"Keir Starmer couldn't run a bath". What next for Labour?
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 11 May 2026
⏱️ 31 minutes
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Summary
Labour suffered historic losses in Thursday’s elections, triggering dozens of the party’s MPs to call for Keir Starmer’s resignation. And yet, even with the party in disarray, the PM has so far remained defiant. So, can he survive? And what do the election results tell us about the country’s political future?
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Guest: Aubrey Allegretti, chief political correspondent, The Times
Host: Manveen Rana
Producers: Sophie McNulty, Dave Creasey
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Read more: Challenge Keir Starmer by Monday or I will, Labour MP tells cabinet
Further listening: Reform shake Labour to its core
Clips: BBC, ITN, Times Radio, The Times
Photo: Getty Images.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | From the Times and the Sunday times, this is the story. I'm Manvian Rana. |
| 0:10.0 | It's been a bruising weekend for Labour. |
| 0:17.0 | As the results of Thursday's election have continued to trickle in, |
| 0:26.0 | it's clear that the party has suffered a historic collapse in its support. |
| 0:31.9 | Whilst Labour has today suffered a catastrophic result, |
| 0:42.3 | it ends a century of Labour winning in Wales and the party will need to take a really hard look at itself and understand the depth of the challenge that we face. |
| 0:47.3 | In Wales, where Labour have dominated the electoral map for decades, the party came a crushing third, losing control of the |
| 0:56.5 | Senate for the first time ever. And yet, with the party in disarray, its leader, Sekeir Starmer, |
| 1:05.3 | has so far remained defiant. It's very important that we do reflect on what was a tough set of results, but I'm not going |
| 1:13.3 | to walk away and plunge the country into chaos. |
| 1:15.9 | I think the right thing to do is to rebuild and show the path forward. |
| 1:22.4 | And yet many of his own MPs are not convinced that a path forward can be found with Keir Stama at the helm. |
| 1:29.8 | A number of them are now calling for him to go. |
| 1:43.3 | Kee, as soon as possible, and Monday would be fine, should publicly accept that he's led Labour into his last election. |
| 1:53.5 | And he should set out a timetable to go probably by the end of the year. |
| 1:59.2 | The voters sent us a very strong message that we are not good enough. |
| 2:03.3 | If you were a school, fail in the inspection report, you would take the head out, wouldn't you? |
| 2:09.4 | And my view is that if we simply carry on with Kirstam as leader, and he leads us into the next |
| 2:15.0 | election, it will be a disaster then at the general election, |
| 2:18.6 | as it has been in the local elections. |
| 2:20.9 | So with a stalking horse candidate already throwing her hat in the ring, |
| 2:25.0 | can Kier Stalmers survive? |
... |
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