Sir Keir Starmer is facing growing calls to stand down after Friday’s disastrous local and devolved election results – the worst on record for the Labour party.
The prime minister has said he will not resign following the results, and in a speech on Monday vowed to “face up to the big challenges ahead”.
But more than 40 Labour MPs have now called on Sir Keir to stand down and make way for a leadership contest. The list continues to grow throughout Monday, as the prime minister remains defiant.
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Both former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner and health secretary Wes Streeting are seen as potential leadership contenders, although both are yet to make a move against the prime minister.
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham is also seen as candidate, although he is still not an MP after Sir Keir prevented him from becoming Labour’s candidate in February’s Gorton and Denton by-election.
On Sunday, Ms Rayner said that Labour’s approach “isn’t working, and it needs to change”, adding that the party should not have blocked Mr Burnham from attempting to become an MP.
Labour MP Catherine West called on cabinet members over the weekend to challenge Sir Keir by Monday, threatening to start formally gathering names to trigger a contest.
The growing list of Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) members who have spoken out against the prime minister goes beyond the list of usually vocal opponents, echoing the 100-plus strong rebellion over welfare cuts that the cabinet faced last July.
With Sir Keir appearing to remain adamant that he will not back down in the face of mounting criticism, it looks increasingly likely that a forced leadership bid is the only way he could be replaced at this stage.
Labour was elected with 411 seats at the 2024 general election – a 174-seat majority – marking the best performance for the party since 2001. With this many sitting MPs, it technically becomes harder for a leadership challenge to be launched against the prime minister, as 20 per cent of these members would be needed to nominate a contender. This translates to 81 MPs, nearly double the number who have spoken out so far.
However, the number of Labour MPs who would quietly back a leadership change is unknown, and could be much higher.
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