STORY: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has the support of his cabinet, a senior minister said on Thursday (May 14), calling for a pause to regroup and refocus on priorities after the resignation of Wes Streeting as health minister.

"It has been really difficult, and it's been massively disruptive. I'm not going to hide from that, but I think today we have a chance and an opportunity to pause, just to take a breath and really seek to move on from this," Education Minister Bridget Phillipson told reporters.

"What I can say very clearly is that the prime minister has my full support, continues to have my full support, and he has the cabinet behind him."

Streeting resigned as health minister on Thursday to call for a leadership contest to oust Keir Starmer, accusing the British prime minister of overseeing political drift and forcing others to take the blame for his government's failings.

Disastrous results for the governing Labour Party in last week's local elections have plunged Britain into its latest crisis, just under two years after Starmer won a large majority on a vow to bring stability and end a decade of political chaos.

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UK PM Starmer has cabinet backing, says education minister after Streeting resignation

VIDEO SHOWS: BRITISH EDUCATION MINISTER BRIDGET PHILLIPSON ON RESIGNATION OF HEALTH MINISTER WES STREETING AND POTENTIAL LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (MAY 14, 2026) (UK POOL - Broadcast: No use UK. Digital: No use UK, except UK newspapers.)

1. (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRITISH EDUCATION MINISTER BRIDGET PHILLIPSON, SAYING:

"The prime minister has my full support, and I'm really sorry to see Wes go. He has been a brilliant Health Secretary. He's done a fantastic job, and we see that today with the NHS waiting list numbers that are really encouraging and what people want to see. But I fundamentally disagree with the position he's taken. I'm sad that he's gone, but I think this is now a chance for us to pause, take a breath as a party, and try and draw a line under all of this."

2. WHITE FLASH

3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRITISH EDUCATION MINISTER BRIDGET PHILLIPSON, SAYING:

"The prime minister has my support in the job that he is doing, and he's got the backing of Cabinet too. And I do recognise where colleagues are coming from. Like them, I want us to do better. The prime minister gets it, I get it, and I get it very profoundly. I had some very, very difficult local election results in my community just last week. I know people are feeling really sore, really hurting. But equally, I think the last thing that we need at the moment is a further period where we turn in on ourselves. We need to be getting on with the job that the British people elected us to do."