LONDON, May 8 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Friday that he is "not going to walk away" amid Labour's projected losses in Britain's local elections.
"They've sent a message that the change that we promised isn't being delivered in a way they can feel and also, frankly, they're fed up with years of the status quo," Starmer told Sky News. "But we were elected to deal with those challenges."
"I'm not going to walk away from that and to plunge the country into chaos," he added.
British voters went to the polls on Thursday in local elections for around 5,000 council seats in England and elections to the Scottish and Welsh parliaments.
Early results show Labour is facing heavy losses in councillor seats even in its historic heartlands, winning just over 250 seats by now, while Nigel Farage's Reform UK saw a surge in support, winning more than 400 seats so far.
While ballots are still being counted, polling experts have estimated that Labour will lose around 1,850 councillors in England in the elections that are widely seen as a midterm test for the party and a preview of the next general election.
Pressure is reportedly mounting on Starmer to resign amid Labour's projected election losses, according to British media. But Starmer has secured the backing from some senior Labour figures including Defence Secretary John Healey, who told Sky News on Friday that the prime minister will "stay the course" despite poor local election results. ■
