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 out a timetable for his departure after an election drubbing. <\/p>\n
At a meeting of his cabinet team of ministers, \u200cStarmer, in the top \u200cjob for less than two years, \u200crepeated \u2060that while he \u2060took responsibility for one of his Labour Party’s worst election defeats, there had been no official move to trigger a leadership contest. <\/p>\n
“The past 48 hours have been destabilizing for government and that has a real economic cost for our country and for families,” Starmer told ministers, according to his Downing Street office. <\/p>\n
“The \u2060country expects us to get on with \u200cgoverning. That is what I \u200cam doing and what we must do as a Cabinet.” <\/p>\n
British government \u200cbonds rallied weakly on Starmer’s comments, but remained firmly \u200cin the red for the day. <\/p>\n
His defiance was in marked contrast to the feelings of many in his Labour Party. <\/p>\n
On Tuesday, a junior minister resigned after a handful of ministerial aides also \u200cleft the government. More than 80 Labour lawmakers have publicly called for him to set \u2060a resignation \u2060date so the party could install a new leader in an orderly manner. <\/p>\n
Starmer had sought to shore up his position on Monday when he promised to act more boldly and with more urgency to tackle Britain’s many problems. <\/p>\n
He had said the country would never forgive the center-left Labour Party if it embarked on a leadership challenge, just two years after its huge parliamentary majority was supposed to bring an end to the political chaos that had gripped the country since Britain voted to leave the European Union 10 years ago. <\/p>\n