Here's the latest
• UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is fighting to save his premiership after more than 80 lawmakers from his governing center-left Labour Party publicly called for him to resign or set a timetable for his departure.
• A defiant Starmer defied calls to quit, telling his cabinet he will “get on with governing.” Four ministers have resigned from the government, but more than 100 Labour lawmakers have signed a letter warning against a party leadership contest, according to the UK’s PA news agency.
• The Labour Party mutiny was spurred by disastrous results in last week’s local elections, which saw it lose more than 1,400 seats in English councils and suffer heavy losses in elections for the Welsh and Scottish parliaments. The hard-right Reform UK party was the main beneficiary of Labour’s slump.
• The crisis looks set to tip Britain back into the political chaos which has defined its last decade. If Starmer chooses to step aside, or is ousted, his successor would become Britain’s sixth prime minister in seven years.
Our live coverage has ended for the day. Read up on the latest updates in the posts below.
Who could replace Keir Starmer as Labour leader and Britain’s next prime minister?
Dozens of UK lawmakers are publicly urging Keir Starmer to step down as prime minister, but no potential contender has yet mounted a formal leadership challenge against him.
Just a handful of names are thought to be capable of mustering the required support of 81 lawmakers to trigger a leadership contest.
Here’s a look at who they are.
Wes Streeting
Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who was tasked with repairing Britain’s depleted National Health Service (NHS), has long been considered the moderate future of Labour and is praised as one of the government’s most effective communicators.
But he has been harmed by his friendship with Peter Mandelson, the veteran Labour politician who was fired as Britain’s ambassador to Washington over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender.
Andy Burnham
Most opinion polls show that Andy Burnham, the mayor of Manchester, is the most popular politician in Britain. Where Starmer is often accused of lacking a political vision, Burnham champions “Manchesterism” – a brand of business-friendly, “aspirational socialism” that seeks to put essential services back in public control and make life “doable” for ordinary Britons.
But Burnham is not a member of parliament (MP), so he cannot – yet – stand to be Labour’s next leader.
Angela Rayner
Angela Rayner, Starmer’s former deputy prime minister, is popular among many young Labour voters and old-fashioned socialists for her earthy, extroverted manner.
As Starmer’s deputy, and as housing secretary, Rayner was responsible for many of the policies of which the Labour government is most proud.
However, Rayner resigned as deputy last year following a scandal over her failure to pay enough property tax on a second home. She claimed her mistake was unwitting and based on poor legal advice, but her unresolved tax affairs could blight a bid to oust Starmer as leader.
British Deputy PM Lammy says Starmer has his “full support”
British Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy says Keir Starmer has his “full support” as the Prime Minister faces growing calls to step down.
Speaking to reporters outside 10 Downing Street, Lammy said Tuesday that no rival contender appears to have enough support to challenge the prime minister for the leadership.
“It’s been 24 hours now, and nobody has come forward to put themselves forward in the processes that exist in the party. No one seems to have the names to stand up against Keir Starmer,” he said.
To trigger a leadership contest, 81 members of parliament (MPs) must coalesce around a single candidate. Once one or more candidates amass that level of support, their names can be put on the ballot to run against Starmer, in a contest voted on by Labour Party members.
A look at Labour's majority in British parliament
The Labour Party holds 403 out of the total 650 seats in the British parliament, after Keir Starmer won a landslide general election victory in 2024.
Their huge mandate makes the party’s bleak local election results and a series of scandals appear that much worse, as some lawmakers within the party are expressing frustrations that Labour should be accomplishing more.
If the party wants to oust Starmer, then at least 81 of those 403 Labour MPs would need to unite around another leader.
At least 86 Labour MPs are now calling for Starmer to step down, the UK’s PA news agency has reported, but they have not yet coalesced around a challenger. Meanwhile, more than 100 Labour lawmakers also signed a letter warning against a party leadership contest, according to PA, which has seen the letter.
For context: The recent local elections have no impact on the national parliament majority – instead, they change the balance of local authorities and some mayoral offices. But the results are widely being viewed as a decisive condemnation of Starmer’s leadership.
In England, Labour lost 1,498 local council seats, while the right-wing Reform UK picked up 1,452 seats, which is remarkable considering the party only has eight MPs in the national parliament. The left-wing Green party also gained 441 local council seats and the centrist Liberal Democrats picked up 155, according to the national broadcaster the BBC.
Reform UK also made sizable gains in Scotland and Wales during the local elections. And in both nations, the pro-independence parties – the Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru, respectively – won big in the elections for their devolved parliaments, delivering additional blows to Labour and Starmer.
Four cabinet ministers resign, Starmer remains defiant amid calls for him to resign
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has remained defiant today, despite calls from some members within his Labour party for him to step down following substantial losses for Labour in last week’s local elections.
If you’re just joining us, here’s what you need to know about what’s gone on:
- Four ministers have resigned from Starmer’s cabinet so far today, including Jess Phillips, who served as home office minister.
- Starmer told his cabinet earlier today that he will “get on with governing,” pointing out that a formal challenge has not been mounted against his leadership.
- The UK Cabinet Office released a short readout of a meeting of Britain’s most senior ministers earlier today, which contained no mention of the crisis surrounding Starmer
- Several top ministers stood by the prime minister in comments to the media today, many of whom suggested that, if Starmer were to step down, it would cause further instability for the UK.
- More than 100 Labour lawmakers also signed a letter warning against a party leadership contest, according to the UK’s PA news agency, which has seen the letter.
- UK borrowing costs hit their highest level in almost three decades, as investors worry that Starmer, should he bow to pressure to resign, would be replaced by a more left-leaning candidate who could weaken public finances.
- Tomorrow, hundreds of lawmakers will also have to put their differences to one side as they gather in Westminster for the King’s Speech – a key event in the UK political calendar, which marks the opening of a new session of parliament.
CNN’s Lauren Kent, Christian Edwards, James Frater, Ivana Kottasová and Hanna Ziady contributed to this reporting.
Fourth junior minister resigns from Starmer's government, citing lack of leadership
A fourth Labour minister, Dr. Zubir Ahmed, has resigned from Keir Starmer’s government citing a “lack of values-driven leadership.”
Ahmed, the minister for health innovation and safety, wrote in a publicly released letter that he is resigning “with a heavy heart” despite taking pride in his work improving Britain’s National Health Service (NHS).
He is the fourth minister to call for Starmer to step aside, and one of more than 80 other MPs reportedly call for a Labour Party leadership contest.
More than 100 Labour Party lawmakers sign statement backing Starmer
More than 100 Labour lawmakers have signed a letter warning against a party leadership contest, according to the UK’s PA news agency, which has seen the letter.
The letter, which was reportedly not organized by Downing Street, is urging Labour Members of Parliament to back Prime Minister Keir Starmer as he faces a revolt.
Meanwhile, at least 83 of the total 403 Labour MPs have called for Starmer to step down, according to PA’s tally. That includes three junior ministers who have resigned from his government so far today.
UK borrowing costs could stay high. That's bad news for mortgage rates
Britain’s borrowing costs were already rising more than other major economies before a leadership crisis in the governing Labour Party helped push gilt yields to multi-decade highs earlier today. Borrowing costs could stay elevated, analysts warn, with negative consequences for anyone trying to buy a house or refinance an existing mortgage.
UK government bond yields have been rising more than elsewhere because the UK is more exposed to higher inflation — and thus interest rate hikes — as a result of soaring energy costs. Political uncertainty hasn’t helped either.
For context: bond yields rise when investors sell bonds, causing prices to fall, as they demand higher returns as compensation for expected higher interest rates or elevated credit risk.
Andrew Goodwin, chief UK economist at Oxford Economics, expects bond yields to stay “higher for longer.” That’s because increased government spending now looks more likely, as UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer attempts to “regain popularity” or as a possible successor implements “more costly left-wing economic policies,” he wrote in a note today.
Higher government borrowing costs will tighten financial conditions throughout the economy and “damage mortgage affordability,” he added.
Figures from data provider Moneyfacts show that while UK mortgage rates have dipped in recent weeks, they remain considerably higher than at the start of March.
Meanwhile, several analysts expect to see further pressure on UK gilt yields and the pound in the coming days.
“Increased (government) spending is a given, and so are higher taxes, almost certainly including higher taxes on wealth and housing,” said Kit Juckes, chief foreign exchange strategist at Société Générale. On top of geopolitical uncertainty, rising energy costs and weaker economic growth, “there isn’t much to make anyone feel good about the pound,” he added.
No mention of crisis facing PM in cabinet meeting readout
The UK Cabinet Office has released a short readout of today’s meeting of Britain’s most senior ministers that contains no mention of the crisis surrounding Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
As the clamor for his resignation grew, Starmer used this morning’s gathering in 10 Downing Street to tell top ministers he would get on with governing and had no intention of quitting.
But anyone hoping for insights on exactly what was said in the readout will be disappointed. Instead of covering the infighting, it focused on contingency planning around the Middle East conflict.
Londoners react as Starmer resists calls to quit amid UK political turmoil
People in London, England have been reacting to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s pledge to “get on with governing,” in the face of pressure from some in his own government to quit after a disastrous set of local election results.
“He inherited quite a difficult government at quite a difficult time, I’d say,” student Riyadh Rehman told the Reuters news agency. “I might also say maybe, as a Labour government, they don’t really embody those maybe left-wing values or socialist values that you would expect.”
Immigration officer Geoffery Worsdell said Starmer had tried to “keep everyone happy” since being elected.
“Even though personally I’m not a fan of his, but I think he’s been holding back the more sort of left radical side of his party for a while, trying to keep them at bay for various reasons,” he added.
You can see more reaction in the video above.
Starmer has also been repeatedly criticized by US President Donald Trump recently
Even before last week’s local elections, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was repeatedly criticized by his US counterpart President Donald Trump.
Since practically the beginning of the US and Israel’s war with Iran, Trump expressed his discontent with Starmer for not allowing the US to use British bases to launch attacks on the country.
The US leader blasted the UK as “very, very uncooperative,” and said that “this is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with” in reference to Starmer.
For his part, Starmer has defended his decision not to join the war, saying he was not prepared to join a conflict “without a plan to get us out.”
In mid-March, Starmer said he had “stood by my principles” and believed that “time will show that we have the right approach.”
Starmer was likely referring to Nigel Farage, the leader of the hard-right Reform UK party and an ally of Trump.
At first, Farage said the UK’s “gloves needed to come off” when dealing with Iran. As the war in the Middle East escalated, Farage backtracked, saying the UK should not get involved “in another foreign war.”
In April, Starmer said that his “position on the Iran war has been clear from the start. We’re not going to get dragged into this war.”
CNN’s Christian Edwards contributed to this reporting.
Keir Starmer inherited a broken economy. He has yet to fix it
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer swept to power almost two years ago on a ticket to revive Britain’s ailing economy and restore the fortunes of households whose living standards have deteriorated.
“Change begins now,” he declared following the Labour Party’s resounding victory at the general election in July 2024. But meaningful change has yet to be delivered — and the Labour Party is paying dearly for the delay, as highlighted by heavy losses in recent local elections.
On one measure that matters a great deal to voters, salaries have not kept pace with rises in consumer prices. Since the Labour Party came to office, average weekly pay, after adjusting for inflation, has inched up around 1% to £492 ($666), official figures show. UK inflation, meanwhile, has been stuck at or above 3% for the past year.
“The extent of Britain’s living standards slowdown is unprecedented in modern times,” the Resolution Foundation, a think tank, found in a report last year.
Labour’s pledge to build more houses to address a chronic shortage have not materialized and economic growth, although somewhat improved, has remained lacklustre at a little above 1%. Soaring energy costs because of the Iran war are expected to weigh on output: the International Monetary Fund expects the UK economy to expand by just 0.8% this year.
“The UK economy has been stuck in a cycle of sluggish growth for several years,” according to Caterina Batog, an analyst at the British Chambers of Commerce. “Productivity continues to lag behind other advanced economies, business investment remains weak, and political uncertainty has weighed heavily on business confidence.”
A look at last week's UK local elections, and the hard-right party which made gains
Of the Labour lawmakers calling for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to step down, many are citing the party’s deep losses in the UK’s municipal, or local, elections last week.
Labour, which won a significant victory in the 2024 general election, lost nearly 1,500 seats in English councils, while the hard-right Reform UK party won a total of 1,454 seats in England.
Voters taking part in local elections choose local councillors, rather than representatives in the UK Parliament.
The Reform party, led by the populist Nigel Farage, aims to “restore Britain’s power, reward hard work, defend our culture, and put the British people first,” its website says.
The first four policies listed on Reform’s website relate to immigration.
“Illegal immigration is out of control,” the party says, vowing to “remove all illegal migrants from the UK” and “ensure that anyone who enters the country illegally will be ineligible for asylum.”
Reform also promises to “defend and protect British culture and traditions,” “dramatically cut foreign aid” and scrap environmental policies in support of British farmers, among other policies, should it get into power.
Following his party’s gains in the election last week, Farage said that Reform was no longer a “fluke or a protest vote,” but a “truly national party” that was “here to stay.”
Three ministers have quit Starmer's cabinet today. Here's what that actually is
Three ministers have resigned from Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s cabinet so far today, amid growing backlash against the country’s leader following huge losses for Labour in last week’s local elections.
Home Office Minister Jess Phillips, Miatta Fahnbulleh, the Minister for Devolution, Faith and Communities and Alex Davies-Jones, the Minister for Victims and Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls, have all handed in their resignations in the past few hours.
According to the British Parliament website, the cabinet is the “team of 20 or so most senior ministers in the Government who are chosen by the Prime Minister to lead on specific policy areas,” including health, transport, foreign affairs and defense.
Among the most notable members of the cabinet are Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, finance minister Rachel Reeves and foreign minister Yvette Cooper.
Several cabinet members, including the country’s defense minister John Healey, stood by Starmer while speaking to the press and posting on social media earlier today.
Third minister quits Starmer's government
A third minister, Alex Davies-Jones, has just resigned from UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government.
Davies-Jones, the Minister for Victims and Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls, wrote in a resignation letter shared on social media that she implores Starmer “to act in the country’s interest and set out a timetable for your departure.”
It follows the resignations of Home Office Minister Jess Phillips and Miatta Fahnbulleh, the Minister for Devolution, Faith and Communities.
Minister resigns from Starmer's cabinet
A second British minister has just resigned from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s cabinet.
Jess Phillips, who served as Home Office Minister, posted her resignation letter to Facebook a short while ago.
Phillips, a staunch voice in a strategy to tackle Violence Against Women and Girls, expressed her gratitude to Starmer for his work on the issue, but also claimed that “real change and direction in this area usually came from threats made by me in light of catastrophic mistakes.”
The politician referenced action against online child sex abuse that she was pushing to become UK legislation, and claimed that Starmer did not work to enact this quickly enough. She did not explicitly mention the Labour Party’s losses at last week’s local elections in her letter.
Earlier today, Miatta Fahnbulleh, the Minister for Devolution, Faith and Communities, became the first of Starmer’s ministers to resign, saying that the prime minister’s government has not “acted with the vision, pace and ambition that our mandate for change demands of us.”
Almost 80 lawmakers from Starmer’s governing center-left Labour Party have also publicly called for him to resign or set a timetable for his departure.
A closer look at the phenomenon of protest voting in Britain's local elections
It’s not unusual in British politics for leaders to suffer disastrous local election results after two years in office, before then winning a second term at the next general election.
The Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher lost more than 1,000 council seats across England in 1981 local elections, but was reelected in a landslide in the 1983 general election. Blair lost more than 1,000 council seats in 1999, before winning his second landslide in the general election two years later.
That’s in part because of the “protest vote” phenomenon of a multi-party system. Voters use the local elections to express frustrations with the national government or the current state of the party they typically support.
Last week’s UK local elections saw huge gains made by smaller parties — the hard-right Reform UK, the centrist Liberal Democrats and the left-wing Greens — which many political commentators note is a clear sign of frustration with the two more mainstream parties, Labour and Conservative.
British media is awash with accounts of voters citing anger over immigration as part of what spurred them to vote for Reform UK local councillors in protest, even though immigration policy is largely controlled by the Home Office and Border Force at the national level.
Other voters said they voted Green to express discontent with Starmer’s government for a range of reasons, including national issues like social benefits and immigration changes, as well as foreign policy issues in relation to Gaza.
Whether those voters coalesce around the two mainstream parties again in the next general election is an open question.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski said, in the wake of the local election results, that Britain’s two-party politics is dead. But some believe the walloping incumbents receive in local elections is just par for the course.
Political chaos could make for an awkward King's Speech tomorrow
The Labour Party’s mutiny comes at an unfortunate time.
Tomorrow, hundreds of lawmakers will have to put their differences to one side as they gather in Westminster for the King’s Speech – a key event in the UK political calendar which marks the opening of a new session of parliament.
Sat on a throne in the House of Lords, King Charles III will read a speech that sets out the legislation that the government intends to introduce in the forthcoming parliament.
That speech will have been written entirely by the government, and approved by the cabinet – some members of which are now reportedly in open revolt against the Prime Minister.
Whether the imminence of the King’s Speech gives Keir Starmer staying power remains to be seen. None of his potential rivals have yet formally challenged his leadership.
Perhaps the prospect of having to play happy families in front of the monarch Wednesday morning will persuade those rivals to bide their time for another day.
Labour party appears deeply divided on who they want to replace Starmer
There are mounting calls for Keir Starmer to step aside. But there appears to be no consensus among Labour Party lawmakers on who should replace him.
At least 81 of the current 403 Labour Members of Parliament would need to unite behind one person, which doesn’t look likely to happen any time soon. Here are the key names being thrown around:
- Wes Streeting: The current Health Secretary hails from the right flank of the Labour Party and is seen as a key rival to Starmer. Streeting is said to have long harbored hopes of running for prime minister. He was notably silent and didn’t speak to the media as he left Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting.
- Angela Rayner: She was formerly Starmer’s right-hand woman, serving as deputy prime minister before resigning last year over her failure to pay the correct amount of property taxes. Rayner is considered a serious contender, but she has not formally announced that she will mount a leadership challenge. In a statement on Sunday, she called on Starmer to “meet the moment,” adding that “what we are doing isn’t working, and it needs to change.” British media has widely reported that she is still awaiting the results of an investigation by Britain’s tax authority, which could complicate her chances.
- Andy Burnham: The hugely popular mayor of Greater Manchester is not actually eligible to become prime minister right now because he doesn’t have a seat in parliament. Labour leaders blocked Burnham from standing in a by-election earlier this year, halting his chances of mounting a leadership challenge to Starmer. But MPs who still want Burnham to become their leader are hoping that he could run for a seat in parliament if they set out a lengthy timetable for Starmer’s resignation and replacement.
More British lawmakers pledge support for Starmer
More lawmakers from Britain’s governing Labour Party have taken to social media today to show support for Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Many of them suggested that, if Starmer were to step down, it would cause further instability for the UK.
John Healey, the country’s Secretary of State for Defence, posted to X that “people are worried about current conflicts and looming global crises.”
Catherine Atkinson, who represents Derby North in the East Midlands, echoed this sentiment, writing on X: “We face a less safe world with global instability adding to cost of living pressures for households.
Preet Kaur Gill, MP for Birmingham Edgbaston, said she was “backing” Starmer “because voters did not elect us to turn inward and obsess over ourselves (but) they elected us to deliver change for working people.”
Bayo Alaba, who represents the constituency of Southend East and Rochford, wrote that last week’s election results were “beyond sad,” adding that “the task of fixing our country and communities is not easy or quick.”
Tulip Siddiq, who represents Hampstead and Highgate in London, wrote on X that “the last few days have been bruising,” but said that Starmer “is right to get on with the job. That is what the country expects of all of us.”
