2026年5月9日 / 美国东部时间上午9:54 / 美联社
英国首相基尔·斯塔默承诺重振其陷入困境的政府，但在其领导的工党遭遇一系列灾难性地方和区域选举后，要求他辞职的呼声日益高涨。
随着最终结果于周六出炉，工党在英格兰各地失去了1000个地方议会席位，并在执政27年后丧失了在威尔士的执政权。反移民政党改革英国党在英格兰各地赢得了近1300个席位，在威尔士位居第二，并在苏格兰取得重大突破。
此次选举被广泛视为对斯塔默的非正式公投，选民给出了明确的评判。自不到两年前带领这个中左翼政党上台以来，斯塔默的支持率已大幅下滑。
斯塔默坚称他不会辞职，不会“让国家陷入混乱”，而此次糟糕的选举结果并未立刻引发对其领导地位的挑战。
“正确的做法是重建并指明前进的道路，”斯塔默周六表示，“这就是我未来几天要做的事。”
工党议员敦促斯塔默设定离职时间表
斯塔默的内阁同僚表达了支持，被视为潜在挑战者的知名工党政客目前均未采取行动。卫生大臣韦斯·斯特里廷、前副首相安吉拉·雷纳以及大曼彻斯特市长安迪·伯纳姆目前都保持沉默。
但越来越多的工党议员敦促首相制定今年离职的时间表。英国政坛允许政党在任期内更换领导人，无需重新举行大选。
“必须制定时间表，”议员克莱夫·贝茨告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻的合作媒体英国广播公司新闻。另一名议员托尼·沃恩表示，应该实现“有序的领导层交接”。
斯塔默周六试图通过召回两位前工党政府人物来展现变革。他任命前首相戈登·布朗为全球金融特别代表，并任命该党前副领袖哈丽特·哈曼为妇女与女童事务顾问。
斯塔默定于周一发表演讲，试图重拾势头，随后政府将于周三在查尔斯三世国王发表的议会开幕大典演讲中公布其立法计划。
此次选举对于由资深民族主义政治家奈杰尔·法拉奇领导的极右翼政党改革英国党来说是一次突破。
该党以反建制和反移民为竞选纲领，在英格兰北部工党占据数十年的传统票仓，如桑德兰等地的工人阶级选区赢得了数百个地方议会席位。它还在伦敦东部的埃塞克斯郡等地区从保守党手中夺取了席位。
法拉奇表示，此次选举结果标志着“英国政坛的历史性变革”。他说，他相信“投奔我们的选民并非只是进行短期抗议”。
改革英国党目前在议会650个席位中仅占8席，尚不清楚其能否在全国大选中复制此次成功。
此次选举让苏格兰和威尔士出现了由支持独立和英国解体的政党领导的半自治政府——尽管两者都未将该政策作为首要议题。
经济困境是工党困境的核心
经济问题是工党困境的核心，对许多现任政府来说亦是如此。
工党结束了因紧缩政策和新冠疫情陷入混乱的14年保守党执政时期后，一直难以在乌克兰战争以及近期伊朗局势带来的严峻经济背景下缓解生活成本危机并激活疲软的经济。斯塔默还因削减福利开支的举措激怒了支持者，在工党议员的反对下，部分削减措施已被撤销。
部分工党人士表示，政府在租户保护和提高最低工资等方面的成就未被民众注意到。许多人将矛头指向斯塔默，称其作为领导人缺乏感染力，且被多起丑闻分散精力，其中包括任命杰弗里·爱泼斯坦的丑闻缠身的好友彼得·曼德尔森为英国驻华盛顿大使的灾难性决定。
但在英格兰北部巴恩斯利议会（工党在此输给了改革英国党）的卸任领袖斯蒂芬·霍顿表示，问题“远比首相本人更深层”。
“这一情况在全国范围内已经酝酿了30年，在后工业社区和沿海社区，这些地方被抛在了后面，”他说，“你可以随时更换首相。但如果你不改变政策，一切都不会改变。”
此次选举结果反映出英国政坛在经历数十年工党和保守党主导的局面后出现了分裂，保守党也在周四的选举中遭遇重大损失。
此次选举为选民提供了多元化的选择，包括中间派的自由民主党以及苏格兰和威尔士的民族主义政党。
但最大的赢家是民粹主义新锐政党改革英国党和绿党。在自称为“生态民粹主义者”的领袖扎克·波兰斯基的领导下，绿党的关注点已从环境扩展到社会正义和巴勒斯坦事业。绿党在城市中心和大学城从工党手中赢得了数百个议会席位，并掌控了多个地方当局。
伦敦政治经济学院政府学教授托尼·特拉弗斯表示，此次选举结果表明，原定于2029年举行的下一次全国大选不会有任何政党获得多数席位。
“那么大选后你将面临的局面是，两到三个大型少数党试图协商如何执政，”他说——这在传统上被认为是“非常不符合英国特色”的。
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/trump-slams-starmers-reaction-to-iran-war-and-questions-uk-alliance/
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces calls to resign after disastrous local elections
May 9, 2026 / 9:54 AM EDT / AP
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged to revive his struggling government but faced growing calls to resign after a disastrous set of local and regional elections for his Labour Party.
As the final results came in Saturday, Labour had lost 1,000 local council seats across England and was booted from power in Wales after 27 years. Anti-immigration party Reform U.K. won almost 1,300 seats across England, came second in Wales and made significant gains in Scotland.
It was a blunt verdict from voters in elections widely seen as an unofficial referendum on Starmer, whose popularity has plummeted since he led the center-left party to power less than two years ago.
Starmer insisted he would not walk away and “plunge the country into chaos,” and the dire election results did not produce an immediate challenge to his leadership.
“The right thing to do is rebuild and show the path forward,” Starmer said Saturday. “That’s what I’m going to do in the coming days.”
Labour lawmakers urge Starmer to set timetable for departure
Starmer’s Cabinet colleagues expressed support, and none of the high-profile Labour politicians considered potential challengers has made a move. Health Secretary Wes Streeting, former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham are keeping quiet for now.
But a growing number of Labour lawmakers urged the prime minister to set a timetable for his departure this year. British politics allows parties to change leader midterm without the need for a new election.
“There has to be a timetable,” legislator Clive Betts told CBS News partner BBC News. Another lawmaker, Tony Vaughan, said there should be an “orderly transition of leadership.”
Starmer tried to demonstrate change on Saturday by bringing back two figures from past Labour governments. He made former Prime Minister Gordon Brown a special envoy on global finance, and appointed the party’s ex-deputy leader Harriet Harman an adviser on women and girls.
Starmer is due to make a speech on Monday in an attempt to regain momentum, before the government sets out its legislative plans on Wednesday in a speech delivered by King Charles III at the State Opening of Parliament.
The elections were a breakthrough for Reform UK, the latest hard-right party led by the veteran nationalist politician Nigel Farage.
Running on an anti-establishment and anti-immigration message, the party won hundreds of local council seats in working-class areas in England’s north, such as Sunderland, that were solid Labour turf for decades. It also made gains from the Conservatives in areas like the county of Essex, east of London.
Farage said the results marked a “historic change in British politics.” He said he’s confident that “voters who have come to us are not doing it as a short-term protest.”
Reform UK currently holds just eight of the 650 seats in Parliament and it’s unclear whether it could repeat its success in a national election.
The elections produced semiautonomous administrations in Scotland and Wales led by parties devoted to independence and the breakup of the United Kingdom – though neither has that policy on the front burner.
Economic woes lie at heart of Labour’s troubles
The economy lies at the heart of Labour’s troubles, as it does for many incumbent governments.
Since ending 14 years of Conservative rule roiled by austerity and the Covid-19 pandemic, Labour has struggled to ease the cost of living and jump-start a sluggish economy against the tough economic backdrop of war in Ukraine and, more recently, Iran. Starmer also has angered supporters with attempts to cut welfare spending, some of which were reversed after Labour revolts.
Some in Labour say the government’s achievements, including protections for renters and a higher minimum wage, are going unnoticed. Many blame Starmer, an uninspiring leader distracted by scandals including his disastrous decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, a scandal-tarnished friend of Jeffrey Epstein, as Britain’s ambassador to Washington.
But Stephen Houghton, the outgoing leader of Barnsley council in northern England, where Labour lost to Reform, said the problem “goes deeper than the prime minister.”
“This has been coming for 30 years around the country, in post-industrial communities, coastal communities, that have been left behind,” he said. “You can change prime ministers all day long. If you don’t change policy, it’s not going to charge.”
The results reflect a fragmentation of U.K. politics after decades of domination by Labour and the Conservative Party, which also suffered major losses on Thursday.
The elections offered voters a rainbow of choices, including the centrist Liberal Democrats and the nationalist parties in Scotland and Wales.
But the big winners were populist insurgents, Reform UK and the Green Party, whose focus has expanded from the environment to social justice and the Palestinian cause under self-described “eco populist” leader Zack Polanski. The Greens won hundreds of council seats from Labour in urban centers and university towns and took control of several local authorities.
Tony Travers, professor of government at the London School of Economics, said the results suggest the next national election, due by 2029, won’t produce a majority for any party.
“So then you’re in the world of, after the election, two or three big minority parties trying to work out how they would govern,” he said — something traditionally considered “very un-British.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/trump-slams-starmers-reaction-to-iran-war-and-questions-uk-alliance/