Bridget Phillipson, education minister, said she was sad that Streeting had decided to step down, but repeated her backing for Starmer and suggested the rest of the prime minister‘s cabinet team was also supportive.
“This is now a chance for us to pause, take a breath as a party and try and draw a line under all of this,” she told reporters.
Starmer, a 63-year-old former lawyer, has adopted a “business as usual” approach and his finance minister, Rachel Reeves, also warned lawmakers on Thursday against “plunging the country into chaos” at a time when Britain’s anaemic economy was turning a corner. The economy grew unexpectedly in March.
BOSS SAYS BUSINESSES BEING HIT BY TURMOIL
While the number of calls for him to resign ebbed on Wednesday, when his government turned to King Charles to set out its agenda for a new parliamentary term, Thursday was yet another day of peril for Starmer.
The prospect of another leadership race to choose what would be Britain’s seventh prime minister in around 10 years has angered business leaders who warn it will deter investment – something the Labour government has said must improve to turn around the nation’s fortunes.
The bout of political instability has pushed borrowing costs higher, with some investors nervous over the possible election of a more left-wing, tax-and-spend Labour prime minister.
The boss of Aviva, one of Britain’s biggest financial companies, complained that businesses were being hurt by the turmoil.
“There have been too many changes of government strategy, leadership, just in my six years of being CEO,” CEO Amanda Blanc told Reuters. “And I think that is harmful to a major economy such as the UK and how we are perceived abroad.”
