Despite calls for his resignation British Prime Minister Starmer wants to stay in office
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer wants to remain in office despite calls for his resignation. His party has a procedure for the removal of the leader, but this has not been initiated, Starmer said during a cabinet meeting this morning, according to government sources.
12.05.2026, 11:22
12.05.2026, 12:03
SDA
"The country expects us to continue governing. That is exactly what I am doing, and that is exactly what we must do as a cabinet," Starmer said. He accepted responsibility for the disastrous results in the local and parliamentary elections last Thursday. "And I take responsibility for implementing the change we promised."
Starmer had come under massive pressure in the past few hours. Two senior ministers, Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood and Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper, are said to have advised the 63-year-old to present a timetable for his resignation. Before the crucial Cabinet meeting this morning, other MPs had publicly called for the Prime Minister's resignation.
Crisis meeting in Downing Street
According to media reports, the Prime Minister had already received parts of his cabinet in Downing Street during the night, including Foreign Secretary Cooper and Defense Secretary John Healey. During a speech on Monday, the Prime Minister had already declared his intention to remain in office. He said he wanted to prove it to the doubters.
"Keir Starmer faces biggest leadership crisis of his premiership", wrote the PA news agency in the morning. There were also these other headlines in the British media:
"The Sun: 'Starmer is on the brink. Keir's premiership is in free fall."
"The Telegraph": "Time to go, says Cabinet."
"The Guardian": "Starmer has his back to the wall as cabinet ministers urge him to resign."
"Sky News: "Keir Starmer weighs up whether he can save his premiership."
"The Times: "Cabinet turns against Keir Starmer. The Prime Minister has been told to present a timetable for his departure."
More than 70 of the 400 or so Labour MPs, including many backbenchers, publicly withdrew their support for the ailing head of government on Monday, according to Sky and the BBC. Starmer cannot be voted out as Prime Minister, but he can be voted out as party leader. Anyone wishing to challenge Starmer would need the official support of at least 20 percent of Labour MPs in the House of Commons - currently 81 MPs.
Disastrous election results
Starmer's Labour Party lost over 1,400 seats on local committees in the local elections in England last Thursday. In the general election in Wales, a Labor stronghold for decades, the party slipped to third place behind the independence party Plaid Cymru and Reform UK. Starmer survived initial calls for his resignation over the weekend. The initial announcement that the prime minister would be forced into a leadership election within his party was also initially toned down considerably.
"I know I have my doubters, and I know I have to prove them wrong - and I will," Starmer said on Monday. He said he bore responsibility for the election debacle. "But I also have a responsibility to deliver the change we were elected for - and I will deliver."
What happens after a prime minister resigns?
The British are already used to heads of government holding hands in Downing Street. After the two Conservative politicians from the Tories, Liz Truss (50) in October 2022 and Boris Johnson (61) in September 2022, Starmer would be the third British prime minister in five years to resign or be forced to resign prematurely. His party would nevertheless remain in government for the time being and a successor would be appointed by a committee.
On Monday, Starmer had set up a threatening backdrop in the event that Labor was no longer at the helm. If his party did not succeed, the country would go down a "very dark" path, he said - and warned in particular against the right-wing populists of Reform UK with Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage, who triumphed in Thursday's elections. A large right-wing demonstration is to take place in London on Saturday.
"We can't win by being a weaker version of Reform or the Greens," he says. "We can only win by being a stronger version of Labor." Nothing less than "the soul of the nation" is at stake, says Starmer.
