STORY: Markets reacted positively Friday to a comprehensive election win for Keir Starmer's Labour party.
"Change begins now."
The pound, British stocks and government bonds all rose on Friday morning.
The bluechip FTSE 100 index gained around 0.4% in early trades.
While sterling edged higher against the dollar and held steady against the euro.
Starmer's centre-left Labour won a massive majority in the 650-seat parliament.
"Our task is nothing less than renewing the ideas that hold this country together."
It meant Rishi Sunak's Conservatives suffered the worst performance in the party's long history.
Voters punished them for a cost of living crisis, failing public services, and a series of scandals.
One leading analyst said a landslide victory provides the sort of clarity and stability equity markets need in a volatile world.
Sterling has edged up since Sunak called the election in late May.
It is the strongest-performing major currency against the dollar this year, with a gain of 0.3%.
On a trade-weighted basis, the pound is now back where it was at the time of the Brexit vote eight years ago.
It reflects a belief among traders and investors that a period of intense market volatility in the UK may be drawing to a close.
UK stocks have hit record highs this year, helped by a slow-growing but comparatively stable economy and decelerating inflation.
But the memory of the market chaos triggered by former prime minister Liz Truss's "mini budget" of September 2022 is still fresh in investor minds.
Britain has suffered from the highest inflation and some of the highest interest rates in the developed world over the last couple of years.
Looking ahead, the Bank of England is widely expected to lower interest rates at some point in the next few months.
