Starmer, aiming for reset, names ex-UK PM as adviser

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has appointed one of his predecessors, Gordon Brown, as global finance ambassador in a bid to bolster his support following a crushing local election defeat.

Starmer has been on the back foot after Labor recorded the worst losses for a ruling party in a municipal election since 1995, prompting a growing number of his own MPs to call for him to resign.

Aiming to reset his leadership and regain party support, Starmer’s office announced that Brown (75), one of the leading figures of the Labor Party, and Harriet Harman, also 75, were appointed to his team as advisors.

Brown will seek to encourage new investments and improve relations with the European Union in order to increase economic performance and win back votes; Harman will focus on creating economic opportunities by combating misogyny and violence against women and girls.

“I won’t give up on this,” Starmer repeated on Saturday as the extent of the defeat became clear, amid fresh calls from several of his own MPs for him to resign.

He added that he would respond to the message from voters by trying to convince them that their lives would improve, and that the newly hired Brown and Harman were part of the plan.

“These are vital to how we strengthen our country, move it forward and provide opportunities that give people hope for a better future,” he said.

The statement said Brown’s task will be to develop new international financial partnerships that can support defense and security investment, including measures that support the UK’s relationship with the European Union.

As Tony Blair’s finance minister, Brown was a key architect of the New Labor project that won the party three consecutive general elections from 1997.

Brown, who served as prime minister from 2007 to 2010, was instrumental in nationalizing major banks and stabilizing the financial system during the global financial crisis.

Less than two years after Labour’s landslide general election victory, voters turned against Starmer.

When the final votes were counted on Saturday, the loss of workers amounted to 1425 seats; This was a bigger defeat than the 1,330 seats lost by former prime minister Theresa May’s Conservative party in 2019.

He may resign three weeks after this result.

Against the backdrop of a cost-of-living crisis exacerbated by conflicts in Ukraine and Iran, Starmer’s government has been beset by U-turns, a rotating roster of advisers and a scandal over the appointment of another Blair-era veteran, Peter Mandelson, as the UK’s ambassador to the US.

“We made unnecessary mistakes,” Starmer said on Saturday, before insisting the right thing now was to “rebuild and show the way forward”.

While a direct challenge to Starmer’s leadership seems unlikely, there are growing calls for him to resign.

More than 20 MPs have publicly and privately called for him to set a timetable for his departure, with former minister Catherine West joining the fray on Saturday.

“His approach is inconclusive and the results over the last 48 hours have been nothing short of disastrous,” West said of Starmer in X.

“I know I speak for Labor far more than myself when I ask for him to step aside as our Leader.”

Another Labor MP, Clive Betts, told BBC Radio on Saturday that he wanted Starmer to resign “in the not too distant future”.