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Labour Party Turmoil Grows as Keir Starmer Faces Backlash After Losses · Stories Today

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: There is a particular kind of silence that settles over
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  Speaker 1: Downing Street when a prime minister's authority begins to slip.
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  Speaker 1: This Tuesday morning, that silence feels heavy. Car Starmer walked
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  Speaker 1: into the job less than two years ago, carrying the
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  Speaker 1: biggest parliamentary majority Labor had seen in a generation. Voters
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  Speaker 1: who had grown tired of Conservative chaos handed him that mandate.
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  Speaker 1: They wanted stability, they wanted competence. Last Thursday, many of
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  Speaker 1: those same voters gave their answer on whether they felt
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  Speaker 1: they had received it. Labor lost one thousand, one hundred
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  Speaker 1: twenty one councilors and twenty eight councils across England. Reform UK,
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  Speaker 1: a party that did not exist in its current form
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  Speaker 1: just a few years ago, won one thousand, two hundred
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  Speaker 1: fifty seven seats and took control of ten councils. Labor
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  Speaker 1: also lost control of the Welsh Parliament, an institution where
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  Speaker 1: it had been the dominant force for decades. These are
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  Speaker 1: not numbers that can be spun. They sit on the record,
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  Speaker 1: declared and final tame side. A council in the heart
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  Speaker 1: of Greater Manchester had been run by Labor since nineteen
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  Speaker 1: seventy nine. That forty seven year reign ended in a
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  Speaker 1: single night. For anyone who understands what that part of
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  Speaker 1: England means to the labor movement, that one result said
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  Speaker 1: more than any party briefing ever could. The silence in
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  Speaker 1: Downing Street as Labour's crisis deepens. Starmer addressed the nation
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  Speaker 1: on Monday. He was honest, at least about his predicament.
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  Speaker 1: I'm not going to shy away from the fact that
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  Speaker 1: I've got some doubters, including in my own party, he said,
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  Speaker 1: acknowledging he had spent too much time talking about what
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  Speaker 1: he was doing for working people rather than why or
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  Speaker 1: who he stood for. It was a candid admission, but
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  Speaker 1: candor on its own is not a political strategy. His
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  Speaker 1: own MPs were watching closely, and several had already made
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  Speaker 1: up their minds. Rachel Taylor, a Labor back bencher, put
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  Speaker 1: it with quiet devastation. I watched the Prime Minister's speech
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  Speaker 1: this morning with an open mind, but I'm afraid I
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  Speaker 1: don't think he spoke clearly enough about the change my
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  Speaker 1: constituents need to feel. That is why, with a genuinely
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  Speaker 1: heavy heart, I am calling on care Starmer to announce
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  Speaker 1: a time table for his departure. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmud,
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  Speaker 1: once a close Starmer, ally, has reportedly told the Prime
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  Speaker 1: Minister directly that last week's election losses and his poorly
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  Speaker 1: received reset speech have left him with no option but
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  Speaker 1: to announce a timetable for his departure. Mahmud, who has
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  Speaker 1: long been considered one of the more loyal voices in
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  Speaker 1: the cabinet, is said to have delivered her message in
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  Speaker 1: a private meeting, marking a significant moment in the unfolding crisis.
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  Speaker 1: Her decision to break ranks is being seen by many
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  Speaker 1: Westminster insiders as a turning point that could prove impossible
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  Speaker 1: for Starmer to recover from. Also read how much will
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  Speaker 1: the cost of living increase in twenty twenty six? In
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  Speaker 1: the UK. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper is also understood to
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  Speaker 1: have called for an orderly transition of power, while his
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  Speaker 1: closest ally, Lord Hermer, has urged him to fight on.
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  Speaker 1: At least seventy seven labor MPs are understood to believe
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  Speaker 1: the Prime Minister should immediately set out a time line
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  Speaker 1: for his departure, with a further aid saying he should
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  Speaker 1: leave if things do not improve. Starmer attempted to steady
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  Speaker 1: the ship on Monday, promising sweeping changes and insisting he
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  Speaker 1: would not walk away. The speech, however, failed to quell
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  Speaker 1: the rebellion. Four government aides resigned in the hours that followed,
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  Speaker 1: including parliamentary Private Secretaries to David Lammy We's Streeting and
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  Speaker 1: Emma Reynolds, all urging the Prime Minister to set a
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  Speaker 1: departure timetable. The Cabinet met on Tuesday at nine thirty
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  Speaker 1: a m. With speculation about potential successors including We's Streeting,
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  Speaker 1: Andy Burnham and Angela Rayner intensifying by the hour.