Catherine West backs down from Starmer challenge but urges him to go by September | Keir Starmer
Labor MP Catherine West, who announced she was challenging Keir Starmer’s leadership, changed course, saying she instead wanted the prime minister to set a September timetable for his departure.
West, the Hornsey and Friern Barnet MP and former Foreign Secretary, said on Saturday he would seek to gather the names of the 81 Labor MPs needed to formally challenge Starmer, saying it was merely a means to encourage others to stand up and that he did not want to take over.
In a statement released after Starmer’s speech on Monday morning, in which he said Labor would fight on despite its poor results in last week’s election, West called for an orderly process for Starmer’s departure. “I listened to the Prime Minister’s speech this morning. I welcome the renewed energy and ideas. But I have reluctantly concluded that this morning’s speech was too little, too late.”
“Last Thursday’s results show that the Prime Minister has failed to offer hope. The best thing for the party and the country right now is an orderly transition. I am hereby informing Number 10 that I am gathering the names of Labor MPs to call on the Prime Minister to set a timetable for the election of a new leader in September.”
Under Labor Party rules, at least 81 MPs, or 20 per cent of the total parliamentary party, must support it for a challenge to occur. This means West’s plan to collect names for a future competition would have no validity under the rules, instead acting as a de facto vote of no confidence.
West’s change of plans potentially takes some of the urgency out of the situation, amid speculation that rivals such as health minister Wes Streeting and Starmer’s former aide Angela Rayner will bid soon.
The prospect of a longer timetable would give Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham time to potentially return to parliament and enter the contest, but after his speech Starmer said whether he would be allowed to do so was still a matter for Labour’s national executive committee (NEC), which blocked him in January.
