Keir Starmer refuses to resign as 70 UK Labour MPs call for PM to step down
Updated ,first published
London: Britain is in a leadership crisis after Labor MPs called for Prime Minister Keir Starmer to resign after devastating losses in last Thursday’s election and ministers told him to leave.
Starmer upped the ante at a cabinet meeting in London on Tuesday morning (7pm AEST), where he told colleagues he would not resign despite calls from more than 70 MPs for a switch to a new leader.
His move puts the onus on his critics, including Australian-born MP Catherine West, to launch a formal leadership contest and prove they can not only have a large number of MPs but also secure a majority of party members.
Starmer argued that the cabinet took responsibility for the election results, but that the party had a process for selecting its leadership.
“The past 48 hours have been destabilizing for the government and this has a real economic cost for our country and for families,” he said.
“Labour has a process to challenge a leader and this has not yet been triggered.
“The country expects us to continue governing. That’s what I do and that’s what we need to do as a cabinet.”
Although the media reported that three cabinet ministers advised Starmer to initiate a transition process to his resignation, these were not made public.
The media named Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, Home Affairs Minister Shabana Mahmood and Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper as the trio who conveyed this to the prime minister.
Deputy minister Miatta Fahnbulleh announced his resignation in London on Tuesday morning and called on Starmer to resign.
“Our country faces enormous challenges, and people are crying out for the scale of change this requires,” said Fahnbulleh, whose portfolio includes communities and faith.
“The public doesn’t believe you can lead this change, and neither do I.”
Several ministers from the cabinet meeting voiced public support for Starmer and warned that instability was roiling financial markets and thus increasing the interest bill on the country’s debt.
Housing Minister Steve Reed said of X after the cabinet meeting: “This is not a game. This instability has consequences for people’s lives.”
“Those who will suffer the most will be those who elected us less than two years ago. We need to unite behind the prime minister.”
Business Secretary Peter Kyle praised Starmer’s “determined leadership” and backed him to remain in office. Technology Minister Liz Kendall said she had the prime minister’s full support. Work and Pensions Minister Pat McFadden also supported Starmer in his speech to journalists in Downing Street after the meeting.
Labour’s Baroness Jenny Chapman, a close ally of Starmer, told Sky News after the cabinet meeting that no ministers had spoken out against the prime minister.
“Indeed, everyone recognized the strength of the leadership shown by the prime minister,” said Chapman, Minister of State for International Development.
Chapman said he believed Starmer would meet and win any challenge to him, but acknowledged Labor MPs were stung by last Thursday’s election results.
“I think the worst thing we could do would be to engage in some kind of process that would lead to instability in the leadership of this country,” he said.
“If we did that, it would be bad for our economy, but it would also be bad for our politics in general.”
Health Minister Wes Streeting, one of the ministers most frequently mentioned as a leadership candidate, did not make any comments to the media as he left the cabinet meeting.
The other leading candidate is Andy Burnham, the left-wing mayor of Manchester, but he is not in parliament and needs time to find a seat in the House of Commons before mounting a challenge. Starmer’s allies blocked him from running in the by-election last year.
Starmer prepared for the cabinet meeting by giving a speech to supporters and the media on Monday morning (Monday night AEST), warning that a change of leadership would plunge the government into chaos.
“I know people are disappointed with the state of Britain, disappointed with politics, and some with me,” he said. “I know I have my doubts and I know I have to prove them wrong and I will do that.”
He used the speech, delivered live on television to a relatively small group, to announce the nationalization of British Steel and lay out his plans for stronger relations with Europe.
But within hours of the speech, more MPs went public with calls for him to set a path for his resignation, and British media reported that at least 70 people wanted him to leave.
Labor has 403 members in the House of Commons, and party rules say a leak can only be initiated if 20 per cent of that group (81 in the current parliament) put their names on an official document seeking votes.
The formal ballot call then triggers the election of Labor Party membership. Nearly 161,000 members voted in the ballot box that elected Lucy Powell as deputy leader last October.
By midday Tuesday in London (9pm AEST), the British press was reporting that 81 MPs had called for a transition to a new leader, which would be enough to force a leadership race.
West said on Saturday he would trigger a leadership vote if Starmer did not resign, but changed his mind on Monday and said he wanted a way to decide on a new leader by September.
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David Crowe is the European correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect with: X or email.
