Keir Starmer has said he will fight to keep his job if he faces a leadership challenge, emphasizing it is not out of personal vanity or stubbornness but from a deep sense of duty.
In an interview with Chris Mason, the BBC’s political editor, Starmer also defended his proposals for the defence investment plan, stating he does not accept that it is underfunded.
On the leadership, he said: “I want to complete the work I was elected into government to do. And therefore that’s why I’ve always said I’m not going to walk away from the commitment that I made in 2024 to serve my country and the mandate that I won from the British public in order to do so. That was a mandate we won in 2024 with me then leading my party and me now as prime minister. I’m not going to walk away from that because I think it’s very important that we carry on ensuring that we do the right thing.”
Starmer said he thought it would be a mistake for Labour to “plunge the country into the chaos of a leadership election.”
But, if there is a leadership challenge, “I will fight,” he said. “That’s not about personal vanity, it’s not about stubbornness, it’s out of a very deep sense of duty.”
More quotes from the interview will be posted shortly.
