Keir Starmer was fighting for his political survival last night after Labour suffered a crushing defeat in the local elections. MPs, ministers, and unions lined up to demand that Sir Keir set out a timetable for his departure following humiliating losses across England, Scotland, and Wales.
Allies of Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham told the Daily Mail that he was ready to challenge Sir Keir as soon as next week. Nigel Farage hailed a 'historic' result as Reform UK smashed through Labour's Red Wall strongholds in the North and Midlands, while Labour lost control of Wales for the first time in a century, with leader Eluned Morgan losing her seat. The party was also crushed in Scotland, where it had hoped to dislodge the SNP.
Sir Keir said he took 'responsibility' for the electoral disaster but insisted he would not 'walk away'. However, furious Labour figures blamed the Prime Minister directly, with one MP saying he was 'detested on the doorstep'. A former Cabinet minister and ally of Mr Burnham said it was 'abundantly clear' that Sir Keir 'cannot lead us into another election' unless there is 'significant and urgent change'. Another ex-frontbencher said it was 'curtains for Keir', adding that voters sent a clear message that the party and government, including the leadership, must change immediately.
Downing Street pressured ministers to defend the PM, and a sudden blitz of support appeared on social media from most of the otherwise silent Cabinet. However, Ed Miliband, Wes Streeting, and Shabana Mahmood were notably absent. Privately, some ministers are pushing for the PM to go, with one telling the Daily Mail: 'These results put to bed any idea that Keir can lead us into the next election. It is a disaster – Farage is killing us, the Greens are killing us, the nationalists are killing us. It is completely unsustainable.'
Unite union boss warns of 'beginning of the end'
Unite union boss Sharon Graham said 'the writing is on the wall for this Labour government', adding that it 'could be the beginning of the end for the party itself'. She urged ministers to stop 'loyally reading out lists of their achievements' as 'no-one is listening'. 'If the party does not shift decisively towards the working class it is finished,' she said. 'It is change or die. Now or never.'
However, Technology Secretary Liz Kendall insisted that the PM would not bow to calls to quit. 'He's not going to go, and he is not going to set a timetable,' she said. 'People want us focused on their jobs and their future, not our jobs and our future.'
Reform UK and Conservatives clash
Nigel Farage hailed a 'truly historic shift in British politics' which he said put Reform on course to win the next general election. The Conservatives celebrated regaining Westminster but were defeated by Reform in Kemi Badenoch's Essex backyard. Reform and the Tories faced fresh calls to 'unite the Right' after analysis suggested yesterday's result would have produced a hung parliament. Welsh nationalists Plaid Cymru were on course to take power for the first time after Labour's vote collapsed.
Britain's traditional two-party system was crumbling as Reform, the Greens, the Lib Dems, and nationalist parties all took votes off Labour and the Conservatives. The Greens took control in Norwich and won mayoral contests in Hackney and Lewisham. Yesterday's results were the biggest test of electoral opinion since the 2024 General Election and Labour's 'loveless landslide'.
Mr Farage emerged as the big winner, with Reform on course to gain well over 1,000 seats across the country. They scored stunning victories in traditional Labour strongholds such as Sunderland, Gateshead, Barnsley, and St Helens. The party made sweeping gains in seats held by senior Labour figures, including Angela Rayner, Bridget Philipson, and Lisa Nandy, whose local powerbases were decimated. Mr Farage said his party had 'absolutely torn the most massive historic chunk out of the Labour vote in the North of England'. Reform also won in Havering, its first London borough, and took Essex County Council and Suffolk from the Conservatives.
Mrs Badenoch insisted she was 'very proud' of the Tory result despite losing hundreds of council seats, citing 'signs of recovery'. But the immediate focus was on Labour's disastrous performance and the implications for Sir Keir's survival. London mayor Sadiq Khan said that without 'a change in course and an acceleration in delivery, the threat to Labour is existential'.
Last night, around a dozen Labour MPs had publicly called on Sir Keir to resign or set out a timetable for his departure. Paula Barker, MP for Liverpool Wavertree, warned the government appeared 'tin-eared and defensive', adding: 'We need to deliver an orderly transition through an open and transparent contest.' Fellow Liverpudlian Ian Byrne called on the PM to set out a 'clear timetable for his departure', warning that the longer this drags on, the greater the damage to the party and the country.
Labour's affiliated unions demanded a meeting with Sir Keir 'to discuss the urgent change in direction that we all know is needed'. Andrea Egan, head of the Unison union and a supporter of Mr Burnham, called for Sir Keir to go, adding: 'What must change is not just the leader but the entire approach.' The Mail revealed this week that Mr Burnham is in advanced talks about a potential return to Parliament, with a sympathetic MP said to be ready to stand aside for him within days.
But Sir Keir insisted he would not quit. He is planning a fightback next week, including a speech in which he will pledge to go further in unpicking Brexit. He said the results 'hurt' but claimed he could still turn things round. 'They are tough and there's no sugar-coating it,' he said. 'I take responsibility [but] tough days like this, they don't weaken my resolve to deliver the change that I promised at the general election, they strengthen my resolve to do so.'
