LONDON, May 9 — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has vowed to carry on as leader after his Labour Party suffered heavy losses in local elections that have deepened doubts ‌over his ability to govern.

Some critics inside the party have called for him to go. Here’s what could happen next:

Is Starmer facing a leadership contest?

Not at the moment.

In addition to Friday’s losses, Starmer’s personal rating has sunk to among the worst for any British leader ‌and his party trails the populist Reform UK party in opinion polls, suggesting Labour would lose a national parliamentary election due in 2029.

Nevertheless, some senior cabinet ministers publicly backed Starmer today. Calls for his resignation, which grew last month following new revelations about the hiring of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador, still mostly come from the fringes of the Labour Party and opposition political parties.

Why hasn’t someone challenged Starmer? 

Timing is everything, and right now Labour is facing acute problems, both domestically and internationally, that a replacement leader would inherit without any obvious new solutions available to them. These include tight fiscal constraints, rising living costs and demands for more defence spending, set against a backdrop of heightened global uncertainty and nervy financial markets that could react badly to any sign of political instability.

In addition, of the three candidates seen as most likely replacements for Starmer, ‌two have good reason to wait. Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham doesn’t have the seat in parliament he needs to ⁠mount a challenge, and former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner has ⁠yet to fully resolve the tax issues that prompted her resignation from office last ⁠year.

The third, Wes Streeting, is currently ⁠health minister.

Clipboards belonging to Labour party members are pictured as staff count votes on ballot papers the morning after local elections at a vote-counting centre in Llandudno, north Wales May 8, 2026. — AFP pic

How could a rival ⁠challenge for Starmer’s job?

A leadership challenge can be triggered if there is enough support from within Labour for a candidate to replace Starmer.

It is generally harder for Labour lawmakers to remove a prime minister than the rival Conservative Party, which went through ⁠five prime ministers in eight years from 2016, because the Labour rebels would have to rally behind specific candidates, rather than just declare ‘no confidence’ in the leader.

Labour members of parliament have never successfully removed a sitting prime minister in the party’s more than 125-year history.

How would any future contest work? 

Any candidate wishing to make a challenge would need to secure the public support of 20 per cent of Labour members of parliament. With Labour currently holding 403 seats, that equates to 81 backers.

Candidates also ⁠must meet thresholds for support from grassroots Labour Party organisations, and from affiliated organisations such as trade unions.

Starmer would have an automatic right to be on the ballot paper, if he chose to fight the contest.

If ⁠only one candidate qualifies, there is no vote: the candidate is elected unopposed as Labour leader and becomes prime minister.

If more than ⁠one candidate qualifies, ⁠the winner is decided by a ballot of Labour members and affiliates. The winner then becomes prime minister.

What other options are there?

Some Labour lawmakers have suggested Starmer should set out a timetable for his departure, allowing for a managed transition to a new leader who would contest ‌the 2029 election.

Starmer has said he intends to lead the party into the next election. In 2006, former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair set a deadline for his departure after some junior members of his government resigned, but he did not quit immediately. — Reuters

Welsh Labour leader and first minister Eluned Morgan loses seat with party pushed into third place behind Plaid Cymru and Reform

This liveblog is now closed. Read the Guardian’s report on the elections here and find all our election coverage here.

• 2026 election results: latest from local, Scottish and Welsh votes

• 2026 elections mapped: how Labour lost ground in different directions

We’re getting statements from some of the political parties now as we wait for results.

For the Conservatives, party chairman Kevin Hollinrake said:

We have run an energetic and positive campaign, showcasing that we have a clear plan to get Britain working again and that we have the team to deliver it... We know that so soon after a historic general election defeat and contesting wards won during the Party’s polling highs, that this will be a difficult set of elections for us. But we will continue to rebuild and to show the public that we have changed, to demonstrate that only this new Conservative party is a credible alternative.

People are deeply disappointed with a Labour government that has been too timid to fix the country, but they are also appalled by the rise of Reform and Nigel Farage’s Trump-style politics. While those on the extremes of the right and the left want to burn everything down, Liberal Democrats want to fix what’s broken. Every Liberal Democrat local champion elected today will fight tirelessly for the communities they serve.

I’ve travelled across England and Wales and I’m hearing the same everywhere I go – confidence that we will win more councillors than ever before. The news from the doorstep is that we will be taking seats from not just Labour but the Tories and Lib Dems too, from all across the country. Voters are responding to the fact that Greens are the only party taking the cost-of-living crisis seriously, with real plans to cut bills, reduce rents and provide genuinely affordable homes, as well as tackling the climate and nature crisis.

Throughout this election, we have heard a clear appetite for change. People want a government that will stand up for Wales and focus relentlessly on the key issues affecting their lives. People have told us they have been inspired by Rhun ap Iorwerth’s leadership and driven by a desire for a positive alternative to Reform UK’s chaos and division.

Some MPs accuse Burnham of undermining local election messaging by agreeing to speak at event later this month

• Politics live – latest updates

Andy Burnham’s decision to appear at a progressive rally alongside prominent Green and Liberal Democrat figures has sparked anger among some Labour MPs, who have accused him of undermining their local election message.

The Greater Manchester mayor, who is seen as one of the most likely challengers to Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership, will be speaking at the Change:Now event this month organised by the leftwing group Compass.

Tom Watson, who had role in attempted coup against Tony Blair in 2006, said move would go down extremely badly with voters

Labour MPs have been urged to stop plotting to remove Keir Starmer by Tom Watson, who as a junior minister spearheaded the last attempted coup against a Labour prime minister, when Tony Blair faced a revolt in 2006.

Watson’s warning came as Steve Reed, the housing and communities secretary, and a key Starmer loyalist, said Labour would risk “annihilation” if it decided to try to change leaders.

Labour leadership challenge in wake of disastrous local poll results could unleash chaos in party, MPs told

Cabinet ministers have told mutinous Labour MPs that any attempt to oust Keir Starmer after a potentially disastrous set of election results this week would unleash chaos for the party that would not be easily overcome.

Several, however, told the Guardian that even with the prime minister’s determination to stay in Downing Street after Thursday’s vote, the mood on the backbenches was febrile and events could yet spiral out of control.

Greater Manchester mayor’s team have been quietly preparing a manifesto and identifying seats where MPs could step aside to allow a Westminster run

• Andy Burnham has plan to return to Westminster ‘within weeks’, allies say

When the eyes of Westminster were on the committee rooms and voting lobbies of parliament this week, Keir Starmer’s political future was being decided elsewhere.

Wes Streeting and Angela Rayner were buttering up Labour MPs in the Strangers’ Bar in parliament as colleagues spoke of their “existential” fear about the crucial elections next week.

Exclusive: Greater Manchester mayor said to have identified seats where MPs would step aside to allow leadership bid

• ‘No other plan comes close’: Labour MPs turn to Burnham as pressure mounts on Starmer

Andy Burnham has a credible plan to return to Westminster “within weeks”, his allies have said, with the Greater Manchester mayor expected to use a byelection fight to set out a new agenda for government.

Burnham, who was blocked by Labour’s ruling body from running in February’s Gorton and Denton byelection, has identified several seats where MPs are prepared to step aside for his leadership bid.

Labour MPs are reportedly urging colleagues to demand Burnham’s return in order to position him as Starmer’s eventual successor

If Keir Starmer is looking for a saviour to keep him in No 10 after the May elections and the scandal of the Mandelson saga, there is an unlikely figure in the north-west who might help him – temporarily.

It has been the week where the prime minister seemed at his most isolated. But Labour MPs told the Guardian they were urging colleagues not to depose Starmer next month, and were instead preparing to demand that Andy Burnham return to parliament in order to succeed him before the next general election.