Aides quit as more than 70 Labour MPs urge Starmer to go
Four government aides have resigned as they joined scores of Labour MPs calling for UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to stand down after local election results.
Source: BBC Politics
Four ministerial aides âhave quit and more than 70 Labour MPs publicly called for British PM Keir Starmer to resign after his appeal for another chance seemingly fell on deaf ears.
At an address to the party faithful in London on Sunday, Starmer made an âimpassioned plea to his party and voters to stick with him and avoid a leadership contest he said would only bring chaos, promising to be bolder.
But his speech, in which he all but admitted he had been too timid âin tackling the myriad problems besetting Britain since he won a large majority in 2024, did little to ease the anger felt at one of the worst defeats for Labour in last weekâs local elections.
Four ministerial aides said they were resigning, believing that Starmer, 63, was not the man to lead Labour into the next general election, due in 2029. They hope to trigger a leadership contest that could last weeks, if not months.
âIt is clear to me that the Prime Minister has lost authority not just within the parliamentary Labour Party but across the country and that he will not be able to regain it,â said Tom Rutland, âa ministerial aide to the âenvironment minister, in his resignation letter.
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Catherine â West, an Australian-born former junior minister who broke cover at the weekend to threaten to seek a leadership contest if Starmer failed to offer radical âchange, told Reuters she had received 80 responses supporting her demand that Starmer set out a timetable for his departure.
She called for a leadership election in September.
The â Times newspaper âreported âon Monday night that interior minister Shabana Mahmood and other senior âcabinet âministers had urged Starmer â to consider setting âout a timeline for his departure.
It said Mahmood âwas one âof at least three cabinet âministers âto âsuggest that âStarmer consider his position.
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Two of Starmerâs closest allies, environment minister Steve Reed and defence minister John Healey, entered his Downing Street office late on Monday, according to Sky News.
Officials did not respond to a request for comment on whether it was a scheduled meeting.
Earlier, Starmer had tried to change the narrative about his leadership, arguing that he would offer a âcomplete breakâ with the decision-making of the past that led to the âstatus quoâ.
He promised to govern with the âhopeâ and âurgencyâ required to improve living standards and produce a âstronger, fairerâ country to âtry to crush the challenge âposed by the populist Reform UK party on the right, and the Greens from the left, before the next general election.
âOur response this time must be different, a complete break. We must make âthis country stronger âand take control of our economic security,â Starmer earlier on Monday told an audience of party faithful, who gave him several standing ovations.
âI know that people are frustrated by the state of Britain. Frustrated by politics, and some people are frustrated with me.
âI know I âhave my doubters and I know I need to prove them wrong. And I will.â
The applause was a long way from the messaging groups of Labour MPs, where talk about removing Starmer has stepped up a gear after the party lost hundreds of seats in elections to councils in England and the parliaments in Scotland âand Wales.
While few Labour MPs were prepared to publicly endorse Starmer, his closest allies again warned against removing a leader this early into his term, saying it would only further harm Britain.
âChanging leader just leads to chaos. We saw what happened under the Tories. Letâs learn from their mistakes, not repeat them,â Reed said on social media, referring to the opposition Conservative party.
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