Starmer warns Labour in 'fight of our lives' as party meets

PRIME Minister Keir Starmer vowed to lead "the fight of our lives" against a surging hard right in Britain as the annual conference of his Labour party kicked off at the weekend with him politically weakened.

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Although he led Labour back to power in Britain in July last year, after 14 years in opposition, scandals and policy missteps have already raised doubts about his future.

The four-day gathering in Liverpool, northwest England, comes amid chatter about a possible leadership challenge and follows two recent high-profile departures from his government.

The conference, which ends tomorrow, takes place with Labour lagging well behind the upstart anti-immigrant Reform UK party led by anti-EU firebrand Nigel Farage, in national surveys.

Labour is trailing Reform by 12 points, while Starmer's satisfaction ratings have hit the lowest recorded by Ipsos for any prime minister going back to 1977.

Starmer said Sunday that the party had "got the fight of our lives ahead of us.

"We've got to take on Reform, we've got to beat them. The effects will be there for generations," he told the BBC.