![\"Keir](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/keir-starmer-wes-streeting-and-pound-value.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe pound’s value has plummeted against the US dollar as Prime Minister Keir Starmer prepares for a rumoured challenge to the Labour Party challenge from Health Secretary Wes Streeting.<\/p>\n
This afternoon, sterling slipped 0.3 per cent against the reserve currency to $1.35 and lost earlier gains against the euro as political chaos threatens to bring down the premiership. <\/p>\n
Since its peak last week, the British pound has fallen one per cent following the Labour Party’s poor performance in last week’s council, Scottish and Welsh elections.<\/p>\n
Government borrowing continues to add pressure to Sir Keir’s woes as long-term costs continue to flirt with 28-year highs, with 10-year gilts sitting at around 5.08 per cent around 3 pm today.<\/p>\n
The pound has fallen amid the ongoing Westminster drama <\/p>\n
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GETTY \/ TRAVEL EX <\/p>\n
However, 30-year gilt yields have slipped to around 5.77 per cent after reaching new heights earlier this month.<\/p>\n
This morning, Mr Streeting had a 16-minute meeting with the Prime Minister to discuss his options as Labour continues to fall behind Reform and the Green Party in the polls.<\/p>\n
This has resurrected rumours that the Health Minister is plotting to launch a leadership challenge against his boss as soon as tomorrow to resurrect the party’s chances in future elections.<\/p>\n
Despite this, Sir Keir’s official spokesman claimed the PM has “full confidence” in Mr Streeting as the country’s Health Secretary.<\/p>\n
![\"10-year](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-year-gilt-yield.jpg\")
10-year gilt yields are on the rise<\/p>\n
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TRADING ECONOMICS <\/p>\n
![\"Sir](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/sir-keir-starmer-and-his-wife-lady-starmer-moved-into-no11-following-the-2024-general-election.jpg\")
Sir Keir is fighting for his political future<\/p>\n
| GETTY<\/p>\n
The Ftse 100 returned to the green today, crossing the 10,300 mark once again, despite the ongoing political turmoil in Wesrminster.<\/p>\n
Financial analysts have sounded the alarm that investors may end up spooked by the prospect of a change of leadership, as well as the US-Iran conflict continuing for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n
Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist, Wealth Club, said: “Stagflation fears are stalking financial markets as the war with Iran looks increasingly intractable and high energy prices look set to be the burden to bear for the global economy. <\/p>\n
“Higher inflation and a stagnating economy are increasing the risk of loan defaults and weaker borrowing demand, which look set to eat into profitability.<\/p>\n
![\"Ftse](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778687121_344_ftse-100-graph.jpg\")
The Ftse 100 is back in the green <\/p>\n
| <\/p>\n
GOOGLE <\/p>\n
“A glass-half-empty attitude is swirling this morning for the Ftse 100, as concerns about the tense situation in Iran collide with worries about political upheaval in the UK. <\/p>\n
“Far from managing to shore up support, Prime Minister Keir Starmer\u2019s position looks increasingly shaky, and this is feeding through into fresh bond market jitters. <\/p>\n
“With cabinet ministers now joining the throngs of MPs calling for him to step down, instability is back at the heart of British politics.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The pound’s value has plummeted against the US dollar as Prime Minister Keir Starmer prepares for a rumoured…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":957327,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3090],"tags":[51,1700,807,1232,285,16,3106,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-957326","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-economy","10":"tag-keir-starmer","11":"tag-money","12":"tag-politics","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-uk-politics","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116568046207742821","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/957326","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=957326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/957326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/957327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=957326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=957326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=957326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}