Four Government aides have resigned from their positions, joining a growing number of Labour MPs calling for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to stand down following a disastrous set of local election results. Joe Morris, parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to Health Secretary Wes Streeting, and Tom Rutland, PPS to Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds, stepped down on Monday, urging the Prime Minister to set out a timetable for his departure.
Aides Join Calls for Leadership Change
Cabinet Office aide Naushabah Khan and Melanie Ward, a PPS to Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, also announced their resignations later on Monday, calling for new leadership. Sally Jameson, an aide to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, added her voice to the discontented MPs, who numbered 66 by Monday evening.
In a statement on social media, Ms Ward said: “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 to lead this change.”
Mr Morris stated: “I have boundless confidence in the Labour Party and our ability to rise to this moment. However, regrettably, it is now clear that the Prime Minister no longer has the trust or confidence of the public to lead this change.”
Mr Rutland argued that the Prime Minister had “lost authority” within the Parliamentary Labour Party and across the country, and “will not be able to regain it”. He added: “Time and time again, speaking with voters at their doors, I heard little dislike for local councillors nor for the Labour Party, but the animosity towards the Prime Minister was clear from every voter who was choosing to vote for another party or considering doing so.”
Ms Khan said: “I am calling for new leadership so that we can rebuild trust and deliver the better future that the British people voted for.”
Starmer Vows to Fight On
The Prime Minister promised to prove his “doubters” wrong at a press conference on Monday as former minister Catherine West withdrew threats to imminently launch a leadership challenge. However, his speech failed to quell demands that he quit or set out a timetable for his departure from discontented MPs, who continued to call for his resignation.
Ms West had 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. After Sir Keir insisted he would not “walk away”, the former Foreign Office minister said she would now canvass support within the party for the Prime Minister to set out a timetable for his resignation by September.
PA understands that 80 MPs have signed a letter from Ms West urging Sir Keir to take this step, most of whom have publicly expressed their loss of confidence in his leadership.
Cabinet Tensions Rise
In a sign of the febrile atmosphere in Westminster, care minister Stephen Kinnock said senior ministers “may well” tell the Prime Minister it was time to stand down at the weekly Cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning. “It is possible that members of the Cabinet might do that. I genuinely have no idea at all. What I am simply saying is any one of my colleagues who is potentially thinking of doing that, I just hope they really will take a beat, pause and reflect, and think about the potential that has for the chaos that might be unleashed,” he told BBC Newsnight.
Speculation about the Prime Minister’s future has intensified since Thursday’s elections, in which Labour lost almost 1,500 English councillors, went backwards in Scotland and slumped to third in Wales. In a speech in central London on Monday, Sir Keir said he took “responsibility” for the losses but would fight on.
Starmer's 'Make-or-Break' Speech
Monday’s address had been billed as a move to set out sweeping changes needed to tackle the “big challenges” facing Britain, and was widely seen as a “make-or-break” moment for the Prime Minister. Sir Keir set out a number of measures including legislation to nationalise British Steel, a ban on “far-right agitators” coming to the UK for a planned march on Saturday and a plan to put the UK “at the heart of Europe”. He cast the current political moment as a “battle for the soul” of the UK, warning that if Labour failed, the country would head down “a very dark path”.
A handful of backbenchers spoke up in support of the Prime Minister afterwards, with Macclesfield MP Tim Roca and Gedling’s Michael Payne saying Sir Keir had demonstrated he understood “the scale of the challenge” facing the country. But others from across the party – going far beyond his usual critics on the left – continued to demand his resignation.
North Northumberland MP David Smith, who has been the UK’s special envoy for freedom of religion or belief since 2024, said Labour owed “a debt of gratitude” to Sir Keir but he could not “carry on with the approach we have taken” since the general election. Blue Labour, an internal pressure group founded by Labour peer Lord Maurice Glasman, also called on Monday for the Prime Minister to set out a timetable for his departure.
Burnham Emerges as Potential Successor
Others have looked towards Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, saying he should be allowed to return to Parliament. But Sir Keir would not be drawn on whether he would support Mr Burnham’s return to Westminster, saying it was a matter for Labour’s national executive committee (NEC). The NEC, dominated by supporters of the Prime Minister, blocked Mr Burnham from contesting the Gorton and Denton by-election earlier this year, and the formerly safe Labour seat was won by the Greens.
In a speech to the Communication Workers Union on Monday, former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner – herself regarded as a potential leadership contender – said the decision to block Mr Burnham should be “put right”. London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan also backed Mr Burnham’s return to Parliament, telling PA this should happen “sooner rather than later” but that he was not calling for a leadership change, only a change in the “pace of delivery”. Mr Burnham is yet to comment publicly on reports that he intends to attempt a return to Westminster, and has pulled out of an event at which he was due to speak on Tuesday.
Public Opinion and Opposition Reaction
A Survation poll for Compass, conducted before the local elections, found 55% of the British public think Sir Keir should stand down, and 22% think he can turn things around. Responding to the speech, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said it was “sad to watch”, adding: “With so many resets, even his reset button needs a reset. But I do not take pleasure in watching the Prime Minister flounder. The country needs leadership, not another speech from a man who clearly knows something has gone badly wrong, but still can’t explain why.” Mrs Badenoch also dismissed Labour’s “pretenders jostling for his job”, saying: “They are busy arguing over who should drive the car, but the truth is they are all heading in the wrong direction. They have no vision for the future.”
