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The Guardian Politics12 May 2026

British Steel nationalisation: what went wrong, and what happens now?

Keir Starmer’s plan for full state ownership marks latest chapter in Scunthorpe plant’s troubled history Full nationalisation of British Steel expected in king’s speech Nils Pratley: More questions than answers on the future Four queens – blast furnaces named after Anne, Bess (Elizabeth), Victoria and Mary – loom over the British Steel works at Scunthorpe. Within days the queens could be under public ownership, after Keir Starmer on Monday promised legislation to nationalise the plant. “Stron

The Guardian Politics12 May 2026

Here are three ways to keep Reform out of No 10 – and one of them starts with you | Daniel Trilling

Nigel Farage’s ascent to power is not inevitable, and his party’s success in the May elections will expose its major weaknesses There is no sugarcoating the fact that on the basis of last week’s elections, Reform UK is now the largest party in British politics, if only by vote share. It is still a long way from ever winning power at Westminster, but we don’t need to look far to see whether a Reform government would try to make good on its various threats – because Reform is our local version of

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The Guardian Politics12 May 2026

Wes Streeting faces narrow road to Labour members’ favour

Health secretary’s soft-right credentials put him at a disadvantage even with reduced membership under Starmer UK politics live – latest updates “Country first, party second” is a mantra Keir Starmer and his cabinet have repeated since being in opposition, seeking to draw a dividing line between Labour and their Conservative predecessors’ inclination for self-destruction. But party members do matter in politics – and a key problem for Wes Streeting, one of those with ambitions to succeed Keir

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The Guardian Politics12 May 2026

Will Starmer’s old Labour tribute strategy rescue him from the abyss? Probably not, but there’s a logic to it | Gaby Hinsliff

Gordon Brown and Harriet Harman offer experience and political craft, but to reap the benefits, the PM himself will have to change There comes a time, in the dying days of a relationship, when you start to become irritated merely by the sound of your partner’s breathing. It’s not kind, and it’s not necessarily rational, but it is what it is. Nothing they can do is going to fix it, and nothing they say makes it better – even if they suddenly start promising to do all the things you’ve been beggi

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The Guardian Politics12 May 2026

Why does everyone hate Keir Starmer? – podcast

Aditya Chakrabortty on the Labour leader’s predicament – and if he may be the last prime minister of the two-party system In these highly polarised times, dunking on the prime minister – and this PM in particular – is the one thing that seems to unite people in fury, disappointment and loathing. So as he rolled his sleeves up to address the nation on Monday morning, after one of the worst election results in Labour’s history, Keir Starmer had quite the job on his hands. The Guardian columnist Ad

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The Guardian Politics11 May 2026

A messy day for Starmer: is Labour ungovernable? – podcast

Keir Starmer kicked off the day with a speech aimed at persuading MPs against launching any kind of leadership challenge. By lunchtime, Angela Rayner was speaking at the CWU conference calling for Andy Burnham to return. In the afternoon the list of MPs calling on him to resign was slowly creeping up but no challenge has materialised. Why is the Labour party in such a muddle over Starmer? Continue reading...

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The Guardian Politics11 May 2026

Starmer began the day damaged and then things got worse

A growing number of Labour MPs are in no mood to heed calls from the PM’s allies to keep faith with their leader UK politics live – latest updates “Has Keir done enough to survive?” was the question anxious Labour MPs were asking each other throughout Monday, after the speech regarded by many as crucial to Starmer’s chances of political survival. But the anxiety for many of them – badly bruised by Thursday’s election crushing – did not stem from concern the prime minister might be ousted. But

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The Guardian Politics11 May 2026

The Guardian view on Labour’s rebellion: Starmer faces a crisis of legitimacy | Editorial

After disastrous elections, Labour MPs voice public doubts over whether the prime minister can politically survive at all The clock is ticking on Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership of the Labour party. He had begun Monday morning with a speech designed to save his premiership after it was routed in local and devolved elections last week. In it he attempted a political synthesis by occupying Reform’s terrain of national pride without the xenophobia, adopting the left’s language of industrial revival w

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The Guardian Politics11 May 2026

Newly elected Reform councillor resigns after social media claims

Stuart Prior, who was elected in Essex last week, allegedly celebrated the rape of Sikh woman and called Muslim people ‘rats’ A Reform UK councillor has resigned days after being elected, after he allegedly celebrated on social media the rape of a Sikh woman in the Midlands, declared white people the “master race” and called Muslim people “rats”. Stuart Prior was elected as a councillor for Essex county council last Thursday, winning 2,404 votes, the highest total of any candidate in the ward.

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The Guardian Politics11 May 2026

More than 60 Labour MPs call on Starmer to set timetable to quit

Move comes after PM insisted he would prove his doubters wrong and fight any leadership challenge UK politics live – latest updates More than 60 MPs have called on Keir Starmer to set a timetable to depart as prime minister, including backers of his leadership rivals Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting. MPs from across the party’s ranks said the prime minister had failed to convince them he had what it took to lead the country into the next election. Continue reading...

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The Guardian Politics11 May 2026

How Catherine West became a stalking horse – then reined herself in

Labour MP hoped to bounce others into a leadership challenge against Keir Starmer but then changed course When Catherine West announced she would challenge Keir Starmer, she was labelled a stalking horse, the slightly arcane political slang for someone testing out a bid on behalf of others. A couple of days on, and some Labour MPs say the better equine analogy is a Grand National competitor that has shed its rider and bringing chaos to the race. Some colleagues of the north London MP are even bl

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The Guardian Politics11 May 2026

British Steel: more questions than answers on the future | Nils Pratley

Hard decisions over a possible sale and future subsidies loom now full nationalisation is on the cards Explainer: how did we get here, and what about the future? Full nationalisation of British Steel expected in king’s speech “One of the proudest things we have done in government,” said Keir Starmer in Monday’s big speech about the decision a year ago to recall parliament in order to take control of British Steel at Scunthorpe. It was an odd boast because last year’s action was merely an emer

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