Starmer turns to Labour veterans after devastating local election losses

Labour’s election warning shot landed hard on Sir Keir Starmer, who refused to resign after heavy losses across England, Scotland and Wales and the surge of Reform UK. The results were described by multiple outlets as a historic drubbing, with Labour losing more than half the seats it was defending while Nigel Farage’s party piled up gains in working-class areas and beyond.

Starmer’s response was to reach back into Labour’s past. He named former prime minister Gordon Brown as special envoy on global finance and appointed Harriet Harman as Prime Minister’s Adviser on Women and Girls, a part-time unpaid role announced on May 9, 2026. The government said Harman would report directly to the prime minister and focus on violence against women and girls, economic opportunity and representation, while Brown’s remit was framed around international financial cooperation, security and resilience.

The appointments immediately raised eyebrows inside Labour. Some MPs reacted with bafflement and criticism, questioning the logic of turning to two long-serving figures from an earlier era at the very moment Starmer is trying to project renewal. The backlash highlights the tension at the heart of Labour’s post-election debate: whether the answer is quicker delivery, a sharper shift left, or a broader strategic reset altogether.

That argument matters because Starmer’s authority now rests on performance, not just party discipline. He became prime minister on July 5, 2024, after Labour’s general-election victory, but less than two years later the party is under intense pressure from voters, with Reform’s rise exposing fragile support in Labour’s old territory and forcing a reckoning over whether the current team still has a coherent plan. For now, Starmer is standing firm and betting that familiar names can buy time.