LONDON

The leader of Britain’s Labour Party in Scotland on Monday called for Keir Starmer to resign as both UK prime minister and Labour leader, saying the nation’s leadership “has to change.”

Anas Sarwar said the decision “isn't easy, and it's not without pain,” but stressed that his priority is “my country, Scotland.”

He said: “That's why the distraction needs to end. And the leadership in Downing Street has to change.”

He warned that problems at Westminster risk undermining Labour’s prospects in Scotland. “We cannot allow the failures at the heart of Downing Street to mean the failures continue here in Scotland, because the election is not without consequence for the lives of Scots,” he said.

Sarwar added: “The situation in Downing Street is not good enough. There have been too many mistakes. They promised they were going to be different, but too much has happened.”

While acknowledging some achievements, he said they had been overshadowed: “Have there been good things? Of course there have (been) many of them, but no one knows them and no one can hear them because they're being drowned out.”

Meanwhile, Downing Street rebuffed calls for Starmer to bow out, saying he "has a clear 5-year mandate from British people and will continue delivering change."

Starmer is expected to address Labour MPs later Monday as he seeks to shore up support within his party amid fallout over the Peter Mandelson scandal linked to new revelations in the files on convicted sex offender Epstein.