British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told his Cabinet on Tuesday that he intends to stay in office, rejecting resignation calls that have built up across the Labour Party since last Thursday's local election rout.

"The Labour Party has a process for challenging a leader and that has not been triggered," Starmer said at the start of the meeting in Downing Street. "The country expects us to get on with governing. That is what I am doing and what we must do."

He acknowledged the political cost of the past few days. "The past 48 hours have been destabilizing for government and that has a real economic cost for our country and for families," he said. British government bond yields rose Tuesday by more than those of comparable economies, a sign that investors are pricing in fresh political risk.

More than 80 of Labour's 403 MPs have now publicly called for Starmer to step down or set a timetable for his exit. More than 100 others have signed a letter backing him and arguing that this is "no time for a leadership contest." No senior Cabinet member has yet come out publicly against the prime minister, though at least four are reported to want him gone, including Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.

Four Junior Ministers Resign

Four junior ministers quit over the course of Tuesday, each urging Starmer to either go or to set out when he will.

Miatta Fahnbulleh, the minister for devolution, faith and communities, went first. In a letter posted online she told Starmer "the public does not believe that you can lead this change — and nor do I," and called on him to "set a timetable for an orderly transition."

Safeguarding minister Jess Phillips followed within hours. Phillips, a high-profile figure in the party, wrote that Starmer was "a good man fundamentally" but that this was "not enough." "I know you care deeply, but deeds, not words are what matter," she said.

Alex Davies-Jones, a Welsh MP and minister tied to violence-against-women policy, was next, citing the scale of Labour's collapse in the Senedd Cymru and across the UK. Zubir Ahmed, the Glasgow South West MP serving as health innovation and safety minister, made it four by the evening. In his letter, Ahmed told Starmer that on the campaign trail in Scotland "your name specifically" had come up as a reason for not voting Labour.

Defense Secretary John Healey and Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy publicly backed the prime minister. "More instability is not in Britain's interest," Healey wrote. Lammy told the BBC that "no one seems to have the names to stand" against him.

The Vote That Started It

Last Thursday's elections, covering 136 English councils and the devolved parliaments in Scotland and Wales, delivered the worst result for a governing party in more than three decades. Labour lost more than 1,400 council seats in England, surrendered its century-old grip on Wales, and was pushed back by the Scottish National Party at Holyrood.

Nigel Farage's Reform UK was the main beneficiary, picking up more than 1,000 council seats in England. The Green Party also gained ground. Labour's vote bled in both directions.

Starmer is now polling as the most unpopular British leader on record, with approval ratings around 20 to 22 percent. Surveys run since the elections suggest that if a general election were held now, Labour would lose between 250 and 300 of the 403 seats it currently holds. The next national vote does not have to be called until August 2029.

The polling reflects a familiar list of complaints. Voters cite stagnant growth, the cost of living, high taxes, high levels of legal and illegal immigration, and a string of policy reversals. The appointment and later sacking of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington, after his ties to Jeffrey Epstein resurfaced, has continued to dog the prime minister as questions over his political judgment grow.

How a Leadership Challenge Works

Under Labour rules, 20 percent of the party's MPs — currently 81 — must publicly back a single named challenger to force a leadership contest. As of Tuesday evening, no MP had announced a bid, and the 80-plus rebels are split over both timing and who they want to see in the top job.

The party has never removed a sitting Labour prime minister in its 125-year history. If Starmer is pushed out in the weeks ahead, the United Kingdom will get its seventh prime minister in a decade — the highest level of turnover in nearly two centuries.

The cleanest path to a challenge runs through the parliamentary party uniting behind a single figure. So far that has not happened.

The Names in the Frame

Three names dominate the speculation. Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who comes from the right of the party, has long been seen as positioning for a run. He walked out of Downing Street on Tuesday without taking questions. He is scheduled to meet Starmer early Wednesday, hours before King Charles III delivers the King's Speech at the state opening of Parliament.

Angela Rayner, the former deputy prime minister who stepped down last year over an unpaid tax bill, is the favored candidate of the Labour left. Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, polls strongly with the public but is not currently an MP — a problem because Labour leaders must sit in the House of Commons. The party's National Executive Committee blocked him from contesting a by-election earlier this year.

Wednesday's state opening of Parliament and Streeting's meeting with Starmer are the next immediate flashpoints.