Starmer’s plea for more time ignored as calls for his resignation rise and aides quit

Senior Labour aides resigned and more MPs demanded Keir Starmer step aside after he promised to prove critics wrong.

Joe Morris, a parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to health secretary Wes Streeting, and Tom Rutland, a PPS to environment secretary Emma Reynolds, urged the prime minister to set out a timetable for his departure as they quit.. Cabinet office PPS Naushabah Khan and Melanie Ward, a PPS to deputy prime minister David Lammy, called for new leadership as they announced their resignations later yesterday.. Sally Jameson, a PPS to home secretary Shabana Mahmood, has also

joined the growing calls for Mr Starmer to step aside from discontented MPs, who numbered 63 by yesterday evening.. In a statement on social media, Ms Ward said: “Keir Starmer did important work to change the Labour Party, and governing in a time like this will never be easy.. “But the message from last week’s elections was clear – the prime minis-ter has lost the confidence of the public to lead this change.” Mr Morris

said: “I have boundless confidence in the Labour Party and our ability to rise to this moment.. “However, regrettably, it is now clear that the prime minister no longer has the trust or confidence of the public to lead this change.” Mr Rutland said the prime minister had “lost authority” within the parliamentary Labour Party and across the country, and “will not be able to regain it”.. “Time and time again, speaking with voters at

their doors, I heard little dislike for local councillors nor for the Labour Party, but the animosity towards the prime minister was clear from every voter who was choosing to vote for another party or considering doing so,” he said.. Labour lost almost 1,500 English councillors, went backwards in Scotland and slumped to third in Wales Ms Khan said: “I am calling for new leadership so that we can rebuild trust and deliver the better

future that the British people voted for.” The prime minister sought to face down critics yesterday with a promise to prove his doubters wrong, as former minister Catherine West withdrew threats to imminently launch a leadership challenge.. But his speech failed to quell demands that he quit or set out a timetable for his departure from discontented MPs.. Ms West had previously said she would challenge Mr Starmer for the party leadership as early as

yesterday afternoon, in an attempt to force the cabinet to put forward a replacement as prime minister.. After Mr Starmer insisted he would not “walk away”, the former foreign office minister said she would now canvass support within the party for the prime minister to set out a time-table for his resignation by September.. Speculation about the prime minister’s future has intensified since Thursday’s elections, in which Labour lost almost 1,500 English councillors, went backwards

in Scotland and slumped to third in Wales.. In a speech in central London yesterday, Mr Starmer said he took “responsibility” for the losses, but would fight on.. Yesterday’s address had been billed as a move to set out sweeping changes needed to tackle the “big challenges” facing Britain, and was widely seen as a “make-or-break” moment for the prime minister.. Mr Starmer set out a number of measures, including legislation to nationalise British Steel,

a ban on “far-right agitators” coming to the UK for a planned march on Saturday and a plan to put the UK “at the heart of Europe”.. He cast the current political moment as a “battle for the soul” of the UK, warning that if Labour failed, the country would head down “a very dark path”.. A handful of backbenchers spoke in support of the prime minister afterwards, with Macclesfield MP Tim Roca and Gedling’s

Michael Payne saying Mr Starmer had demonstrated he understood “the scale of the challenge” facing the country.. But others from across the party – going far beyond his usual critics on the left – continued to demand his resignation.. North Northumberland MP David Smith, who has been the UK’s special envoy for freedom of religion or belief since 2024, said Labour owed “a debt of gratitude” to Mr Starmer, but he could not “carry on

with the approach we have taken” since the general election.. Blue Labour, an internal pressure group founded by Labour peer Lord Maurice Glasman, also called yesterday for the prime minister to set out a timetable for his departure.. Others have looked towards Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, saying he should be allowed to return to parliament.. But Mr Starmer would not be drawn on whether he would support Mr Burnham’s return to Westminster, saying it

was a matter for Labour’s national executive committee (NEC).. Mr Burnham is yet to comment publicly on reports that he intends to attempt a return to Westminster The NEC, dominated by supporters of the prime minister, blocked Mr Burnham from contesting the Gorton and Denton by-election earlier this year, and the formerly safe Labour seat was won by the Greens.. In a speech to the Communication Workers Union yesterday, former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner

– regarded as a potential leadership contender – said the decision to block Mr Burnham should be “put right”.. London mayor Sadiq Khan also backed Mr Burnham’s return to parliament, saying this should happen “sooner rather than later”, but that he was not calling for a leadership change, only a change in the “pace of delivery”.. Mr Burnham is yet to comment publicly on reports that he intends to attempt a return to Westminster, and

has pulled out of an event at which he was due to speak today.. A Survation poll for Compass, conducted before the local elections, found 55pc of the British public think Mr Starmer should stand down, and 22pc think he can turn things around.. Responding to the speech, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said it was “sad to watch”, adding: “With so many resets, even his reset button needs a reset.. “But I do not take

pleasure in watching the prime minister flounder.. The country needs leadership, not another speech from a man who clearly knows something has gone badly wrong, but still can’t explain why.” She also dismissed Labour’s “pretenders jostling for his job”, saying: “They are busy arguing over who should drive the car, but the truth is they are all heading in the wrong direction.. They have no vision for the future.”

Keir Starmer resignation, Labour leadership challenge, Labour MP resignations, discontented MPs, Andy Burnham return, NEC blocked Gorton Denton, Survation poll Compass