UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said this Friday (8) that he does not intend to resign, even after his party, Labor, is heading for a historic defeat in British local elections.
This Thursday (7), voters went to the polls to choose the occupants of more than 5 thousand seats in 136 local councils in England, six English mayors and members of the parliaments of Scotland and Wales.
According to information from the BBC broadcaster, the investigation has already been completed for 47 English local councils.
The right-wing nationalist Reform United Kingdom party has so far won 416 seats, a gain of 414 parliamentarians; the conservatives have 265 seats, losing 182; the Liberal Democratic Party currently has 262 seats, 32 more; and Labor has 253 seats, losing 263.
Even though more than half of the English local councils in dispute are still counting, a heavy defeat is projected for Starmer’s party, as Labor has already lost seats in regions where they traditionally win elections. The final results should only be known on Saturday (9).
Speaking to journalists, Starmer said the initial results “are very harsh, and there is no way to soften the situation”, and that “brilliant” Labor candidates were defeated across the country. “This hurts, and it must hurt, and I take responsibility,” said the prime minister, who, however, ruled out resigning.
“I will not step down and plunge the country into chaos,” Starmer said. “(In the 2024 national election), I led our party to victory, a five-year term to change the country,” he added.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage claimed that the Labor Party is being “being swept away by Reform in many of its more traditional areas” and said the early results in England show a “truly historic shift”.