Sir Keir Starmer presented a united front with Angela Rayner and Andy Burnham on Monday, ahead of local elections anticipated to pose a significant challenge for the Labour Party.
Visiting a school in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, the Labour leader emphasised his party's commitment to children’s health and education policies, insisting Labour would "take nothing for granted" in May’s poll.
With Labour currently struggling in opinion polls and facing potential losses of council seats to both Reform UK and the Green Party, the upcoming elections are widely viewed as a crucial test of Sir Keir’s leadership.
However, he downplayed suggestions of resignation should Labour suffer substantial defeats. Sir Keir told reporters he had received a "five-year mandate to change this country" in 2024, adding: "I intend to carry through that mandate."
Sir Keir was joined on the visit by his former deputy, Ms Rayner, and Great Manchester Mayor Mr Burnham, whose bid to contest the Gorton and Denton by-election was blocked by Labour’s ruling executive committee.
While the trio appeared united, sharing a joke as they sat with schoolchildren, Ms Rayner has become increasingly vocal in her criticism of the Government in recent weeks.
Comments attacking the Government’s plans to make it harder for immigrants to settle permanently in the UK and arguing Labour was “running out of time” to deliver have triggered speculation Ms Rayner is positioning herself to succeed Sir Keir should he quit.
Mr Burnham has also previously echoed her comments, saying he knew “where she’s coming from” and understood “the frustration people feel” following Labour’s defeat to the Greens in Gorton and Denton.
It comes as Sir Keir Starmer said the UK would not get dragged into the Iran war as he refused to support Donald Trump’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
The US president threatened to stop tankers from entering or leaving the key oil and gas shipping lane in response to the failure of talks with Iran, a move which has again caused global prices to spike.
The Prime Minister said “we are not supporting the blockade” as he repeated calls to fully reopen the strait, which has been effectively shut by Iran in response to the US-Israeli bombing campaign.
The UK and France are leading an international effort to draw up a plan to protect shipping in the strait, but only once the fighting ends.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, Sir Keir said: “What we’ve been doing over the last few weeks – and this was part of what I was discussing with the Gulf states last week – is bringing countries together to keep the strait open, not shut.”
Starmer demands Trump ends his blockade of the Strait of Hormuz
‘Tell the truth’ Keir Starmer urges, as Hillsborough Law spy veto to be scrapped
PM refuses to join Trump’s Iran blockade and vows not to get dragged into war
‘Most dangerous spider’ in Britain behind rise in hospital admissions
Fuel protests cause more disruption as government faces no confidence motion
Eamonn Holmes says he will do his best to get well soon after stroke
