Sir Keir Starmer<\/a> is expected to use plans for closer ties with the European Union<\/a> as part of an attempt to stave off a leadership challenge in the wake of Thursday\u2019s local elections<\/a>, which are expected to be disastrous for Labour<\/a>. <\/p>\n The prime minister <\/a>is reportedly planning to deliver a speech in the days after the results, which will include a commitment to closer ties with the bloc<\/a> in a bid to tackle the cost of living crisis caused by the Iran war. <\/p>\n According to The Times, Sir Keir will make the case that the conflict has demonstrated Britain \u201ccannot afford to ignore\u201d the benefits of closer relations with Brussels, while emphasising that his red lines on no return to freedom of movement or the single market remain in place. <\/p>\n A No 10 source said: \u201cBuilding a closer relationship with the EU is crucial not just for economic growth, but also cutting the cost of living. We cannot afford to ignore this.\u201d<\/p>\n It comes after The Independent revealed earlier this year that Sir Keir <\/a>is planning to make Brexit<\/a> the key dividing line at the next general election as the government<\/a> attempts to claw back voters lost <\/a>to Reform UK and the Greens. <\/p>\n Following years of strained relations under the Tories, Labour<\/a> believes it is the only political party with a position on Brexit<\/a> that reflects the views of the general public.<\/p>\n Ten years on from the referendum to leave the EU, polling generally shows that a majority of voters don\u2019t think that Brexit is currently working and want closer ties with the bloc. However, a majority seem to think that rejoining should not be a priority for the government.<\/p>\n After tacking to the right on migration<\/a>, with a clampdown on illegal Channel crossings and ministers ramping up their rhetoric on the issue, it is on EU relations that the government believes it can strike a clear dividing line with opposition parties, sources told The Independent in January. <\/p>\n The position follows Labour<\/a>\u2019s gearing up for historic losses at the upcoming elections, after a devastating assessment from polling expert Robert Hayward warned that the government faces the \u201cdrastic\u201d loss of more than 75 per cent of the council seats it is defending across England<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lord Hayward, a Tory peer, has predicted that Labour would lose 1,850 seats, while Nigel Farage<\/a>\u2019s Reform UK<\/a> party will be the biggest winners, gaining 1,550 seats, and the Greens<\/a> will pick up 500.<\/p>\n It is expected to be a moment of severe peril for the PM, who has faced a growing number of calls to resign over his handling of the Peter Mandelson scandal<\/a>.<\/p>\n Labour MPs are said to be feeling increasingly frustrated by the chaos in government, with some looking to Wes Streeting<\/a> or Angela Rayner as possible successors to Sir Keir if the election results are as brutal for the government as expected.<\/p>\n Backbenchers who won their seats in the 2024 election are reportedly planning to push for the prime minister\u2019s resignation<\/a> in an open letter reminiscent of the round-robin letter put to Sir Tony Blair<\/a> 20 years ago.<\/p>\n However, housing minister Steve Reed told Sky News on Tuesday that MPs \u201cwant this psychodrama to stop\u201d and warned the party against \u201cdoomscrolling through leaders\u201d.<\/p>\n It came as Sir Keir vowed to go into polling day \u201cfighting for every vote\u201d, but acknowledged Labour could be in for a \u201cchallenge\u201d, as political leaders concluded their local election campaign trails.<\/p>\n Almost 25,000 candidates are fighting to be elected to more than 5,000 seats on 136 councils across England.<\/p>\n In Scotland, all 129 seats are up for election at Holyrood, while voters in Wales will choose 96 members of the Senedd.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":943847,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5226],"tags":[802,748,2000,299,5187,1699,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-943846","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brexit","8":"tag-brexit","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-eu","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-european","13":"tag-european-union","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116533478544461971","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/943846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=943846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/943846\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/943847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=943846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=943846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=943846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Keir](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2026-05-07T065329Z_653544227_RC264LAPXQS7_RTRMADP_3_BRITAIN-POLITICS-ELECTIONS.jpg\")
Keir Starmer and his wife, Victoria Starmer, leave a polling station after voting in local elections in London on Thursday 7 May (Reuters)<\/p>\n