FTSE 100 suffers weakest week in six amid US-Iran talks, political uncertainty

June 19 (Reuters) - UK shares fell on Friday as U.S.-Iran tensions and political uncertainty dampened risk appetite, sealing a weekly decline for both blue-chip and mid-cap indexes.

The FTSE 100 ended down 0.4%, at 10,363 points, losing 1% on the week, the steepest weekly loss since early May. The FTSE 250 midcap index fell 0.6%, down 0.5% for the week.

• Miners weighed on the index, with Anglo American and Rio Tinto dropped 2.6%, each and Glencore declined 1.6%. Precious metals miner Fresnillo shed about 4.6%.

• Global shares fell, while oil prices got a boost after Washington and Tehran called off peace talks, which traders had hoped would ease supply risks around the Strait of Hormuz.

• Meanwhile, Labour mayor Andy Burnham cleared a path on Friday to ousting British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, potentially ushering in a new bout of political instability.

• "The strength of his (Burnham's) mandate may determine how far he might go with anything one might call a market-unfriendly approach – i.e., higher borrowing, redistributive wealth taxes, etc," said Saxo UK Investor Strategist Neil Wilson.

• British government bond yields rose to a one-week high increasing slightly more than those for German debt, after higher-than-expected borrowing numbers and Burnham's election victory.

• Energy stocks were the main source of support. BP rose 2.8% and Shell gained 1.1%, as crude prices ticked higher.

• The Bank of England held rates at 3.75% on Thursday but the vote split to 7-2 from 8-1 in April, with two members now backing a hike. The hawkish tilt pushed gilt yields to a one-week high.

• British insurer Admiral Group slipped 3.2% after RBC downgraded the stock to "sector perform" ahead of results.

• Barratt Redrow named former British Airways finance chief Rebecca Napier as its new chief financial officer. The homebuilder's shares dropped 1%.

• Reuters reported the Ladbrokes-owner Entain has begun exploring options for its joint venture in Central and Eastern Europe, including a possible sale. Stock fell 1.2%.

(Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng)