A Labour MP has dramatically warned would-be leaders in the cabinet to challenge Sir Keir Starmer by Monday – or she will – following the party’s disastrous local election results.
West's ultimatum
Catherine West, the MP for Hornsey and Friern Barnet, who was sacked by Sir Keir as a junior minister in the Foreign Office, said the cabinet should “reorganise themselves” and put forward their “best communicator” to replace the PM, avoiding a contest. If that did not happen she would seek the 80 names needed to trigger a contest, she said. Speaking to The Independent, Ms West said: “We had cataclysmic election results last week and our response so far does not match the emergency that faces us.” She added: “I am terrified we will end up with Prime Minister Farage.”
Starmer's response
Her intervention came as Sir Keir recruited party favourites Gordon Brown and Baroness Harriet Harman to try and help secure his flagging premiership. Downing Street has not commented on Ms West’s challenge but in a bid to win back the party faithful, the prime minister appointed Mr Brown as his special envoy on global finance and brought in former deputy leader Baroness Harman as his adviser on women and girls. Sir Keir posed with both on the steps of Downing Street on Saturday, ignoring questions about his future.
Leadership contenders
As the scale of Labour’s failures at the local elections ballot box emerged, The Independent has also learnt that some senior ministers were attempting to prevent a leadership election amid fears that the former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner could launch a coup as early as next week. Meanwhile, support is growing for energy secretary Ed Miliband, health secretary Wes Streeting and defence minister Al Carns. Ms West said she would welcome Mr Streeting, Mr Miliband, Ms Rayner or education secretary Bridget Phillipson taking over as leader and prime minister. But she warned that time was running out for Labour with an election two to three years away. “We need to tool up for this, because it's going to be the fight of our life. We need to take on Reform and to put forward a centrist vision of the country that people can really get behind.”
Cabinet silence
An attempt on Friday night to get his cabinet to wheel in behind him backfired after a number of senior figures notably remained silent. One ally claimed that Mr Streeting was “waiting for another candidate to go first before entering the fray”. Others not to publicly endorse the prime minister were home secretary Shabana Mahmood, energy secretary Ed Miliband, foreign secretary Yvette Cooper and Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, who have all been identified as possible leadership contenders. Mr Carns, a former Royal Marines commander who has growing support among Labour MPs, also notably avoided offering his support. An ally of Mr Carns added: “Al's problem is if he jumped he could just be seen as a stalking horse. Wes [Streeting] and others want him to go so they can swoop in.”
Pressure mounts
With at least eight Labour MPs now publicly demanding Sir Keir sets a timetable for his departure, pressure was mounting on the prime minister as more privately said he could not lead them into the next election. The latest to speak out was Hartlepool MP Jonathan Brash, who saw Reform sweep his area. He said: “I’d prefer by party conference [in September], but setting the timetable is the critical thing.” Another told The Independent that “it is not just MPs on the left who want him to go”. A previous loyalist added: “The mood is generally awful as you can imagine. I’m not saying anything publicly right now but clearly we can’t go into the election with him as leader.” A second minister added: “The fear at the moment is we will end up with Angela as our version of Liz Truss.”
Rayner denies coup
A source close to Ms Rayner denied speculation that she could launch a bid as early as next week. But the hopes to get Mr Burnham in as an MP as a “unifying figure” to lead the party appeared to have united ministers with leftwing rebels. There was speculation that MPs were being told they would get a peerage if they stepped aside for Mr Burnham. However, one MP warned: “Given what just happened I am not sure where Andy Burnham could stand and win a seat even if someone was willing to step down to give him an opportunity.”
Local election disaster
Labour’s disastrous performance saw Reform winning most of the council seats in the north west of England, including all 22 available in Wigan and 16 out of 17 in the Tameside Council area which includes Ms Rayner’s constituency. Sir Keir continued his fightback on Saturday with a video put out on social media where he admitted that the party needed to do more to convince voters. He said: “It’s important that we reflect and respond to these results - we haven’t done enough to offer people hope for the future.” With plans for a major speech on Monday, he added: “In the coming days I’ll be setting out the path ahead.”
