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.
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. Her intervention came as Sir Keir recruited party favorites Gordon Brown and Baroness Harriet Harman to try and help secure his flagging premiership. As the scale of Labour’s failures at the ballot box emerged, The Independent has 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.
Ms West’s move comes amid growing speculation from Labour MPs that the serious candidates to replace Sir Keir - including Ms Rayner and health secretary Wes Streeting - were awaiting “a stalking horse” to “allow them to swoop in”.
In a bid to win back the party faithful, the prime minister appointed Mr Brown - once described by Tony Blair as “the big clunking fist” - 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, ignoring questions about his future.
But an attempt on Friday night to get his cabinet to wheel in behind him backfired after a number of senior figures notably remained silent.
Among those was health secretary Wes Streeting, who avoided endorsing Sir Keir going forward as his team briefed how he had bucked the trend of disastrous results for Labour.
Labour held on to Redbridge Council including seeing off the threat of pro-Gaza independents in his Ilford North seat.
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.
Defence minister Al 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.”
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.”
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.”
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.”
However, Labour MPs were speculating that he was now “too weakened to have a reshuffle” to reset his government.
There had been suggestions that he might try to change chancellor and move Rachel Reeves or even sack Mr Streeting over manoeuvring for his job.
On the appointment of Mr Brown he said: “As Britain’s longest-serving chancellor, Gordon is well placed to work with our international allies to build a stronger Britain and boost our country’s security and resilience.”
With Baroness Harman he added: “Harriet is a strong advocate for women and girls and I know she will deliver greater opportunity for women in public life. I’m committed to tackling structural misogyny that is a barrier for too many women and girls. I look forward to working with Harriet to drive forward action on this important issue.”
Meanwhile, Sir Keir also had to welcome a new Welsh Labour leader after Baroness Eluned Morgan was forced to step down when she lost her seat in the Senedd election.
He said: "Thank you to Ken Skates for stepping up to provide leadership for Labour in Wales and the Senedd as we begin a period of necessary reflection and rebuilding. Ken is a talented and experienced MS, and I know he will do a fantastic job bringing Welsh Labour together and holding the new government to account for working people."
