Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the public had given him a personal mandate to lead Britain for five years and vowed to complete a full term, signaling to his Labour Party he wouldn't bow to pressure on his leadership.
"I was elected in 2024 with a landslide majority to deliver change for this country. I've got a five year mandate," Starmer told Bloomberg in an interview on the eve of a trip to China, when asked if he would stand against any challenger for his leadership in a contest.
While Starmer led Labour to victory in the 2024 election, only 18 months later support for his party has cratered and it now lags both the main opposition Conservative Party and Nigel Farage's Reform UK, which has just eight members of parliament in the 650-seat House of Commons. That's emboldened Labour colleagues with designs on replacing their boss.
Just this weekend the party's governing body blocked an attempt by the popular Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, to seek election for the commons seat he would need to mount a challenge. "It was a considerable mandate and a clear mandate for change and I intend to deliver on that," Starmer said of his own credentials to stay on until 2029 - the year by which a general election must be held.
The comments suggest Starmer would say only he has the legitimacy to hold the post of prime minister were colleagues like Health Secretary Wes Streeting to move against him. MPs have to gather the support of 20% of Labour's cohort - or 81 politicians - in order to trigger a contest.
Starmer suggested he aimed to turn public opinion around through a focus on prosperity and national security: "I'll be judged at the end of that on the issues that matter most to working people which is the cost of living, do they feel better off, have we improved public services, which is very much the National Health Service, and do people feel more safe and more secure."
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