Investors in U.K. markets are unhappy at reports of strife at the top of the British government, weeks before the country’s finance chief lays out crucial budget plans.
Keir Starmer’s Labour Party won a parliamentary landslide in the summer of 2024. Investors hoped that would mark a return to political stability after years of rapid ministerial turnover in the ruling Conservatives and volatility after the 2016 Brexit vote.
But Starmer’s poll ratings as prime minister soon plunged. Right-wing populist leader Nigel Farage, meanwhile, has surged in popularity, adding to the sense Starmer is vulnerable even though another election isn’t due until 2029.
