Saturday 09 May 2026 15:12
| Updated:
Saturday 09 May 2026 15:14
Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has returned to government in a new role as Sir Keir Starmer fights to retain the premiership amid discontent among Labor MPs.
Brown will serve as the administration’s special envoy for global finance. He will likely be tasked with sorting out funding for defense before the publication of the Defense Investment Plan.
Starmer also turned to Labor veteran Baroness Harriet Harman, once the party’s deputy leader, as his adviser on women and girls.
The appointment comes after disappointing election results across the country, particularly in Wales and Scotland where Labor lost to nationalist parties, handed control to Plaid Cymru and lost again to the SNP.
Starmer rejected calls for his resignation as he took responsibility for what he described as a “difficult” local election result.
“I’m not going to just go and plunge this country into chaos. We were elected to face these challenges and that’s what we’re going to do,” Starmer said on Friday.
In another media appearance on Saturday, he repeated his statement that he would not quit and claimed that the appointments of Brown and Harman were “forward-looking”.
“It’s very forward-looking, because it’s about making sure that every woman has the opportunities that they deserve. And Harriet will lead that work, working with Cabinet, working with the team.
“For Gordon, one of the big challenges we face is global finance. The war in Iran is causing real problems, economic impacts.
“We need more spending on defense and security, which needs to be integrated through international mechanisms and Gordon has a track record on this, so this can build a strong economy for the future.”
His political maneuvering came as at least 30 Labor supporters publicly called for Starmer to resign.
Former Transport Minister Louise Haigh led the campaign against the Prime Minister on Friday as some MPs suggested Starmer should set a “timetable” for leaving office.
Starmer was hit hard by a poor election result
Most Cabinet ministers expressed support for the Prime Minister in a coordinated effort to dampen leadership speculation although the likes of Lisa Nandy and Wes Streeting spoke vaguely about their support for Starmer.
Andy Burnham and Angela Rayner had also not made any public comment as of Saturday afternoon, long after it became clear that Labor had suffered significant losses.
Labor lost around 1,400 council seats while Reform UK gained around 1,300 seats across England. They lost control of Wales for the first time this century while the SNP beat Labor by some distance.
In London, the party held several key London boroughs, including Merton and Redbridge, although it lost Wandsworth and Westminster in fierce battles with the Tories.
The Green Party took Hackney from Labor and also Waltham Forest.
Nigel Farage hailed “historic changes in British politics” as the Reformation gained Havering, the first London council, as well as gains in seats in the North of England.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said her party was showing “signs of renewal” despite losing hundreds of council seats. The Tories retained Kensington, Chelsea and Hillingdon, plus Bromley and Bexley.
Instead, Nigel Farage’s Reformers hope they can control outlying areas such as Hillingdon, Bromley and Bexley. They failed at each of the three boards but took Havering.
Markets held back on Friday, but analysts warned the “woo-woo” bond market could fall into chaos as the political fallout from the election plays out.
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