Labour MPs brace for a dramatic week in Westminster as local election results intensify pressure on Keir Starmer to resign.
Keir Starmer’s leadership is entering a tense new phase in Westminster after Labour’s worst local election results in recent memory, leaving MPs bracing for a week defined as much by timing and succession fears as by anger at the losses.
Pressure has mounted on the Prime Minister to step aside following disastrous election outcomes for Labour on Thursday, but inside the party there is also unease about whether a leadership contest could be triggered too quickly, before a credible replacement can consolidate support.
By Sunday afternoon, Labour had lost almost 1,500 council seats in the local elections. The losses were described as heavy across the United Kingdom, with significant gains in traditionally Labour areas credited to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK and Zack Polanski’s Green Party.
The party’s troubles also spilled beyond England’s councils.. Labour lost control of the Senedd in Wales for the first time since the institution was established in 1999. with First Minister Eluned Morgan losing her seat.. Labour also suffered substantial setbacks at Holyrood in Scotland. widening the sense among MPs that the election results were both widespread and politically destabilizing.
Starmer. addressing the fallout. said he would not “sugarcoat” what had happened. while also insisting he would not “walk away” and vowed to stay in post.. That insistence has not stopped senior and influential backbenchers from challenging him directly and publicly. raising the possibility of a leadership battle that could quickly reshape the party.
On Saturday. Catherine West. a backbench Labour MP for Hornsey and Friern Barnet. threatened to trigger a leadership contest on Monday if a cabinet minister did not put themselves forward to challenge Starmer.. West argued for a different approach. telling BBC Radio 4 that her preferred option would be a cabinet reshuffle and a change of role for the Prime Minister. potentially including an international posting.
Less than a day later, the debate widened further.. Josh Simons. an influential backbencher described as a former Labour Together boss and former Treasury minister. called for Starmer to step down in an article published in The Times.. Simons wrote that Starmer had “lost the country” and that he did not believe the Prime Minister could “rise to this moment. ” while also acknowledging Starmer’s previous achievements in changing Labour and restoring Britain as a world leader.
Simons argued that the party should not fall into what he described as Tory-style leadership drama, but he said Labour must stop relying on the status quo when voters appear to be demanding change. He added that Starmer should lead an orderly transition for senior figures to agree a path forward.
After the results and these interventions. a number of Labour MPs told PoliticsHome they believed it was time for Starmer to go. while others suggested they were watching events unfold before committing themselves publicly.. One MP who had not yet called for Starmer to resign described the mood as “watchful waiting” while MPs were in their constituencies.
That same MP pointed to what they portrayed as a lack of engagement from the Whips Office over the weekend, suggesting the party’s internal machinery was not actively working to dampen unrest. In their view, the pressure for a change had become too strong to ignore.
Another Labour MP said their thinking had been moving in that direction for a year or so. but that the room for alternative explanations for the election losses had run out.. They added that when asked who should replace Starmer. they essentially rejected the idea of concentrating on names rather than removing him.
A recurring theme among dissenting MPs is that there is no clear successor who can quickly attract enough support to make a contest viable.. Many on the left are concerned. in particular. that Andy Burnham would be unable to run if a contest is called too swiftly. because doing so would require a parliamentary seat.
Polling cited in the report showed that when Britons were asked who should lead Labour if Starmer resigned. 17% chose Burnham—more than triple the share for his nearest rival. Angela Rayner at 5%.. The report also indicated that Rayner herself is understood to prefer waiting for an HMRC investigation into her tax affairs to be completed before running. though it noted some reports suggest she could still choose to stand while under investigation.
Not everyone pushing for Starmer’s departure is eager for the decision to happen immediately.. One Labour MP who said they wanted a leadership contest. but “later. ” said it was difficult to judge whether the calls to leave had enough momentum at present.. They suggested that a “stalking horse” can bring out real candidates only once a contest is officially triggered.
The report also highlighted internal disagreement about how the challenge should be initiated.. One Labour MP. who said they wanted Starmer to set out a clear timeline for stepping aside. criticized West’s ultimatum and warned that it could open a route for Health Secretary Wes Streeting to make a bid.
That MP argued that giving Streeting an opportunity would be as disastrous for the country as Starmer remaining. and said Streeting is closely linked to Labour Together. Mandelson and figures such as Palantir.. Their message was that Labour needs “real change,” not another cycle of familiar political branding.
Elsewhere. a Labour MP from the 2024 intake told PoliticsHome it was “over” for Starmer. adding that the push was not limited to a small group of well-known activists or rivals.. They described the WhatsApp group chatter as “dangerously quiet,” with a large number of people still holding back publicly.
Another MP from the same intake. who told PoliticsHome that the Prime Minister should “f*** off. ” said the intervention by Simons in The Times had swung them. at least partly. away from their earlier position.. The report described these MPs as arguing that the leadership fight is partly about whether Starmer is motivated by relevance rather than a political strategy that responds to voter sentiment.
Within Starmer’s own circle, however, cabinet colleagues have rallied behind him.. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy warned that “you don’t change the pilot during a flight. ” while Housing Secretary Steve Reed cautioned against “doomscrolling” through new party leaders. arguing that the focus should remain on governing rather than spinning into a leadership frenzy.
Outside the cabinet, support for Starmer’s continued leadership is also present.. Preet Kaur Gill. the Edgbaston Labour MP who serves as a parliamentary private secretary to cabinet minister Liz Kendall. told PoliticsHome that people should “expect us to govern.” She said that on doorsteps she had been told “Keir Starmer should keep going. ” and argued that voters are “seeing through the attacks.”
Kaur Gill said Labour has a mandate until 2029 and argued for humility in response to the protest vote that she said voters delivered through the election results. She emphasized that the party should focus on the priorities voters supported, rather than giving the internal dispute more momentum.
Taken together. the party’s current dilemma appears to be less about whether MPs are angry at Labour’s losses. and more about what kind of leadership process could plausibly follow.. With Reform UK and the Greens making inroads in places Labour long relied on. and with Labour losing key devolved political ground in Wales and Scotland. the leadership challenge is unfolding against a backdrop of electoral volatility.
The decision now facing Starmer and those urging him to go will likely hinge on whether the party can agree—quickly enough—on a process and a successor who can unite competing factions.. Meanwhile. MPs not yet publicly committing themselves are effectively waiting for the moment when the challenge becomes official. candidates emerge. and the whips of party discipline return to the foreground in earnest.
For Labour’s leadership contest prospects. the coming days in Westminster could therefore be defined by a narrow window of opportunity: whether challengers can move from public pressure to a decisive trigger. and whether those on the party’s left and wider parliamentary party can align behind a candidate in time.. In that environment. even the question of “who next” is being treated as inseparable from “when. ” as Starmer’s own insistence that he will not walk away collides with demands for an orderly transition that some MPs say voters are already demanding.
Keir Starmer resignation Labour leadership contest Westminster politics local elections council seats Senedd loss Wales Holyrood losses Reform UK gains