UK PM, who is battling to remain in his job amid resignations of ministers, held brief talks with his health secretary. Published On 13 May 202613 May 2026British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, fighting for his political survival after dozens of his own MPs called for him to resign, promised to press ahead with plans to reform the country before meeting with his potential leadership rival Wes Streeting, the health secretary.Starmer has so far defied calls to quit from Labour MPs, who blame him for heavy losses in local elections last week and say he has failed to deliver reforms since coming to power in a landslide 2024 election victory.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listStreeting, who is seen as a leadership contender who could move against the prime minister, spent less than 20 minutes in Downing Street early on Wednesday, for a meeting which had been dubbed by British media as a showdown.But an ally of Starmer, Europe minister Nick Thomas-Symonds, said no candidate appeared to have the backing of enough MPs to trigger a challenge, and that it did not look likely either. “We now have to move on,” he told BBC Radio.Streeting did not respond to questions from journalists as he walked back down Downing Street.The meeting took place before King Charles gives a speech at the opening of parliament – a grand ceremony led by him and used by the government to set out its political priorities and legislative agenda for the year ahead.ResignationsMore than 80, or almost a quarter, of the prime minister’s elected MPs have called for Starmer to go, and four junior ministers have resigned in protest, including prominent MP Jess Phillips, who said she was tired of seeing “opportunities for progress stalled and delayed”; Alex Davies-Jones, who called last week’s election results “catastrophic”; and Zubir Ahmed, who is a Streeting ally. Advert …
