After a six-week long campaign, millions of votes have been cast and counted and the results are in. As the polls have predicted for some time, Sir Keir Starmer has become the new UK Prime Minister, with Labour claiming majority in the House of Commons with 409 seats.
The Conservatives will move into opposition after 14 years in government, while the Liberal Democrats made gains and the Scottish National party lost seats. The Green Party, which only had one MP in the previous Parliament, gained three more.
Members of the Cabinet will be announced today, with Steve Reed expected to retain the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs portfolio he held in opposition. Junior posts in the government, including animal welfare and fisheries, will be announced over the weekend. Watch the Crustacean Compassion social media channels for details as the announcements are made.
Much of the General Election campaign was dominated by discussions about the economy and the cost of living – with very few parties speaking at length about the environment and even less about animal welfare. That made our supporters’ emails to candidates even more important – and we’re thrilled that over 4,000 emails went to candidates through our online action.
Over the campaign we also directly contacted over 3,700 candidates from all parties standing in all parts of the UK, asking them to commit to our five key asks. Over 200 of them told us that they would be a voice for decapods in the House of Commons, and now that some have been selected, we will be contacting them in the coming days to offer our congratulations and start the work of improving the welfare of decapods.
There are hundreds of new MPs entering Parliament after the election, and like in any new job, it will take them a while to get the basics they need to start work. While we don’t all start a job by swearing our allegiance to the King and his heirs, MPs will need a desk, email address and to sort staff for their offices before the autumn.
As well as talking to new MPs, we’ll also continue to discuss decapod welfare improvements with civil servants – who have not been able to speak to campaigners during the General Election campaign. We will also continue to work with the Vote for Animals coalition as part of efforts to build a broad coalition of MPs working to improve animal welfare across the board.
The changes we are asking for, which will enhance welfare for millions of animals in the UK every year, will cost the government nothing and do not need to go through Parliament. We hope that the new government will act quickly to improve the welfare of these animals.