LONDON, May 5. /TASS/. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been forced to step back from the ruling Labor Party’s election campaign due to his extremely low personal popularity, The Daily Telegraph reported.

On May 7, local elections will be held in the UK. A total of 4,800 seats in 134 local councils are up for grabs, and the composition of the parliaments in Wales and Scotland will be determined. According to the newspaper, Labor is set to lose up to 2,000 seats on various city councils in England and, for the first time in history, will lose control of the Senedd (the Welsh Parliament).

According to The Daily Telegraph, due to Starmer’s "toxic image," Labor members have chosen to distance themselves from the prime minister. "He really is toxic. There’s a visceral loathing of him and it’s spread through all the vectors; it’s not just one group. He’s just seen as a completely insincere, two-faced person. Starmer has no followers, he only has enemies - it’s incredible," a high-ranking Labor Party source told the newspaper.

It is noted that over the past two months, Starmer has participated in only 11 campaign events related to the upcoming election. For comparison, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has made 41 similar trips, and Nigel Farage, leader of the right-wing populist Reform UK party, has made 71.

"The truth is the vast majority of Labor councilors would be devastated if they were told Keir was joining them in their wards for campaigning. So many Labor councilors don’t want Keir in their wards or on their leaflets. He is a vote loser for them, undermining their hard work and track record in their own communities," a member of the House of Commons (the lower house of the UK Parliament) said. Another Labor lawmaker shares this view. "Colleagues have the impression that he isn’t campaigning and in any event most don’t want him near our voters," he emphasized.