Three resignations within 24 hours have put Starmer on the brink of a crisis within the Labour Party.

LONDON. – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing a growing political crisis this Tuesday, following the resignation of a third Secretary of State and increasing internal pressure within the Labour Party for him to step down, after the disappointing results in the recent local elections. Despite the pressure, the Prime Minister reiterated that he has no intention of resigning and assured that his priority is to remain in charge of the government. The Secretary of State for combating gender-based violence, Jess Phillips, announced her resignation in a letter addressed to the Prime Minister and disseminated by British media. "I cannot continue to serve in my role under the current leadership," she wrote, signaling growing discontent within the Labour ranks. Her departure joins that of Miatta Fahnbulleh, Deputy Minister of Housing and Communities, who also resigned hours earlier and called on Starmer to set a timetable for his departure. Fahnbulleh argued that the government had not acted "with the vision, pace, and mandate for change" promised to voters. The third minister to contribute to the crisis was Alex Davies-Jones, responsible for the Victims area, who also resigned. Like Phillips, she described Starmer as "a good man" in her letter, but warned that the Labour Party must respond to the message from election results that she described as "catastrophic." Davies-Jones, a representative of Pontypridd, in South Wales, emphasized that the defeat in her constituency was particularly severe. The resignations come amid a wave of internal criticism following the performance of the Labour Party in the municipal and regional elections last week, in which the party lost nearly 1,500 seats in England and ceded control of some 40 local councils, including historical strongholds. Criticism has also intensified from dissident sectors within the Labour Party itself. The MP Karl Turner, currently suspended from the party, claimed that voters "have already made a decision" about Starmer after the poor election results, and warned that the public perception of the Prime Minister is "much worse" than that of his predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn. Turner, a representative of Hull East, argued that the discontent detected among voters could put the very survival of the Labour Party at risk, and described a "sober" and deeply negative reaction in direct contact with voters: "If you had been knocking on doors with me last week, you would have thought that the Labour Party was already dead." Meanwhile, Starmer dismissed calls for his resignation and told his cabinet that he would remain in charge of the government, despite what he described as "destabilizing" 48 hours. "The country expects us to focus on governing. That's what I'm doing," he said at the beginning of the cabinet meeting in Downing Street. The cabinet meeting, which lasted for about an hour, took place in a climate of high political tension, although without open challenges from the ministers. Some members of the government publicly expressed their support for the Prime Minister as they left the meeting, highlighting his "strong leadership" at a critical time. The Prime Minister, who came to power with a large majority in the 2024 general election, also defended the "mandate" he received in those elections and emphasized that the internal process to question his leadership has not been activated. Betting odds on potential candidates to become the next leader of the British Labour Party have increased, indicating investor concern about the stability of the executive branch. Despite the adverse scenario, Starmer is trying to regain political initiative. The Prime Minister is confident of relaunching his agenda with an ambitious legislative package that will be presented in the coming days during the State Opening of Parliament, presided over by King Charles III. At the same time, more than a hundred British Labour MPs signed a letter of support for the Prime Minister this Tuesday. "Last week we had some tough election results. This is not the time for a leadership contest," they said in a letter disseminated by British media. General elections in the United Kingdom are not scheduled until 2029, but the political system allows parties to replace their leader at any time during the term without having to call for new elections, which keeps the uncertainty about the immediate future of the Labour government. Agencies AP, AFP and Reuters.