Express readers issue verdict on whether Starmer should resign | Politics | News
A vast majority of Express readers who completed our poll want Keir Starmer to resign (Image: Getty)
A vast majority of readers have said Keir Starmer should resign over the Peter Mandelson security scandal in a Daily Express poll. This publication asked whether Sir Keir should quit as Prime Minister after he was accused of misleading Parliament as to how Mandelson cleared official hurdles to become Britain’s ambassador to the United States.
The Guardian revealed on Thursday that Mandelson, 72, failed security vetting before he took up the post in early 2025. Sir Keir had previously told Parliament “full due process” was observed. Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch, said he should resign as he was “either lying or incompetent”. A staggering 82.24% of our readers agree with her.
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This pie chart shows 2,293 readers say Starmer should resign (Image: Daily Express)
Results from the poll the Express published on Friday show that out of 2,788 readers who took part, 2,293 said “yes”, he should resign. A total of 489 readers said “no” (17.53%), while only six (0.21%) responded that they didn’t know.
Readers who shared their opinions were scathing in their comments, too, with one person, writing under the name “one1”, stating: “Yes, and take the rest with him before we end up a weak and penniless country, full of scroungers whose sole interest is handouts.”
Another reader, “Jedi jones”, wrote: “He should be sacked for all the damage he’s done to this country, and it’s taken him less than two years.”
A third reader, “choosi”, recalling the partygate scandal which plagued Boris Johnson’s administration, commented: “Absolutely. When you consider the hounding Labour gave to the Tories over a stupid birthday cake and every other minor transgression they and their cronies at the BBC could find, itโs unbelievable that he isnโt being hounded in the same way for something far worse.”
Fellow reader, “Claremont77”, said: “No, he should not resign. He should be SACKED and the whole Lying Labour Government should go. Who is going to start the letters of No Confidence?”
Reader, “foiled”, chimed in: “He is totally unfit to be a PM, as the last months have proved!”
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Sir Keir will be on thin ice if he is found to have misled Parliament as he put integrity at the heart of his pitch to the voters at the July 2024 election.
The Government has stressed that Sir Keir and other ministers only found out earlier this week that the Foreign Office had cleared Mandelson for the job, despite the negative security assessment.
The fallout quickly led to the departure of the Foreign Officeโs top civil servant, Sir Olly Robbins, leading some to conclude he was made a scapegoat in a bid to save the Prime Minister.
People familiar with the vetting process have said it is standard practice for ministers not to be told assessment results because of the sensitive personal information involved.
They said the checks do not produce a pass or fail, but a risk-based assessment leaving a final decision to senior officials, such as Robbins.
Sir Keir also faces questions over whether he had effectively given direction to officials to sidestep concerns over Mandelson, who previously described convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as his “best pal”.
The PM said he is “absolutely furious” that he was kept in the dark over the security vetting results, calling it “staggering” and “unforgivable”.
He will make a statement to Parliament on Monday. Robbins, who was effectively fired by Sir Keir, is due to address a committee of MPs on Tuesday and may give a very different version of events.
