Pressure grows on Starmer as more Labour MPs call for resignation – UK politics live

Keir Starmer is under pressure to set out a timeline for his departure after a crushing defeat in elections across Britain prompted senior Labour MPs to call for him to step down within a year.

In a disastrous set of results, Labour had lost control of more than 25 councils and more than 1,000 council seats in England by Friday night, many to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which made large gains across the Midlands and the north as well as taking seats from the Tories in the south.

After more than a century of domination, Labour has faced near-wipeout in Wales, where the party’s first minister, Eluned Morgan, lost her seat. Labour could slump to third place in Scotland behind the SNP and Reform. In London, a Green surge meant Labour lost control of councils it had dominated, including Hackney and Waltham Forest.

While the prime minister appeared to have avoided an immediate coup, there was a furious response to the results among senior MPs and the unions, with some warning him to change course or risk electoral oblivion. By Friday evening, 10 more MPs had called for him to set out a timetable for departure from No 10.

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In the wake of the local election results, Keir Starmer faced calls to stand down after voters handed a damning verdict on the Labour party.

Starmer took responsibility after Labour lost hundreds of councillors in England and suffered humiliation in Wales, but he made clear that he would not quit, saying “tough days like this don’t weaken my resolve”.

Some Labour MPs have come out demanding his resignation, but members of Starmer’s cabinet have rallied around the prime minister.

Health secretary Wes Streeting, who is widely seen as a likely candidate in a potential leadership race despite publicly denying such ambitions, said Starmer had his “support”.