UK’s Starmer faces challenge as resignation calls overshadow king’s speech

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, fighting for his political survival after dozens of his own MPs called for him to quit, has met with his potential leadership rival Wes Streeting, the health secretary, who is reported to be readying his resignation to try to trigger a contest to replace the premier.

As Starmer and his ministers stood in silence to hear a speech by King Charles on Wednesday on their government’s agenda, the ceremony was overshadowed by what could be the most dangerous threat to the prime minister since MPs began urging him to resign over one of Labour’s worst defeats in last week’s local elections.

Starmer has so far defied calls to quit from Labour MPs, who also blame him for failure to deliver reforms since coming to power in a landslide 2024 election victory.

Streeting, who is seen as a leadership contender who could move against the prime minister, spent less than 20 minutes in Downing Street early on Wednesday, for a meeting which had been dubbed by British media as a showdown.

An ally of Starmer, Europe minister Nick Thomas-Symonds, said no candidate appeared to have the backing of enough MPs to trigger a challenge, and that it did not look likely either. “We now have to move on,” he told BBC Radio.

Streeting did not respond to questions from journalists as he walked back down Downing Street, but The Times newspaper reported he plans to resign as early as Thursday in order to make a bid for the leadership.

“He is going for it,” an ally told the newspaper. “He’s going tomorrow.”

There was no immediate statement from Streeting’s office.

In his speech, King Charles delivered Starmer’s proposals from a golden throne in the House of Lords upper chamber while wearing the diamond-studded Imperial State Crown and a long crimson robe.

He said: “My ministers will take decisions that protect the energy, defence and economic security of the United Kingdom for the long-term.”

But despite the government framing the speech as one reflecting a world buffeted by conflicts in Ukraine and Iran, there was little in the more than 35 bills and draft bills to spur the defence industry – something US President Donald Trump has repeatedly asked European countries to move forward on.

And the implementation of those bills remains as uncertain as Starmer’s political future — if he were to be ousted, his successor would not be bound to follow the same plan.

Resignations

More than 80, or almost a quarter, of the prime minister’s elected MPs have called for Starmer to go, and four junior ministers have resigned in protest, including prominent MP Jess Phillips, who said she was tired of seeing “opportunities for progress stalled and delayed”; Alex Davies-Jones, who called last week’s election results “catastrophic”; and Zubir Ahmed, who is a Streeting ally.

Miatta Fahnbulleh, who was the first of four ministers to resign on Tuesday, said in a letter to the prime minister, cited by British media: “The public does not believe that you can lead this change – and nor do I.”

Meanwhile, Starmer said in a statement on Tuesday evening: “Britain stands at a pivotal moment: To press ahead with a plan to build a stronger, fairer country or turn back to the chaos and instability of the past.”

Despite the turmoil, Starmer will take part in parliament’s grand opening on Wednesday.

“The British people expect the government to get on with the job of changing our country for the better. Cutting the cost of living, bringing down hospital waiting lists and keeping our country safe in an increasingly dangerous world,” Starmer said.