U.K. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was battling to save his position Monday, refusing to step aside despite mounting pressure from within his own party and a wave of resignations among close aides.

Resignation calls intensified after more than 70 Labor MPs publicly urged the Labor leader to quit, while several parliamentary aides stepped down in protest, according to reports.

The growing rebellion comes at a critical moment for Starmer, whose authority has been shaken by political and economic setbacks.

As previously reported by Fox News Digital, the immediate trigger was the crushing defeats in local election results on May 8, which saw Labor lose hundreds of council seats across England, surrender long-held ground in Wales and fall behind rivals in Scotland.

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A recent YouGov poll also found that around half of Britons believe Starmer should step down.

At the same time, rising U.K. borrowing costs have added to concerns about the government’s economic and public service policies and not easing living costs.

Starmer was also hurt by his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, a friend of Jeffrey Epstein, as Britain’s ambassador to Washington, the Associated Press reported.

In Scotland, Labor’s difficulties were laid bare as John Swinney secured a decisive victory, dealing a further blow to Starmer’s authority.

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President Donald Trump met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Trump Turnberry golf club in Scotland on July 28, 2025. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

The result drew attention from President Donald Trump, who publicly congratulated Swinney and appeared to take a swipe at Starmer.

Trump and Starmer’s relationship had become strained, with the president saying, «This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with,» blasting the U.K. leader’s reluctance to let U.S. warplanes use its bases after the start of the war against Iran.

Meanwhile, Starmer struck a defiant tone in what has been termed a «reset» speech on Monday, insisting he would not resign.

«I take responsibility for not walking away, not plunging our country into chaos, as the Tories did,» he said.

Sam Carlin, one of the MPs calling for change, said Starmer was «not the right person» to revive the struggling party.

«As a result, I join Labor colleagues from across the United Kingdom in urging the prime minister to step down for the sake of our movement and the people we serve,» he said.

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Starmer struck a defiant tone in what has been termed a «reset» speech where he insisted he would not resign. (Carl Court/Getty Images)

«We have made so much progress, but if we remain on our current course, it will not last.»

Former minister Catherine West led efforts to formalize the challenge, calling for a timetable to elect a new leader as early as September.

Three figures are seen as frontrunners to succeed Starmer.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham would need to return to Parliament to mount a bid, while Angela Rayner continues to contend with the fallout from past tax issues.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting is viewed as a more immediate contender.

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Under Labor rules, a leadership contest can be triggered if sufficient backing coalesces behind a challenger, typically through nominations from MPs and affiliated groups.

If Starmer were to resign, the party would move into a formal contest period, culminating in a vote among members.

FIRST ON FOX: House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil, R-Wis., introduced a legislative package on Monday designed to improve transparency and security in campaign finance as a major Democratic payment processor faces scrutiny over foreign donations.

Steil’s package includes two bills: The Campaign Finance Transparency Act and the Preventing Foreign Influence in American Elections Act, Fox News Digital learned. The first piece of legislation would impose a suite of new transparency regulations on organizations that process political donations, such as ActBlue, while the second proposed law seeks to prevent foreign nationals from funding election-related activities through means other than campaign contributions. 

A spokesman for Steil confirmed to Fox News Digital that they plan to expedite consideration of these bills through the administration committee. 

«My investigation into ActBlue has demonstrated that the current campaign finance laws weren’t drafted for the modern era we live in,» the congressman told Fox News Digital. «The major gaps we’ve uncovered are being exploited by fraudsters and foreign nationals to make illegal political donations. For example, right now an individual can easily make a fraudulent donation online in someone else’s name and avoid getting caught. That’s an unacceptable vulnerability that bad actors are taking advantage of.»

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ActBlue is under increased scrutiny from congressional Republicans after the New York Times in April reported, citing leaked internal memos, that the payment processor’s lawyers warned that it may have misled Congress regarding its efforts to stop foreign nationals from donating to American politicians.

«It can be alleged that ActBlue accepted and/or facilitated the acceptance of foreign-national contributions into American elections,» one memo reportedly stated. «In addition, because ActBlue’s staff was aware that its system was not as robust as necessary, it could be alleged that these violations were ‘knowing and willful,’ a standard that both increases the penalties the F.E.C. might seek and gives the Justice Department jurisdiction for a potential criminal investigation.»

Fox News Digital has not independently confirmed the content of the ActBlue legal memos. ActBlue has denied breaking any laws, saying that its statements to Congress were rigorously reviewed by lawyers before being submitted, and characterized Republican inquiries as partisan in nature. 

WinRed, the conservative equivalent to ActBlue, would also be covered by the laws if they pass. An Associated Press investigation in May 2025 found that Trump’s campaign reports listed citizenship as «verified» for two of more than 200 donors living abroad who contributed to him, many through WinRed.

WinRed and ActBlue did not respond to requests for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Monday.

Exterior view of ActBlue offices building with glass windows and signage. (Getty Images)

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Republicans have long argued that making donations with gift cards allows individuals to more easily conceal their identities while making illegal contributions. ActBlue’s lawyers also claimed, according to the memos viewed by the Times, that the payment processor sometimes failed to collect verification documents from donors residing in foreign countries to ensure they could legally make contributions.

Steil’s Campaign Finance Transparency Act will, among other things, prohibit political donations made using gift cards, require the name on a credit or debit card to match that of a prospective campaign donor and mandates the verification of citizenship or permanent resident status for donors without an American mailing address.

ActBlue, according to a letter it sent to Congress in April, no longer processes donations originating from outside the United States. The processor previously prompted foreign donors to input their passport number when making donations using credit or debit cards, per the letter.

Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., speaks during a House Financial Services Committee hearing on oversight of the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve’s pandemic response in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 2, 2020. (Greg Nash/Pool/Reuters)

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Conservatives have also, in recent years, argued that foreign nationals are influencing American elections in ways beyond traditional campaign contributions.

Steil’s Preventing Foreign Influence in American Elections Act seeks to stop foreign donors from funding election-related activities such as ballot harvesting, voter registration initiatives and the commissioning of polls. The law would also bar foreign nationals from helping to pay for the administration of state or local elections.

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ActBlue is fighting back against its conservative critics. The platform, for instance, sued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is investigating it, on May 1, alleging that he is abusing his office by engaging in a politically motivated legal action against it.

The district judge handling the case recently wrote that «the court is tentatively of the opinion» that ActBlue will «likely to prevail on some, if not all, elements» of the first part of their legal complaint, which accuses Paxton of violating ActBlue’s First Amendment rights by allegedly targeting it for engaging in constitutionally protected political activity.

A pocos días que se realice el relevo en la Fiscalía General de Guatemala, el diputado Jose Chic, representante de la bancada VOS en el Congreso de la República de Guatemala, requirió en conferencia de prensa que se decrete arraigo para la fiscal general María Consuelo Porras Aldana.

Además instó a que las investigaciones sobre supuestas detenciones ilegales y casos de adopciones irregulares vinculados a Porras sean transferidas a instancias independientes, debido a la presunta existencia de una red estructurada que implicaría a funcionarios judiciales y administrativos.

Chic aseguró que el caso tiene repercusión internacional y resaltó que los hechos denunciados —a su juicio, de gravedad tal que no deben prescribir— precisan de la intervención de la Fiscalía de Derechos Humanos o la Fiscalía de Delitos Transnacionales, además de la permanencia de la fiscal general en el país para responder ante el proceso.

En la parte final de su intervención, Jose Chic reveló que el costo de una adopción nacional en Guatemala puede llegar a cinco mil dólares, y que en países de Norteamérica o Europa esa cifra aumenta a sesenta mil dólares.

El diputado indicó que hay registros de procesos con irregularidades serias, en los que participaron jueces, abogados y notarios, conformando una estructura orientada a la venta y traslado de niños fuera del país.

Este señalamiento, que involucra cifras inéditas y una dimensión transnacional, diferencia la denuncia de Chic de otros casos previos de presunta corrupción en el sistema de adopciones.

De acuerdo con los datos presentados, Jose Chic planteó que existen al menos tres denuncias formales agrupadas y remitidas a una sola fiscalía, una acción que considera inadecuada por parte de Consuelo Porras Aldana.

El diputado sostiene que la concentración de casos debió recaer en fiscalías especializadas en derechos humanos o delitos transnacionales. A su entender, esto refleja falta de transparencia y un intento de encubrimiento en torno a la fiscal general.

Chic subrayó que la fiscal Leonor Morales, al frente de la Fiscalía contra Delitos cometidos contra Operadores de Justicia y Sindicalistas, se limitó a argumentar que todos los procedimientos se realizaron conforme a derecho, pero no detalló “qué acciones ha emprendido para esclarecer la verdad de esas denuncias”.

La falta de información concreta, indicó, impide comprobar la eficacia de las investigaciones sobre Consuelo Porras y otros posibles involucrados.

El diputado rechazó que las respuestas oficiales fueran únicamente generales, y remarcó: “Solo quieren decir que el Ministerio Público está haciendo su trabajo, pero no concretiza en qué acciones han llevado a cabo y cuáles van a ser las líneas de investigación o al menos los parámetros que va a utilizar el Ministerio Público relacionado con estas denuncias”.

Recalcó la obligación del Ministerio Público de aportar pruebas y precisó que, hasta ahora, la fiscalía a cargo no ha presentado fundamentos claros ni evidencias que demuestren avances efectivos.

Chic calificó los hechos como “venta de niños” en Guatemala, afirmando que diversos actores judiciales y administrativos estuvieron involucrados.

Sostuvo que investigar esta estructura, en la que participaron jueces, abogados y notarios, exige la intervención de fiscalías especializadas y un cambio en la estrategia institucional vigente.

Recordó que la negativa anterior de la Corte Suprema de Justicia a retirar la inmunidad a Porras no libera de responsabilidades administrativas ni penales, y anunció que el Congreso insistirá en renovar el pedido de investigación para “garantizar que la señora Consuelo Porras debe permanecer en el país mientras dure la investigación de este caso”.

El diputado Jose Chic subrayó que se ha identificado una posible red transnacional de adopciones irregulares, con el precio de una adopción en Guatemala alrededor de cinco mil dólares, cifra que asciende a sesenta mil cuando se concreta en el extranjero. Esta situación afecta la credibilidad de la justicia, implica a varios funcionarios y refuerza la necesidad de fiscalías con competencia internacional.

Recalcó que el antejuicio es un recurso de protección para funcionarios, pero advirtió: “No traten de hacer creer a la gente que la fiscal Consuelo Porras fue exculpada en estos procesos”.

Afirmó que continuará presentando nuevas denuncias y fiscalizando a las autoridades para que se esclarezcan todos los hechos y la sociedad guatemalteca cuente con la información necesaria sobre la fiscal general y otros funcionarios.