Keir Starmer is pressing his case to keep control of Britain’s governing Labour Party after election results that have fueled mounting demands from lawmakers for him to step aside, the Associated Press reported. Starmer is looking to arrest a loss of momentum following setbacks that include devastating results for Labour in local elections across England and legislative votes in Scotland and Wales.
The renewed pressure has put the Prime Minister’s next move at the center of Labour’s internal calculations. Starmer has said he plans to use a speech on Monday to argue that he can change tack and revive his government’s fortunes, even as rivals weigh whether they can force a leadership shake-up.
Catherine West, a Labour lawmaker, said she will try to trigger a leadership contest if she does not like what Starmer delivers in the Monday speech. West acknowledged she does not have the support of 81 colleagues needed to force a contest, framing her push as an effort to move the party quickly in response to voters’ message.
Angela Rayner, a former deputy prime minister who has often been seen as a potential challenger, said the party “needs to change,” though she did not explicitly call for Starmer to go. Rayner said “the prime minister must now meet the moment and set out the change our country needs.”
Starmer’s position is being tested against an apparent wider slump in Labour’s popularity since his party won power in a landslide less than two years ago, according to the AP. The article said Starmer’s government has struggled to deliver promised economic growth, repair public services, and ease the cost of living, while also facing criticism over repeated missteps and policy U-turns, including on welfare reform.
The AP account also highlighted political and personnel challenges that have added to Starmer’s vulnerability. It said his government was further hurt by the decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, who the report described as a scandal-tarnished friend of Jeffrey Epstein, as Britain’s ambassador to Washington.
Last week’s elections reflected continued fragmentation in British politics, with Labour losing support to both Reform UK from the right and the “eco-populist” Green Party, the AP said. The results have been widely treated as an unofficial referendum on Starmer, with the next stage of the battle expected to play out inside Labour rather than through a general election, since British politics allows parties to change leader midterm without a new election.
Although high-profile Labour figures often discussed as possible contenders have not publicly called for Starmer to resign, some lawmakers have pressed for a timetable. Josh Simons, described by AP as formerly a loyal Labour lawmaker, wrote in The Times of London that Starmer “has lost the country” and “should take control of the situation by overseeing an orderly transition to a new prime minister.”
Starmer’s strategy appears to rely on changing the political trajectory in the short term and laying out an agenda for the months ahead. The AP said Starmer told The Observer newspaper on Sunday that he wants to remain in office for a decade, and he is pinning hopes on Monday’s speech as well as legislative plans expected to be set out in a speech Wednesday by King Charles III at the State Opening of Parliament.
One key policy direction Starmer is expected to emphasize is closer ties with the European Union after the United Kingdom left in 2020, the report said. The AP said Starmer has described efforts to ease some Brexit-era trade restrictions and said the government intends to secure a youth mobility deal so young people can spend a few years working across the continent. Starmer told The Observer that “Brexit has held back our young people,” adding that “we have to be closer to Europe,” while also ruling out seeking to reenter the EU or to join its customs union or single market.
West, seeking to accelerate internal change, said “Working people sent us a message,” and she added: “We have to listen to that, and we have to change and we have to do it quickly.”