Who can challenge Keir Starmer for the UK PM job? Meet those who want to | Political Affairs

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has vowed to prove his doubters wrong as he battles for his political future following last week’s disastrous election results and growing sentiment that a leadership race may not be far off.

In a make or break words On Monday, the leader of the ruling Labor Party said he was still a man of change and would take responsibility to deliver on his party’s election promises.

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Labor came to power in July 2024 in a landslide victory, following 14 years of Conservative Party rule. Since then, Starmer’s popularity has grown as support for the anti-immigration Reform UK party, led by Brexit leader Nigel Farage, has risen. In last week’s local elections, Labor lost more than 1,460 seats in England – most of them won by Reform – in the worst result the ruling party has suffered in more than three decades.

It has led MPs to call on Starmer to resign. So far, he has refused to consider that, saying that his government is a “10-year project” while admitting that the party under his leadership made mistakes.

Why is the pressure on Starmer mounting now?

Dissatisfaction with Starmer’s leadership has grown over the past year. This could be clearly seen last week in the heavy losses in the English local elections and parliamentary votes in Scotland and Wales.

While Labor lost around 1,500 council seats, Reform UK rose from 100 to around 1,450 seats under Farage.

Labor’s support has dropped, even in several of its traditional places in London, in the areas formerly known as the “Red Wall” in central and northern England, and in Wales, which greatly benefits Farage’s party.

One big issue is what many voters see as Starmer’s failure to deal with immigration. Although accepting “one-in-one-out” deal with France last year to return undocumented migrants with a clear link to the UK, only a small number were successfully returned.

There has also been an increase in Labour’s the election of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US in December 2024. He was fired after scandalous emails between him and Jeffrey Epstein were revealed by British media last September. Since then, Mandelson has been accused of sharing financial information with Epstein in connection with the 2006-2007 global financial crisis. Starmer has been accused of failing to heed warnings not to appoint him as ambassador, despite being aware of his links to the criminal.

Starmer publicly apologized, but said he had no idea how close their relationship was. “No one knows the depth and darkness of this relationship,” Starmer said earlier this year.

Starmer has one of the lowest approval ratings for a Western director. A recent Ipsos Political Pulse poll shows half of British voters believe Starmer should stand down, and two-thirds believe he cannot win again. The next election is due to be held by July 2029 – five years from the previous one.

Mr Bale said the local elections only confirmed what people already knew and what members of the Labor Party feared. “That said, (that) the government is very unpopular and Starmer is even more unpopular than the government,” he said.

Who would be Starmer’s biggest critics?

To trigger a leadership contest, more than 20 percent of Labor MPs – 81 of them – must support a new candidate.

“It’s very possible,” said Tim Bale, a professor of politics at Queen Mary University in London. “It is very low when there is a lot of discontent in the PLP (Parliamentary Labor Party).”

Some of the possible opponents:

Angela Rayner

Starmer’s former deputy prime minister, the left-leaning Angela Rayner, has been identified as one of the most vocal opponents, although she has not put herself forward. Rayner was home secretary but was forced to resign last year after breaching the ministry’s tax code.

He is said to have called for the return of Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham to parliament, saying he would support him in the leadership contest. Burnham is not an MP, having been banned by the National Executive Committee (NEC) from standing in the January election.

“What we’re doing is not working, and it needs to change. It’s not good to admit mistakes if they’re not being corrected,” Rayner said on Monday after Starmer’s speech.

Bale said Mr Rayner could find unity in the party.

“(A) left-wing MPs feel that Starmer has leaned too far to the right and the government needs to correct it,” he told Al Jazeera.

Wes Streeting

Bale said Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who used to be seen to be on the right of the party but has taken a left side on other issues such as Gaza and health, is also a contender, as some MPs do not see Rayner as “up to the job” and consider him a good communicator. It is thought that he may have already got 20 percent of Labor MPs to support the job, some British media reported on Monday.

Streeting’s allies pointed to the election results in Redbridge, his local authority, where Labor held office last week, as a positive sign of the leadership crisis. However, he has previously lost support because of his past friendship with Mandelson, the UK’s Guardian newspaper reported on Monday.

Rayner or Streeting may be the starters in the leadership race, but neither is particularly popular among Labor itself, observers say.

Catherine West

⁠Catherine West, the little-known MP for Hornsey and Friern Barnet in north London, appears to have backed down after warning she would try to launch a leadership contest.

In an interview with the BBC on Friday, West said he would like to see the cabinet “reorganize itself” to avoid a leadership election. But if there is no new leader by Monday, he can ask MPs to help him challenge the Prime Minister.

Following Starmer’s comments on Monday, he criticized them as “too late”, but said he would not stand for the Labor leadership again. Even before his return, West admitted he didn’t have the support necessary to force the race. His threat to launch one appears to be an attempt to force the top opposition to move.

Andy Burnham

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, who is currently elected, is currently unable to challenge because he does not have a seat in parliament – he needs to win an election before he can run.

A YouGov poll found that 34 per cent of Britons think she would be a better prime minister than Starmer.

Last year, Burnham was repeatedly referred to as an opponent of the administration and never spoke publicly.