UK politics live: David Lammy and Keir Starmer congratulate Trump as Labour splits over US election – UK Times

Sir Conor Burns, former minister of state for trade and for Northern Ireland, has weighed in on Kemi Badenoch’s shadow cabinet.

Ms Badenoch named her full shadow cabinet this morning. But Sir Conor, who served as MP for Bournemouth West between 2010 and 2024, says it “won’t necessarily be a government-in-waiting”.

In a post on X, Sir Conor said: “Anyone watching the rest of the front bench formation @KemiBadenoch is doing and raising any eyebrows should remember: she only has 121 MPs.

“To fill the vacancies 3/4 of them will get jobs. Some are too old, uninterested or unappointable.

“So it won’t necessarily be a Govt-in-waiting. But it doesn’t have to be. It has to be an effective opposition to start with. And above all it has to be a team.”

The Trump camp’s recent accusations of Labour interference in the US election lifted the lid on the deep animosity that the MAGA Republicans have for Starmer, his party and his government.

The fallout had undone months of meticulous diplomacy by Labour preparing for this possible eventuality, which had culminated a few weeks ago with what seemed to be a positive meeting between Starmer and Trump in New York.

But the problem Labour has always faced is that their efforts have been led by a foreign secretary David Lammy who described Trump “a neo-Nazi sociopath”.

Starmer also faces a problem that Britain will no longer be seen as Europe’s bridge to America with a Trump administration in the White House.

One of the funniest lines in the comic subplot that was the Conservative leadership contest was the “yellow card” system: a rule announced by Bob Blackman, the chair of the 1922 Committee, which ran the MPs’ stage of the ballot, to deter personal attacks.

Blackman said: “The constant backfighting and attacking was one of the contributing reasons why the party did so badly at the general election. We are determined we will not tolerate that.”

In the end, no yellow cards were issued – not even when Kemi Badenoch brought her opponent down with a cynical professional foul in the dying moments of the contest. She said, in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph the weekend before the close of voting: “With me you’d have a leader where there’s no scandal. I was never sacked for anything, I didn’t have to resign in disgrace or, you know, because there was a whiff of impropriety.”

The Independent’s chief political commentator John Rentoul writes:

Tariffs are “probably one of the first things that Britain will notice” under a Donald Trump presidency, Bronwen Maddox, director of the Chatham House think-tank, has suggested.

Ms Maddox warned that tariffs will be “not good” for the “economic growth that Keir Starmer is putting so much weight on”, saying: “We don’t know how quickly Trump will move on it, but I would think very quickly – it’s one of the things he’s promised his followers.”

She added: “We don’t quite know what the tariffs will be and on which goods. Goods on China going into the US will hit global growth and tariffs on other countries like Europe and the UK, they will affect our ability to sell things to the US.

“So it’s not good for exactly the kind of economic growth that Keir Starmer is putting so much weight on.”

The London mayor said: “I know that many Londoners will be anxious about the outcome of the US Presidential election. Many will be fearful about what it will mean for democracy and for women’s rights, or how the result impacts the situation in the Middle East or the fate of Ukraine. Others will be worried about the future of Nato or tackling the climate crisis.

“London is – and will always be – for everyone. We will always be pro-women, pro-diversity, pro-climate and pro-human rights.

“London is a place where we’re proud of our diversity, proud of the contribution of all our communities and proud of our spirit of unity. These are some of the values that will continue to bind us together as Londoners.”

“The lesson of today is that progress is not inevitable. But asserting our progressive values is more important than ever – re-committing to building a world where racism and hatred is rejected, the fundamental rights of women and girls are upheld, and where we continue to tackle the crisis of climate change head on.”

Bronwen Maddox, director of the Chatham House international affairs think-tank, has predicted that Donald Trump will be “magnanimous” in victory with the UK – but warned there could be a “fly in the ointment”.

She said: “Keir Starmer’s got his statement out very quickly using the phrase ‘special relationship’, talking about all the ways the UK wants to work with the US.

“He and David Lammy have put in quite a lot of time getting to know Republicans around Trump as well as Trump himself.

“But Trump does bear a grudge, so whether David Lammy’s past remarks … or the Labour activists going over, it is possible that that is a fly in the ointment.

“But my guess is that Trump will be magnanimous and receive with pleasure all these calls he gets from other heads of state.”

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey has warned of a “dark, dark day for people around the globe” as “dangerous, destructive demagogue” Donald Trump appeared on course to lead the world’s largest economy and most powerful military.

Sir Ed said: “The next President of the United States is a man who actively undermines the rule of law, human rights, international trade, climate action and global security. Millions of Americans – especially women and minorities – will be incredibly fearful about what comes next. We stand with them.

“Families across the UK will also be worrying about the damage Trump will do to our economy and our national security, given his record of starting trade wars, undermining NATO and emboldening tyrants like Putin.

“Fixing the UK’s broken relationship with the EU is even more urgent than before. We must strengthen trade and defence cooperation across Europe to help protect ourselves from the damage Trump will do.

“Now more than ever, we must stand up for the core liberal values of equality, democracy, human rights and the rule of law – at home and around the world.”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has said that Donald Trump is going to be a “genuine radical”.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “He’s going to be a genuine radical.

“What you are going to see from this Trump administration, and I’m guessing that Elon Musk will be the man that is tasked to do it – is there will be a big fightback against the administrative bureaucratic state which is far too big, far too powerful and actually very undemocratic.”

He added: “What is very interesting about the Trump movement is that it’s critics call it all sorts of nasty names, the truth is in many ways it’s bringing Americans together.”

Foreign secretary David Lammy has offered his congratulations to Donald Trump.

“The UK has no greater friend than the US, with the special relationship being cherished on both sides of the Atlantic for more than 80 years,” he said on X.

“We look forward to working with you and JD Vance in the years ahead.”

In 2017, Mr Lammy said he would protest if “racist and KKK/neo-Nazi sympathiser Trump” visited London.

Tory former Brexit negotiator David Frost has hailed what he called a “very welcome victory” for Donald Trump, which he said had come at a “crucial time for the West”.

Lord Frost said: “For the first time, across all our countries, there are real signs of pushback against the conventional wisdom of recent years.

“Trump’s victory strengthens this decisively and sets a different course: to dismantle the over-mighty bureaucratic state, control our borders, protect free speech, stand up for historical and biological reality, end disastrous net zero policies, and get the West’s foreign and defence policies in line with our actual capabilities.

“A Harris victory would have seen another doubling down on all the policies that got us into this mess. That’s why so many progressives are so disappointed this morning: they know their ideas are on the way out, and not before time.”