Local election results live: Starmer turns to Gordon Brown as pressure mounts over election losses

Former prime minister Gordon Brown has been appointed as a special envoy on global finance.

Downing Street said Sir Keir Starmer has committed to boosting the country’s security and resilience and “in this role, Gordon Brown will advise on how global finance cooperation can help to achieve this”.

Former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown has arrived at Downing Street amid reports he is being brought back into government.

Downing Street has yet to confirm what role he has been given, if any.

A cabinet minister has blamed Labour’s winter fuel allowance U-turn for one of the reasons the party returned such poor results in local elections this week.

Speaking to Sky News, environment secretary Emma Reynolds said there was “no sugarcoating” Labour’s results.

“We’ve had bad results in England, Wales and Scotland, and I think the public are sending us a message and we need to listen and reflect on that, which is what we’re doing, that they are dissatisfied with the pace of change,” she said.

“I think there’s a real sense of impatience, which I totally get about the scale and the pace of change, and we’ve got to make sure that we step up a gear and start delivering that change for people’s lives.”

When asked what mistakes Labour made leading into the elections, Ms Reynolds said: “I think the winter fuel allowance and the changes to that – which we since corrected – were the wrong thing to do.”

The majority of Labour party members do not believe Sir Keir Starmer can reverse the party’s poor showings in Thursday’s local elections, a new poll has found.

Data from The Guardian shows 45 per cent of Labour members say the prime minister should step down.

The most popular choice to replace him was Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, who was chosen by 42 per cent of members.

The poll of more than 1,000 party members showed soaring dissatisfaction with Sir Keir’s leadership among members – in October just 28 per cent said the prime minister should resign if Labour suffered poor election results in May.

The local elections have shattered the two-party system – but not everyone who wants to punish Labour wants to vote for Nigel Farage. It’s time for a change, says Andrew Grice.

The first announcement as part of the prime minister’s plan to rebuild after a devastating set of local election results has come in this morning.

Downing Street says Sir Keir has today appointed Harriet Harman as this adviser on women and girls.

“The PM committed to do more to eradicate structural misogyny and achieve a cultural change,” No 10 said in a statement.

“This appointment will help to accelerate progress.”

Baroness Harman is a previous deputy leader of the Labour party and leader of the House of Commons.

Senior Labour MP Debbie Abrahams said the “usual refrain” from voters was “we have concerns about your leader”.

Asked if Sir Keir Starmer should have a timetable for leaving if he cannot improve the situation, the work and pensions committee chairwoman told BBC Radio 4’s Today: “I hope, as he has said, that he will always put the country first and we have to recognise the dangers that we are in now.

“But on this trajectory it doesn’t look good, not just for locals – I lost some really dear colleagues who worked so hard for their constituency – but it means the prospect of us not just losing an election, but who we would lose to and that makes me really fearful.”

She suggested Sir Keir had a “matter of months” to make a decision about his future.

Donald Trump has congratulated John Swinney after the SNP retained its position as the largest party in Holyrood for the fifth consecutive election.

In a post on social media, the US president wrote: “Congratulations to John Swinney on winning his Re-Election for First Minister of Scotland.

“He is a good man, who worked very hard, along with the King and Queen of the United Kingdom, with respect to Tariff relief for Great Scottish Whiskey — and deserves this Big Electoral Victory!”

It comes after increased tensions between the president and Sir Keir Starmer over the Iran war, with the prime minister refusing to heed Mr Trump’s calls for military assistance in the Strait of Hormuz.

Former minister Catherine West has joined calls for Starmer to stand down.

In a post on X on Saturday morning, the MP for Hornsey and Friern Barnet said she “firmly” believes he should outline his intention to resign and oversee an “orderly transition” to a new leader.