What are the agendas of Labour MPs calling for Starmer to step down?
For months, MPs expected the results of the May elections across Great Britain to be a tipping point in Keir Starmer’s premiership.But in the aftermath of the results, and as the number of Labour MPs publicly calling for Starmer to leave has gone past 80, it has become clear that his opponents are serving a variety of agendas.Here are some of the key tendencies visible in the growing opposition to Starmer.Catherine West, the former Foreign Office minister who briefly threatened to launch a “stalking horse” candidacy, spoke for many MPs still reeling from the local elections results when she dared cabinet ministers and others to formally challenge Starmer.The MP for Hornsey and Friern Barnet was prompted to go public after a furious WhatsApp exchange with the housing secretary, Steve Reed.
Others – including Paulette Hamilton, the MP for Erdington, Ruth Jones (Newport West and Islwyn), Richard Baker (Glenrothes and Mid Fife) and Alex Ballinger (Halesowen) blamed the fact that “constituents have lost confidence” in Starmer.A former supporter of Starmer said: “He clearly did not feel the pain of the local elections results and that came across in his speech.The lack of empathy.He did not come from the political grassroots and it shows.If he doesn’t have the empathy there will continue to be a trickle of fed-up MPs.
”Some Labour MPs believe many of their colleagues have been biding their time to express how they truly felt about Starmer’s reshuffle before the party conference last year after Angela Rayner’s resignation from government.“Talented people were sacked, and Starmer made them feel as though they were the problem when it’s always been about his lack of vision,” a publicly loyal senior figure said.West was sacked as the minister for the Indo-Pacific in last September’s reshuffle.Justin Madders, the former employment minister, is a member of the Tribune group, who support Andy Burnham or will back another soft-left candidate if Burnham cannot get into Westminster in time.Catherine McKinnell, the former Send minister, also sacked in the reshuffle, is known as an ally of Wes Streeting.
There are some in the parliamentary Labour party (PLP) who thought as early as Monday that Streeting was orchestrating a coordinated move against Starmer.A number of his allies – including Chris Curtis (MP for Milton Keynes North), Jas Athwal (Ilford South) and Joe Morris (Hexham) – used similar language about a “swift” leadership transition.This framing plainly benefits the health secretary – given that Burnham is not currently an MP – and he apparently has “hundreds of supporters” in the PLP.Three of the ministers who quit on Tuesday, Alex Davies-Jones, Jess Phillips and Zubir Ahmed, are also seen as close to Streeting, releasing devastating resignation letters.Ahmed’s letter similarly called for an “expedient” transition.
Labour MPs who have called for Starmer to set out a plan for an “orderly transition” tend to be backers of Burnham – or, in the event the mayor of Greater Manchester doesn’t make it back into parliament before a contest, a soft-left contender to challenge Streeting and potentially a No 10 continuity candidate.Allies and supporters of Burnham – including Paula Barker (MP for Liverpool Wavertree), Louise Haigh (Sheffield Heeley), Clive Lewis (Norwich South), Connor Naismith (Crewe and Nantwich) and Simon Opher (Stroud), to name a few – believe a longer timeline will give the PLP and the unions time to have a proper discussion about future Labour policy and vision, plus, of course, space for Burnham to win a byelection.Josh Simons, the former director of Labour Together who was forced to resign as a Cabinet Office minister three months ago, has also supported a longer timeline for departure.Simons, the MP for Makerfield and a former supporter of Starmer, claimed the prime minister had lost the country.This roughly 30-strong group of “hard-left” MPs are often painted as the “usual suspects” from within the PLP, and tend to criticise the direction of Starmer’s government.
Many of them were first to call for the prime minister to go, and are said to hope for a slower transition to reduce the odds of Streeting, a Blairite, becoming the next prime minister.
‘Hold the line’: Burnham tells allies in parliament he still has options to return
Andy Burnham has told Labour MPs they should hold the line and that he has options to return to parliament after several seats identified by his allies failed to materialise.Two seats that backers of the Greater Manchester mayor had described as “nailed on” as recently as Monday night are now out of contention after the MPs concerned got cold feet.Burnham spoke to a number of MPs by phone on Tuesday and assured them that he still intended to seek an imminent return to parliament.The Guardian was told by two MPs on Wednesday that Jeff Smith, who represents Manchester Withington, an affluent suburb of the city, was in talks about stepping aside for Burnham, but his friends denied it. Asked whether he was about to make way, Smith told the Press Association he was not
‘It’s more incrementalism’: Starmer’s safe king’s speech fails to quell mutiny
For Keir Starmer’s Labour critics, his second king’s speech, in which the government set out what it would do in parliament over the next 12 to 18 months, was a crystallisation of everything that was wrong with the prime minister’s strategy.Over 34 bills and three draft ones, Starmer set out a programme he said would “make this country stronger and fairer”. But the package, which included limiting trial by jury, reshaping the NHS and moving the country closer to the EU, fell short of what some in the prime minister’s party feel is needed to win back voters’ trust.“Most of this is incrementalism,” said one Labour MP. “This sums up where we have gone wrong in the first two years in government
Starmer has ‘full confidence’ in Streeting despite health secretary’s allies saying he is planning to resign – as it happened
Downing Street has now confirmed that Wes Streeting is still health secretary. The PM’s spokesperson told reporters the prime minister has “full confidence” in the health secretary.Allies of Wes Streeting have said he is preparing to stand down as health secretary amid deep frustration with Keir Starmer’s leadership, and could mount a formal challenge for the leadership as early as Thursday.Keir Starmer has put long-promised changes to education, health and the courts at the heart of his agenda for the next year, as the embattled prime minister looks to prove he can enact the scale of change being demanded by Labour MPs and voters. There were 37 bills in the speech
Labour politicians should put the country before their party | Letters
As an active and loyal Labour member, I am infuriated by what is happening within the party (Burnham allies warn against quick ‘coronation’ of Streeting if Starmer quits, 12 May). The ongoing circus about the leadership is a terrible distraction from the numerous global and national issues that the government and the prime minister should be focused on. But the most infuriating aspect of the entire shambles is the relentless speculation and briefings from so-called “allies” of Andy Burham.No Labour member has an innate right to be selected as a parliamentary candidate. The assertion that a sitting Labour MP should give up the seat voters elected them to, necessitating a byelection so that Burnham can run, then assuming that he would automatically retain the seat, is arrogance beyond belief
Labour lost the vote of small business owners like me | Letter
Your report (Reform wins across northern England overturn decades of Labour control, 8 May) touched on Labour losing support among small business owners. I wanted to offer the perspective of a small independent business owner who has traditionally supported Labour.Labour’s poor local election results may reflect a growing frustration among small business owners who no longer feel recognised as “working people”. In hospitality, hair and beauty, retail and trades, there are thousands upon thousands of us keeping local economies alive while taking home increasingly modest incomes ourselves.Last year, our small independent restaurant in Margate turned over roughly £350,000
King’s speech might be the last word on Starmer as reluctant monarch does his duty | John Crace
The king looked fed up. His attempts to throw a sickie had come to nothing. Did the government really want to go ahead with the state opening? Apparently it did. Would it be OK if he phoned it in? He fancied a day working from palace. It wouldn’t be OK
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