British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday (June 12, 2026) rejected the idea that ​he had lost authority in his role, and said ‌he would fight to keep his ​job, adding that anyone who wanted ⁠to replace him would have to deal with the same financial constraints.

The comments come a day after ‌Defence Minister John Healey delivered a fresh blow to the Prime Minister’s ‌already weakened leadership by quitting and accusing ‌Mr. Starmer ⁠of being unable to commit the resources ⁠needed to keep the country safe, in a dig at the authority the PM has over his Ministers.

“I’m ​not going to ‌walk away,” Mr. Starmer told the BBC, making his first public comments since Healey’s shock resignation. With rivals expected to launch a contest ‌to replace him in the coming weeks ​or months, Mr. Starmer said he would fight any challenge to his role.

“Let me ⁠just be clear with you, that’s not about personal vanity, it’s not about stubbornness, it’s ‌out of a very deep sense of duty. I was elected to serve this country, notwithstanding the difficult circumstances. That is what I am doing,” he said.

Mr. Starmer rejected Ms. Healey’s criticism, saying defence and security were his top ‌priorities and would remain so every time the government ​had to make spending decisions in the future.

He said he had already ⁠made “hard-edged” choices to cut other departments’ budgets in order ⁠to put more money towards defence investment.

“Whoever is Prime Minister is going ‌to face the same prevailing winds as I am facing. None of that is ​going to change,” Mr. Starmer said.