{"id":951204,"date":"2026-05-10T21:07:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T21:07:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/951204\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T21:07:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T21:07:38","slug":"uk-politics-live-rayner-challenges-starmer-to-urgently-change-course-as-it-may-be-labours-last-chance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/951204\/","title":{"rendered":"UK politics live: Rayner challenges Starmer to urgently change course \u2013 as it may be Labour\u2019s \u2018last chance\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>What happens if Catherine West pulls the trigger on a leadership challenge?<\/p>\n

The Independent\u2019s Athena Stavrou reports:<\/p>\n

Labour MP Catherine West has told the cabinet that if they do not put someone forward to challenge Sir Keir by Monday, she will attempt to trigger a leadership contest herself.<\/p>\n

Here is a look at how a potential Labour leadership contest could play out:<\/p>\n

There is no formal confidence vote procedure to oust a Labour leader, which means challengers need to garner the support of the parliamentary party in order to oust them.<\/p>\n

Any challenger would require the support 20 per cent of the party in the Commons, which is 81 MPs currently.<\/p>\n

Ms West has pledged to launch a challenge with the backing of 10 MPs so far. This falls well short of the nominations required, but more would be likely to back her as a means to oust Sir Keir. However, her move is intended to spur a potential leadership hopeful from the Cabinet into action.<\/p>\n

Written nominations would need to be submitted to Labour general secretary Hollie Ridley, which would then trigger the contest.<\/p>\n

In the case of a successful challenge, Sir Keir would be on the ballot by default as the incumbent and would not need to gather nominations. But if Sir Keir were to resign, it would automatically start a contest for a new leader.<\/p>\n

It is up to the Labour Party\u2019s National Executive Committee to set the timeline for a leadership election.<\/p>\n

Amy-Clare Martin10 May 2026 21:30<\/p>\n

<\/a>Comment: Labour is betraying its voters \u2013 and that\u2019s why Keir needs to go<\/p>\n

In 40 years of campaigning, I have never known a Labour leader\u2019s name come up on the doorstep in the way the prime minster\u2019s did at these elections \u2013 the damage he is doing to our special party is unforgivable, says Labour MP Kate Osborne<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Amy-Clare Martin10 May 2026 20:30<\/p>\n

<\/a>Leading trade union calls for commission into electoral reform<\/p>\n

A leading Labour-affiliated trade union has called for an independent commission into electoral reform amid support for proportional representation at elections.<\/p>\n

The annual conference of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) agreed a motion rejecting the first past the post system (FPTP).<\/p>\n

Supporters of electoral reform said the decision by delegates at the conference in Bournemouth marked a \u201chistoric shift\u201d for the union, which becomes the eighth Labour-affiliated union to make electoral reform its official policy.<\/p>\n

The motion said first past the post was producing unrepresentative results and was at crisis point.<\/p>\n

Ed Baldwin, a CWU regional political officer, told delegates: \u201cFirst past the post no longer reflects those we represent and is producing results that do not match the will of the people.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Labour Government has already accepted it is broken by scrapping it for mayoral elections. If it distorts democracy there, then it distorts democracy at Westminster too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amy-Clare Martin10 May 2026 19:40<\/p>\n

<\/a>Reform accused of failing to condemn \u2018clear racism\u2019 after councillor\u2019s \u2018Nigerians should fill pot holes\u2019 remark<\/p>\n

Reform UK<\/a> is facing intense scrutiny and accusations of failing to \u201ccall out clear racism” after its deputy leader declined to explicitly condemn remarks reportedly made by a newly elected councillor.<\/p>\n

Glenn Gibbins, who was elected as a Reform councillor in Sunderland in this week\u2019s local elections, posted on social media in 2024, complaining about the “amount of Nigerians in town”.<\/p>\n

“Should melt them all down and fill in the pot holes!!” he wrote in a later-deleted post, according to campaign group Hope Not Hate.<\/p>\n

Reform deputy leader Richard Tice refused to directly criticise Mr Gibbins on Sunday, instead accusing the media of “smearing” Nigel Farage\u2019s party<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Amy-Clare Martin10 May 2026 19:10<\/p>\n

<\/a>Reform \u2018did not do as well as I feared\u2019 in Holyrood election, Sturgeon says<\/p>\n

More politicians need to \u201csay it like it is\u201d to try to combat the rise of Nigel Farage and Reform, Nicola Sturgeon has said.<\/p>\n

The former SNP leader said that Reform \u2013 who are now the joint second largest party in the Scottish Parliament with 17 MSPs \u2013 had not done as well in the Holyrood election as she had \u201cfeared\u201d they might.<\/p>\n

Speaking about the party, led in Scotland by Lord Malcolm Offord, Ms Sturgeon said: \u201cThey did not perform as strongly as many people, including me, feared they would on Thursday.\u201d<\/p>\n

However she added her \u201cfear\u201d is that the new group of Reform MSPs could be will \u201ctry to undermine\u201d the Scottish Parliament and \u201ctry to be disruptive and just drag politics down\u201d.<\/p>\n

The former SNP leader, speaking at the Boswell Book Festival, also criticised the \u201cinability of many politicians\u201d on what is \u201cbroadly the left of politics\u201d to answer \u201cstraightforward questions in a straightforward way\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"NicolaNicola Sturgeon has told how Nigel Farage\u2019s Reform UK did not do as well as she had \u2018feared\u2019 they would in last week\u2019s Holyrood election (Local Library)<\/p>\n

Amy-Clare Martin10 May 2026 18:40<\/p>\n

<\/a>Watch: Labour \u2018in danger of going extinct,\u2019 Unite boss warnsLabour \u2018in danger of going extinct,\u2019 Unite boss warns<\/p>\n

Dan Haygarth10 May 2026 18:30<\/p>\n

<\/a>The youth vote isn\u2019t just Green \u2013 they are turning up for Farage\u2019s Reform too<\/p>\n

Amy-Clare Martin10 May 2026 18:10<\/p>\n

<\/a>Supporters of defence minister Al Carns are urging him to stand against Starmer\"AlAl Carns is touted as a possible next leader (Reuters)<\/p>\n

While the frontrunners for the Labour leadership are thought to be former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, health secretary Wes Streeting and energy secretary Ed Miliband, a surprise candidate is emerging to replace Sir Keir Starmer.<\/p>\n

Members of the 2024 intake are pushing for former Royal Marines commander now defence minister Al Carns to put his hat into the ring.<\/p>\n

One member of the 2024 intake said: \u201cWhy are we turning once again to the same familiar faces to solve problems they were involved in creating?<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we want to demonstrate genuine change to the public, we need a fresh face leading that change. <\/p>\n

\u201cMembers of the 2024 intake are still hopeful of persuading Al Carns to stand should there be a contest, and support for that view appears to be growing.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is understood that a leadership team is being put together to support Mr Carns if he decides to make a move.<\/p>\n

David Maddox10 May 2026 18:05<\/p>\n

<\/a>Full story: Angela Rayner\u2019s ultimatum to Starmer<\/p>\n

Angela Rayner<\/a> has issued a dramatic ultimatum to Sir Keir Starmer <\/a>that his government takes a hard turn to the left ahead of the embattled prime minister giving a speech to save his political career on Monday morning.<\/p>\n

Dan Haygarth10 May 2026 18:00<\/p>\n

<\/a>Labour MP backs Rayner\u2019s statement<\/p>\n

A former junior minister has publicly agreed with Angela Rayner\u2019s statement this afternoon, in which she called on Sir Keir to allow Andy Burnham to return and root out the \u201ctoxic culture of cronyism\u201d in No 10.<\/p>\n

Labour MP for Cheshire constituency Ellesmere Port & Bromborough Justin Madders shared Ms Rayner\u2019s statement on X on Sunday, and added: \u201cTotally agree with this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms Rayner challenged Sir Keir Starmer to take Labour in a new direction, in what she warned could be the party\u2019s \u201clast chance\u201d to win back voters.<\/p>\n

She also said it was a mistake to block Andy Burnham from running in the Gorton and Denton by-election, adding that the government needs to bring its \u201cbest players into Parliament\u201d to regain public confidence.<\/p>\n

Athena Stavrou10 May 2026 17:47<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What happens if Catherine West pulls the trigger on a leadership challenge? The Independent\u2019s Athena Stavrou reports: Labour…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":951205,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[748,393,4884,1144,712,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-951204","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"category-united-kingdom","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-northern-ireland","13":"tag-scotland","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116552326495815691","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=951204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951204\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/951205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=951204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=951204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=951204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}