 2024
12. Polling station signs on noticeboard;
13. Voter walking into polling station.

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