Keir Starmer faces pressure to resignas UK opposition leader

By Nkiruka Nnorom with agency reports

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing intense pressure to resign, with at least 81 Labour Party MPs—including Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood—publicly calling on him to either step down or set a timetable for his departure.

The 81 MPs represent 21 percent of the party’s 403 members of Parliament, the threshold needed to trigger a leadership contest.

This constitutes the most serious internal challenge to the prime minister from within his own party.

Starmer, however, has remained defiant.

“The past 48 hours have been destabilising for the government and that has a real economic cost for our country and for families.  

“The Labour Party has a process for challenging a leader and that has not been triggered.  The country expects us to get on with governing. That is what I am doing and what we must do as a cabinet,” the prime minister told cabinet on Monday.

Pressure on Starmer has risen since Labour suffered disastrous local‑election results last week, losing hundreds of councillors to the hard‑right Reform UK party and the left‑wing Greens.

The party also lost its century‑old dominance in Wales and was heavily beaten by the Scottish National Party in the devolved parliament in Edinburgh.

The results added to a difficult period for Starmer, who has been engulfed in scandal over his decision to appoint, and then sack, Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the United States.

Mandelson was a former friend of Jeffrey Epstein, alleged sex offender.

Earlier this year, Starmer fended off calls to quit over his decision to appoint Mandelson.

The prime minister has also faced criticism over a failure to revive the economy, leaving British citizens to grapple with a high cost of living.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting and former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner are seen as the most likely replacements for Keir among Labour MPs.

The post Keir Starmer under pressure to resign as UK PM appeared first on Vanguard News.