UK's Keir Starmer Faces Midterm Election Test Amid Party Crisis

LONDON: Polls have opened for midterm local and regional elections on Thursday that could deliver a heavy blow to embattled British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Starmer's center-left Labour Party is bracing for big losses in voting that will choose about 5,000 local councilors and a handful of mayors across England, as well as semi-autonomous parliaments in Scotland and Wales. Polls open at 7 am and close at 10 pm. Some local authorities will count ballots overnight, but the bulk of the results are likely to be declared on Friday afternoon. Local elections usually focus on issues like garbage collection, graffiti and potholes, but Starmer's opponents have painted Thursday's vote as a referendum on the prime minister. A rout could trigger moves by restive Labour lawmakers to oust a leader who led them to power less than two years ago. Even if Starmer survives for now, many analysts doubt he will lead the party into the next national election, which must be held by 2029. Starmer's popularity has plunged after repeated missteps since he became prime minister in July 2024. His government has struggled to deliver promised economic growth, repair tattered public services and ease the cost of living — tasks made harder by the US-Israeli war with Iran, which has choked off oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. The prime minister has been further hurt by his disastrous decision to appoint Peter Mandelson , a scandal-tarnished friend of Jeffrey Epstein, as Britain's ambassador to Washington. Labour is defending about 2,500 seats on English local councils, and party members are apprehensive it may lose many of them. An election rout could trigger a snap leadership challenge or internal party pressure on Starmer to step down. He has already survived a crisis in February, when some Labour lawmakers, including the party's leader in Scotland, urged him to quit over the Mandelson appointment.