Labour minister Emma Reynolds has conceded Labour has “made some mistakes” after the party lost more than 1,000 wards in the 2026 Local Elections.
Speaking to GB News, the Environment and Rural Affairs Secretary was reacting to the drubbing received in the local elections.
“It has been a terrible set of results… There's no getting away from that,” she began.
“We've had terrible results in local government in England and obviously in the Scottish and Welsh elections as well.”
“I accept that as a Government, and the Prime Minister accepts this, we have made mistakes."
“The winter fuel allowance, changing the rules around that which we have since corrected, was a mistake,” Ms Reynolds added.
Despite the grim verdict, the Environment Secretary rejected calls for Sir Keir to step down.
“I don't agree with him that we should change leaders, because I don't think the British public wants to see a period of instability and chaos," she said.
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“We saw what happened in the last Conservative Government.
“They had five prime ministers, seven Chancellors of the Exchequer, and nine education secretaries.
“That wasn't good for the government, but it also wasn't good for the British people because it led to lower living standards and poor public services.
“So I think we need to get on with the job, but we need to step up a gear and communicate better what we're doing, but also deliver change more,” she insisted.
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To that end, Ms Reynolds promised that “the Prime Minister will set out next week our vision for the future as a Government.
“I think he is the right person to lead our government and to deliver that change.
“We have a five-year mandate for change that we won less than two years ago at the last general election.
“As I've said, I know that people are dissatisfied. This has been a terrible set of results. We need to listen and reflect. And the Prime Minister will be setting out further steps early next week.”
Keir Starmer has vowed not to quit after overseeing bruising local election results | GB NEWSYesterday, Sir Keir has declared he was “not going to walk away” after overseeing “very tough” local election results for the Labour Party.
“Let me be clear, these are really tough results.
“That hurts, and it should hurt, and I take responsibility."
“Tough days like this don't weaken my resolve to deliver the change that I promised... They strengthen my resolve to do so,” Sir Keir declared.