Labour gears up for swift transition as it sets sights on power

Eastern Eye02 Feb, 2024News

The overnight transition, unique in major Western democracies, contrasts with the roughly two months’ preparation for an incoming US administration and around 10 days for a new French president. But if Labour defeats the governing Conservatives by a majority at this year’s nationwide vote, its leader Keir Starmer will replace Rishi Sunak inside 10 Downing Street within hours. The UK’s politically neutral 500,000-strong civil service, satirised in the hit 1980s British sitcom “Yes Minister”, will immediately find itself working for new government ministers with new priorities.