LONDON: Prime Minister Keir Starmer promised to be bolder to turn around Britain’s fortunes, making an impassioned plea to both his Labour Party and voters on Monday to stick with him and avoid a leadership contest he said would only bring chaos.
Speaking at a community center in London, Starmer all but admitted he had been too timid in tackling the myriad of problems besetting Britain since he won a large majority in 2024, and said he took responsibility for one of the worst defeats for Labour in last week’s local elections.
Describing the global backdrop of conflicts in Ukraine and Iran as one of the most dangerous “than at any time in my life,” Starmer said he would now offer a “complete break” with the decision-making of the past that led to the “status quo.”
SPEEDREAD
• PM Starmer promises to be bolder, quicker to win back support.
• He says any leadership challenge will bring ‘chaos.’
• Former junior minister wants timetable for PM to quit.
Instead, he promised to govern with the “hope” and “urgency” required to improve living standards and produce a “stronger, fairer” Britain to try to crush the challenge posed by the populist Reform UK party on the right, and the Greens from the left before the next national election due in 2029.
“Our response this time must be different, a complete break. We must make this country stronger and take control of our economic security,” he said.
“I know that people are frustrated by the state of Britain. Frustrated by politics, and some people are frustrated with me,” he said. “I know I have my doubters and I know I need to prove them wrong. And I will,” Starmer told an audience of party faithful, who offered him several standing ovations.
The applause was a long way from the messaging groups of Labour lawmakers, where talk about removing Starmer has stepped up a gear after the party lost hundreds of seats in elections to councils in England and the parliaments in Scotland and Wales.
Catherine West, a former junior minister, broke cover at the weekend to threaten to seek a leadership contest if Starmer failed to offer radical change.
She changed tack on Monday, asking Labour lawmakers to back the idea of setting out a timetable for Starmer to stand down rather than immediately standing herself. She said a leadership election should happen in September.
No leading Labour contender has stepped forward to challenge Starmer as yet.
Angela Rayner, former deputy prime minister seen as a potential challenger for the leadership after criticizing Starmer’s operation on Sunday, told a union conference the government “will be judged on actions and not just our words.”
Starmer has long said he would not leave his job voluntarily, and his team said the speech was a way of showing the often quietly spoken former lawyer was resolute in delivering not only for his party, but the wider country.
“I’m not going to walk away,” Starmer said. “I think what we witnessed with the last government was the chaos of constantly changing leaders,” he said, referring to Conservative governments which saw five different leaders in just over six years.
