- Junior Minister resigns and urges him to set a schedule.
- Nearly 80 lawmakers are calling for Starmer to go.
- Borrowing costs rise, pound falls amid new instability.
LONDON: Prime Minister Keir Starmer defied calls to resign on Tuesday, telling ministers he would “get on with governing” despite a “destabilizing” 48 hours of growing calls to set a timetable for his exit after an election campaign.
At a meeting of his cabinet of ministers, Starmer, who had held the top job for less than two years, reiterated that while he took responsibility for one of his Labour’s worst election defeats, there had been no official move to trigger a leadership contest.
“The last 48 hours have been destabilizing for the government and it has a real economic cost to our country and to families,” Starmer told ministers, according to his Downing Street office.
“The country expects us to get on with governing. That’s what I do and what we have to do as a cabinet.”
British government bonds rose slightly after Starmer’s comments, but remained firmly in the red for the day.
His defiance contrasted markedly with the sentiments of many in his Labor Party.
On Tuesday, a junior minister resigned after a handful of ministerial aides also left the government. More than 80 Labor lawmakers have publicly called on him to set a resignation date so the party can install a new leader in an orderly fashion.
Starmer had sought to strengthen his position on Monday as he pledged to act bolder and more urgently to tackle Britain’s many problems.
He had said the country would never forgive the centre-left Labor Party if it mounted a leadership challenge, just two years after its huge parliamentary majority was supposed to end the political chaos that has gripped the country since Britain voted to leave the EU 10 years ago.
