Johnathan Paoli
President Cyril Ramaphosa has congratulated Keir Starmer from the country’s Labour Party, on being appointed the 58th Prime Minister (PM) of the United Kingdom (UK) replacing former Conservative leader and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said on Sunday the President looks forward to working with Starmer to enhance the strong, historic relations between South Africa and the UK.
This follows what many have called a landslide victory on Friday, in which the Labour Party ended a 14-year run of right-wing Conservative rule, securing a victory with a 174-seat majority in the UK parliament.
The party’s return to power marks a turnaround from the previous elections in which the party had its worst defeat since 1935 under hard-left former leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Starmer became leader of Labour in early 2020 and has been a vocal advocate of returning the party to a more centrist position, and purging the more radical elements from party structures.
Magwenya said the country remained on good terms with the UK and shared several commonalities of ideology and governance.
“South Africa and the UK are strategic partners with a broad and vibrant relationship, led by a commitment to liberal values, democracy and the rule of law,” he said.
The spokesperson said the UK is one of the country’s largest bilateral trading and investment partners, as well as being South Africa’s number one source of long-haul tourism in the world.
Magwenya said another point of partnership between the two countries would be to address the current global and security challenges.
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