LONDON, May 14 (Reuters) - The pound dropped on

Thursday, as a political crisis in the UK escalated with the

resignation of health minister Wes Streeting turning up the heat

on Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Starmer is under pressure to resign over hefty losses for

the ruling Labour party in last week's local elections.

Sterling fell as much as 0.2% to $1.3502, having

traded around $1.351 prior to the news.

The pound fell to 86.68 pence per euro, from 86.66

earlier.

Britain's 10-year UK gilt yield was down 4.3

basis points on the day at 5.026%, from around 5.05% earlier in

the day, while London's blue-chip FTSE stock index was

last up 0.38%.