- More than 60 Labour MPs reportedly call on UK PM to step down.
- Four govt aides resign amid growing pressure on Starmer leadership.
- PM vows to “prove doubters wrong” after disastrous local election losses.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been told by UK Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, and a myriad of other senior cabinet ministers to consider setting out a timeline for his departure, The Times newspaper reported on Monday.
The statement comes as pressure continues to mount on Starmer following disastrous local and regional election results for the ruling Labour Party.
The report came as Starmer vowed to prove his doubters wrong and resist growing calls to step down after Labour suffered heavy losses in local and regional elections.
More than 60 of Labour’s 403 MPs reportedly asked him to quit, unconvinced by his pledge to make the party “bolder and better” in response to voter frustration over the pace of change.
The rebels included four government aides who resigned from their posts.
Joe Morris, who served as parliamentary private secretary to Health Secretary Wes Streeting, wrote on X that it was “now clear that the prime minister no longer has the trust or confidence of the public to lead this change”.
Another aide, Tom Rutland, who worked for Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds, said Starmer had “lost authority” among Labour MPs and “will not be able to regain it”.
Melanie Ward, an assistant to Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, also called for a leadership change.
“Keir Starmer did important work to change the Labour Party, and governing in a time like this will never be easy,” she wrote on X.
“But the message from last week’s elections was clear; the Prime Minister has lost the confidence of the public to lead this change.”
Cabinet Office aide Naushabah Khan, who also resigned, said: “I am calling for new leadership so that we can rebuild trust and deliver the better future that the British people voted for.”
Under Labour Party rules, any challenger would need the backing of 81 MPs — 20% of the parliamentary party — to trigger a leadership contest.
Such a move, however, could open a damaging internal struggle between Labour’s left and right factions over a successor.
Starmer, 63, came to power in July 2024 after a landslide election victory ended 14 years of Conservative rule marked by austerity, Brexit infighting and criticism over the government’s Covid response.
But his premiership has been dogged by policy missteps and controversy, including fallout over the appointment and later dismissal of Peter Mandelson as UK ambassador to Washington after reports linked him to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
While Starmer has struggled to revive economic growth and ease cost-of-living pressures, he has drawn praise for resisting US President Donald Trump over Iran.
Labour’s poor showing in last week’s elections saw major gains for the hard-right Reform UK and the left-wing Greens at Labour’s expense.
The party also lost control of the devolved Welsh parliament to Plaid Cymru for the first time since its establishment in 1999 and failed to recover ground against the Scottish National Party in Scotland.
In a major speech on Monday, Starmer acknowledged public frustration with politics, the state of the country and his own leadership.
“I know I have my doubters, and I know I need to prove them wrong, and I will,” he said.
He promised “a bigger response” rather than “incremental change” on issues including economic growth, closer European ties and energy policy.
Starmer also pledged to fully nationalise British Steel and said Brexit had left Britain “poorer, weaker and less secure”.
He attacked Reform UK leader Nigel Farage as a “chancer” and “grifter” whose pro-Brexit campaign had taken Britain “for a ride”.
“If we don’t get this right our country will go down a very dark path,” he warned.
After the speech, Labour MP Catherine West, who had earlier threatened to trigger a leadership challenge, said she was instead gathering names of MPs who wanted Starmer to announce a timetable for electing a new leader in September.
Starmer vowed to fight any challenge and warned Labour would “never be forgiven” if it repeated the “chaos” of recent Conservative governments, which saw five prime ministers since 2010, including three in four months during 2022.
Health Secretary Streeting and former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner have long been seen as possible challengers, though neither commands universal support inside Labour.
Rayner, while stopping short of demanding Starmer’s resignation, said in a speech on Monday: “What we are doing isn’t working, and it needs to change.”