British PM Starmer tells cabinet meeting he intends to remain leader despite calls to resign

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer defied calls to resign on Tuesday, telling ministers he would “get on with governing” despite a “destabilizing” 48 hours of growing calls to set out ​a timetable for his departure after an election drubbing.

At ​a meeting of his cabinet team of ministers, Starmer, in the top job for less than two years, repeated that ​while he took responsibility for one of his Labour Party’s worst ⁠election defeats, there had ⁠been no official move to trigger ‌a leadership contest.

“The past 48 hours have been destabilizing for government and that has a real economic cost for our country and for families,” Starmer told ministers, according to his Downing Street office.

“The country expects us ⁠to get on with governing. That is what I am doing and what we must do as a Cabinet.”

British government bonds rallied weakly on Starmer’s comments, but ‌remained firmly in the red for the day.

Leaving the meeting, four senior ministers offered Starmer their support, with Pensions Minister Pat McFadden telling reporters that no one had challenged the prime minister at cabinet.

McFadden added there were “many statements of support for the job that he’s doing.”

Jennifer Chapman, minister of state, told BBC News that the mood in the room was “overwhelmingly” in support of Starmer leading the party to tackle the challenging issues at hand, including the economy domestically and the impact of the war in Iran on security and inflation.

Junior minister resigns

Starmer’s defiance was in marked contrast to the feelings of many in his Labour Party.

On Tuesday, a junior minister resigned after a handful of ministerial aides also left ​the government. Housing, communities and local government minister Miatta Fahnbulleh stepped down and urged Starmer “to do the right thing for the country.

More than 80 Labour MPs have publicly called for him to set a resignation ⁠date so the party could install a new leader in an orderly manner, with Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood arguably the biggest name on that list.

Starmer is Britain’s fourth prime minister in five years. The move against him comes a day before King Charles is due to set out the government’s legislative agenda in a parliamentary ceremony of pomp and splendor on Wednesday.

Starmer ⁠had sought to shore up his position on Monday when he promised to ⁠act ⁠more boldly and with more ​urgency to tackle Britain’s many problems.

He had said the country would never forgive the ​centre-left Labour Party if ⁠it embarked on a leadership challenge, just two years after its huge parliamentary majority was supposed to bring an end to the political chaos that had gripped the country since Britain voted to leave the European Union 10 years ago.

Starmer took over leadership after the party’s worst national election showing since 1935 under predecessor Jeremy ‌Corbyn in 2019. But after the mid-2024 election rout for Labour, Starmer’s government has struggled to turn around a low-growth British economy, and there was confusion in how it came to be that Peter Mandelson was appointed as British ambassador to Washington despite the envoy’s ties to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Polls have reflected a lack of confidence in Starmer’s leadership.

The next U.K. national election doesn’t have to be held until 2029, but the Westminster parliamentary system allows parties to change leader midterm without the need for a general election.

Challengers need significant support

It is generally harder for Labour MPs to remove a prime minister than the opposition Conservative Party. Labour lawmakers have to rally behind specific candidates, rather than simply declare “no confidence” in the leader.

The Conservatives went through five prime ministers in eight years after 2016.

One former junior minister for Labour, Catherine West, has made a formal attempt to gauge support for Starmer’s exit but this is not the same as a leadership challenge and she has not declared her intention to stand to replace him.

Any candidate wishing to make a challenge would need to secure the support of 20 per cent of Labour members of Parliament. With Labour currently holding 403 seats, that equates to 81 backers, Candidates also must meet thresholds for support from grassroots Labour Party organizations, and from affiliated organizations such as trade unions.

Starmer would have an automatic right to be on the ballot paper, if he chose to fight the contest. If more than one candidate qualifies, the winner is decided by a ballot of all Labour Party members and affiliates.

Those considered to harbour leadership ambitions include Health Miinister Wes Streeting, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner. Burnham does not have the seat in Parliament ‌he needs ⁠to mount a challenge and Rayner has yet to fully resolve the tax issues that prompted her resignation from office last year.