U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer told members of his Cabinet on Tuesday that he has no intention of resigning as calls within his Labour Party for him to step down grew louder.
Starmer is trying to shore up support within his Cabinet following a febrile few days in the wake of hefty losses for the Labour Party in local elections last week, which if repeated in a national election would see it overwhelmingly ejected from power.
The meeting, which lasted about an hour, took place as around 80 Labour backbenchers, or nearly a fifth of the party’s representation in the House of Commons, said Starmer should stand down, or at least set out a timetable for his departure. Under Labour party rules, 81 lawmakers are needed to formally trigger a leadership contest.
However, no one has yet announced they will stand as a candidate for the leadership, directly challenging Starmer.
First resignation
On Tuesday, junior minister Miatta Fahnbulleh became the first member of his government to step down, urging Starmer “to do the right thing for the country” and set a timetable for his departure.
Fahnbulleh, who is considered to be on the left of the party, said she was proud of her service, but that the government hadn’t acted with the vision, pace and mandate for change it had been given by voters.
“Nor have we governed as a Labour Party clear about our values and strong in our convictions,” she said.
Despite winning a landslide election victory in July 2024, Labour’s popularity has sunk and Starmer is getting much of the blame.
The reasons are varied, including a series of policy missteps, a perceived lack of vision, a struggling British economy and questions over his judgment — especially over his appointment of Peter Mandelson as U.K. ambassador to Washington despite the envoy’s ties to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Starmer defiant
At the start of the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Starmer said he took responsibility for the losses in last week’s local elections across the U.K. but that he would fight on. Labour was squeezed from right and left, losing votes to both the anti-immigrant Reform UK and the “eco-populist” Green Party, as well as nationalist parties in Scotland and Wales. The result reflects the increasing fragmentation of U.K. politics, long dominated by Labour and the Conservatives.
Starmer said that there’s a process to oust a leader and that it hadn’t been triggered.
Under Labour’s rules, candidates must have the support of a fifth of the party’s House of Commons lawmakers — a number that currently stands at 81.
“The country expects us to get on with governing,” Starmer said. “The past 48 hours have been destabilizing for government and that has a real economic cost for our country and for families.”
That cost was evident in financial markets on Tuesday, with the interest rate charged on British government bonds up by more than those of comparable nations — that shows that investors are putting a higher price on taking on government debt.
Some voices of support
As Cabinet ministers left 10 Downing Street, some voiced their support for the embattled prime minister.
Works and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said nobody publicly challenged Starmer at the meeting, while Business Secretary Peter Kyle said the prime minister was showing “really steadfast leadership.”
Health Secretary Wes Streeting, long believed to be preparing for a leadership challenge against Starmer, did not comment as he left the meeting.
“Wes Streeting, do you want the job, or not?” one person yelled from across the street. “Are you measuring the curtains?”
He was among senior ministers who dodged a barrage of shouted questions from a gaggle of reporters outside.
Though no one in his Cabinet has challenged Starmer, he will be aware that someone else within the parliamentary party could trigger the leadership process.
The next U.K. national election doesn’t have to be held until 2029, but British politics allows parties to change leader midterm without the need for a general election.
Starmer had hoped to regain momentum with a speech on Monday intended to kickstart his fightback, and an ambitious set of legislative plans to be set out by King Charles III at the State Opening of Parliament on Wednesday.
Danica Kirka in London contributed to this report.
—Brian Melley and Pan Pylas, Associated Press