LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing a battle for his job after dozens of lawmakers from his own party called on him to step down in the wake of a resounding defeat for his center-left Labour Party in local elections last week.
Starmer remains defiant, saying Tuesday he wants to get on with governing, but the decision could be taken out of his hands. On Tuesday. several junior ministers quit the government, and urged the prime minister to resign, stoking peculation that Starmer could suffer the fate of Boris Johnson in 2022 when dozens of ministers quit en masse and forced the Conservative Party leader to quit.
The next U.K. national election doesn’t have to be held until 2029, but British politics allows parties to change leader midterm without the need for a general election.
Here's how it could happen:
The simplest option is that Starmer announces his intention to resign, triggering an election for the Labour leadership.
If he decided to leave office immediately, the Cabinet and Labour’s governing body would likely pick an interim leader to be prime minister, probably someone not expected to run for the Labour Party leadership. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy could fit the bill.
Under Labour’s rules, candidates must have the support of a fifth, or 81, of the party’s House of Commons lawmakers.
Around 80 members already have said they want Starmer to announce a timetable for his departure, but no candidates have yet come forward to challenge him for the leadership.
If a leadership contest is triggered, those candidates who meet the threshold of support within the House of Commons, would then have to receive the support of 5% of local constituency parties, or at least three party affiliates — groups such as trade unions and cooperative societies.
Eligible members of the party and affiliates would then vote for the leader using an electoral system that ranks the candidates. The winner is the first candidate to secure more than 50% of the vote.
King Charles III would then invite the winner to become prime minister and form a government.
If Starmer doesn’t resign, he could face a challenge from one or more Labour lawmakers. He could also face a no-confidence vote tabled by the main opposition Conservative Party, but given Labour's big majority, it's unlikely to take place.
The first to move was backbencher Catherine West, who on Sunday said she would mount a leadership bid if the Cabinet didn’t remove Starmer by Monday. She acknowledged that she had nowhere near the support needed to trigger a contest, and on Monday she abandoned the plan, which appeared to be an effort to force more high-profile contenders into the open.
The Conservative Party has a history of getting rid of leaders while they're serving as prime minister, including Margaret Thatcher in 1990 and Boris Johnson in 2022, but Labour doesn’t have that muscle memory. No Labour prime minister has ever been dislodged, though Tony Blair announced his plan to resign in 2007 after a series of low-level resignations.
Challengers would have to meet the eligibility thresholds above, but Starmer would automatically be on the ballot.
Those considered to harbor leadership ambitions include Health Secretary Wes Streeting, and former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, who had to resign last year after acknowledging that she didn’t pay enough tax on a house purchase. An investigation into that is ongoing.
Andy Burnham, the popular mayor of Greater Manchester, is widely perceived to be one of the strongest candidates. But he’s not eligible to stand at present, because he’s not in Parliament. Earlier this year, Labour officials blocked him from running in a special parliamentary election.
However, if Starmer indicates that he’s intending to stand down — for example, at Labour’s annual conference in September — a way could be found for Burnham to return to the House of Commons. A Labour lawmaker in a relatively safe seat could quit, opening up another chance for Burnham. But winning that special election is another matter, if the latest local election results are any guide.
Cameras are covered with rain covers as journalists wait for a showing of Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer at 10 Downing Street in London, Monday, May 11, 2026.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Britain's Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer pauses as he delivers a speech, at the Coin Street Neighbourhood Centre in Waterloo, London, Monday May 11, 2026. (James Manning/PA via AP)
