Labour Party

Force in Play

Choosing a new leader who will become prime minister

Keir Starmer won a landslide in 2024. Less than two years later, his own MPs stopped backing him, and on June 22, 2026 he resigned. He told King Charles III he will stay as caretaker prime minister until Labour picks a new leader.

Updated 2 hours ago

Rule Changes

Lost 300+ English council seats and control of Exeter, Southampton, and Bolton; Welsh Labour down to ~5 Senedd seats; Starmer refusing to resign under sustained internal pressure

Results from the May 7 Super Thursday elections, counted through Friday, May 8, showed Labour losing heavily and Reform surging past polling expectations. Reform gained more than 500 English council seats and took control of four authorities (Newcastle-under-Lyme, Havering, Sunderland, and Essex) for the first time.

Updated May 31

Rule Changes

Governing party of Malta since 2013

The Labour Party has run Malta since 2013. After Saturday's snap election, that streak now extends to at least 2031.

Updated May 30

Rule Changes

Governing party facing leadership crisis

Morgan McSweeney, who engineered Labour's 2024 landslide, resigned on February 8, 2026, taking responsibility for advising Starmer to appoint Peter Mandelson as Washington ambassador despite ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Communications Director Tim Allan quit the next day—the fourth comms chief to leave Starmer's administration in 18 months.

Updated May 27