Rosa Prince, Columnist

Keir Starmer Has a Chance to Pause Britain's Psychodrama

May 8, 2026 at 9:30 AM UTC

Rosa Prince is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering UK politics and policy. She was formerly an editor and writer at Politico and the Daily Telegraph, and is the author of "Comrade Corbyn" and "Theresa May: The Enigmatic Prime Minister."

Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria Starmer.
Photographer: Anadolu/Anadolu

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Even before the last votes have been counted and full results declared, it’s obvious that this week’s “Super Thursday” of local and regional elections has left Keir Starmer a lame duck. After months of dire poll numbers, the disdain with the UK prime minister and his governing Labour Party has been confirmed by actual voters casting actual votes.

If Labour lawmakers want to be anything other than one-term wonders, they’ll have to heed the message and act accordingly: It looks inevitable that Starmer will go before the next general election. Counterintuitively, that doesn’t mean a transfer of power should happen any time soon.