Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has placed measures to tackle the cost of living and forge closer ties with the European Union at the centre of his plan to revive Labour's fortunes following a disastrous set of local elections. The Prime Minister is fighting to save his job, with a Labour MP preparing to launch a leadership challenge on Monday in hopes of spurring his Cabinet to oust him.
Starmer's fightback plan
Despite mounting pressure to resign, Sir Keir insisted he would lead Labour into the next general election to continue his 10-year project of 'national renewal'. He will use an address on Monday and the King's Speech on Wednesday to mount a fightback after growing numbers of Labour MPs demanded a change at the top.
In an interview with the Mirror, Sir Keir promised to be 'full-throated' about the need for closer ties with Brussels, seeking to win back wavering MPs and address the drift of voters from Labour to the Greens in former strongholds across London and other English cities. However, the big winners from the local elections were Reform UK, led by Brexit champion Nigel Farage, which seized councils that had been Labour for generations in northern heartlands.
Economic promises and EU youth scheme
In an apparent attempt to address voters' concerns, Sir Keir promised 'an economy that really works for everyone, wherever they live'. The Mirror reported that No 10 and the Treasury are drawing up support for families, targeting fuel costs and household bills that have soared since the Iran war pushed up global oil and gas prices. Scrapping September's planned increase in fuel duty is understood to be an option on the table.
Sir Keir said: 'I know this causes anxiety for families, and I won't stand by.' He added that his plan is 'about the hope and opportunity of a better future, part of which is a stronger economy and an economy that really works for everyone, wherever they live, whatever they do'. A youth experience scheme allowing young EU and British citizens to work and study in each other's countries is expected to be agreed this summer and implemented by 2027.
The Prime Minister remarked: 'I feel that Brexit has held back our young people. They should be free to work, study, travel in European countries, just as I was able to when I was growing up. That has been smashed away from young people because of Brexit. I'm not going to let Brexit stand in the way of their opportunities.'
Leadership challenge looms
Former Foreign Office minister Catherine West has promised to launch a leadership bid on Monday unless Sir Keir is ushered out by the Cabinet. But the Prime Minister said he would not walk away. Asked if he would lead Labour at the next election, expected in 2029, he replied: 'Yes I will, and I've always said it's a decade of national renewal, where the legacy we inherited was an appalling legacy on all fronts, not just the economy, which was broken.'
Ms West described the election results as 'apocalyptic'. She told the Press Association: 'What I'd like to see is the Cabinet locking itself in a room tonight and coming up with a plan to respond to what was the worst election result for the Labour Party that I can remember.' She hoped the party could unite around a single Cabinet figure to avoid a leadership election but added: 'I have said that if the Cabinet do not get their act together, on Monday morning, I will email every single one of my colleagues and ask for up to 80 names.' She would need the backing of 20% of Labour's 403 MPs (81 MPs) to challenge Sir Keir.
Election results and party reactions
Results on Saturday underlined the challenge facing Sir Keir, with Reform taking control in Barnsley and pushing Labour out of office in Bradford, while a Green surge took Lewisham and forced Labour out in Lambeth for the first time in 20 years. With full results from 135 of the 136 councils that held elections, Labour had lost control of 36 authorities and suffered a net loss of 1,193 councillors. Around 30 Labour backbenchers have publicly suggested Sir Keir should quit or set a timetable for his departure.
Deputy Labour leader Lucy Powell told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'Thinking that setting out some kind of timetable would put to bed the issues of leadership, I think is actually the wrong conclusion here. Because all that would do is fire the starting gun of a, quite honestly, very distracting and ongoing debate about leadership.' While many critics are from the left of the party, the scale of defeats has prompted moderate voices to demand change. Clive Betts, the party's joint longest-serving MP, said the Cabinet should make it clear the Prime Minister has to go 'in the not too distant future'.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who has faced speculation about his leadership ambitions, said the Prime Minister will 'have my support' in setting out how the Government will move forward on Monday. However, he declined to say whether Sir Keir is the right person to lead the party into the next general election. Former deputy leader Angela Rayner and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham have not yet commented on the results.
In the aftermath, Sir Keir gave former prime minister Gordon Brown a role as special envoy on global finance and made Baroness Harriet Harman his adviser on women and girls. Scottish First Minister John Swinney said his SNP will engage with other parties to ensure Reform UK is 'locked out' of government at Holyrood. Plaid Cymru's Rhun ap Iorwerth said he intends to form a minority government in the Senedd. Reform gained 14 councils and 1,349 seats, the Green Party gained control of five councils and 376 councillors, the Liberal Democrats gained three councils and 143 seats, while the Tories suffered a net loss of eight authorities and 428 councillors.
