Starmer latest: Home secretary urges PM to consider his position as Streeting leadership bid looms

Four Government aides have resigned and more than 60 backbench MPs have called on the prime minister to quit following Labour’s heavy defeats in the local elections.

Here, the Press Association looks at who has called for Sir Keir Starmer to go or given up their position in Government:

A parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Mr Morris was among the first to resign their position, calling on Sir Keir to set out a “swift timetable” to step aside.

In a message posted on social media, the MP for Hexham, Northumberland, wrote: “The message from last week’s elections was clear: the prime minister has lost the confidence of the public.”

He added: “It is in the best interests of the country and the party that the prime minister sets out a swift timetable to ensure that a new leader is in place to regain the confidence of the public and to ensure that the government can deliver on the commitments it has made.”

Mr Streeting has widely been seen as a potential successor to the prime minister – with his allies pointing to results in his local authority, Redbridge, to show that he can retain the Westminster seat he holds with a majority of just 528.

Mr Rutland resigned as PPS to Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds, saying the prime minister had “lost authority” and “will not be able to regain it”.

In his statement posted on social media, the MP for East Worthing and Shoreham said: “It is with regret that I believe the prime minister should now set out a timetable for his departure and for a new leader to be chosen to lead the Labour Party and the country.”

Mr Rutland added: “It 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.”

The MP for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy in Scotland, Ms Ward resigned from her position as PPS to deputy prime minister David Lammy – saying Sir Keir had “lost the confidence of the public”.

In a statement on X, Ms Ward said: “So many of my constituents told me that they could not vote Labour as long as Keir Starmer remains Prime Minister.”

She added: “Keir Starmer did important work to change the Labour Party, and governing in a time like this will never be easy.

“But the message from last week’s elections was clear; the Prime Minister has lost the confidence of the public.”

Mr Lammy previously rallied around the prime minister to defend his premiership, saying his “mandate” must be delivered.

Ms Khan, the MP for Gillingham and Rainham, resigned from her position as PPS to the Cabinet Office – calling for “new leadership”.

In a statement on X, Ms Khan said: “The message from last week’s elections was clear: the Prime Minister has lost the confidence of the public.”

She added: “We need a clear change of direction now and no game playing. A Labour Government can and will rise to meet the moment if we act now.

“I am calling for new leadership, so that we can rebuild trust and deliver the better future that the British people voted for.”

Ms West previously said she would challenge Sir Keir for the party leadership as early as Monday afternoon, in an attempt to force the Cabinet to put forward a replacement as prime minister.

The MP for Hornsey and Friern Barnet withdrew threats to imminently launch a leadership challenge ahead of the prime minister’s speech on Monday, but went on to write a letter urging him to step aside that was signed by 80 MPs, PA understands.

A growing number of backbench MPs have called for Sir Keir to resign as Prime Minister, including Richard Burgon, John McDonnell and Sally Jameson, an aide to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.

Ms Jameson, MP for Doncaster Central, said Sir Keir “is a man of deep integrity” but said she now feels he should “set out a clear timetable for his departure in September or shortly after”.

More than 70 backbench MPs had publicly called for the prime minister to resign by Monday evening.

Ithought Labour was going to stop the psychodramas. No such luck. We’re now in for many months more of the Labour version – every bit as angsty as the Tory sagas. The latest overhyped instalment, however, was a slight anticlimax.

Enter the prime minister. Jacket discarded, tie off, sleeves up. Was Keir Starmer getting on with the job – or fighting for his political life?

Both, as he clearly knew. I don’t know who billed this as a “make-or-break speech”, but it was a poorly chosen venue in any case. And a few people seemed to have missed the memo. Here he was, in a smallish white room in London, harshly overlit, apparently abandoned by his cabinet colleagues – none of whom were in the front room, nor probably for miles around.

He’s no Winston Churchill, as someone once said, but he’s trying. “We are not just facing dangerous times, but dangerous opponents. Very dangerous opponents,” he said, scouring the front row for them.

He was flanked only by Lucy Powell, the deputy leader of the party, whom he didn’t even want doing the job in the first place. Everyone knows the only reason she had turned up was because, if Starmer fell now, her friend and colleague Andy Burnham wouldn’t be able to succeed him.

The Independent understands at least four cabinet members, including home secretary Shabana Mahmood, have already told Sir Keir he needs to resign, before the crunch weekly meeting tomorrow.

It comes after the the health minister has said that members of Sir Keir Starmer’s cabinet “may well” tell him to resign on Tuesday.

More than 70 MPs have now publicly urged the prime minister to resign or set out a timetable for his departure, whilst four have quit as ministerial aides following a poor performance in the local elections.

Appearing on Newsnight, Stephen Kinnock said that Sir Keir may be asked to step down when cabinet members meet for their weekly meeting on Tuesday.

“It is clear for everybody to see that a lot of people are either coming out and calling for Keir to resign or whatever it might be, and it is possible that members of the Cabinet might do that”, he said.

Maureen Burke, the Labour MP for Glasgow North East, has joined the growing number of discontented MPs calling for Sir Keir Starmer to step down, saying her party is “bigger than one person”.

In a statement posted on X on Monday evening, she said: “When I see communities like mine, in Glasgow North East, turn against the Labour Party in such numbers, we must seek to understand why and refocus our efforts to win back their trust.

“Despite two decades of SNP failure, people were reluctant to give Labour a hearing and told me that they could not, in good faith, vote Labour while Keir Starmer is prime minister.

“Our party owes Keir a debt of gratitude for his leadership, but we are bigger than one person.

“With a heavy heart, I am calling on the prime minister to set out a timetable for his departure and for our party to have a period of reflection with any and all candidates willing to have the chance to put themselves forward.”

The Labour MP for Gloucester said he has added his name to the letter calling for the Prime Minister to resign, saying “too many mistakes have been made”.

Alex McIntyre said in a post on Facebook that the prime minister “does not have the backing of the country to deliver the change that people voted for” and the Government needs to “change course”.

“I have tonight, with regret, added my name to the letter calling for a change of leadership of the Labour Party and the country,” he said.

“I am proud of many of the changes we have made in Government, but too many mistakes have been made.

“Central among these was the decision to appoint Peter Mandelson to a role he was unfit for. This decision was simply at odds with what we should strive for in society and in our public life, where victims should be supported and perpetrators held accountable.

“Over recent weeks, countless conversations I’ve had with constituents, plus the results from last week’s elections, can only tell me one thing. The Prime Minister does not have the backing of the country to deliver the change that people voted for. The change that we desperately need.

“There is no way around it, our country is facing unprecedented challenges. Gloucester residents deserve leadership that can meet those challenges. Having listened closely to the Prime Minister’s speech today, I do not believe he is the person to lead that effort. I want to look my constituents in the eye when I talk to them on the doorstep and say with honesty that we have the right person leading us through such difficult times. Right now I cannot do that.

“I still believe that a Labour Government will rise to meet this moment, defeat the divisive politics of the far left and far right and deliver the brighter future that Gloucester residents deserve. To do that we have to change course, fight for our values and ultimately give the country a leader who can deliver.”

Stephen Kinnock, health Minister, said “they may well do” when asked on Newsnight whether members of the cabinet may tell Keir Starmer to tell him to stand down at their meeting tomorrow.

Charlotte Nichols has said she does not have confidence in Sir Keir Starmer as she joined the scores of Labour MPs calling for him to resign.

Asked on LBC if she had confidence in the prime minister, the MP for Warrington North said she did not.

She said: “We’re in fairly uncharted territory at the moment but you know, it’s something that in my constituency and constituencies in other parts of the country that I’ve been out in.

“The message has been clear for some time that actually the public don’t have confidence in Keir Starmer.

“And if we’re listening to the country, as we say that we are, I think that we’re duty bound to do something about that.”

Asked if she was going to be in the “list” of MPs calling for the Labour leader to resign, she said: “I suppose I am.”

Eighty MPs have signed Catherine West’s letter calling for Sir Keir Starmer to set out a timetable for his departure, the Press Association understands.

Most of these have publicly called for the prime minister to stand down, it is understood.