I will prove doubters wrong, vows Starmer as he resists calls to quit

Sir Keir Starmer vowed on Monday to prove his doubters wrong as he clung to power despite growing calls from Labor MPs for him to resign.

A make-or-break speech in central London was met with cheers from the audience in the chamber but failed to sway the angry backbencher still reeling from last week’s historically poor election results.

But more than 60 Labor MPs from all wings of the party called on the prime minister to leave immediately or set a timetable for his departure, and there was growing speculation that health minister Wes Streeting was about to launch a coup.

A number of Mr Streeting’s supporters have joined a growing list of MPs calling for the Prime Minister’s resignation; Chris Curtis, chairman of the growth group; and MPs Josh Simons, Jas Athwal, Sally Jamieson and Tom Rutland. There were also unconfirmed reports that Mr Streeting’s parliamentary private secretary, Joe Morris, had resigned from the government.

Allies of former deputy chancellor Angela Rayner were also preparing their own leadership bids in anticipation of Mr Streeting’s announcement on Tuesday.

A Labor source said: “Work will start tomorrow.”

But in a message challenging his critics, Sir Keir said: “I understand, I feel and I take responsibility. I know I have my doubts and I know I have to prove them wrong and I will do that.”

Addressing the difficulties posed by Nigel Farage’s Reform UK and Zack Polanski’s Green Party, which took hundreds of seats from Labor in local elections, Sir Keir called on his party to support him.

“This is nothing more than a battle for the soul of our nation and I want to be very clear about how we win it, because we cannot win it as a weaker version of Reform or the Greens,” he said.

“We can only win by being a stronger version of the Labor Party, a non-protesting, mainstream governing party.”

He took aim at Mr Farage’s “false promises” on Brexit and called the Reform UK leader “a fraud and an opportunist”.

He also vowed to defend the far right and announced he was banning foreign influencers from attending Tommy Robinson’s march over the weekend.

But while he was applauded in the packed hall of the Coin Community Center in the City of London, his message failed to impress the large audience outside.

There were concerns that he dodged a question about whether he would try to block Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham’s return to parliament amid growing support for him to replace Sir Keir.

But in a minor boost, potential stalker candidate Catherine West, who had said she would challenge Sir Keir for the party leadership as early as Monday afternoon in a bid to force the Cabinet to put forward someone new as prime minister, has pulled back from mounting an immediate challenge.

Speaking after Sir Keir’s speech, which he described as “too little, too late”, the former Foreign Secretary said he would now seek support from within the party for the prime minister to set a timetable for his resignation by September.

MPs noted that allies of health minister Wes Streeting, particularly Chris Curtis of the right-wing pro-growth group, had joined left-wing rebels in demanding the Prime Minister stand down.

Most of the leading candidates, including Mr Streeting and energy minister Ed Miliband, remained silent after the prime minister’s speech, but former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner repeated the call first made on Sunday for Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, favorite to take over from Sir Keir, to return to Westminster.

Meanwhile, some MPs said they were disappointed by Sir Keir’s speech, which contained little policy detail. There was a vague promise to put the UK back at the heart of Europe, but no details of how that would happen or whether that meant setting out a path to undo Brexit and rejoin.

Sir Keir confirmed that British Steel would be nationalized but did not follow up with a new economic policy that promised neither the growth the right of the party wanted nor the nationalization that the left wanted.

Newcastle North MP Catherine McKinnell said: “It has become clear that it is time for a new leader to take us across the finish line of this term and into the next.”

When Reformation took control, his city witnessed the demise of Labor councillors.

Another former loyalist, Plymouth Moor View MP Fred Thomas, wrote in support of a leadership contest.

He said: “I have nothing but respect for Sir Keir Starmer. He has transformed our party and led us to election victory.

“But sadly it is now clear that we must look to a new leader to deliver on our promise of change and secure Britain’s future.”

But some Starmer loyalists have responded to Ms West’s efforts to collect signatures to launch the leadership election.

Banbury MP Sean Woodcock shared his email response to Ms West, asking her to “please stop”.

“I think this is a completely frivolous way to go,” he said.

“While I too have had disappointing results in my seat and I don’t find myself very happy with where we are, this is not how the government of a major economy and nuclear energy should be decided.”