Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, has called on Keir Starmer to stand down as prime minister at a hastily arranged press conference in Glasgow.
Sarwar, who said “the leadership in Downing Street has to change”, said the “distraction” caused by “too many mistakes” would damage Scottish Labour’s prospects in in May’s crucial Scottish parliament elections in May.
Recent opinion polls show Labour trailing in third place behind the Scottish National party and Reform. Sarwar and his advisers have calculated it will be impossible for Starmer to recover after the scandal over Peter Mandelson’s links to Jeffrey Epstein.
Sarwar said: “We have an NHS crisis where too many Scots cannot access the treatment they need and when they need it.
“We have a housing emergency with more than 10,000 Scottish children homeless right now, and we have too many young people not feeling safe at school or on our streets, or missing out on the opportunities they deserve.
“And we have an SNP government that is addicted to secrecy and cover ups with devastating consequences.
“That is why I have to be honest about failure wherever I see it.
“The situation in Downing Street is not good enough. There have been too many mistakes.”
Sarwar’s team was deeply irritated to learn last week that the prime minister had been arguing internally that he needed to remain in office to help Scottish Labour win the May election. They believe the polls show that Starmer’s continued leadership will destroy Scottish Labour’s electoral chances.
Until the latest developments in the Epstein scandal, Sarwar had repeatedly defended Starmer’s record and as recently as last week had offered the prime minister his tentative support.
In the months after Scottish Labour’s success in the 2024 general election, when it won 37 out of Scotland’s 57 Westminster seats, Sarwar had been extremely confident of winning the Holyrood election.
He brought in more than a £1 million in donations, winning backing from wealthy Scottish business leaders, and believed Scottish voters had grown weary and disappointed with the SNP after 18 years in government.
The development follows the resignation of Tim Allan, Starmer’s director of communications, after only five months in the job. Allan stepped down h a day after the prime Starmer’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, also departed.
Allan said in a brief statement: “I have decided to stand down to allow a new No 10 team to be built. I wish the PM and his team every success.”
The resignation is another blow to Starmer’s position amid a furious row about the decision to make Peter Mandelson ambassador to Washington despite his close links to the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Downing Street said on Monday said Starmer is not resigning and will be “concentrating on the job in hand”.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said Starmer’s mood this morning was “upbeat” and “confident” as he gave an address to No 10 staff.
Asked if Starmer was going to resign today, the prime minister’s official spokesman said: “No.”
He added: “The prime minister is concentrating on the job in hand. He is getting on with the job of delivering change across the country.”
Asked about reports going into the weekend that Starmer had been remorseful and wavering over his political future, he said: “That is not the prime minister who appeared in front of staff this morning.
“It is very clear that he remains determined to tackle the job in hand.”
Starmer is later expected to address a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party amid anger over his appointment of Mandelson.
As Sarwar spoke, British deputy prime minister David Lammy and housing minister Steve Reed pledged their support for Starmer.
“We should let nothing distract us from our mission to change Britain and we support the Prime Minister in doing that,” Lammy said on X.
Reed said on X that Starmer had led the party to victory in the 2024 election, adding “We need to stay the course”.
But losing two senior staff members – McSweeney and Allan – in less than 24 hours will increase the sense that Starmer’s Downing Street operation is in freefall.
[ Mark Paul: What’s next for Keir Starmer and the Labour Party?Opens in new window ]
McSweeney announced his resignation on Sunday afternoon after days of pressure from many Labour MPs, saying he took “full responsibility” for his advice to send Mandelson to Washington despite a relationship with Epstein that continued beyond the late financier serving a jail term for sexual trafficking.
While allies of Starmer hope the departure of McSweeney will assuage the anger of MPs, the loss of the man seen as the architect of Starmer’s rise to power is a huge blow and has turned attention to why the prime minister himself approved the Mandelson decision.
The Conservatives have attempted to keep the focus on Starmer. Speaking to the BBC on Monday, Kemi Badenoch said Starmer had allowed McSweeney to “carry the can” for his own decision.
The Conservative leader said: “Keir Starmer knew, he knew. It is his judgment and the fact that he has been dishonest, he was dishonest – he claimed not to know, then he changed his story and claimed that he had been lied to.”