The recently concluded General Election in the United Kingdom on Thursday experienced the lowest voter turnout in the country since 2001.
According to reports, the election had an overall turnout of 59.9%, a sharp decrease from the 67.3% that voted at the 2019 election.
It was the worst turnout at a general election since 2001, when just 59.4% showed up to the polls – the lowest since before World War II.
The Guardian UK reports that turnout remained above 75% at every post-war general election until 1970, when it fell to 72.0%. It stayed above 70% until plunging in 2001, and has never risen above 70% since then.
The highest turnout at a general election since the war was in 1950, when 83.9% voted
SaharaReporters had reported how Hon Keir Starmer gave his first speech as the newly elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on Friday.
Starmer, who addressed the mammoth crowd shortly after meeting King Charles at Buckingham Palace on Friday, promised that his government would deliver the needed reforms and changes in the British socio-political landscape.
He had said, “If I ask you now, do you believe Britain would be better for your children, I know many of you would say ‘No’. So my government would fight every day until you believe again. From now on, you have a government unbothered by doctrine, guided by the only determination to serve your interests. You have given us a clear mandate and we will use it to deliver change.”
Rishi Sunak earlier on Friday resigned as prime minister after meeting the monarch.
In his resignation speech, Sunak said he would also step down as Conservative Party leader, but not immediately.
Starmer earlier pledged to usher in a new era of change in Britain after his party’s victory in the parliamentary election, bringing an end to 14 years of Conservative rule.
With a significant majority in the 650-seat parliament, Labour has secured a landslide win, giving the Conservatives a historic defeat.
The Nigerian president, Bola Tinubu had also sent his congratulatory message to the new Prime Minister, Keir Starmer.