Starmer refused to resign following Labour's defeat
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has stated that he will not step down despite the Labour Party’s heavy defeat in the local elections and mounting internal pressure. Immediately following his statement, financial markets reacted negatively—yields on British government bonds rose sharply.
This was reported by the Financial Times.
Following Starmer’s remarks, yields on 10-year bonds rose by 0.06 percentage points to exceed 5%, while yields on 30-year bonds climbed to 5.67% (+0.10 percentage points); British bonds performed worse than their European counterparts
Analysts attribute this to increased political uncertainty in the UK.
In his speech, the prime minister acknowledged that some voters are disappointed in him, but stated that he does not intend to step down even in the event of an internal party challenge.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Keir Starmer emphasized.
He also took responsibility for the election results but stressed that he intends to continue his work.
Pressure on the prime minister is mounting within the party:
- MP Catherine West is initiating a petition to set a date for the election of a new leader
- some MPs are openly calling for Starmer’s resignation
- Culture Minister Lisa Nandy supports the return of Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to Parliament
- rumors have emerged surrounding Health Minister Wes Streeting about a possible challenge to Starmer
Despite this, Stritting’s allies deny his involvement in the internal leadership struggle.
The situation in the Labour Party is escalating amid internal disagreements over future leadership and government strategy, which has already begun to affect the country’s financial stability.
Already, 41 Labour Party MPs have publicly called on British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to step down as party leader.
Earlier, Starmer spoke of growing tensions in relations with the U.S.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, during which they discussed increasing pressure on the aggressor. The leaders paid particular attention to the fight against the Russian shadow fleet and London’s contributions to the PURL program to strengthen the Ukrainian army.
