U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak conceded defeat to the center-left Labour Party early Friday, which was projected to win by a landslide in the country's general election — delivering a huge blow to the ruling Conservative Party after 14 years in power.

The big picture: Incumbents are on a losing streak all over the world — particularly in Europe, where inflation has fueled voter discontent. In Britain, however, the Conservatives' looming defeat is largely of their own making.

Sir Keir Starmer is set to become the UK's first Labour prime minister since 2010 after his party's landslide general election victory.

Labour is returning to power with a huge parliamentary majority of 174, following a collapse in support for the Conservatives.

Sir Keir will be formally appointed by the King at Buckingham Palace later, replacing Tory leader Rishi Sunak, and make his first speech in Downing Street.

Speaking outside No 10, Mr Sunak vowed to remain his party's leader until formal arrangements for selecting his successor are in place.

The election result is the most distorted in history after Labour won nearly two thirds of seats with just a third of the popular vote.

With almost all seats counted, Labour has won 410 constituencies – 63.7 per cent of the seats available – with a vote share of just 33.9 per cent.

The 29.9 point gap between the popular vote and seat share makes this the most skewed result ever, far outpacing the previous 22 point gap recorded in 2001 under Tony Blair.

All 18-year-olds in Britain will have to perform a year of mandatory military or civilian national service if the governing Conservative Party wins the July 4 national election, the party said Sunday.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged to bring back a form of national service for the first time in more than 60 years, seeking to energize his election campaign after a faltering start.

Twelve months of mandatory national service would be reintroduced by the Conservatives if they win the general election.

Eighteen-year-olds would be able to apply for one of 30,000 full-time military placements or volunteering one weekend a month carrying out a community service.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he believed bringing back compulsory service across the UK would help foster the "national spirit" that emerged during the pandemic.

Labour criticised the plans, expected to cost about £2.5bn, as "desperate" and "unfunded".

In another ominous sign of things to come, leading Western governments appear to be preparing for 'something big' at a moment the proxy war between Russian and NATO centered in Ukraine is escalating at uncontrollable pace.

"Rishi Sunak has vowed to introduce mandatory national service for 18-year-olds if he is re-elected, in his first major policy announcement since the start of the election campaign earlier this week," Financial Times has reported.

Interestingly, the next line to the very same report screams Russia! as the subtext...

LATE LAST MONTH, IN THE MIDST of divisive national elections in Britain, officials from across the political spectrum took a private train to Plymouth, in southwest England, on a rare mission of comity.

This Abridge News topic aggregates four unique arguments on different sides of the debate. Here are the quick facts to get you started:

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