Politics Home | “I’m Not Going To Walk Away”: Starmer Says He Is Going Nowhere Despite “Very Tough” Local Elections

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his party “must reflect” following heavy losses in the local elections for Labour. (Alamy)

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Speaking to reporters in Ealing, west London, Starmer said he was elected to serve a five-year term and that he would stand to be prime minister again at the next general election. 

He said the results announced so far had been “really tough” for his party and that he would not “sugarcoat” them.

However, the PM insisted he is going nowhere: “Tough days like this don’t weaken my resolve to deliver the change that I promised. They strengthen my resolve.”

He added: “We have lost brilliant Labour representatives, people who put so much into their communities, so much into our party and our movement.

“And the voters have sent a message about the pace of change, how they want their lives improved.

“Labour’s elected to meet those challenges, and I’m not going to walk away from those challenges and plunge the country into chaos.”

While most results are yet to be announced at the time of writing, Labour has already suffered bruising losses in parts of northern England, such as Hartlepool, Tameside and Wigan.

Hartlepool’s Labour MP Jonathan Brash reiterated his call for Starmer to set out a resignation plan after Nigel Farage’s Reform UK won every council seat up for grabs in his area. 

In Wigan, which contains the parliamentary seat of Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, Reform won 24 out of 25 council seats being contested.

Labour is braced for more losses across England as results come in on Friday, and is expected to be voted out of government in Wales for the first time ever.

Earlier this morning, Defence Secretary John Healey told Sky News that Starmer will “stay the course” in Downing Street despite the local election results.

“What’s happened here is that we’re less than two years into a five-year term of a national government,” he said.

“It’s clear we have to go further. We have to be bolder. Keir would acknowledge we have to deliver more… He would acknowledge that we have to do more to give people a sense of hope for the future.”