By AP — London, May 12, 2026
Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Tuesday insisted he will stay in office despite growing calls for him to step down after his Labour Party’s heavy losses in last week’s local elections across the UK. He told ministers he accepts responsibility for the setback but said he intends to continue leading the government.
Starmer noted that there is a formal process for removing a party leader and that no such challenge has been launched. “The country expects us to get on with governing,” he said, adding that that is precisely what he and his team will do.
The developments came as the first government minister resigned following the electoral defeats. Miatta Fahnbulleh, the housing, communities and local government minister and a junior figure on the party’s left, stepped down and publicly urged Starmer “to do the right thing for the country” by setting a timetable to stand aside.
Fahnbulleh said she was proud of her public service but argued the government had failed to match the vision, pace and mandate for change that voters expected. She added that Labour had not “governed as a Labour Party clear about our values and strong in our convictions,” making her resignation a protest over direction as well as performance.
The exchange underscores internal tensions in Labour as it responds to the scale of the local-election defeats and decides how to move forward while remaining in power.
