As it happened: Markets on high alert as Streeting calls on Starmer to resign May 14, 2026 Welcome back to the City AM liveblog. The past few days of political drama have to come to a head today and UK assets are bracing for a showdown. All eyes were on the bond market after Wes Streeting resigned as health secretary and called for a leadership contest. Gilt yields see-sawed yesterday as Sir [...]
Starmer drama: Traders bet against UK as short-selling on pound and banks surges May 14, 2026 Traders are betting against the UK as the political storm in Westminster continues to send jitters through asset markets. The pound has tumbled to a two-week low against the dollar, clinging onto the $1.35 mark on Thursday morning. Meanwhile, figures from IG revealed that short-positioning on the pound-dollar, a bet that the price will further [...]
Reeves sends Labour MPs warning over bond market wrath May 14, 2026 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has sent anxious Labour backbenchers a stark warning on the wrath of bond markets in a bold intervention. After walking into Downing Street on Thursday morning, the Chancellor told the BBC that leadership battles risked “plunging the country into chaos”. She demanded that backbenchers maintained support for the Prime Minister as she [...]
‘Pint prices are crazy’: Meet the legends ensuring London still has £5 pints May 14, 2026 Outrage this week as one Mayfair establishment was caught froth-handed charging £11 for a pint of Moretti. It wasn’t even a special craft pint, just a bog standard lager. But as our City Editor Simon Hunt points out, it’s wrong to immediately stick it to London’s pubs, which are facing insurmountable costs forcing them to [...]
UK businesses eyeing shift to ‘more predictable’ tax regimes May 14, 2026 UK businesses are considering relocating abroad for a more stable tax and regulatory landscape, according to new research from consulting and network Baker Tilly International. The group, in its annual mid-market survey conducted earlier this year, found that out of all nine markets and 1,500 business leaders surveyed, including in the US, China, and India, [...]
Starmer to face challenge from Streeting May 13, 2026 Sir Keir Starmer is set to face an imminent leadership challenge from health secretary Wes Streeting, according to reports, as Labour’s infighting explodes into open war. The Prime Minister attempted to use the King’s Speech – setting out his legislative agenda for the year ahead – to regain the initiative, promising “radical change.” But minutes [...]
Jury trial controversy looms over Starmer after King’s Speech points to reform May 13, 2026 Controversial government plans to trim back the use of jury trials were included in the King’s Speech on Wednesday, as an embattled Keir Starmer persevered with an long-trailed overhaul of the UK’s criminal justice system. The Courts Modernisation Bill could become the latest issue over which Downing Street and the parliamentary Labour Party clash at [...]
Pension fund snaps up cut-price government bonds amid Starmer sell-off May 13, 2026 One of the UK’s largest pension funds has jumped on the turmoil that speculation over Keir Starmer’s future has unleashed on the gilt market, scooping up government bonds at multi-decade low valuations. Standard Life has added to its holding of UK government debt, City AM understands, seizing on a sharp dip in the of the [...]
Starmer leadership under threat ahead of awkward King’s Speech May 13, 2026 Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership hung by a thread last night as he refused to leave Downing Street despite multiple ministerial resignations and a growing number of backbenchers calling for his removal. In a chaotic day of political warfare and Labour infighting, Starmer resisted being dragged out of Number 10 as he challenged Cabinet ministers and [...]
Going for growth? Labour groups set out competing visions for economic strategy May 12, 2026 Competing groups of Labour MPs have published contrasting growth plans on Tuesday, just as Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership stood on the brink. Both the left-wing Tribune group of MPs and the more centrist Labour Growth Group published pamphlets setting out a number of ideas for growth and tax reform. Tribune’s report, led by former transport [...]