Labour Party activists have reportedly been warned "not to cry on camera" in light of the disastrous local election results. Channel 4 News correspondent Gary Gibbon was outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster yesterday (May 7) as polling kicked off. Today the results have been disastrous for Starmer, with Reform UK surging in council seats, and Gibbon discussed the increased calls for the prime minister to resign.
Speaking on the programme, he said: "The message from people around [Starmer] is he won't be resigning after these results, and he won't be accepting a timetable for a resignation that might be presented to him. I hear that Labour agents, as part of the choreography around tomorrow night, are telling any activists who go to the counts where there are cameras, 'Don't go talking to those cameras and please, please don't cry on camera'."
He continued: "This is a recipe for an uprising. Will there be an uprising?
"At the moment Labour MPs, backbenchers, seem to be saying, 'Well, you ministers need to go in and tell him to lift up the revolver' whereas you can find quite a few ministers saying it's up to the backbenchers.
"So don't rule out a stalemate."
Viewers were quick to respond to the segment, with one tweeting: "Absolutely genius from Labour HQ: 'No crying on camera, comrades. We must project calm competence while the voters set us on fire.' Next: mandatory poker faces and banning anyone from uttering the words 'we listened'. Truly the party of emotional intelligence."
Someone else joked: "Kleenex sales have rocketed!"
While another posted: "That's a shame. Would love to see some Labour tears."
