Keir Starmer has insisted he would not be forced from office as he faced down Labour lawmakers at a tense meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party, declaring: “I have won every fight I’ve ever been in.”
“I fought to change the Crown Prosecution Service so it better served victims of violence against women and girls. I fought to change the Labour party to allow us to win an election again,” he said.
“People told me I couldn’t do it… We won with a landslide majority. Every fight I’ve been in, I have won.”
The Prime Minister made clear he would not resign, telling colleagues he would not walk away from the mandate he had secured from the country.
He promised changes to his Downing Street operation that would go beyond “who sits where in Number 10”, conceding that relations with MPs had not been sufficiently “open” or “inclusive”.
Admitting that “things haven’t gone right”, he repeated that appointing Lord Mandelson had been wrong and said he took full responsibility.
Sir Keir also paid tribute to his former chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, who quit this week, and urged Labour to “take the fight” to Reform UK, insisting he had “the most working-class cabinet in history” behind him.
