Starmer vows to fight leadership challenges

(Sharecast News) - Keir Starmer insisted he would not walk away from Number 10 on Monday, but acknowledged that the UK would go down "a very dark path" if the government did not start to do better.

Local elections on Thursday saw Reform take more than a 1,000 council seats while Labour lost a similar amount, including in traditional left-leaning areas such as Greater Manchester, where long-term rival Andy Burnham is mayor. The Green Party also made significant gains across the country, while in Wales, a traditional Labour stronghold, first minister Eluned Morgan lost her seat.

As the results came in across Friday and the weekend, some MPs and commentators argued that Starmer - who became prime minister nearly two years ago when Labour won the general election - should now step down.

In a speech on Monday, Starmer acknowledged that the results were "very tough". He claimed the UK was facing "dangerous times" and "dangerous opponents", and warned: "If we don't get this right, our country will go down a very dark path."

But he argued that Britain had already lived through the chaos of repeated changes in Number 10 and vowed to stay in office, telling reporters he would "not walk away" if a leadership contest was launched.

He also pledged to fully nationalise British Steel, subject to a public interest test, and to rebuild the UK's relationship with the European Union.

"Like every government, we've made mistakes," he said. "But we've got the big political choices right. If we'd listened to the advice of other parties, right now, we'd be stuck in a stand-off with Iran."

Starmer argued Labour had stabilised the economy and cut NHS waiting lists. "But that's not enough, clearly. For the British people, tired of a status quo that had failed them, change cannot come quickly enough."

"Some people are frustrated with me," he added. "I know I need to prove them wrong, and I will."

British Steel is owned by China's Jingye Group, but its Scunthorpe steelworks were taken over by the taxpayer last year to prevent their closure.

Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said: "This speech was seen as make or break for his position, and he came out fighting. Although the PM faced challenges to his leadership over the weekend, there has been no knock-out blow, and so far on Monday, the markets are calm, yields are moderately higher, and the pound remains above $1.86, even though the dollar is higher on a broad basis today.

"It looks like the market is not taking [former deputy prime minister] Angela Raynor's proposal for how to reinvigorate the economy and Labour's chances seriously. She doesn't seem to grasp policy trade-offs."

Raynor called on Sunday for Burnham to return to Westminster as an MP. Burnham first stood in a Labour leadership election in 2010, coming fourth of five candidates. He stood again in 2015 but also failed to make headway, and quit Westminster in 2017, long before the current government came to power in July 2024. However, he is widely seen as still harbouring ambitions to lead the party.