Embattled British Prime Minister Keir Starmer came out fighting Monday, vowing to prove his "doubters" wrong as he sought to quell growing calls to step down following disastrous election results.
Starmer pledged his ruling Labour party would be "better" and bolder as he tried to convince angry and restless lawmakers to back him in a crunch speech designed to reset his flagging premiership.
"I know that people are frustrated by the state of Britain, frustrated by politics, and some people frustrated with me," Starmer said during an address in central London.
"I know I have my doubters, and I know I need to prove them wrong, and I will," added Starmer, who returned Labour to power in 2024 after 14 years of Conservative rule.
He has since swerved from one policy misstep to another, and is engulfed in a scandal over the appointment, and sacking, of Peter Mandelson as UK ambassador to Washington, after revelations about the envoy's ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The prime minister has failed to spur economic growth as British citizens continue to feel the effects of a years-long cost-of-living pinch, but has been praised for resisting US President Donald Trump over Iran.
Voters issued a damning indictment of Starmer's 22 months in power in local elections Thursday, which saw huge gains for the hard-right Reform UK party and the left-wing populist Greens at Labour's expense.
Starmer's party lost control of the devolved Welsh parliament for the first time and failed to make up ground on the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) in the devolved parliament in Edinburgh.
Starmer has signaled that he hopes to stay in power until 2034, but some 48 Labour MPs out of about 400 have said they believe it is time for him to go.
After the speech, Catherine West, who had threatened to trigger a leadership challenge on Monday, said she was instead collecting the names of Labour MPs who want Starmer to set a timetable for the election of a new leader in September.
Starmer pledged to fight any challenge and warned Labour would "never be forgiven" by voters if it imitated the "chaos" of the previous Conservative government, which went through three prime ministers in four months in 2022.
- 'Change' -
A leadership contest would likely spark a damaging bout of infighting as MPs from the left and right of the party battled to position their preferred candidate or shore up Starmer.
Under party rules, any challenger would need the support of 81 Labour MPs -- 20 percent of the party in parliament -- to trigger a contest.
It has long been rumored that former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner and Health Minister Wes Streeting could try to oust Starmer, but neither is universally popular within Labour.
Rayner, who has stopped short of calling for Starmer to quit, said in a speech of her own Monday that "what we are doing isn't working, and it needs to change".
Another much-touted possible contender, Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, is currently unable to challenge as he does not have a seat in parliament.
The absence of an obvious successor means Starmer could still hold on, particularly with the next general election not expected until 2029.
In his speech, Starmer acknowledged that "incremental change won't cut it" with an increasingly disgruntled public, promising "a bigger response" in areas such as economic growth, closer European ties and energy.
He pledged to introduce legislation to fully nationalize British Steel and said his government would be defined by putting Britain "at the heart of Europe", including through an "ambitious" youth experience scheme.
Starmer denounced Reform's anti-immigrant leader Nigel Farage as a "chancer" and a "grifter", adding: "If we don't get this right our country will go down a very dark path."
And he took aim at Farage's virulent pro-Brexit campaign, saying he had taken Britain "for a ride".
Starmer is due to lay out more detailed legislative plans in the King's Speech on Wednesday.
