UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday called for unity ahead of his ruling center-left Labour Party's annual conference in Liverpool.

Labour trails the anti-immigration right-wing Reform UK party badly in national polls ahead of the next election, expected in 2029.

What did Starmer say ahead of the Labour Party conference?

Starmer framed the conference as a chance to reset and rally support.

"We've got the fight of our lives ahead of us," Starmer said in a BBC interview ahead of the conference. "We've got to beat Reform. Now is not the time for introspection."

Starmer defended his government's record on illegal immigration while sharply attacking Reform leader Nigel Farage's proposal to deport refugees who are legally resident in Britain.

"It is a completely different thing to say we are going to reach into people who are lawfully here and start removing them," he said."I do think that it's a racist policy, I do think it is immoral, and it needs to be called out for what it is."

Nearly four out of five Brits dissatisfied with Starmer

The prime minister acknowledged he was facing a steep political challenge.

Pollster Ipsos reports that only 13% of voters are satisfied with his leadership — the lowest rating for any UK prime minister since the firm began tracking in 1977. Seventy-nine percent are dissatisfied.

Starmer said he would ultimately be judged on three criteria: improvements in living standards, the quality of public services and whether people feel safe in their homes.

"I will rightly be judged in that way,” he said, urging Labour to channel its energy into confronting Reform rather than internal disputes.

Why is Starmer so unpopular?

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's push to revive his government earlier this month has been thrown off course by high-profile resignations and controversy.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner quit after admitting she had underpaid a property tax, a blow that exposed simmering party discontent. Soon after, Starmer dismissed Britain's ambassador to Washington, Peter Mandelson, over his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — a connection widely known before Mandelson's appointment.

Labour's most unpopular policies so far have included means-testing winter fuel payments for pensioners and retaining a cap on benefits for parents with more than two children inherited from the last Conservative government.

These and other crises have raised fresh questions about Starmer's decision-making just as Labour's support is sinking and Nigel Farage's Reform UK is surging ahead in polls.

A new survey suggests Nigel Farage could win power while Labour falls to just 90 seats.

Starmer has faced internal criticism over his leadership and a recent cabinet reshuffle, with some party figures — such as Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham — hinting at a change of course. Burnham has said some MPs have privately urged him to challenge the prime minister, though he has not announced any plans to run.

Edited by: Darko Janjevic