Britain’s Head of State, King Charles III, officially appointed Labour leader Keir Starmer as Prime Minister on Friday during an audience at Buckingham Palace.
A photograph released by the palace showed the monarch shaking hands with Starmer, whose party achieved a landslide victory in the recent election.
Earlier, the King accepted the resignation of Conservative leader Rishi Sunak.
“The King received in audience The Right Honourable Sir Keir Starmer MP today and requested him to form a new Administration,” a palace statement read. “Sir Keir accepted His Majesty’s offer and kissed hands upon his appointment as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury.”
Keir Starmer’s appointment as Britain’s new Prime Minister follows the centre-left Labour party’s sweeping general election victory, ending 14 years of right-wing Conservative rule.