Luke Pollard, Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry, has publicly declared he will not resign his post despite acknowledging the pressure on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer from within the Labour Party.

Pollard, who represents Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, posted a series of statements on X on 12 May citing national security as his reason for remaining in post.

“With our troops deployed round the world, with threats building towards the UK and our allies my responsibility as Defence Minister is to put our country first and provide continuity and consistency for our armed forces and defence sector at a highly uncertain time,” he said.

“Whatever is happening elsewhere in British politics, national security is the first responsibility of government and something I take very seriously. That is why I will not be resigning, and will be continuing to support our efforts to rearm, rebuild our forces and protect the UK,” he added.

Pollard acknowledged the pressure on the Prime Minister but made clear that he considers his own position in relation to the demands of the brief rather than party politics. At a moment when British forces are deployed across multiple theatres, when HMS Dragon is heading to the Middle East ahead of a potential Strait of Hormuz mission, his argument for continuity at the MoD has a practical basis.

The remarks come as Starmer faces the most serious crisis of his premiership. More than 70 Labour MPs have publicly called on the Prime Minister to resign or set out a timetable for departure following the party’s performance in last week’s local elections, in which Labour lost control of more than 30 councils across England and suffered losses in Welsh and Scottish parliamentary elections. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has been among the most prominent voices calling for Starmer to stand down, and several ministerial aides have already resigned.

Starmer has so far refused to go, arguing in a speech on Monday that a change of leadership would plunge the country into the kind of chaos that characterised the final years of the Conservative government. His office issued a statement insisting he does not intend to quit. To formally trigger a leadership contest, opponents would need 81 signatures in support of a challenger, equivalent to a fifth of Labour’s parliamentary seats.

George Allison
George Allison
George Allison is the founder and editor of the UK Defence Journal. He holds a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and specialises in naval and cyber security topics. George has appeared on national radio and television to provide commentary on defence and security issues. Twitter: @geoallison
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66 COMMENTS

  1. You do wonder what all those people calling for Kier Starmers head that proclaim to be patriots think is going to happen if he steps down now.

    At best it will be a 6 month protracted leadership contest followed by another year of “planning” then an election followed by several hung parliaments or a prime minister with a lot of history of not supporting Ukraine while being paid by the kremlin and shadowy crypto brows in Thailand.

    And half the commentators on here voted for exactly that.

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      • Not Jim. An UE outsider here, Brexit should be excellent. Only with competition political entities(or anything else) can improve. All big European countries under UE would be a decadent disaster.

      • Not bitter just sad for the country, every time we start to turn a corner some group of wankers have to through another spanner in the works

        Zack Polanski and Nigel Farrage now both selling the same snake oil that brought us Brexit.

        I’m no fan of Starmer but I’m yet to see anyone that can realistically get the job that’s any better. So we will end up feeding the main stream media game show that has become politics and defence spending will go out the window again just as we were getting to the post that things were finally finalised.

        Personally I think Starmer is bad for labour but good for the country because its stability the country desperately needs.

        Just look at the bond yields.

        As for Brexit I’m agnostic on the subject, what I am against is economic self harm and destruction of the UK geopolitical standing, there is an overwhelming mountain of evidence showing the damage done, I’m yet to see a Brexit benefit. Nigel Farrage himself is unable to point to a single Brexit benefit.

        I’ll stick to the date and let others do the emotions

        • Well said Jim , I would say Reform is our biggest problem it will be Trumpski all over again for us. I will say though that
          Starmer and Reeves are living in a dream land over defence , they really don’t get the urgency needed.

        • I’d keep Starmer, but ditch Reeves. If he survives the next couple of days, then a cabinet reshuffle surely is on the cards, and I think she will be toast. I’m not a big Starmer fan, but I like most of the other contenders even less. And Reform isn’t the answer. They are just tapping into populist topics. And he’s mates with Trump. That’s the last thing this country needs. A Trump fan. Get the DIP published, Get defence spending to 3%, stop or vastly reduce the illegal boat crossing numbers, take the cost of living seriously, take genuine steps to grow the economy, taxing everyone and everything to death clearly isn’t working, make visible improvements to our high streets. Get some collective pride back in the nation and a healthy dose of collective responsibility instead of blaming teachers/NHS for our woes. And get a grip of the wealthfare budget. If they can do all that, they might just make it through the next 3 years in one piece. And if Ministers aren’t brave enough to make the change happen. Sack them. I don’t vote Labour. But I want them to do well, because I want the nation to do well until we get the chance to vote again.

    • Seems to me that the opposition parties are just sitting back watching Labour tear themselves apart without any help at all!
      Just as an aside on BREXIT IF the politician’s(all parties) had actually carried out the instruction from the voters and not fought the process every step of the way I dare say it could have very well gone a lot better😉

        • Shame that people voted in Bluffer who at the same time as ‘Get Brexit done’ encouraged mass immigration into the UK while at the same time telling the great unwashed, thick, stupid or plain ignorant that Europe would give us a great deal (paraphrase) because we were GB… and signed away the Dublin Agreement which meant we could return all those boat people… Oops! Bluffer! Moi?

          So, Halfwit, we normally get along, but, farage as in garage is a disaster for this country and Brexit has cost us billions and a sizeable chunk of GDP.

          Where there is going to be even more schadenfreude is watching Labour newbies get rid of a Govt that wanted to cut the triple lock and bring down Benefits payments that would have helped balance the books – assuming they get a dream team to replace Sir Keir and Reeves, the new team will go on to tax more and drive the country over the edge whereas, the incumbents wanted to at least bring down public debt and ease interest payments on said generated debt; newbie MPs will be looking for new jobs in the following years and it will be entirely their own faults.

          • Huh …. You took me seriously ?

            Well there’s a thing 😁😁😁😁😁

            I’m just joking around as always.
            Can’t stand any of them, never voted, never saw any point.

            • Halfwit.
              I don’t think anyone takes you seriously … you are the joke.

              It’s often said that person who doesn’t vote shouldn’t have an opinion on the country, as they have absolved themselves of any responsibilities to themselves, the community and the country as a whole.

              Tabloids love to paint all politicians with the same brush of greed or incompetence. This leads to a belief that no matter who is in charge, life won’t change. The 2024 election, saw voter turnout drop to around 60%; the second lowest in a century. This creates a vicious cycle where the young or the less affluent don’t vote, and politicians, rationally but cynically focus their policies on the groups that do vote, like pensioners, and by not voting, people ensure the system stays not for them.

              “Can’t stand any of them” – manages to denigrate and malign all 543 English Members of Parliament in the UK House of Commons, while missing the fact that the institution, the surgeries, the select committees and the local advocacy, is what keeps the wheels on the bus turning, regardless of who is the ‘face’ of the party. It is easy to feel like they are all rubbish because the news usually focuses on scandals, resignations, and shouting matches in the House of Commons. However, in reality, an MP’s job is often much more boring, and much more helpful, than what you see on TV.

              There are definitely bad eggs who are in it for the ego or the money, MP’s are people, normal everyday people, they are not some sort of magical super beings from utopia that can do no wrong, they are by the majority genuinely hardworking people who took a massive pay cut from their previous careers to try and fix things in their hometowns. The average MP works about 69 hours a week. Much of that is reading legal documents and answering thousands of emails from constituents, which doesn’t make for exciting TV.

              The 24 hour news cycle and tabloids thrive on conflict and personality, if they focus on policy and process it’s to push their own ideological bent and you live within that ‘bent’ echochamber. The media loves PMQs because it’s theatrical, it looks like 650 people acting like children. Because that’s the 30 second clip shown on the evening news, people assume that’s what Parliament is like all week. In reality, 90% of parliamentary business is quite dry, polite, and technical but technical doesn’t sell newspapers or TV adverts.

              The news rarely reports when the parties agree, if Labour and the Conservatives both support a bill to increase sentences for animal cruelty, it’s boring. If they disagree on a tax percentage, it’s civil war. This gives the public the false impression that nothing ever gets done because everyone is just fighting, when in fact, hundreds of laws pass every year with broad agreement.

              We lose the local context because 24 hour news is national, we lose sight of what an MP does for our specific town. An MP might be a rebel or unpopular in London, but a hero in our/your constituency because they saved a local library or a factory. When we view them only through the lens of national headlines, we see a caricature, not a local representative. The bigger picture is that the UK system is designed to be adversarial; the seats are literally two sword-lengths apart, but it functions through compromise. When the tabloids focus only on the swords, they miss the handshakes that actually keep the country running.

              If you pay tax but don’t vote, you are essentially a customer who pays for a service but tells the manager, “I don’t care who runs this business or what you do with my money.” The result is the manager will focus on the customer who does complain and does threaten to take their business/vote elsewhere.

              Never having seen “any point” … sums up your input, you’re more akin to Jeffrey Hudson than Stanisław Gąska.

      • I wonder what high powered career you have sir with such great insight.

        Perhaps you should turn yourself to solving the great problems of humanity 😂

          • Common sense KING over here – just “tell it like it IS” (I believe thats how Marcus Aurelius put it in his Meditations). What that translates to in reality is “tell it how your algoslop has taught you it is”. I assure you, *you* do not understand anything about macro economics and interntional trade.

            The EU is one of the largest trading blocs in the world, it is the UK’s largest trading partner. It is less than 50 miles away. As part of that bloc, the UK was able to make use of its economic heft to leverage better rates with other blocs like the US and China, as well as conduct BARRIER FREE TRADE with all of Europe.

            There is no version of leaving that market that doesn’t leave the UK worse off economically. Which is what every single economist told the rest of us at the time. (I don’t count that one “economist” who was shuffled from news studio to news studio to provide some absurd appearance of “balance”.

            I used to feel sympathy for people brainwashed by the grifters in our country, but by this point I have only contempt for fools such as yourself, who are so boneheaded that they can’t just hold up their hands and admit they’d been had.

            Just move to Dubai or Spain or something, do yourself and us a favour.

            • What on earth are you spouting about?
              Are Labour pulling themselves apart?
              Did politicians and the speaker go out of their way to disrupt the Brexit deal or not?
              As for moving to Dublin,no thanks living in NI I can see the direction they are travelling in👍

    • They aren’t even bright enough to have formed their own opinion, they just repeat like a parrot what they’ve been told to repeat by the media.

    • Kier Starmer’s logical mind and Kryton delivery are an asset for a barrister but a liability as a prime minister. Reform and the Greens cleverly homed in on this weakness in the local elections, blaming Starmer for all the ills of the country. Classic scapegoating. Bit like 1930s Germany. No co-incidence anti-semitism is on the rise. To their credit the Tories do focus on criticising labour policies not personal character assassination. It’s a shame so many labour MPs can’t see what’s going on. Starmer should stay for a while; never give the Devil his prize.

  2. Given the opposition in his own party only offer tax cuts and increased spending and that no one from any party (including the one who said Brexit was a good idea) will mention raising more (increased tax is the only guaranteed way of managing that) and spending less (welfare is the obvious target) I think we (the nation) are snookered either way.
    The nation has become used to the winter fuel allowance, pension triple Lock and free bus passes even though most do not benefit.

  4. Fair enough. I’m not getting involved just doing the job sort of statement.

    Let’s just hope the DIP gets published before Starmer ends up getting pushed.. because there is no hope after the Labour party goes into leadership meltdown.

    • Actually I was thinking the opposite and that we can kiss goodbye to the DIP for another 12 months. I am thinking Reeves would latch on to any old excuse not to increase any Defence spending. Uncertainty in leadership and direction is as good as it gets.

      • That DIP needs to come soon. I was reading a article the other day re the Japanese side of GCAP that they think all this dilly dallying is further delaying the in by service date and apparently they are now eyeing the US project because of this. I also note the Sun are quoting sources that Healey has been told scrapping GCAP is the number 1 solution to the funding problem. Of course this is apparently 1 option (the other don’t look pretty either) About time this government started making some hard calls, raise income tax and cut spending in some of these handouts.

        • Healy has called for STARMITE to go.

          He might or he might not….

          Jess Phillips resignation letter was interesting as it pointed directly to what we all suspect that difficult decision making is non existent.

          • I remember as a Customs officer when Labour were last in power they wanted to raise the pension contributions that we paid (quite rightly so in my book) but the unions just turned round and said ‘do that and we’re out on strike’ needless to say the government backed down. We only used to pay 1.5% of wages towards our pension so at the end of the month on my payslip it said ‘Your Contribution £30, Employer Contribution £300’ that was crazy in my book. When the Conservatives got in they raised our contributions to 7.5% (as I remember) over a couple of years. Of course that riled a few feathers and some strike time, but it was the right call in my book.

          • Didn’t know Healey was one of the rebels. Perhaps Pollard is just looking for a promotion in the aftermath, which he can’t get by changing PMs?

        • They tried to cut spending on handouts.
          Low and behold, far left backbench MPs revolved.
          The Home Secretary wants to bring in tougher immigration laws.
          The far left back benches revolved.
          Same old pattern.
          I’ll keep calling the left of Labour far left as long as people keep calling Reform Far Right, where’s the real Far Right are Combat 18, the BNP, and other assorted thugs.
          Andy Burnham was making positive noises on Defence the other week. Yet Starmer did too once.
          All words.
          They’re only interested in welfare and state handouts. All are important, but utterly pointless without Defence.

          • Absolutely, sometimes you do have to take the bull by the horns even if you know it’s going to be unpopular with the public or your own party. Putting up taxes on business is just the easy way out, but in the long and short term it’s just stifling growth . Who would in their right mind would start up a business now?

            • I’m shutting two down ATM. No longer worth the risks TBH and no sign of any upturn….rather the reverse….

          • Melt Nigerians to fill the pot holes ,that statement from a Reform member sounds pretty far right to me.

            • Lol! One imbecile Councilor does not make the views of millions or Reform as a whole, no more than Jeremy Corbyn’s antisemitism and other jew haters throughout the Labour Party define Labour either.
              There are baduns everywhere, but nice try trying to tarnish everything in Reform with the same brush.
              If you look over the last few years, there are examples in all parties of wrongdoing.

                • Should Rebecca Long-Baily have her security clearance rescinded (should it have been granted in the first place?) when she sits down for tea and biscuits with her dear old Dad and he regales her with the latest news of the evil Brits in Ireland courtesy of his fully paid up subscription to An Poblacht? ( you may have to ask your FSB handler to explain that to you comrade)…

          • Andy Burnham is spending on every because he’s no longer going to borrow off markets, he’s going to print his own money as far as I can tell (which the bank of England can of course), but what he hasn’t realised it will just increase inflation and he won’t actually buy any more.

          • You keep repeating that but in real British Politics there is nothing to the right of Reform while the Greens are now a major party clearly to the left of Labour. Corbyn and co have wandered off to die in ‘Your Party’.

        • Scrapping GCAP?! Are you/they serious? How many more millions will then be wasted plus the loss of reputation and damage to Japan Italy alliance relationships. That’s got to be high level bonkers hasn’t it? How far along is the program anyway? Maybe a cheaper less spec version is required?

          • The latest comment I’ve read today suggests the government are set to announce a £6bn package to see GCAP through to the next stage. Hopefully this is true and will put to bed any fears of our commitment with our partners. Also Hopefully Germany might jump on board in the near future.

  5. I can’t figure if Pollard’s ruling out resigning in protest to the Prime Minister’s current position (and being force to say DIP ten times a day, every day for months), or ruling out going if the Prime Minister is forced to resign. Or both. Or neither. Why would he even rule it out? It’s bizarre. Is he angling for Healey’s job?

  7. Starmer didn’t win a general election on a wave of popular support like Blair in 1997. So despite the huge majority against a split opposition, he couldn’t really claim a mandate and for what exactly? He and Reeves know that the UK cannot go on borrowing at current levels(£132b in 25/26) but caved in to backbench opposition and largely abandoned a modest attempt to reduce the welfare bill. Since then, he has appeared indecisive and unable to articulate what needs to be done.
    Changing leaders won’t change the financial problems, rather the opposite, as the bond markets have shown today.
    Pollard probably wants to stay long enough to actually procure something.

  8. I know almost no-one that can afford to resign from their job .Imagine the luxury of having a job so important that you can afford to resign from, and nobody notices, nor does anything change, and some other placeholder comes along to fill in your old position. Meanwhile, the resignee picks up a lucrative consultancy or lobbying hustle with the MIC while pretending to work as an MP. . It’s really no wonder defence was hollowed out, it’s been a succession of uselessness for decades.

  9. This reads less like concern for defence certainty and more like transparent political self preservation, with the forces conveniently used as cover.

  10. This was inevitable. Labour won a whopping 411 seats in the election or thereabouts but only increased their share of the vote by 1.5 percentage points. The ONLY reason for their success was Reform sucked 12 pts away from the Conservatives. Another day and the result would have been wildly different. That said, Labour doesn’t seem to have realized that it would take nothing more than a bad hair day and they are up the proverbial creek without a paddle, or they don’t care. They could have used the opportunity to demonstrate they could Govern responsibly and tried to increase their vote share. Unfortunately they, or at least the back benchers, opted to protect their friends and make hay while they can. This of course is not the road to popularity and long term success. What’s more, they and their supporters also don’t care one iota about Defense or Defense spending. Starmer knows this and is simply trying to cling on by his fingernails. The unfortunate result is you probably won’t see any concrete movement on Defense outside of the bare mimimum this side of the next election.

  11. Defence has no “certainty” at all, as HMG have been paralysed for months not commiting to the DIP.
    GCAP also seems to be on the brink as well by some reports, given HMG refusal to fund it.
    Starmer, despite his huge majority, unable to get anything done reducing welfare, due to fear of his backbenchers, pretty much as my learned friend Airborne has been saying for months.
    God help us.

    • Why is he so beholden to the back benches? Who are these people? You listen and respect their positions but then lead from your own. I’m sure he’s trying but maybe he’s too inclusive perhaps?

    • Perhaps the threat of replacement might put some steel in Starmer and he will force through the DIP. Its a classic situation where he needs to show leadership it won’t solve itself. He has to decide which way to go and strangely you could argue he now has nothing to loose and could face down the Treasury and his back benchers – but of course he won’t as for him Leadership is consensus.

  12. I simply do not care whether you stay or go, but PUBLISH THE DAMNED DIP…as I have said before….
    “If you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival.”

    • “As I have said before”….

      have you, under what name ?

      It Is noted that a few random names, SEEM TO SHOUT REALLY LOUDLY at times 🤣🤣🤣🤦‍♂️

      • Winston Churchill posted these quotes or truncated versions of it on these dates.
        May 12, 2026 (Pollard Resignation Article)
        April 16, 2026 (General Defense Funding Discussion)
        March 2026 (GCAP/Tempest Funding Updates)

        Three words and one acronym in capitals hardly constitutes shouting loudly, more as a way to express emphasis when the use of bold and italics are withheld. I reckon its Supportive Bloke using a different handle.

  13. Perhaps the threat of replacement might put some steel in Starmer and he will force through the DIP. Its a classic situation where he needs to show leadership it won’t solve itself. He has to decide which way to go and strangely you could argue he now has nothing to loose and could face down the Treasury and his back benchers – but of course he won’t as for him Leadership is consensus.

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