Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on July 5 congratulated Keir Starmer on being elected UK’s first Labour Party prime minister since 2010.

Starmer has led the UK’s Labour Party since 2020 and this year managed to win the UK's 2024 general election, ending 14 years of Conservative Party rule.

Congratulations Sir @Keir_Starmer on being elected as the new UK Prime Minister.

I look forward to working with you to continue the strong KRI-UK partnership.

— Masrour Barzani (@masrourbarzani) July 5, 2024

“I look forward to working with you to continue the strong KRI-UK partnership,” Prime Minister Barzani said in a post on X.

Additionally, President Barzani underlined that he looks “forward to enduring partnership with the people and leadership of the UK.”

Read More: New UK Consul General Excited Over Return to Kurdistan

The UK has strong links with the Kurdistan Region and has supported the peshmerga, undertaken cultural engagement in the Kurdistan Region, and built a strong educational, trade, and investment relationship with the region. The UK also funds non-government organizations, including women- and Yezidi-focused organizations.

Furthermore, there is a large Kurdish diaspora living in the UK who have contributed significantly to British society. The KRG also has a representation in the UK.

On behalf of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, I congratulate Sir @Keir_Starmer on becoming the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. I look forward to enduring partnership with the people and leadership of the UK.

— Nechirvan Barzani (@IKRPresident) July 5, 2024

All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on the Kurdistan Region Secretary Gary Kent told Kurdistan Chronicle that it has been “just hours since power was transferred to Labour and appointments are still being made. But I very much hope that the APPG will be reestablished in due course and visit Iraqi Kurdistan later this year.”

“Today’s relations between the UK and the Kurdistan Region go back more than three decades, during which time there have been Labour and Conservative governments, and even a coalition government involving the Liberal Democrats. Relations have been warm and productive for both sides and disagreements have been overcome in the spirit of partnership. I don’t see a reason for that to change now.”