Starmer vows to fight on as PM despite heavy local election losses for Labour

Leader defiant in face of calls from some of his MPs to quit but admits ‘results are tough, and there’s no sugarcoating it’

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Keir Starmer has vowed to fight on as prime minister despite early results in local elections that show his party suffering heavy losses, many at the hands of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

Starmer struck a defiant note on Friday morning in the face of calls from some of his MPs to quit, insisting he remained as determined as ever to deliver the promises on which he was elected less than two years ago.