Defiant Starmer vows ‘I will not walk away’ as Labour suffers devastating election losses and Reform vote surges

Defiant Keir Starmer has insisted he will not “walk away” and vowed to fight on as Labor leader and prime minister after his party suffered a blow in local elections across the UK.

With Nigel Farage’s Reform taking hundreds of seats in both the Labor and Conservative heartlands and the rise of the Green Party, the Prime Minister said he took full responsibility for the defeats and left Labor heading for record losses.

MPs on the party’s left and union leaders have demanded he set a timetable for his resignation, but ministers have insisted there will be no attempt to sack Sir Keir.

Sir Keir, who met with Labor Party activists in London as the results were announced, promised: “I will not go and drag the country into chaos.”

These words came at a time when the electoral map was being redrawn in England:

Speaking in Romford, Mr Farage emphasized that history had been made with the election results. “I can honestly say you are witnessing a historic shift in British politics. It (Reform UK) is now the most national of all the parties,” he said.

Mr Farage claimed Reform’s victory in Essex meant Tory leader Kemi Badenoch and five members of his shadow cabinet would lose their seats in the general election.

But he clung to victories in London, where the Conservatives regained control of Westminster Council from Labor and have an effective majority in Wandsworth.

He said: “The Tories are coming back. From Westminster to Wandsworth, from Harlow to Bexley, from Fareham to Broxbourne, people can see that we are a renewed party. There is more to do, but we have the plan and the team to make Britain work again.”

But heading into the weekend, attention is turning to Sir Keir’s survival as leader and prime minister after his first two years in office were overshadowed by the welfare revolt and the Peter Mandelson scandal.

Union leaders, some of Labour’s biggest supporters, have already lined up to demand a leadership change.

Andrea Egan, general secretary of Unison, Britain’s largest union, said: “Labour is in danger of being forgotten because it does not serve the vast majority of people.

“What needs to change is not just the leader, but the whole approach: a Labor government that always puts the interests of workers ahead of the rich being able to succeed.”

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The writing is on the wall for the Labor government and this could be the beginning of the end for the party itself. Labor has been abandoned and its mind is made up.”

FBU general secretary Steve Wright said Labor’s “devastating election results” were “a consequence of Keir Starmer’s government failing to deliver for workers”, while TSSA general secretary Maryam Eslamdoust said Labor “urgently” needs a leadership election for a candidate who can “stop the real danger of a far-right government coming to power in this country”.

But the results also dashed her and Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham’s hopes of succeeding Sir Keir, with Labor losing all of the council seats it was contesting in Wigan and 16 of 17 seats in Tameside, which includes Ms Rayner’s constituency in Greater Manchester.

While most Labor MPs have retained their recommendations, some have come forward claiming it is sufficient.

Stroud MP Simon Opher, formerly a Starmer loyalist, attacked the Prime Minister and warned: “If we go into the next election like this: [Starmer] “We will be slaughtered as leaders,” he adds, “I feel like he is holding us back.”

Norwich South MP Clive Lewis, whose local council was taken over by the Greens, said: [Starmer] has to outline his departure timetable by autumn. “This is a non-negotiable issue.”

Liverpool Riverside MP Kim Johnson said: “I am disturbed that the Labor leaders (Starmer, Morgan McSweeney and Labor Together) are destroying the Labor Party.”

But another critic, former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, warned that a period of reflection was needed and Sir Keir should not be replaced by a coup.

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy called for Sir Keir to be given more time to get the party back on track, saying “you shouldn’t change the pilot in flight”.

And Baroness Morgan, who criticized Sir Keir during the election campaign, took personal responsibility for losing her seat while Labor was humiliated in Wales.

He said: “Keir Starmer was not on the ballot paper; I take responsibility for that defeat.”

But Scottish leader Anas Sarwar insisted he stood by calls for Sir Keir to stand down earlier this year and admitted Scottish Labor had lost the “argument for change”.

In February, he called on the prime minister to resign amid controversy over Lord Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador and his dismissal over his links to pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Speaking on Friday, as the SNP prepares to become the largest party at Holyrood, a dejected Mr Sarwar said: “We started an argument for change and ultimately it is an argument we lost.”

Sir Keir admitted he was “hurt” by the results but said he took full responsibility. He said: “The consequences are difficult. Very difficult. There is no covering it up. We have lost brilliant Labor representatives across the country.

“These are people who have given so much to their communities, to our party, to our movement. And that hurts. And it should hurt. And I take responsibility.”

But he added: “I will not walk away.”

Meanwhile, with his party gaining ground from Labour, Greens leader Zack Polanski joined Mr Farage in declaring that “two-party politics is dead in Britain”.

Hailing Zoë Garbett’s victory, the new Hackney mayor said: “People are sick and tired of Labor but they’re also really excited about a Green alternative that aims to protect people and our planet. I’ve said I want to replace Labor and we’re going to do that.”

The Liberal Democrats made gains, including taking control of Portsmouth, winning all seats in Richmond and West Surrey in London.

Leader Sir Ed Davey said: “As the results keep rolling in, the Liberal Democrats are pulling off a huge victory in the old Tory heartlands. It’s clear the Conservatives are done for in areas like Surrey, and they now sit between the Liberal Democrats and Reform.”