UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been called on to quit by dozens of Labour MPs, following devastating losses in last week’s local elections.
Mr Starmer came under renewed pressure on Monday when four ministerial aides stepped down and UK outlets reported more than 70 MPs had called for the British Prime Minister’s resignation.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has led calls for Mr Starmer to go while at least 72 MPs, which is equal to about a third of all Labour backbenchers, have publicly urged him to resign.
At an address to Labour faithful in London, Mr Starmer made an impassioned plea to his party and voters to stick with him and avoid a leadership contest he said would only bring chaos, promising to be bolder.
“I know that people are frustrated by the state of Britain. Frustrated by politics, and some people are frustrated with me,” he said.
“I know I have my doubters and I know I need to prove them wrong. And I will.”
Tom Rutland, a ministerial aide to the environment minister, said the Prime Minister had “lost authority”.
“It is clear to me that the Prime Minister has lost authority not just within the parliamentary Labour Party but across the country âand that he will not be able to regain it,” Mr Rutland said in his resignation letter.
Despite Mr Starmer’s attempt to win over his party, he faces a race against time to cling on to leadership.
“It’s happening,” one source told Daily Mail.
“The PM has had his say, people have heard him out, but it has not changed minds. The herd is moving.”
Catherine West, an Australian little-known former junior minister who broke cover at the weekend to threaten to seek a leadership contest if Mr Starmer failed to offer radical change, told Reuters she had received 80 responses supporting her demand that the Prime Minister set out a timetable for his departure.
She called for a leadership election to happen in September.
While there were few Labour lawmakers who were prepared to publicly endorse Mr Starmer, the Prime Minister’s closest allies again warned against removing a leader this early into his premiership, saying it would only further harm Britain.
Environment Minister Steve Reed said “changing leader just leads to chaos”.
“We saw what happened under the Tories. Let’s learn from their mistakes, not repeat them,” he said on social media, referring to the opposition Conservative Party.
The council elections across Scotland, Wales and 136 English local authorities are the biggest set of polls since the 2024 general election and proved to be a bloodbath for the Labour Party.
Reform UK made huge gains at Mr Starmer’s expense, picking up more than 1,450 council seats.
Labour was wiped out in Wales while SNP (Scottish National Party) has held onto power for an unprecedented fifth time in the Scottish parliament.
– With Reuters