After heavy losses in the elections in Great Britain, the British Prime Minister is trying to stay afloat – and is now losing support in his party.
May 12, 2026, 3:08 amMay 12, 2026, 3:08 am
Christoph Cöln / t-online
After his Labor Party’s election debacle, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is coming under increasing pressure. According to the BBC, Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood is said to have advised him to present a timetable for his resignation. The broadcaster Sky and the Guardian reported that Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper had also suggested that the head of government resign.
Could announce his resignation shortly: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.Image: keystone
Starmer is now expected to weigh up his options ahead of a cabinet meeting this Tuesday. There are currently “different views in the cabinet about how things should proceed and what is in the best interests of the party and the country,” a cabinet minister told the Guardian.
More than 70 of the 400 Labor MPs, including many backbenchers, publicly withdrew their support for the ailing head of government over the course of Monday, according to Sky and the BBC. In addition, four parliamentary assistants to his ministers announced their resignation that evening and called on Starmer to vacate the field.
“It is clear to me that the Prime Minister has lost authority not only within the Labor group in Parliament but across the country and that he cannot regain it,” said Tom Rutland, an aide to the Environment Minister, in his resignation letter.
Labor lost over 1,400 seats in local bodies in the local elections in England last week. In the general election in Wales, a Labor stronghold for decades, the party slipped into third place behind the pro-independence party Plaid Cymru and Reform UK.
Starmer is combative
On Monday evening, first an employee of Health Minister Wes Streeting, Joe Morris, resigned, and then also Rutland. Shortly afterwards, Naushabah Khan from the Cabinet Office and Melanie Ward from Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy’s team followed.
They all hold the position of Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS), a type of assistant post. They are appointed by ministers and, according to the parliamentary website, act as their “eyes and ears” in the House of Commons. They are also seen as important liaisons for the Prime Minister who gauge the mood in Parliament for the government.
Starmer had already rejected calls for his resignation several times, and he appeared combative in a crisis speech in London this morning. He knows that he has doubters and has to convince them of himself – “and I will,” he said.
MP: “He seemed almost panicked”
Dissatisfaction is growing within the ranks over Starmer’s behavior, as the BBC reports. The broadcaster quotes an unnamed Labor MP as saying: “I almost felt sorry for the Prime Minister during that speech. He seemed overwhelmed, even panicked. I looked at that and thought of all my constituents who have been telling me on their doorsteps over the last few weeks that he has to go and that they won’t vote Labor again until he does.”
The BBC also notes that there were hardly any Labor MPs present in the room where the British Prime Minister gave his speech and no Cabinet members at all. This is also seen as a vote of no confidence in Starmer. The reactions of those party members who listened to Starmer in person were devastating. “Catastrophic,” was the verdict of one listener. Another said: “That really wasn’t enough.” Another anonymous source said: “He is damaging the party and the country.”
Opposing candidacy just a matter of time?
A long-time Starmer confidant told the BBC that Starmer had not provided convincing answers to the country’s pressing problems. He neither presented solutions to the rising cost of living nor presented concepts for combating immigration or strengthening Britain’s defense capacity. It doesn’t seem like he’s “rising to the situation,” the BBC quotes its source as saying.
The fight for a possible successor is said to have already broken out behind the scenes. However, Starmer is said to still have the support of loyalists loyal to him. So far there has been no one in the Labor Party who will openly challenge the Prime Minister. But the unanimous opinion is that this can only be a matter of time.
Former Secretary of State Catherine West, meanwhile, said she would collect signatures from Labor MPs to force Starmer to withdraw in an orderly manner in September. The politician explained that the head of government’s suggestions had come “too little and too late”. She is now aiming for a timetable for the election of a new party leader, but will not run herself. According to the Labor Party’s statutes, a counter-candidacy for the election of a new party leader requires the written support of at least 20 percent of the members. The next general election in Great Britain is in 2029.
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