By Aysu Bicer
LONDON (AA) - Senior UK Cabinet ministers rallied behind Prime Minister Keir Starmer after Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar called for him to resign as both premier and Labour leader.
The coordinated show of support came as Sarwar was holding a press conference on Monday saying the UK’s leadership “has to change,” arguing that “the distraction needs to end.”
Speaking in Scotland, Sarwar said the decision to call for Keir’s resignation “isn't easy, and it's not without pain,” but added that his priority is “my country, Scotland.”
In response, a series of statements from senior government figures came one after another, emphasizing his electoral mandate and urging the party to remain focused on delivery.
“Keir Starmer won a massive mandate 18 months ago, for five years to deliver on Labour’s manifesto that we all stood on. We should let nothing distract us from our mission to change Britain and we support the Prime Minister in doing that," Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said on US social media company X.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, the Treasury chief, pointed to economic indicators as evidence of progress, saying: “Rebuilding Britain takes time. But thanks to the decisions we’ve made NHS waiting lists are falling. Inflation is falling. Interest rates are falling. The conditions for the economy to grow are there. With Keir as our Prime Minister we are turning the country around.”
Housing Secretary Steve Reed said Starmer had “won a mandate for change,” adding: “Waiting lists are falling, wages are rising, new rights for renters and leaseholders. We need to stay the course and deliver the change this country voted for.”
Defense Secretary John Healey also said the public “expect us to get on with the job.”
Starmer is expected to address Labour MPs later Monday evening as he seeks to shore up support within his party amid fallout over the Peter Mandelson scandal linked to new revelations from the files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.