London, February 10 British Prime Minister Keir Starmer chaired his first weekly Cabinet meeting after overcoming a leadership challenge and pledging "never to walk away" as he refreshed his top Downing Street aides.
A statement from 10 Downing Street said that Starmer thanked his "strong and united" ministerial team a day after facing intense pressure to step down over the appointment of controversial politician, Peter Mandelson, as the UK's ambassador to the US.
"There are some people who say that the Labour government should have a different fight, a fight with itself, instead of a fight for the millions of people who need us to fight for them," Starmer said later, addressing his first public event since the crisis in Hertfordshire.
"I say to them, I will never walk away from the mandate I was given to change this country. I will never walk away from the people that I am charged with fighting for, and I will never walk away from the country that I love," he said.
The Labour Party leader stressed that his focus remains on tackling the cost of living crisis and improving living standards, warning against the threat posed by the far-right Reform UK.
"I want to serve every single part of that country, the country that I love. But the fight coming up in politics, the real fight is not in the Labour Party. It's with the right-wing politics that challenges that," he said. "The politics of Reform, the politics of divide, divide, divide... Grievance, grievance, grievance that will tear our country apart. That is the fight that we are in. And I will be in that fight as long as I have breath in my body," he said.
It was clear that he wanted to come out fighting after a tough Monday, when Scottish Labour leader of Pakistani heritage, Anas Sarwar, had openly called for him to follow his chief of staff's resignation over the appointment of Mandelson, who had close links with convicted American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“The Prime Minister said that the whole of the Labour Party wants Anas Sarwar to become First Minister and will fight for a Labour government in Scotland," the Downing Street readout said, dismissing the notion of any division over the devolved region.
Sarwar's rebellion had triggered Starmer's ministers to rally around him, with each of his top team issuing messages of support for their leader.
“I believe this government has, in fact, drawn a line and taken Britain into this new political era and shown the different thinking required to relieve unsung Britain from the cost pressures it faces," said Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Manchester, seen as a key leadership challenger.
His support for Starmer came as all sections of the governing party publicly sought to move forward from the crisis, which critics feel may have only been delayed rather than fully averted, as damaging Epstein revelations continue to dominate the headlines worldwide.