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Wednesday briefing: Where Starmer stands after another precarious day in Parliament

leadership, but it is bleak. Even so, Starmer is likely to be unyielding to this criticism, says Kiran. “People who know Starmer say that he’s extremely stubborn and can be impervious to outside criticism

I have a duty to stay on, says Starmer, as he justifies defence spending decisions

Starmer has told the BBC he has a "duty" to stay on as prime minister as he sought to justify his decisions on defence spending. Speaking the day after [two of his defence ministers quit

Healey quits as defence secretary in row over military spending

party following a poor set of election results in England, Scotland and Wales last month, although he has [told supporters he will stand in any Labour leadership contest](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3vyxzl625po). Internal wrangling over defence

Starmer expected to announce exit plan that will clear way for Burnham to become PM

leadership challenge from Burnham, who returned to Westminster via [an overwhelming win](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/19/andy-burnham-wins-makerfield-byelection-paving-way-labour-leadership-challenge) in the Makerfield byelection. But with more than half a dozen cabinet ministers having privately told Starmer his time

Henry Zeffman: PM puts himself back in the game for now

Starmer said to the cabinet today, at the start of what was - let's remember - just its standard weekly scheduled meeting. The prime minister's message was spoken to a full meeting of 28 cabinet

Potential leadership challengers jostle for positions as PM's allies warn of 'chaos'

Starmer to now be imminent, but with his rivals briefing that he has struggled to get the numbers of backers he requires. Then the interviews the former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has done

Chris Mason: Emphatic win leaves Starmer with big decision on leadership

leadership Andy Burnham couldn't have hoped for a better result than this. He has won and won big time, taking more votes than all his rivals combined. Granted the Makerfield parliamentary seat has elected

Rejoining customs union would not fix damage caused by Brexit, research finds

Starmer and Rachel Reeves have increasingly stressed the importance of striking a closer trading relationship with the EU, with a summit to be held next month. But the government has said it will stick

Starmer’s failure to demonstrate strong values ‘driving away progressive voters’

Labour is braced for dismal results [in Thursday’s elections](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/may/07/local-elections-labour-test-greens-reform-lib-dems-tories-england-scotland-wales-polls), which could result in [Starmer facing a leadership challenge](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/may/05/labour-leadership-challenge-bond-markets-angela-rayner-andy-burnham-keir-starmer). The report from UCL’s Policy Lab, using research from

Starmer to meet Streeting on Wednesday as leadership crisis divides Labour

Starmer is to meet Health Secretary Wes Streeting, one of his potential leadership challengers, on Wednesday morning, as his government faces an attempt by Labour MPs to oust him from the top job. The meeting

Close Starmer ally declines to say if he will lead Labour into next election

Labour’s policies. “We have to work together then as a party in this new political era of five-party politics, of the rise of populist parties in our country, to be able

Chris Mason: All eyes on Downing Street - what does the PM say, and when?

Labour Party expect Sir Keir Starmer to say just this, perhaps as soon as this morning. Four years ago, and three prime ministers ago, Boris Johnson was running the country. He was arguing defiantly

Birmingham is awash with local election candidates – but will result be a ‘coalition of chaos’?

party’s lack of experience when it comes to governance, something which could be tested should they find themselves in charge of the council’s £3.5bn budget. A spokesperson for Reform said

Labour expected to lose Senedd after century of winning elections in Wales

Starmer should stand down as prime minister. Both Plaid and Reform have been pitching the election as a two-horse race - encouraging voters to back them over other parties. For both parties the more seats

A grim week for Starmer – but things could be about to get worse

Starmer. If you had asked me a fortnight ago about the sentiment we were picking up from Labour MPs about Sir Keir's future in Downing Street, I would have told you that pressure from

Labour must put policy first, politics second, Tony Blair says

party’s “almost infinite capacity for self-delusion” meant it was likely to lose the next election, the former prime minister said it should “take a step back, analyse the world”. On [Keir Starmer

Tax cuts and cost of living help proposed by Labour-linked groups allied to Streeting and Burnham

leadership should Starmer’s government collapse. The report is also understood to have been shared with Burnham. The Tribune group has launched its own policy proposals in a set of essays in the Renewal journal

Analysis: Has Starmer done enough to save his premiership?

Starmer's speech. Was it enough to avert a challenge to the prime minister's leadership less than two years after he won a landslide general election victory? In the first instance, the person whose

Could Starmer bring back Rayner to steady ship – and would she get onboard?

leadership challenge, with Rayner routinely cited as a possible challenger. One of the many moving parts in this would be whether another possible challenger, Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, returns to parliament. Speaking

Why Starmer still can't move on from the Mandelson mess

party felt like it was almost, with some praise for Starmer's handling of the war, starting to catch a break. Then, this most embarrassing of scandals blows up again - a mess, fundamentally, created