What Labour's victory in UK election means for the Middle East

Keir Starmer will face a series of challenges during his first weeks in office with risk of war expanding beyond Gaza

Labour leader Keir Starmer celebrates winning the UK general election with a speech at Tate Modern in central London. Getty Images

Mr Starmer and his wife Victoria arrive at the Tate Modern. PA

Mr Starmer gives a victory speech at the Tate Modern. PA

Mr Starmer greets former Labour leader Neil Kinnock. AP

Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Rishi Sunak retained his seat as MP for Richmond and Northallerton, in Northallerton, North Yorkshire. AFP

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who had been expelled from the party and stood as an independent, won in Islington seat North, London. EPA

Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, was victorious in Clacton-on-Sea, in Essex. Bloomberg

Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg leaves University of Bath after losing his seat in the North East Somerset and Hanham constituency. AP

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey celebrates at London Art Bar, central London, after his party seemed poised for a successful night. AP

Penny Mordaunt lost her seat in the Portsmouth North constituency to Labour. PA

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar celebrates with Maureen Burke after she won in Glasgow North East. Reuters

Sir Archibald Stanton standing for the Official Monster Raving Loony Party poses for a picture at the Richmond and Northallerton count centre in Northallerton, North Yorkshire. AFP

Mr Starmer is congratulated by fellow candidates Bobby 'Elmo' Smith and Nick 'The Flying Brick' Delves after winning his seat for Holborn and St Pancras, at the Camden Council count centre in London. AFP

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Keir Starmer’s first official briefing as Prime Minister after a landslide election victory is set to be held in a secure room with intelligence chiefs on the security threats facing the UK, one that could define Labour’s return to government.

The Middle East will play a significant role in that closed-door meeting, analysts and diplomats have told The National, with both opportunities and threats to be discussed, including growing fears of war between Hezbollah and Israel.

Gaza will clearly be a key issue but also one in which the new government could provide impetus for a deal, experts have said.

Iran will continue to prove a challenge, potentially an ever-increasing one with its developing nuclear weapons programme, as well as the possibility of a Donald Trump presidency that could release “trigger happy” Republicans on to the Middle East.

Foreign reshuffle

Mr Starmer's first major foreign policy act may well be to replace Foreign Secretary David Lammy with a more experienced hand, a Labour insider told The National.

“Many people in and around government think that it would be pretty unwise to keep him in post and Labour should really think about shifting it to someone who has a more nuanced view of the Gaza conflict, not a view that's going to lead to anything disastrous,” the former adviser said.

From left, Labour's Ed Miliband, Keir Starmer and David Lammy at the Cop28 climate conference in Dubai. Getty Images

That someone may well be former international development secretary Douglas Alexander, although this is strongly denied by Labour.

“The question is what talents Starmer chooses to draw on, as Labour have been out of power for so long that it's front benches are a little bit short of real-world experience,” said former ambassador to Yemen, Edmund Fitton-Brown.

“You've got people like Douglas Alexander who could be used that way, especially if Starmer anticipates that the UK is going to face a number of difficult decisions in the foreign policy arena and face them fairly quickly.”

Lebanon looms

The speed at which world events develop could be lightning fast.

“Unless we're extraordinarily lucky, we're going to face some kind of blow up between Israel and Hezbollah and it's not going to be pretty,” said Mr Fitton-Brown.

If that happens, then the Yemeni Houthis will step up their Red Sea attacks, as will Iran via its proxies.

But more challenging will be whether Mr Starmer unequivocally backs Israel and the repercussions that might result from that among his pro-Palestinian MPs. In its manifesto, Labour said it would work to recognise Palestine a part of a renewed peace process.

Despite an outstanding majority, Labour was dented in its heartlands with independent candidates standing on a Gaza platform making inroads.

A destroyed car and houses in the heavily damaged Hezbollah stronghold town of Aita al Chaab, southern Lebanon. Getty Images

Gaza outcomes

If the Gaza conflict is resolved then the war with Lebanon will probably recede, yet current hopes of a ceasefire are distant.

But the new Labour administration has the opportunity to seize the initiative on an issue that has witnessed a “vacuum of western leadership” since the Hamas October 7 attacks, said Dr Sanam Vakil, of the Chatham House think tank.

A “dedicated envoy” with the clout that former foreign secretary David Cameron brought to the job, such as David Miliband, another former foreign secretary, could be one appointment.

“Britain certainly has an opportunity to lead the way, bringing together western partners working with countries across the region on Palestinian statehood and Israeli security,” said Dr Vakil. “And there's some great ideas but there should be some greater co-ordination and alignment between Washington, Whitehall and Europe on how they're going to move things forward.”

The potential return of Donald Trump should provide the incentive for the UK government to be “more robust and engaged” in finding a rapid solution, he added.

Michael Stevens, of the Rusi think tank, believes the first six months of a Starmer premiership “are going to be defined in the Middle East” in finding a solution to Gaza.

A man sits at a ruined building following Israeli strikes in Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip. Reuters

One pitfall would be that if he is “not seen to be on the right side” by his large grouping of pro-Palestinian back benchers, he will feel increasing political pressure.

While there would be pressure for Labour to follow through on its commitment to recognise a Palestinian state, Mr Fitton-Brown argued that Mr Starmer was unlikely to follow the “gesture politics” of other European states.

Two-state principle

Dr Michael Milshtein, head of Palestinian studies at Tel Aviv University, urged the new Labour government to understand that a two-state solution cannot “really be implemented today”.

“It should be a ‘two-state principle’, which is actually separation, and that is the thing London should demand from Israel.”

He added that Mr Starmer assistance in the normalisation of relations between Israel and the Arab world “could be very helpful”.

Trump card

All Labour’s foreign policies could be turned on their heads with the possible return of Trump to the White House.

Republican hardliners within that administration will be “much more trigger happy” than previously, said Mr Fitton-Brown, speaking from New York.

Former US president Donald Trump could return to power. Reuters

“They will look at the Middle East and say, ‘we're going to start showing people who’s boss' and with Trump that's going to include things like assassinating the new equivalent target of people like Qassem Suleimani [former IRGC commander].”

Mr Stevens suggested a Trump administration’s policy on Iran will “turn very hawkish, very fast”, especially with Iran continuing with their uranium enrichment capabilities to “pretty threatening levels”.

There was little chance of a nuclear deal, in part because the Iranians did not trust the US system to honour one, given that Mr Trump dumped the previous agreement.

From Labour’s perspective, it was a question of would they contain Iran with sanctions or engage with it with an economic relationship, which he deemed unlikely.

Dr Vakil said for Labour to have “a greater portfolio of engagement” across the region “because there are a number of interconnected conflicts that haven't really been resolved”.

Instead these had been “contained” but unless areas such as Sudan, Syria and Libya were addressed they could significantly worsen.

Gulf economy

Dr Vakil said the Conservative government had been too focused on a “very commercially based relationships” with the Gulf that reflected its “inward facing outlook” post-Brexit.

“The Gulf remains our biggest economic focus, and probably the largest focus of diplomatic activity, whether that's through sending ministers or prioritising a free-trade agreement,” she said.

Britain should also be working with the Gulf states “to support their security concerns” and play a “bridging role” in the Iran relationship, she added.

But more importantly it could play a broader role in supporting Gulf security as “what's ultimately missing is a regional security framework and architecture” which was the “space that Labour could step up and into”.

Another quick win for Labour would be to reinstate the Middle East and North Africa ministerial post that was axed without explanation by Boris Johnson when he was prime minister in 2022.