{"id":953443,"date":"2026-05-11T21:39:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T21:39:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/953443\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T21:39:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T21:39:20","slug":"britains-starmer-faces-calls-to-step-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/953443\/","title":{"rendered":"Britain’s Starmer faces calls to step down"},"content":{"rendered":"

LONDON (AP) \u2014 British Prime Minister Keir Starmer<\/a> pledged Monday to prove the \u201cdoubters\u201d in his own party and among the electorate wrong as he struggled to fight off growing demands to step down<\/a> after devastating local election results<\/a> for his Labour Party.<\/p>\n

Starmer said he would \u201cface up to the big challenges\u201d and restore hope to the country, in part by forging closer ties with the European Union, six years after the U.K.’s acrimonious departure<\/a> from the bloc.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know I have my doubters and I know I need to prove them wrong, and I will,\u201d Starmer said during a speech in London intended to kickstart his fightback against detractors.<\/p>\n

It did not appear to have the intended effect. In the hours after the speech a steady stream of Labour lawmakers spoke to the media or posted on social media saying Starmer should resign, either now or soon. <\/p>\n

Several of those calling for him to go were ministerial aides, in an apparently coordinated move aimed at putting pressure on Starmer\u2019s Cabinet to deliver an ultimatum, perhaps at its weekly meeting on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Labour despondent at election losses<\/p>\n

Labour has been plunged into gloom by heavy losses last week in local elections across England and legislative votes in Scotland and Wales. The elections have been interpreted as an unofficial referendum<\/a> on Starmer, whose popularity has plummeted since he swept to power in a landslide less than two years ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Starmer\u2019s government has struggled to deliver promised economic growth, repair tattered public services<\/a> and ease the cost of living, and been hamstrung by repeated missteps and policy U-turns<\/a> on issues including welfare reform. He has been further hurt by his disastrous decision to appoint Peter Mandelson<\/a>, a scandal-tarnished friend of Jeffrey Epstein, as Britain\u2019s ambassador to Washington.<\/p>\n

Last week\u2019s elections saw Labour squeezed from both right and left, losing votes to both Reform UK and the \u201ceco-populist\u201d Green Party. The result reflects the increasing fragmentation of British politics, long dominated by Labour and the Conservatives.<\/p>\n

Starmer had hoped to regain momentum with his speech and an ambitious set of legislative plans to be set out in a speech Wednesday by King Charles III at the State Opening of Parliament.<\/p>\n

In Monday\u2019s speech, he vowed to prove to millions of people \u201ctired of a status quo that has failed them\u201d that the government is on their side.<\/p>\n

He said Labour is in \u201ca battle for the soul of our nation,\u201d and warned Britain will go down \u201ca dark path\u201d if Reform UK<\/a>, the anti-immigration party led by Nigel Farage, comes to power.<\/p>\n

Starmer told an audience of party lawmakers and activists that the government will take control of Britain\u2019s energy, economic and defense security and make the country fairer. He announced plans to nationalize what is left of the once-mighty British Steel<\/a>, a move that could save some industrial jobs in an area where working-class voters have deserted Labour for Reform UK.<\/p>\n

Starmer also pledged to put Britain \u201cat the heart of Europe\u201d and forge closer ties with the 27-nation EU. Farage, who spearheaded the Brexit campaign, and Reform UK oppose any move to get closer to the EU. <\/p>\n

Brexit has been a drag on the British economy, and President Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cAmerica First\u201d economic and foreign policy has spurred Britain to seek closer defense, security and economic cooperation with its European neighbors.<\/p>\n

Labour supporters are largely anti-Brexit, which failed to deliver the benefits its backers promised. But Starmer has been reluctant to reopen a debate that bitterly divided the country. He has ruled out seeking to reenter the EU, or to rejoin the bloc\u2019s customs union or single market, things that would make a big economic difference.<\/p>\n

Rivals weigh making a move<\/p>\n

British politics allows parties to change leader midterm without the need for a new election.<\/p>\n

None of the high-profile Labour politicians considered potential challengers to Starmer \u2014 including former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, Health Secretary Wes Streeting<\/a> and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham<\/a> \u2014 has yet called for him to resign.<\/p>\n

Rayner did not explicitly call for Starmer to quit, but accused him of presiding over \u201ca toxic culture of cronyism\u201d and said the government must \u201cstay true to Labour and social democratic values\u201d and ease the cost of living for working people.<\/p>\n

Labour lawmaker Catherine West, who had vowed to trigger a leadership challenge if Monday\u2019s speech didn\u2019t mark a major turning point, said she would hold off for now, though she urged Starmer to resign by September. <\/p>\n

More than 60 other lawmakers, out of Labour\u2019s total of 403, also urged him to announce a departure date, with the number ticking up in the hours after the speech.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think we saw a plan from the prime minister this morning in order to implement the kind of change that this country needs,,\u201d lawmaker Chris Curtis told Sky News.<\/p>\n

Another legislator, Joe Morris, said: \u201cthe message from last week\u2019s elections was clear: The prime minister has lost the confidence of the public.\u201d<\/p>\n

But some who attended Starmer\u2019s speech said kicking out the man who led them to victory in 2024 would be counterproductive.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t be changing prime ministers two years in,\u201d said Kevin Craig, a former local councilor in London. \u201cIt\u2019s really important we stay grown-up now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LONDON (AP) \u2014 British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged Monday to prove the \u201cdoubters\u201d in his own party…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":953444,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5018,3,4],"tags":[225767,8916,9311,748,266043,266097,32,33,393,299,1699,4179,5212,18179,4884,2204,266098,807,266096,518,384,1144,28300,285,7796,712,16,15,11654,1764,3595,263],"class_list":{"0":"post-953443","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-britain","8":"category-uk","9":"category-united-kingdom","10":"tag-2026-elections","11":"tag-andy-burnham","12":"tag-angela-rayner","13":"tag-britain","14":"tag-catherine-west","15":"tag-chris-curtis","16":"tag-donald-trump","17":"tag-elections","18":"tag-england","19":"tag-europe","20":"tag-european-union","21":"tag-general-news","22":"tag-government-policy","23":"tag-government-programs","24":"tag-great-britain","25":"tag-jeffrey-epstein","26":"tag-joe-morris","27":"tag-keir-starmer","28":"tag-kevin-craig","29":"tag-king-charles-iii","30":"tag-nigel-farage","31":"tag-northern-ireland","32":"tag-peter-mandelson","33":"tag-politics","34":"tag-royalty","35":"tag-scotland","36":"tag-uk","37":"tag-united-kingdom","38":"tag-united-kingdom-government","39":"tag-wales","40":"tag-wes-streeting","41":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116558113724842034","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/953443","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=953443"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/953443\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/953444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=953443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=953443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=953443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}