Labour MPs push for leadership change as pressure mounts on Starmer

Highlights

• More than 70 Labour MPs reportedly want Starmer to step down
• Several government aides resigned and called for a leadership change
• Reports suggest senior cabinet ministers could urge Starmer to quit
• Starmer said he would fight any challenge and promised a 'bigger response'

PRESSURE mounted on prime minister Keir Starmer on Monday, with growing calls from Labour MPs and government aides for him to quit after the party’s losses in local and regional elections.

More than 70 of Labour’s 403 MPs are reported to have asked Starmer to step down, despite his pledge to make the party “bolder and better” after the election setback. Under Labour rules, a challenger would need the support of 81 MPs, or 20 per cent of the parliamentary party, to trigger a leadership contest.

Several government aides resigned and publicly called for a change in leadership. According to British media reports, foreign secretary Yvette Cooper and home secretary Shabana Mahmood told Starmer he should oversee an orderly transition of power.

The Telegraph reported ahead of Tuesday’s cabinet meeting that six cabinet ministers were expected to tell Starmer to quit. The newspaper said those ministers were Mahmood, defence minister John Healey, energy minister Ed Miliband, culture minister Lisa Nandy, Cooper and health minister Wes Streeting.

Joe Morris, a parliamentary private secretary to Streeting, wrote on X that it was “now clear that the prime minister no longer has the trust or confidence of the public to lead this change”.

Tom Rutland, an aide to environment secretary Emma Reynolds, said Starmer had “lost authority” among Labour MPs and “will not be able to regain it”.

Melanie Ward, an assistant to deputy prime minister David Lammy, also called for new leadership.

“Keir Starmer did important work to change the Labour Party,” she said, adding: “the message from last week’s elections was clear; the Prime Minister has lost the confidence of the public to lead this change.”

Cabinet Office aide Naushabah Khan, who also resigned, said: “I am calling for new leadership so that we can rebuild trust and deliver the better future that the British people voted for.”

Starmer, 63, came to power in July 2024 after Labour’s election victory ended 14 years of Conservative rule marked by austerity, Brexit divisions and disputes over the Covid response.

His government has faced a series of policy setbacks and controversy over the appointment and later removal of Peter Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to Washington after reports about his links to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Starmer has also faced criticism over the economy and the cost-of-living situation, although he has been praised for resisting US president Donald Trump over Iran.

Labour suffered losses in last week’s local and regional elections, with gains made by Reform UK and the Green Party. Labour also lost control of the Welsh parliament to Plaid Cymru for the first time since its creation in 1999 and failed to gain ground against the Scottish National Party in Scotland.

In a speech on Monday, Starmer acknowledged public frustration over the state of the country and his leadership.

“I know I have my doubters, and I know I need to prove them wrong, and I will,” he said.

He promised “a bigger response” instead of “incremental change” on economic growth, closer ties with Europe and energy policy.

Starmer also pledged to fully nationalise British Steel and said Brexit had left Britain poorer, weaker and less secure.

Labour MP Catherine West, who had threatened to trigger a leadership challenge, later said she was collecting names of MPs who wanted Starmer to set a timetable for electing a new leader in September.

Starmer has said he would fight any challenge and warned Labour would “never be forgiven” if it repeated the “chaos” seen under recent Conservative governments, which had five prime ministers since 2010, including three in four months in 2022.

Streeting and former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner have long been seen as possible challengers to Starmer, although neither has broad support across the party.

(With inputs from agencies)