LAST UPDATE | 18 May

UK PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer is continuing to resist calls to step down as he said the Labour government could “show we can turn things around”. 

Starmer has been speaking to media this afternoon and despite mounting pressure he said he won’t “walk away”. 

The prime minister has pledged to support the party’s Makerfield byelection candidate, “whoever they are”.

“I feel very strongly, I must say to the people who voted me into office: do I recognise that we’ve got to turn things around… after those election results? Yes, of course I do.

“And obviously a lot of people in the Labour Party have been talking about what has to happen next. I recognise that, but it is really important, I think, for me at least to remind myself why am I in politics? I came in to serve my country.”

The embattled prime minister, whose position has been made even more perilous by disastrous local elections and nearly 100 of his MPs calling on him to stand down as leader, kept quiet over the weekend. 

He reportedly spent the weekend in Chequers, where the country home of the UK prime minister is located.

This morning, having returned to London, he visited the Labour headquarters to thank party officials for their work in recent elections. There, he reiterated his commitment to focusing on his job as prime minister, stressing that the byelection is a case of Labour versus Reform.

Starmer said his focus was on delivering for the public who wanted the government to “get on with the job” after the results of local and devolved polls earlier this month showed that voters were “frustrated” with the pace of change.

“We need to build up the urgency of what we do. We need a bit more hope in there. And we need to remember at all times what we are here to do,” he told staff.

“I am focused on the job that I was asked to do, which is to serve my country and to carry out my duties as prime minister of this country.

“Delivering for the very many people who voted us into office, who are saying: ‘Just get on with it, get on with the job, get on with the change that I need to see in my life.’”

Addressing the byelection, he added: “Whoever they are, I am going to support them 100% and I want every member, everyone in our movement to support them. A Labour candidate to beat Reform. That is the fight that we are in.”

Labour MP Josh Simons officially left Westminster today to make way for the byelection. It could provide Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham a seat in the House of Commons. 

With a seat, Burnham can aim even higher and vie for Starmer’s job.

The Labour candidate is due to be finalised on Thursday by the party’s National Executive Committee.

The byelection is likely to be held in around four weeks’ time.

With reporting by Press Association