Sir Keir Starmer has told the Commons his party will use “Labour values” as its compass as he faces the biggest challenge to his leadership since taking office nearly two years ago. <\/p>\n
The prime minister addressed MPs after managing to cling on to power and see off an immediate threat to his leadership in the last few days, despite the resignation of four ministers and at least 86 MPs demanding he stand down. <\/p>\n
Following days of chaos after a dire set of local and devolved election results, Starmer has vowed to stay on and see through what he calls his ten-year plan for the country. <\/p>\n
Acknowledging tough economic conditions faced by Britons caused by global instability, he told MPs: \u201cRight now across the country, people turn on their television and they see bombs falling, they go to the petrol station and see prices rising, and they\u2019re worried sick about the consequences.\u201cWe cannot stand here in this House and pretend that this is new. Britain has been buffeted by crises for decades \u2013 the 2008 financial crash, the austerity that followed it, Brexit, Covid, and the war that still rages in Ukraine.\u201cAnd the response, their response, is always the same, a desperate attempt to get back to a status quo, a status quo that failed working people, decimated their public services, and made them pay the price. Our response this time must and will be different \u2013 a complete break.\u201d<\/p>\n
Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch return to the House of Commons after listening to the King’s Speech. Credit: PA<\/p>\n
Starmer later added: \u201cFaced with challenges, we don\u2019t retreat from our Labour values \u2013 we use them as our compass.<\/p>\n
His speech came after the King delivered the State Opening of Parliament<\/a> on Wednesday morning to set out the government’s legislative agenda, though it remains uncertain whether Starmer will be in post to see it through.<\/p>\n The prime minister said the King’s Speech sets a \u201chopeful course\u201d and he criticised those who \u201cfeed the frustration with that status quo into a politics of grievance and division\u201d.<\/p>\n Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle walks through the Member’s Lobby to the House of Lords to hear the King’s Speech. Credit: PA<\/p>\n More than 100 Labour MPs have signed a letter in support of Starmer. An almost equal number have called for him to go as rumours of a leadership challenge heat up, with Streeting understood to be the first to go over the top. ITV News Political Editor Robert Peston spoke to several allies of Streeting and was told he could step down in preparation for a leadership challenge as soon as Thursday.<\/p>\n In response to reports of a leadership challenge by Streeting, a spokesman for the prime minister said Starmer had “full confidence” in the health secretary. Streeting and the PM sat down for crunch talks in No 10 earlier on Wednesday in talks that lasted just 16 minutes.<\/p>\n When asked about the details of that meeting, the PM’s spokesman said: “I am not going to get into the content of internal meetings, but the prime minister has full confidence in the health secretary.” <\/p>\n He added that Starmer was determined to “deliver the change” that people want.<\/p>\n Speaking ahead of Starmer in the Commons, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch told Starmer that he is facing \u201ca crisis of vision, charisma and electoral success\u201d.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cWe spent the last session listening to Labour MPs telling us how great everything was going. No doubt we will hear lots of grandstanding speeches this week telling us what a fantastic job they did.\u201cHow absurd, given the number of them demanding that the Prime Minister stands down.\u201cWe counted, there were 24 U-turns in that first parliamentary session: winter fuel, family farms, grooming gangs, welfare reforms, social media for under 16s, day one workers\u2019 rights, the list goes on and on.\u201cAnd every single one of these U-turns had at its core a single issue: the Prime Minister\u2019s total lack of judgment. This is a man who, faced with a crisis of vision, charisma and electoral success, sent for Gordon Brown.\u201cLeadership is about having a vision for this country. It\u2019s about having the courage to take difficult decisions, persuading your party that those difficult decisions will pay off in time, and taking responsibility for your mistakes. He has failed on every count.\u201d<\/p>\n Keir Starmer facing down the Commons on Wednesday. Credit: PA<\/p>\n When faced with Labour MPs making noise during her speech in the Commons chamber, Badenoch said: \u201cI know they can\u2019t wait to get back to their plotting.”<\/p>\n She said later: \u201cThey want to lead our country, they can\u2019t even lead a coup\u201d.<\/p>\n Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said votes for the King’s Speech could be a \u201ctest of confidence in this government, and this prime minister\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the 23rd humble address I\u2019ve listened to in this House, and it\u2019s the most surreal by far,\u201d he told the Commons.\u201cEveryone in this House, and everyone in the country, knows this prime minister may soon not be in power, not in place for his own programme, not able to deliver these promises.\u201cThe votes on this King\u2019s Speech ought to be interesting \u2013 a test of confidence in this government and this prime minister.\u201d<\/p>\n The PM has been fending off challenges to his leadership following a battering at the polls, locally, in Scotland and in Wales. <\/p>\n The health secretary has been seen as the biggest threat to Starmer’s immediate leadership, with his other rivals, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, not an MP<\/a>, and former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner appearing reluctant to throw her hat in the ring.<\/p>\n Just over an hour after Streeting’s short 16-minute visit to No 10, Starmer and his wife Lady Victoria left Downing Street ahead of the King’s Speech. <\/p>\n He did not respond to questions shouted by journalists. <\/p>\n It comes after a tumultuous few days in which numerous ministers and aides resigned, and almost 100 of his MPs called for him to go. <\/p>\n As of Wednesday morning, the immediate threat to Starmer’s leadership appears to have passed, with most of his Cabinet staying publicly loyal and more than 100 backbenchers signing a pledge saying he should stay.<\/a><\/p>\n The crisis was triggered after the disastrous results in last week’s local elections, which saw Labour lose over a thousand seats, mostly to Reform and the Greens.<\/p>\n Angela Rayner and Andy Burnham are seen as the other two rivals for leadership. Credit: PA<\/p>\n Although the immediate crisis to Starmer’s leadership may have passed, many are still unhappy with him and are calling for him to quit.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, unions affiliated to the party said “it is clear” the prime minister will not lead Labour into the next election, and at some stage a plan will have to be put in place for the election of a new leader.<\/p>\n Sources close to Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, another potential soft-left challenger, have denied reports that he is preparing to run if Streeting triggers a contest.<\/p>\n The prime minister has sought to push on, already having replaced four ministers \u2013 including prominent MP Jess Phillips and health minister Zubir Ahmed, an ally of Streeting \u2013 who quit the government and called for Starmer to stand down.<\/p>\n In Tuesday\u2019s Cabinet meeting, Starmer vowed to fight on, and was publicly backed by several ministers at the top of government, including his deputy David Lammy, who urged colleagues to \u201cstep back and take a breath\u201d.<\/p>\n Starmer told his Cabinet the country \u201cexpects us to get on with governing\u201d and \u201cthat is what I am doing\u201d, but avoided being directly challenged as he declined to discuss his leadership during the gathering or meet critics individually afterwards.<\/p>\n He said he would only speak to ministers one-to-one about his fate, but did not do so once Cabinet concluded, according to sources.<\/p>\n Subscribe free to our weekly newsletter <\/a>for exclusive and original coverage from ITV News. Direct to your inbox every Friday morning. <\/p>\n