U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer took the oaths necessary to be Prime Minister

What is the claim?

Multiple social media users have claimed the U.K. Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, didn't take his "oath of office."

Users have uploaded a screenshot of what seems to be the Government Legal Department's response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request. 

The screenshot shows a letter outlining a request to view the records of Prime Minister Keir Starmer's oath of office and confirm to whom he made the oath. In response, the GLD cites section 1(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in the letter and states that it does not hold this information. 

However, the letter directs the requester to the Privy Council Office website, which contains records of a July 6, 2024 meeting where Starmer formally affirmed his position as the First Lord of the Treasury.

One X user shared this image with a caption, "BREAKING UK NEWS: Kier Starmer did not take his Oath of Office. He is not Prime Minister of the UK. He is another Belligerent Occupier." This post has amassed more than 159,000 views and more than 3900 likes at the time of writing this story. Archived versions of posts like this are here and here.

Screenshots of social media posts. (Source: Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the U.K. does not require an "oath of office" to become Prime Minister. Additionally, Keir Starmer took two mandatory oaths: one as a member of parliament and another as First Lord of the Treasury.

How is the U.K. Prime Minister appointed?

Logically Facts contacted the House of Commons Press Office, which referred us to documents titled "How is a Prime Minister appointed?" and a research briefing titled "The Privy Council: history, functions and membership." 

These documents and other resources available through the House of Commons Library state that if an election results in an overall majority for the opposition party, as it did on this occasion, the monarch customarily invites that party's leader to form a government. 

The monarch then appoints that person, who must either be or be in the process of becoming a member of parliament, as Prime Minister. They also become the First Lord of the Treasury from that moment, although the "oath of office" for this is taken later in a meeting of the Privy Council. 

According to the Cabinet Manual, prime ministers "hold office unless and until they resign." Additionally, in theory, the monarch could dismiss a Prime Minister and appoint a successor of their own choosing.

U.K. Prime Ministers do not take a formal oath of office. Still, they do take an oath of allegiance as members of parliament, whether first elected or re-elected, swearing allegiance to the monarch as required by the Promissory Oaths Acts of 1868. 

Dr Dexter Govan, Director of Research at The Constitution Society, confirmed to Logically Facts that "there is no oath of office for a U.K. Prime Minister. Essentially, the monarch as head of state invites the individual (elected as an MP in the House of Commons) who they believe has the best chance of commanding the confidence of the House." 

Keir Starmer's oaths

Keir Starmer formally met with King Charles III at Buckingham Palace in July, where the monarch asked him to form a new government.

The U.K. Prime Minister is required to take two separate oaths, one to become an MP and another to assume the role of the First Lord of the Treasury.

According to publicly available records, Keir Starmer was sworn in as an MP on July 9, at 1:44:01 in a YouTube video shared by The Guardian (archived here) titled "Speaker and MPs sworn into parliament after UK general election — watch live."

Additionally, Starmer was sworn in as the First Lord of the Treasury, a position he holds as Prime Minister. This is documented in the minutes of the Privy Council meeting at Buckingham Palace on page 11. The document is titled, "Business transacted at the Privy Council, held by the King at Buckingham Palace on 6th July 2024."

The verdict

Social media posts claiming that Keir Starmer is not the Prime Minister of the U.K. as he did not take an "oath of office" to become Prime Minister are misleading. The Prime Minister is appointed by the monarch and is required to take two oaths: one as a member of parliament and another as First Lord of the Treasury, which were both taken by Starmer.