Starmer will 'never walk away from the country that I love' after calls to stand down

The Prime Minister was defiant on Tuesday, insisting he'll "never walk away" after coming under growing pressure to quit, as ITV News Political Correspondent Carl Dinnen and Political Editor Robert Peston report

Sir Keir Starmer has said he will "never walk away" from the UK after coming under pressure to stand down from his role as prime minister.

In his first public comments since Labour's Scottish leader Anas Sarwar called for him to quit, Starmer hit out at infighting within his party and said the political "turmoil" rippling through Labour would not stop him from trying to tackle cost-of-living pressures and improve opportunities for those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Speaking at an event in Hertfordshire, the PM said: “I am their Prime Minister, and this is their government, and I will never give up on that fight.

“There are some people in recent days who say the Labour government should have a different part, a fight with itself, instead of a fight for the millions of people who need us to fight for them.

“And I say to them: I will never walk away from the mandate I was given to change this country.

“I will never walk away from the people that I’m charged with fighting for and I will never walk away from the country that I love.”

Sir Keir Starmer: 'I will never walk away from the people that I'm charged with fighting for'

The prime minister's speech came hours after he chaired a meeting on Tuesday morning, in which he thanked his cabinet for their support and said they were "strong and united."

On Monday, Starmer’s top ministers rallied round him following the Scottish Labour leader's call for him to step down amid the fallout from the Peter Mandelson scandal.

In an interview with broadcasters, Starmer said he was "100% supportive" of Sarwar's bid to become First Minister of Scotland despite the latter's calls for the PM to quit his job at the top of government.

Backed by his Cabinet, on Monday evening Starmer issued a defiant response to a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), telling a packed room in Westminster: “I’ve won every fight I’ve ever been in.”

The prime minister said he was “not prepared to walk away” as he received a warm reception from MPs reluctant to join the Scottish leader in calling for him to quit.

The lack of a concerted effort by MPs to depose Starmer suggests the immediate danger may have passed.

Speaking at an event in London on Tuesday, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has said Starmer and the government "have [his] support".

He said: "I do feel we're at a crucial moment. It is absolutely right that people give the government stability in this moment."

When asked if he thought it was wrong of the Scottish Labour leader to call for Starmer's resignation, Burnham didn't provide a direct answer, but instead reiterated that he was calling for "unity".

In contrast to her Scottish counterpart, Welsh Labour leader Eluned Morgan also spoke out in support of Starmer on Tuesday, telling the Senedd he was an "honourable man" who is "committed to public service".

"I support the prime minister in the job he was elected to do. After years of revolving-door leadership under the Conservatives, the country needs stability in an age of instability, and that matters for Wales," she wrote on X earlier.

She acknowledged that she had "concerns that Peter Mandelson was incompatible with public office because of the company he kept" but said she ultimately judges any prime minister on "whether they deliver for Wales".

Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband said on Tuesday Labour MPs had "looked over the precipice" when Sarwar suggested it was time for Starmer to go.

"[Labour MPs] thought, you know, do we want to go down the road of the Tories when they were in power, chaotic, disorderly leadership contests, or do we want to stick with the man who was elected 18 months ago, Keir Starmer, and to fulfill his mandate?

"And we decided, in my view, absolutely rightly, to do that, to focus on the country, not on turning inwards on ourselves."

Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch said MPs have rallied around the PM "because they're terrified of their own jobs".

She said: "It's quite clear that the Labour Party have lost confidence in Keir Starmer".

"The country's in between a rock and a hard place because Keir Starmer being there creates a lot of instability and another leader potentially brings even more instability," she added.

Meanwhile, the prime minister is expected to continue reshaping his Downing Street operation, after telling MPs he wanted to be more “open and inclusive”.

He has already promoted senior aides Vidhya Alakeson and Jill Cuthbertson to be joint acting chiefs of staff, after the departure of Morgan McSweeney over the weekend.

He will also need to appoint a new communications chief after the resignation of Tim Allan on Monday, while the Guardian reported that the UK’s top civil servant, cabinet secretary Sir Chris Wormald, was expected to leave his job in the coming days.

Meanwhile, Starmer's communication chief who preceded Allan, Mathew Doyle has apologised for his association with a paedophile councillor and said he would not be taking the Labour whip.

Doyle, who served as communication chief between 2024 and 2025, campaigned on behalf of former Labour councillor Sean Morton, while he campaigned as an independent, who admitted to having indecent images of children in November 20217.

With the threat to his position appearing to recede, Starmer is expected to travel to Germany at the end of the week to attend the Munich Security Conference, where concern about the future of the transatlantic alliance is likely to be high on the agenda.

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