UK Starmer Moves to Shake Up Cabinet as Labour Routed

(MENAFN) British Prime Minister Keir Starmer moved swiftly on Saturday to stabilize his embattled leadership after the Labour Party absorbed punishing electoral defeats across England, Scotland, and Wales — losses that have ignited open calls within his own party for him to consider his future.

In a bid to project momentum, Starmer tapped former Prime Minister Gordon Brown as a special envoy on global finance and appointed former deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman as an adviser on women and girls. Downing Street framed the shake-up as part of a broader drive to "deliver change faster," media reported.

Reform UK's Historic Surge
The appointments did little to muffle the political fallout. With 4,219 of 5,036 English council seats declared, Reform UK had seized more than 1,400 seats compared to Labour's 997. The Conservatives haemorrhaged seats of their own, compounding what analysts described as a seismic realignment of British electoral politics.

In Wales, Nigel Farage's Reform UK vaulted into second place in the Senedd with 34 seats, while Plaid Cymru claimed first place with 43, shattering Labour's 27-year grip on Welsh political life. North of the border, the Scottish National Party secured a fifth consecutive victory with 58 seats, though it narrowly missed an outright majority. Both Reform UK and Labour finished with 17 seats each in Scotland.

Cracks Widen Inside Labour
Senior figures within Labour were unsparing in their assessments. Deputy leader Lucy Powell conceded that voter anger had been squarely directed at the government, saying the party needed to "do a lot better."

"He is absolutely accepting that these election results are a reflection on the Labour government," Powell said of Starmer.

Veteran Labour MP Clive Betts went further, branding the results "pretty devastating" and suggesting the Prime Minister should contemplate stepping aside in the "not too distant future."

"The public has stopped listening to Starmer," Betts said.

Former Labour minister Catherine West echoed that sentiment, demanding "new leadership" and insisting the party needed "an honest conversation" about the direction it was heading.

Reform UK Declares a New Era
Across the aisle, Reform UK was in no mood for understatement. Party spokesperson Zia Yusuf declared the results "historic," framing them as a "big step towards making Nigel Farage our prime minister."

The results mark the starkest electoral warning yet for Starmer's government, and raise urgent questions about whether Labour can arrest its decline before the next general election.

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