LONDON, Jan 4 (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Sunday he would still be in power this time next year, in the face of low poll numbers and speculation about a possible leadership challenge.
Starmer told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg it was not in the national interest to “chop and change” the country’s leader as had happened under the previous Conservative government.
His Labour Party is trailing the populists Reform UK in opinion polls 18 months after winning a landslide victory in the 2024 national election.
The prime minister’s personal rating is at historic lows as Labour prepares for local elections in England, Wales and Scotland in May.
Starmer said the elections would not be a “referendum” on his government, but Labour would “fight for every vote”.
Asked if there were any circumstances in which he could stand down if a poor showing prompted a challenge to his leadership, he said he would stay the course.
“Under the last government we saw constant chopping and changing of leadership, of teams — it caused utter chaos, utter chaos, and it’s amongst the reasons that the Tories (Conservatives) were booted out so effectively at the last election,” he said.
“Nobody wants to go back to that. It’s not in our national interest. We know from that evidence what happens if you go down that chaotic path, and I’m not going to take us back to that kind of chaos.”
Conservative lawmakers in effect forced Prime Minister Boris Johnson to stand down in 2022, resulting in the premiership of Liz Truss, the shortest in British history. She was replaced by Rishi Sunak, who led the party to defeat in 2024.
Starmer said in a New Year message on Thursday that life for many Britons was still “harder than it should be”, but people would start to see positive changes in public services and improvements in the cost of living this year.
“I will be judged, and I know I’ll be judged, when we get to the next election on whether I’ve delivered on the key things that matter most to people,” he told Kuenssberg.
(Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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