LONDON (AP) – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed Friday that he will fight to stay in office after the sudden resignation of his trusted defense minister left his shaky leadership weakened still further.
Starmer has seen the departure of several junior and senior ministers in recent weeks, as Labour Party lawmakers revolt and rivals plot, in despair at the government’s relentless unpopularity.
But the sudden resignation of Defense Secretary John Healey is a heavy blow. Healey quit Thursday, warning that the government is not spending enough on the military to keep Britain safe “at this time of rising threats.”
His departure hits Starmer in the one place the often embattled prime minister has won consistent praise: the world stage.
Since taking office after a landslide election victory in July 2024, Starmer has bolstered support for Ukraine, working with French President Emmanuel Macron on a multinational “coalition of the willing” to help guarantee the country’s security if a ceasefire is reached.
France and the U.K. also have put together a maritime security force that would help keep the Strait of Hormuz open to shipping if the Iran war ends.
Starmer has also argued strongly that European nations must do more to fund their own defense in response to President Donald Trump’s criticism of the United States´ NATO allies.
“Starmer has been consistently staunch about warning of the security risk from Russia,” said Olivia O´Sullivan, head of the U.K. in the World program at the Chatham House think tank. “He’s been given quite a bit of credit by the public for having to deal with Trump and doing so with a level of steadiness and calm. And he has been, in line with previous U.K. governments, a close and consistent ally of Ukraine.”
At issue is the government’s long-awaited Defense Investment Plan, a road map for how the U.K. will increase military spending to 3.5% of GDP by 2035. The U.K. military is also seeking to reverse years of decline in the face of an increasingly assertive Russia, which invaded its neighbor Ukraine in 2022 and increasingly tests the defenses of European nations with overt and covert activity.
Healey says defense spending must reach 3% of GDP by 2030. He quit in frustration after Treasury chief Rachel Reeves refused to budge on a plan that falls short of that.
He cited a British intelligence assessment that Russia could attack a NATO member country as soon as 2030 and said a lower-than-needed spending plan “could make the country less safe.”
Critics argue that military spending can be a bottomless pit, and point out that procurement projects regularly run over time and over budget.
Former Armed Forces Minister Al Carns, who quit on Thursday a few hours after Healey, said it is not just a question of spending more money, but spending it wisely. He said the investment plan was not “transformative enough.”
“I want to see a higher percentage for uncrewed systems, AI, data – data is the new gunpowder – and we´ve got to move that forward if we are going to win the next war,” he told the BBC.
Healey is not the first government minister to resign. Last month Starmer lost several junior ministers and then Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who quit so that he can run for party leader if a contest is triggered.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is widely expected to challenge Starmer for the leadership if he is elected to Parliament in a special election on Thursday.
But the departure of Healey, long seen as a loyal minister without personal leadership ambitions, “suggests that Starmer´s credibility, even with his inner circle of ministers, is perhaps draining away,” O´Sullivan said.
Starmer insisted Friday he is staying put, saying it’s his job to make “hard-edged decisions.”
He told the BBC that defense is “my number one priority. And I have taken the difficult decisions to make sure that we are safe as a country.”
“I’m not going to go away. I don’t think we should plunge the country into the chaos of a leadership election,” he said. “I don’t think it should happen, but if it does, then I will fight.”