UK's Labour party meets with Starmer

BRITAIN'S ruling Labour party gathered for its annual meeting yesterday, with under-fire Prime Minister Keir Starmer battling to convince nervous lawmakers that he is the right leader to fend off soaring support for the hard right.

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BRITAIN'S Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria arrive ahead of the annual Labour party conference in Liverpool, England.

(AFP)

It was only in July last year that the ex-lawyer led Labour back to power after 14 years in opposition, but scandals, policy missteps and plummeting poll ratings are already raising 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 government following embarrassing revelations.

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

Starmer referred to Reform as an "enemy" that "goes against the grain of our history", in an interview with the Guardian at the weekend.