After disastrous local election results that saw Labour Party lose council seats across the country, many of them to Reform UK and the Green Party of England and Wales; pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Reports now suggest that some members of Starmer's own cabinet are beginning to question his leadership amid fears that Reform UK could emerge as a serious challenger at the next general election.
Speaking Friday morning, Starmer acknowledged the scale of Labour's losses.
'The results are tough, they are very tough, and there's no sugarcoating it,' he said.
'We have lost brilliant Labour representatives across the country, these are people who put so much into their communities, so much into our party. And that hurts, and it should hurt, and I take responsibility.'
'I accept that [the results] reflect voters don't feel that their lives have changed enough or quickly enough, and that's been going on for a long time. We were elected to deal with that, and I'm not going to walk away from that responsibility and plunge the country into chaos,' he continued.
Polling expert Robert Hayward said, 'The early results are as bad for Labour as predicted. They are probably slightly worse outside London, but slightly better inside the capital, which looks like it will be different from the rest of the country.'
As of Friday morning, Labour had already lost more than 250 council seats.
New reporting from The Times suggests divisions may also be growing inside Starmer's cabinet.
According to the report, Ed Miliband privately suggested to Starmer that he consider setting out a timeline for his departure amid concerns he could eventually be forced from Downing Street following the election fallout.
Source: International Business Times UK
