The United Kingdom’s governing Conservative Party suffered a major electoral defeat on Thursday. Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer is the new prime minister, buoyed by 412 Labour seats in the 650-seat House of Commons. The Conservatives lost 250 seats, facilitating Labour’s big majority of around 170 seats.

Outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has apologized and will soon resign as Conservative leader. That’s no surprise. One defeated Conservative minister described the result as “electoral Armageddon.” And that’s hardly an understatement. Big Conservative scalps included former Prime Minister Liz Truss, Jacob Rees-Mogg, and others.

The polls suggested this was always going to be the outcome.

The more recent years of Conservative government have been defined by a repeated failure to deliver on much-vaunted promises. The economy remains sluggish and has failed to deliver the post-Brexit bump that many Conservatives promised. Illegal immigration into the U.K. remains a significant concern, with tens of thousands entering the country each year. The Conservatives failed to persuade the public that they were in control of the borders. They struggled to stop illegal boat transits from France, in particular. The government then became bogged down in the courts over its unconventional plan to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda to await the results of their appeals for U.K. residency.

Then there has been the cronyism. Though he led the Conservatives to a significant 2019 election victory and then finally carried out Brexit, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson became entrenched by the public perception that his government was rooted in cronyism and dysfunction. His successor, Truss, lasted only a remarkable 49 days in office. The shortest-serving prime minister in U.K. history, Truss was forced to resign following major market turmoil in the face of her proposed economic reforms. Sunak followed. And while smart and soft-spoken, Sunak always struggled to bring a charismatic sense of direction to his office. The country saw him as a caretaker prime minister always waiting for an electoral shooing out of the door.

Ultimately, time was not the Conservative Party’s friend. In power since 2010, the Conservatives came to be perceived as out of ideas and more interested in their own infighting than public service. Under Starmer, a centrist successor to far-left leader Jeremy Corbyn, Labour was seen to offer a viable and less risky proposition for change.

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Now, with a powerful parliamentary majority and facing a gutted Conservative opposition, Starmer has significant latitude to govern. He may move toward the center in an effort to restore economic vitality and assure voters that Labour is indeed a moderate rather than left-wing party. But the size of Starmer’s majority means that he’ll also face pressure from the party’s left to move more boldly in increasing the already substantial role of government in the economy and society.

There is a lesson here for Republicans. As in the U.K., France, and elsewhere in Europe, the failure to deliver results on promises is not likely to be well received by voters. The retention of power must be earned and the perception of governing competence constantly reinforced by positive action. If not, as with the Conservative Party on Thursday, the consequences can be disastrous.