UK minister calls for cool heads as battle to oust Prime Minister looms

LONDON - A British minister loyal to Prime Minister Keir Starmer in his fight to stay in power urged his colleagues to "take a breath" on Friday, saying no one had yet proven they had enough support to challenge him after a tumultuous week.

Starmer is struggling to hold on to power after his main rival in the government resigned on Thursday, accusing him of political drift, and others positioned themselves for potential challenges to his leadership.

"I'm not going to deny that it's been a really difficult week for all of us, but I would just advise colleagues right now: take a breath, have a think about what happened to the Tories when they did this," housing minister Steve Reed, a staunch ally of Starmer, told Times Radio.

Reed was referring to the opposition Conservative Party which underwent several chaotic leadership changes before suffering a historic defeat to Starmer's Labour Party at the 2024 general election.

Reed said the party needed to unite behind Starmer and resist the distraction of a leadership contest.

"It remains the fact that there is no challenger, no one has gathered 81 nominations to mount a challenge against the prime minister," Reed added, referencing the formal party process for starting a leadership contest.

-Sam Tabahriti, writing by William James; Editing by Kate Holton/Reuters