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Sir Keir Starmer has urged his cabinet to work “as a team” to deliver cuts to the cost of living, in a thinly veiled message to ministers not to be distracted by speculation over a possible leadership challenge.
The prime minister told a start-of-year meeting of his cabinet on Tuesday that the government had to focus on issues that really matter to voters, adding: “That will require hard work, focus and determination from all of us. Together, as a team, we will rise to that challenge and deliver for the whole country.”
Ministers are privately discussing whether Starmer can survive as prime minister until the end of 2026, with some speculating that he could be toppled before elections in May to English councils, the Scottish parliament and Welsh Assembly.
But Starmer told his cabinet: “I have no doubt about this team. Governments do not lose when polls go down. They lose when they lose belief or nerve. We will do neither.”
His comments came as a new YouGov poll showed Labour falling behind the Conservatives and trailing far behind Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which has a rating of 26 per cent.
The survey showed Labour down three points in a week to 17 per cent — the party’s joint-lowest showing since the general election — while the Tories are on 19 per cent.
The YouGov survey put Labour just one point ahead of the Liberal Democrats on 16 per cent, with the Greens on 15 per cent, confirming the emergence of five-party politics across the UK.
Some ministers believe Starmer cannot claw back Labour’s position ahead of the May elections, especially given his own dismal approval ratings.
But Starmer urged cabinet colleagues to study recent comebacks by centre-left parties in Australia, Canada and Norway, and to learn from their focus on cost-of-living issues.
Having spent 2025 insisting that “growth” was Labour’s number-one mission, Starmer told ministers: “Yes, there’s a world of uncertainty and upheaval but tackling the cost of living remains and must remain our focus.”
The government has recently taken action on energy bills, rail fares and prescription charges and Starmer noted that inflation and interest rates were falling.
Starmer said: “At the next general election we will be judged on whether we’ve delivered on things that really matter — do people feel better off, are public services improving and do people feel safe and secure in their own community?”
Labour is facing heavy losses to Reform at the May elections and some MPs believe Starmer will face a challenge at that point.
The prime minister insisted the party should unite to fight Reform, adding: “They want a weaker state, they want to inject bile into our communities, they want to appease Putin.”