Starmer Rivals Plot Slow-Motion Takeover After UK Election Rout

Prime Minister Keir Starmer pulled through the immediate aftermath of bruising UK local elections, but his longer-term position remained in jeopardy as his Labour rivals touted a plan to replace him with Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham.

On Friday evening, Labour was on course to lose more than 1,400 of the roughly 2,500 council seats it was defending across England as Nigel Farage’s Reform UK surged across the country. That swing makes good on a year-long poll lead for the right-wing populist leader, and underlined his chances of success at the next general election.