Australian-born Catherine West signals intent to challenge Keir Starmer for UK Labour leadership
Keir Starmer is 48 hours away from a tough fight for his leadership after an Australian said he would run to unseat the British Prime Minister if no one else comes forward.
Australian-born Labor MP Catherine West has signaled her intention to challenge Mr Starmer for the party leadership and therefore the prime ministership unless Labor nominates a different candidate.
Making the announcement on BBC radio on Saturday night, Ms West said she would prefer the cabinet “reshuffle itself” and appoint its “best communicator” to replace the current Prime Minister, who has suffered a steady decline in the polls since the last UK general election in 2024.
Ms West said there were at least 10 MPs willing to support her in her leadership bid, but that was not her first choice for the outcome.
“My preferred option is for the cabinet to reshuffle itself, which has a lot of talent, and give Keir a different role that he can enjoy, perhaps an international role,” he said.
“I think there are a few people who want to do this, who have been planning for months, but I’m very surprised that none of them have come forward today and said, ‘I’m going to do this.'”
His announcement comes after Labor suffered huge losses in this week’s council elections, losing more than 1,400 council seats to Reform and Greens candidates.
Ms West has been a member of the party since moving to England in 1998 and spent the first 22 years of her life living in Australia.
Born in the Victorian town of Mansfield in 1966, Ms West was one of four children born to teachers Janet and Roderick West.
Ms West spent her childhood in Sydney, where she attended Meriden School and Ravenswood Girls’ School.
She eventually graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Social Work and moved to Darwin to work with victims of childhood sexual abuse.
After moving to the United Kingdom with her husband in 1998, she joined the Labor Party and eventually became a councilor for Islington Borough Council in London, where she held the post for 12 years before resigning to run in the 2015 UK general election.
He was first elected in 2015 and served as shadow Foreign Secretary under Jeremy Corbyn.
Ms West has been re-elected at every general election in England since.
