LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer named former Premier Gordon Brown as his envoy on global finance on Saturday, turning to a man credited with shoring up banks during the financial crisis to bolster his support after a crushing local elections defeat.
Starmer is on the back foot after his Labour Party recorded the worst losses of a governing party in municipal polls since 1995, prompting a growing number of his own lawmakers to call on him to quit.
Aiming to reset his leadership and win back party support, Starmer’s office announced the appointment of two Labour grandees, Brown, 75, and Harriet Harman, also 75, to his team as advisers.
Brown will seek to drive new investment and hone relations with the EU, in a bid to boost economic performance and win back votes, while Harman will focus on tackling misogyny and violence against women and girls, creating economic opportunities.
Amid fresh calls for him to resign from several of his own lawmakers, Starmer repeated, “I’m not going to walk away from this.”
He said he will respond to the message from voters by seeking to convince them their lives will improve.
