The Know Daily - Tuesday 12 May 2026

_{Read in 4m 05s ∙ Listening to Neeve Zahra ∙}

Smile Month has officially kicked off, marking its 50th anniversary 😃 Consider this your sign to spread the joy (and remember to get your pearly whites checked!). 

🏛️ Leadership challenges

After calls from some MPs for Keir Starmer to step down, the PM has responded with a speech insisting he intends to stay on and prove his “doubters” wrong. But if a governing party wants to replace its leader, how does that actually happen?

How does a Labour leadership challenge work?
Labour’s system is a bit more structured than the Conservatives’. As explained by the Institute for Government, a leadership contest can happen in two main ways: either the current leader resigns voluntarily, or another MP formally challenges them. For that challenge to go ahead, the challenger needs support from at least 20% of Labour MPs. Right now, that would mean around 81 MPs backing a rival candidate.

And how is the new PM chosen?
If the threshold is met, candidates are formally nominated and the process moves into a party-wide election. Labour uses a preferential voting system, where members rank candidates in order of preference rather than choosing just one. Votes are counted in rounds until one candidate secures more than 50%. 

Who’s lined up to replace Starmer?
At the moment, there’s no declared challenger. But as The Guardian reports, names already being discussed include Health Secretary Wes Streeting, former deputy leader Angela Rayner and Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham. Much of this is still speculation, though, and leadership conversations in Westminster can move quickly depending on polling, elections and party unity.

So what’s next?
Even though over 70 MPs are calling for him to step down, Starmer made it clear in a speech yesterday that he doesn’t plan to resign. Attention is now on the important cabinet meeting with his ministers this morning, where senior figures are expected to discuss how the government moves forward and whether support for the PM holds firm.

🪺 Forever chemicals in seabird eggs have fallen sharply over the past few decades – a shift scientists are calling a win for environmental regulation.

• The bigger story: Researchers studying northern gannet eggs in Canada found that levels of some of the most harmful per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) dropped by more than 70% after tighter restrictions were introduced. PFAS are long-lasting chemicals once widely used in things like firefighting foam, waterproof materials and non-stick products. Scientists say the findings are a rare example of regulation clearly reducing pollution in wildlife.

👩🏻‍🎤 Eurovision 2026 kicks off in Vienna today – here’s the running order of this year’s song contest.

💸 TikTok has launched an ad-free subscription that also blocks data from being used for advertising purposes.

🚂 A new train service connecting London and central Scotland is set to launch later this month. 

👩 Anne Boleyn’s real face has been uncovered via facial recognition tools on a famous collection of Tudor portraits of the former Queen of England, a team of computer scientists have said.

🐝 A species of wasp has been named after Sir David Attenborough in celebration of his centenary. 

🏙️ A European capital has banned adverts for airlines and meat products in a push to align with local environmental goals.

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Trivia answer: C) The new manicure technique of course started off here.

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