LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer tried to strengthen his grip on office Monday, saying he was getting on with the job after taking blame for the Labour Party’s disastrous election results that have put his leadership in jeopardy.Starmer sounded like he was giving a campaign speech but his audience was made up of workers at Labour’s headquarters. He thanked them for their hard work despite the party’s losses in the May 7 local and regional elections.“The election results were not the ones that we wanted, they were really tough. But you worked your socks off,” Starmer said. “It’s not been easy circumstances in the last 10 days.”Indeed, the last two weeks have been bruising for Starmer, who led the party to a landslide victory two years ago. Dozens of party members have called for him to resign and former allies are plotting how to oust him.
One senior Labour lawmaker, Wes Streeting, resigned as health secretary last week and announced he will stand in a Labour leadership contest with Starmer if one is triggered.Another would-be rival, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, has been cleared to stand in a special parliamentary election expected within weeks. If he wins, Burnham could join the leadership race and pose a serious threat to Starmer.Starmer pledged his full support Monday for “whoever” runs for the open seat for Labour, but said he would not resign if Burnham wins.
