LONDON

UK opposition leader Kemi Badenoch spoke to the media following calls for Prime Minister Keir Starmer to resign, saying the Labour leader is “now in office, but not in power.”

Badenoch on Tuesday made the comments after Starmer’s Cabinet came out in support of him following the Mandelson–Epstein link scandal.

She said it is “quite clear” that the Labour Party has lost confidence in Starmer, adding that Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has “said the quiet bit out loud” by joining calls for the prime minister to quit.

“Instead of doing the right thing, what they've done is rally behind the prime minister,” Badenoch said, claiming the Parliamentary Labour Party decided to support Starmer because members are “terrified” of losing their own jobs.

Badenoch also said her party is “always prepared” to table a vote of no confidence in the prime minister, but they are “not at the stage” to do so yet.

“That said, it is still a matter of when, not if, Starmer goes,” she added.

Commenting on Starmer’s leadership, Badenoch said he “creates a lot of instability,” but acknowledged that an alternative Labour leader would create “more instability.”

Senior UK Cabinet ministers rallied behind Starmer after Sarwar called for him to resign as both prime minister and Labour leader.

The coordinated show of support came as Sarwar held a press conference on Monday saying the UK’s leadership “has to change,” arguing that “the distraction needs to end.”

Last week Starmer said he was "sorry" for believing Mandelson’s "lies" and appointing him ambassador to the US, as pressure continued to mount after he admitted knowing about Mandelson’s ties with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in 2019.

Mandelson was sacked in September, but recently released Epstein files suggested he shared confidential information with Epstein while serving as British business secretary in 2009.

Mandelson has also stepped down from the House of Lords and the Labour Party.

The US Justice Department last month released more than 3 million pages, 2,000 videos and 180,000 images under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, signed into law last November.

The materials include photos, grand jury transcripts and investigative records, though many pages remain heavily redacted. Epstein survivors and relatives of victims say the release falls short of what the law requires and omits much significant information.