Prime minister says UK and US will remain close partners, but Labour leader and Tim Farron express doubts about new president

Theresa May has congratulated Donald Trump on his US presidential election victory, as the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, and his Lib Dem counterpart, Tim Farron, expressed deep unease at the result.

The prime minister said she was confident that strong co-operation on trade, security and defence would continue with the Republican in the White House, despite his presidential campaign pledges to pursue a more protectionist economic policy and isolationist foreign agenda.

“I would like to congratulate Donald Trump on being elected the next president of the United States, following a hard-fought campaign,” May said. “Britain and the United States have an enduring and special relationship based on the values of freedom, democracy and enterprise. We are, and will remain, strong and close partners on trade, security and defence.

“I look forward to working with president-elect Donald Trump, building on these ties to ensure the security and prosperity of our nations in the years ahead.”



No 10 said May had written a personal letter to Trump offering her congratulations.

The foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, also sent his congratulations to Trump. “I believe passionately in the importance of the UK-US relationship and am confident we can take it forward together,” he said.

Johnson had previously joked he was hesitant to visit New York because of the “real risk of meeting Donald Trump”.

The European commission president, Donald Tusk, wrote to Trump on Wednesday morning to invite him to an EU-US summit “at your earliest convenience” to explore relations for the next four years, having previously joked on Twitter that his wife believed there were “enough Donalds” on the world stage.

Corbyn said many in Britain would be “understandably shocked by Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election, the rhetoric around it and what the election result means for the rest of the world, as well as America.”

The victory for the Republican outsider should be taken as an “unmistakable rejection of a political establishment and an economic system that simply isn’t working for most people”, Corbyn said, adding: “It is one that has delivered escalating inequality and stagnating or falling living standards for the majority, both in the US and Britain.”

He called Trump’s victory a “rejection of a failed economic consensus and a governing elite that has been seen not to have listened” and said public anger had been reflected in political upheavals around the world.

Some of Trump’s answers to the issue of economic instability, and the rhetoric he used, were “clearly wrong”, the Labour leader said. “I have no doubt, however, that the decency and common sense of the American people will prevail, and we send our solidarity to a nation of migrants, innovators and democrats. After this latest global wakeup call, the need for a real alternative to a failed economic and political system could not be clearer.

“That alternative must be based on working together, social justice and economic renewal, rather than sowing fear and division. And the solutions we offer have to improve the lives of everyone, not pit one group of people against another.

“Americans have made their choice. The urgent necessity is now for us all to work across continents to tackle our common global challenges: to secure peace, take action on climate change and deliver economic prosperity and justice.”

Farron issued an angry statement after the result, saying the continued rise of the populist right did not have to be inevitable. “Liberal values of moderation, freedom, respect for the rule of law, openness and concern for one another can no longer be taken for granted,” he said.

“In the United States last night, those values were defeated. But those values are vital if we are to live together in peace, prosperity and freedom.”

Those who still believed in a future for liberal values “need to fight for them, to win the arguments, to inspire new generations to the great and historic cause of liberalism,” Farron said. “Never in my lifetime have those liberal values been so under threat, and never have they been more relevant and necessary.

“There is nothing inevitable about the rise of nationalism, protectionism and division. [The election of Canada’s prime minister] Justin Trudeau proves that. I am determined that together we must make it our mission to build that liberal cause. The alternatives are unthinkable.”

Among other MPs and politicians, reaction was mixed. In an emailed statement with the subject line “Caroline Lucas responds to racist being elected US president”, the Green party MP called Trump’s election “a devastating day for women, for people of colour, for disabled people and for an inclusive society in the USA … a hammer blow for the fight against climate change”.

The Conservative MP Michael Fabricant said he was hopeful of closer US-UK ties, especially post-Brexit, given Trump’s earlier comments that Britain would be at the front of the queue for a trade deal.

“Much angst being expressed by commentators,” he tweeted. “They said much the same of Ronnie Reagan who turned out to be a great US president.”

Michael Fabricant (@Mike_Fabricant) The US vote and rejection of the Establishment reminds us that there can be no watering down of #Brexit.

The Tory MP George Freeman, chair of the prime minister’s new policy board, called the result “a roar of anger at globalisation, machine politics, out-of-touch elites”.

In a series of tweets, Freeman said the election was a test for the constitutional protections for liberty and democracy in the UK and US.

“We all need to defend them,” he tweeted. “All in mainstream politics need to look harder, listen better and think smarter about the underlying causes of popular anger and address them. It’s clear we’re living through a genuine crisis of legitimacy sweeping western political economy.”

George Freeman MP (@Freeman_George) Reflections on #Trump victory. 1.Stunning demonstn of how disempowered low income Americans feel by Washington politics + globalisation

The heart of the issue was the “broken ‘contract’ through the failure of globalised market economics to serve the interests of domestic workers,” Freeman said. “It’s not just words that have to change. We need new policies to respond to and address the grassroots failure of our political economy. This is the challenge Theresa May brilliantly captured in her electrifying conference speech.”

Labour’s Stella Creasy also drew parallels with the Brexit vote in a statement on her Facebook page, saying 2016 had “set out a generational challenge to everything we thought was ahead for ourselves and our families”.

“We can either cower in despair alone or stand up together in dignity for what we believe and work for a better world,” she wrote. “You may feel angry, want someone to blame, just to make it stop but the difficult reality is that leaving this to someone else or shouting at each other will achieve little.”

Ukip, the UK party most closely tied to Trump, mainly through the support of its interim leader, Nigel Farage, had little immediate reaction to the result. Farage himself was on a plane returning to the UK, where he was expected to make a statement.

Of the two main challengers to replace him, Paul Nuttall had no immediate response, while Suzanne Evans told the Guardian: “Congratulations to President Trump. That’s all I’m saying now.”



Beyond Westminster, the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said he would pray for the US after the “bitter campaign”, adding that he hoped Trump would be given “wisdom, insight and grace” during his tenure in the White House.

Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said that although she was “personally disappointed that Hillary Clinton will not be America’s first woman president, her candidacy represented a major step forward for women in America and across the world – for that, as well as for her many years of public service, she is owed a deep debt of gratitude.”

She added: “Today many in America and across the world will also feel a real sense of anxiety. I hope the president elect will take the opportunity to reach out to those who felt marginalised by his campaign.”

The Scottish Labour leader, Kezia Dugdale, said she was “heartbroken” by the result. “While we must all respect the result of this democratic contest, today is a dark day for those of us who believe in compassion, tolerance and equality,” she said.

“Donald Trump was responsible for a hate-filled campaign that was dominated by lies, misogyny and racism. As president-elect, he now has a responsibility to America and the world to heal the deep divisions he has caused.”