May 9, 2026, 1:29 p.mMay 9, 2026, 1:29 p.m
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After the regional and local elections that were disastrous for his Labor Party, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has appointed former Prime Minister Gordon Brown to the government.
The 75-year-old should advise the government as special envoy on global financial issues, Starmer wrote in a post on Brown was British Prime Minister from 2007 to 2010, having previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer for a decade under former Prime Minister Tony Blair.
However, the move was met with criticism even within its own ranks. It shows that Starmer has neither an understanding of the problem nor a solution, the BBC quoted an unnamed Labor MP as saying.
Britain’s Labor Social Democrats suffered historic losses in Thursday’s election. In the local elections in England, over 1,400 seats in local councils were lost in various parts of the country. The right-wing populists led by Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage were primarily able to benefit from this, winning around 1,440 seats straight away.
100 years of Labor dominance in Wales come to an end
The election to the regional parliament in Wales was particularly painful for Labor: in its former stronghold, the party did not become the strongest force for the first time, but slipped to third place behind the independence party Plaid Cymru and Reform UK. Labor has dominated the political landscape in the former industrial location of Wales for around a hundred years – that now seems to be coming to an end.
Starmer has already faced calls to resign in the run-up to the election. He has been under pressure for months due to empty state coffers and low economic growth as well as rising living costs. There were also a number of failed reform projects and scandals. Even after the election there were calls for the Prime Minister to resign – but Starmer rejected these. (sda/dpa)