UK Labour leader says Trump win not a ‘desired outcome’

United Kingdom Labour Party leader Keir Starmer is weighing in on the 2024 U.S. elections next year, suggesting that a second term for former President Trump is not his “desired outcome.”

In an appearance on Politico’s “Power Play” podcast, Starmer was asked what his thoughts were if Trump wins back the White House next year. While he said that a Trump win was “hypothetical,” it is clear what his “desired outcome” of the election would be.

“Obviously, you know, we are progressives, and President Biden’s team talked to my team as you’d expect,” Starmer told host Anne McElvoy. “We talked to other people in around the administration. So it’s clear what my desired outcome would be. But the desired outcome may yield to a different outcome.”

He also said that there is a “great deal of concern” that Trump may take a different approach to the war in Ukraine than Biden has if he wins the election.

“And that’s why it’s very important that progressives hold together in difficult circumstances as I laid down before because the probably most immediately impacted area if there is a change of government — change of presidency in the U.S. will be Ukraine and the position in Ukraine.”

He noted that his “immediate task” is carrying the Labour Party through its own elections next year.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is scrambling to up support for the Conservative Party for the U.K.’s national elections next year, but current polls show that conservatives are falling behind the Labour opposition by as much as 20 points. Starmer has been his party’s leader since 2020 after former leader Jeremy Corbyn failed to win two elections.

Recent polls show that Biden and Trump — the two front-runner candidates — are neck and neck among voters in hypothetical match-ups for the 2024 election.