The former ally of Sir Keir Starmer said he does not believe he can ‘rise to the moment’

11:05, 10 May 2026Updated 11:06, 10 May 2026

(Image: Maja Smiejkowska/PA Wire)

A Greater Manchester MP and former ally of Sir Keir Starmer has claimed he has ‘lost the country’ as he called for him to set a timetable for his departure.

Josh Simons, who represents Makerfield in Wigan, said the party’s disastorus local election results were an ‘an unequivocal judgement that our actions do not meet the moment.’

Mr Simons, a former loyalist who is credited with helping Mr Starmer lead Labour into government, said the party’s leader should now ‘take control of the situation by overseeing an orderly transition to a new Prime Minister.’

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Labour had a catastrophic night at the polls in Wigan, losing 24 of the 25 seats up for grabs. In total they lost more than 1,300 seats on English councils, lost control of the Welsh Senedd for the first time and also fared poorly in Scotland.

Mr Simons told the Manchester Evening News afterwards that his party had ‘drifted’ from its traditional voters and that he and his fellow MPs needed to ‘rebuild this party from the ground up’ and ‘rip up a broken system.’

And writing in The Times this morning, Mr Simons went further, as he urged Mr Starmer to stand aside. He said: “Putting the people I represent and the country I love first, I do not believe the Prime Minister can rise to this moment. He has lost the country. He should take control of the situation by overseeing an orderly transition to a new Prime Minister.

“Our party, like many others, is stuck in a politics of incrementalism that cannot meet the moment. We defer to elite interests and stakeholders. We ditch radical reforms that would give people power to change their own lives.

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“We Labour MPs must square up to the truth. These elections were not a normal mid-term drubbing, they were an unequivocal judgement that our actions do not meet the moment.

“We constantly talk big, then act small. Labour stopped listening to places, people, and ideas from across the United Kingdom, forgetting that in a moment like this, no tradition or faction has a monopoly on the talent, radicalism, or risk appetite we need.

“I take responsibility for my role. I believe that humility is essential to pluralism and no big tent party can survive without it. For the Labour Party to rediscover its soul, we must reckon with reality. Our party has brilliant and committed people but millions are howling at us.

“We must ditch sharp-elbowed positioning and the ridiculous debate about whether to move left or right, because the old political spectrum no longer exists.”

Sharing the article on X, Mr Simons added: “This was not an easy piece to write. But because of my history in the Labour Party I felt a duty to be honest. “We Labour MPs must square up to the truth. These elections were not a normal mid-term drubbing, they were an unequivocal judgement that our actions do not meet the moment.”To put the country first, the PM should lead an orderly transition. Senior figures across the party should urgently come together to agree a path forward.”

In February, Mr Simons resigned as a Cabinet Office minister, saying he had ‘become a distraction from this Government’s important work’.

He had been under pressure over claims that Labour Together, a think tank he ran before entering Government, paid PR firm Apco Worldwide at least £30,000 to look into journalists, including from the Sunday Times, the Guardian and other outlets.

Mr Simons repeatedly denied asking the firm to delve into the backgrounds of British journalists. Sir Laurie Magnus, the PM’s independent adviser on ministerial standards, cleared him of breaching the ministerial code.

Mr Simons’ call follows that of Graham Stringer, who urged the PM to go as he was ‘despised on the doorstep'(Image: Manchester Evening News)

Mr Simons becomes the second Greater Manchester to call for Mr Starmer to quit.

On Friday, Graham Stringer, the veteran backbench MP for Blackley and Middleton South, called the local election result ‘a completely wasted opportunity’ for Labour. And he claimed Sir Keir, in his opinion, has lost the support of his cabinet.

Mr Stringer told the Manchester Evening News Sir Keir should set a timetable for his exit rather than quit at once. He said: “The PM is despised on the doorstep for some of the decisions he has taken. Winter fuel allowance is one people immediately think of.

“He has failed to deal with immigration after half a dozen announcements. Some policies are deeply unpopular with Labour voters. Energy bills and the health service – given the amount of money that has gone in, there hasn’t been enough improvement.

“People are angry with him on that basis, so it is a squandered opportunity.

“I think the Prime Minister should give us a timetable for when he is going. I do not think there is any doubt that he will go. But if a journalist asks him the question he will always say no. He has lost the support of the party and as far as I can tell, the cabinet as well.”

Mr Starmer said on Friday he ‘took responsiblity’ for the ‘tough’ results but said: “I’m not going to walk away and plunge the country into chaos.”

However former government minister Catherine West has said she will launch an unlikely leadership challenge on Monday, in an attempt to force the Cabinet to act to remove Sir Keir, if she is still ‘dissatisfied’ following a planned speech setting out his new agenda.