Keir Starmer could cost us the election, Welsh Labour leader says in stinging attack on prime minister

Sir Keir Starmer could cost Labor the Senedd for the first time in its history, Welsh first minister Eluned Morgan said, in her assessment of the prime minister’s impact on the party’s chances in this week’s election.

To talk TelegramBaroness Morgan of Ely said the prime minister had “emerged as a problem on the doorstep”, suggesting his leadership could be responsible for the difficult results expected on Thursday.

He also ruled out supporting Sir Keir as Labor leader from “this point forward”.

He refused to say whether he thought he would lead the party in the next general election, although he insisted it would not be “helpful” to sack him now.

It came just a day after Scottish Labor leader Anas Sarwar insisted that a vote for Labor in Scotland did not mean supporting Sir Keir, saying he too was “angry and disappointed” about Westminster politics.

The Scottish Labor leader, who called on the prime minister to resign in February, said the upcoming Holyrood election was “the first opportunity to change the government in Scotland in 20 years”.

“This is about protest or some kind of gratuitous strike, not a fruitless election,” he warned.

The development comes as discontent with Sir Keir’s leadership of the party is growing and questions are mounting about the government’s direction, just days before local elections across the UK are expected to deliver a brutal result for Labour.

The Welsh Labor leader faced questions about whether Thursday’s vote would lead to his party losing control of the Senedd, with Plaid Cymru or Reform UK taking control.

Asked whether Wales could end up with a Reform or Plaid-led government because voters used the Senedd election to protest Sir Keir, he told the Telegraph: “I certainly hope they won’t do that.

“But there is a danger of that happening and I don’t want to see that happen.

“I hope people think about what this election is really about and I don’t think this is the time to fight Starmer. There’s a general election, it’s time to do that.”

The Welsh chief minister’s intervention comes amid reports that the prime minister is facing a plot by Labor MPs to sack him following local election results.

Backbenchers who won their seats in the 2024 election are reportedly planning to press for the prime minister’s resignation with an open letter reminiscent of the run-on letter sent to Sir Tony Blair 20 years ago.

Accordingly TimesMPs will hold Sir Keir responsible for the results of this week’s local elections and ask him to set a date for his departure.

The newspaper reported that some cabinet ministers were aware of the plot, but none joined the limited number of potential signatories.

Housing minister Steve Reed told Sky News on Tuesday that MPs “want this psychodrama to stop” and warned the party against being “led into disaster through leaders”.

It comes as Sir Keir vowed to go into election day “fighting for every vote” but admitted Labor could face a “challenge” as political leaders complete their local election campaign trails.

Nearly 25,000 candidates are running for election to more than 5,000 seats on 136 councils across England.

While all 129 seats in Holyrood are up for election in Scotland, voters in Wales will elect 96 members of the Senedd.