KEIR Starmer is fighting for his political life as a growing chorus of Labour MPs publicly demand he quit.
In the wake of , the PM was locked in a knife-edge Cabinet meeting in Downing Street on Tuesday morning.
The prime minister could face a leadership contest after Labour’s bruising local election results Credit: Getty
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood is understood to have urged Keir Starmer to quit Credit: Alamy
The party haemorrhaged almost 1,500 council seats in May 7’s polls, with sweeping up heartlands in the North and Midlands, while the picked off a number of former Labour strongholds in London.
In a defiant statement issued as the Cabinet meeting got under way, No. 10 insisted: “The Labour Party has a process for challenging a leader and that has not been triggered.
“The country expects us to get on with governing. That is what I am doing and what we must do as a Cabinet.
“The past 48 hours have been destabilising for government and that has a real economic cost for our country and for families.”
How many Labour MPs have called for Keir Starmer to resign?
81 of Labour’s 403 MPs have now either immediately or set out a timetable for his departure.
The most recent to speak out was Lizzi Collinge, the MP for Morecambe and Lunesdale, following Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting. She said: “It is clear to me that the Prime Minister has now lost the confidence of the country.”
On Monday, No. 10 appointed six new parliamentary private secretaries to replace aides who had stepped down after joining calls for to resign or set out a timetable for his departure.
The revolt escalated after , during which he vowed to “prove the doubters wrong” and lead Labour into the .
Which Cabinet ministers have called on Keir Starmer to quit?
Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary are said to have been to have urged the PM to consider .
Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden and Housing Secretary Steve Reed are understood to have urged Keir to fight on.
The PM’s former director of communications, James Lyons, told Times Radio: “I think it’s inevitable now for the prime minister to go … or that decision is made for him.”
Following the Cabinet meeting, various ministers spoke out to offer the PM their support.
James Murray, the Chief Secretary to the treasury, told reporters: “Keir’s got my full support and he’s getting on with the job.”
Jennifer Chapman, Baroness Chapman of Darlington, said Sir Keir was still the man for the job: “I saw a Cabinet united and focused on dealing with the issues that are confronting the British people.”
Can Keir Starmer be forced out as PM?
Unlike the Tories, for forcing out a sitting leader.
There is no 1922 Committee equivalent, no letters of no confidence and no automatic vote.
To , a challenger needs the backing of 20% of Labour MPs – currently 81 – with the incumbent automatically on the ballot.
While the overall number of Labour MPs calling for a change of leadership has reached this figure, they are not united behind a single replacement candidate.
So far, none of the likely successors – Health Secretary , ex-Deputy PM or Greater Manchester Mayor – have publicly called for the PM to quit.
Backbencher to demand a leadership timetable by September 2026.
Meanwhile, Ms Rayner has repeated her call for Keir to “set out the change our country needs”.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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