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1227 headlines found — Page 42 of 103

The Guardian Politics12 May 2026

UK borrowing costs hit highest since 1998 amid Starmer uncertainty

Bond yields soar and pound falls against dollar as investors brace for potential Labour leadership change Business live – latest updates UK politics live – latest updates Long-term UK borrowing costs have soared to the highest level in nearly three decades while the pound and stocks fell, as investors braced for a potential change of leadership, with cabinet ministers urging Keir Starmer to quit. Starmer is consulting colleagues before a crunch cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning that comes af

Politics
The Guardian Politics12 May 2026

Starmer’s on the brink and who knows what will happen next: hope for the best Britain, and prep for the worst | Frances Ryan

As senior cabinet ministers move against the PM, his words of defiance seem moot. I’m planning ahead – which is more than he ever did A news report last week described how growing instability means millions of Britons are building up a stash of cash, tinned food and torches at home. I don’t know about you, but I’ve always thought there is no better litmus test of how things are going for a country than whether the populace is stockpiling emergency rations. Watching Keir Starmer stubbornly cling

Politics
The Guardian Politics12 May 2026

Labour must offer more than ‘better managed decline’ on economy, MPs urge

Soft-left Tribune group issues thinly disguised attack on Keir Starmer, calling for bold policy renewal Business live – latest updates UK politics live – latest updates An influential group of MPs has said that Labour needs an urgent renewal of economic strategy to offer voters “more than better management of decline” before the next general election. With Keir Starmer fighting to ward off a leadership challenge, the leading backbenchers from the soft-left Tribune group published a series of

PoliticsEconomyDefence
The Guardian Politics12 May 2026

Close Starmer ally declines to say if he will lead Labour into next election

Chief secretary, Darren Jones, says PM is ‘listening to colleagues’ but will make own decisions on way forward UK politics live – latest updates One of Keir Starmer’s closest aides has declined to say whether he would lead his party into the next election amid mounting calls for him to resign. The prime minister is “listening to colleagues” who are asking him to set out a timetable for departure but would make his own decisions about the way forward, the prime minister’s chief secretary has sa

PoliticsDefence
The Guardian Politics12 May 2026

Scotland’s elections confirmed that our nation’s leftwing identity is part myth, part reality | Rory Scothorne

There is optimism even after Nigel Farage’s party swept to victory in many postindustrial areas – as radical progressives won more seats than ever James IV, King of Scots, never had to worry about elections. This freed him up to satisfy his voracious curiosity with strange experiments: according to one old tale, in 1493 he trapped two children, and a nurse who couldn’t talk, on Inchkeith Island in the Firth of Forth. James hoped that the children, deprived of modern influences on their speech, w

PoliticsReform
The Guardian Politics12 May 2026

Keir Starmer to face crucial cabinet meeting as ministers and MPs urge him to resign – UK politics live

PM on the brink with Yvette Cooper and Shabana Mahmood believed to be among those urging him to set out a timetable for departure Starmer on the brink as cabinet ministers urge him to quit Good morning. “Stories beat spreadsheets,” Keir Starmer declared in his speech yesterday. But yesterday was a day when the spreadsheets had the upper hand. Most news organisations were using them to keep a track of Labour MPs who were coming out and calling for Starmer’s resignation and, after his speech in

Politics
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

PoliticsReform
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

Politics
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

PoliticsDefence
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

Politics
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...

Politics
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

Politics