The pressure is mounting.
Two Labour MPs have quit their ministerial aide roles and have called for Keir Starmer to resign from his role as prime minister.
This comes after the number of Labour MPs calling on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to resign passed 50 earlier today following the disastrous local elections for his party.
Things came to a head in the wake of the local elections as Labour saw over 1,400 councillors wiped out, much to the gain of Reform UK.
Two resignations from aide roles
Tom Rutland MP for East Worthing and Shoreham has resigned from the role of Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and in doing so has called for Starmer to resign.
In a statement he wrote: “It is with regret that I believe the Prime Minister should now set out a timetable for his departure and for a new Leader to be chosen to lead the Labour Party and the country. I watched brilliant councillors lose their seats last week through no fault of their own.
“Time and time again, speaking with voters at their doors, I heard little dislike for local councillors nor for the Labour Party, but the animosity towards the Prime Minister was clear from every voter who was choosing to vote for another party or considering doing so. It reminded me of the reaction I got when speaking with voters under a former leader.
“It is clear to me that the Prime Minister has lost authority not just within the Parliamentary Labour Party but across the country and that he will not be able to regain it. That significantly impedes the ability of the Government to deliver the change that people voted for at the general election – change that we must deliver.
“We also have a generational responsibility to stop Reform’s hatred and division from taking over our great country. It weighs heavily on me and all of us must do all we can to prevent this from happening. I do not have faith that the Prime Minister can meet this challenge.
“It is not compatible to hold this view and continue to serve on the frontbench, so I have resigned as a Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and will continue to represent my wonderful constituents in East Worthing and Shoreham from the backbenches.”
Wes Streeting’s ministerial aide Joe Morris has quit and called for the prime minister to set out a “swift” timetable to stand down.
Disastrous local elections
Labour saw almost 1,500 councillors wiped off the map and lost control of 35 councils in last week’s local elections.
This, coupled with the recent Mandelson affair and the Autumn Budget which left many disgruntled, has led to Starmer being crowned the unwanted honour of the join most unfavourable prime minister ever, except for Liz Truss – which doesn’t really count to be honest.
While this may be slightly harsh on Starmer – seeing that most PMs rarely win popularity contests – this discontent is appearing to spread amongst his own party.
Labour suffered huge losses in the local elections. Credit: Getty.
As of this morning, there are now more than 50 Labour MPs who are calling on Starmer to resign – over ten per cent of their incumbent MPs in Commons.
Labour List keeps track of all the Labour MPs and their position towards the leader of their party.
As per the site, Sky News and Guido Fawkes, 44 Labour MPs have called for Starmer’s resignation or timetable for departure.
Full list of Labour MPs calling for Starmer to resign
Over 50 MPs have called, in varying degrees, for a change of leadership, directions or timetabling of Starmer’s departure.
A list of MPs is below and what some of them said:
David Baines (St Helens North)
“When you’re the leader, the buck stops with you.”
Paula Barker (Liverpool Wavertree)
“I’m a fan of Gordon [Brown], but I think rather than accept a position, he should have told him [Starmer] to go. That would have been more powerful.
Apsana Begum (Poplar and Limehouse)
“To avert the ultimate disaster of a Reform government, there needs to be a superseed change, in both leadership and policy.”
Clive Betts (Sheffield South East)
Olivia Blake (Sheffield Hallam)
“We need an orderly plan.”
Jonathan Brash (Hartlepool)
Richard Burgon (Leeds East)
Ian Byrne (Liverpool West Derby)
Irene Campbell (North Ayrshire and Arran)
Beccy Cooper (Worthing West)
Chris Curtis (Milton Keynes North)
Neil Duncan-Jordan (Poole)
Barry Gardiner (Brent West)
“I think we now need to change leader in the Labour party to save this country.”
Louise Haigh (Sheffield Heeley)
Paulette Hamilton (Birmingham Erdington)
“We need an orderly transition and we need to do a plan – Sir Keir needs to do this – of when he will leave and when we have that tradition. The British people have spoken.”
Chris Hinchliff (North East Hertfordshire)
Imran Hussain (Bradford East)
Terry Jermy (South West Norfolk)
Kim Johnson (Liverpool Riverside)
“He needs to go immediately.”
Ruth Jones (Newport West and Islywn)
“He must consider his position as we go forward now.”
Ian Lavery (Blyth and Ashington)
Brian Leishman (Alloa and Grangemouth)
“He should do the right thing for the party and the country and resign.”
Clive Lewis (Norwich South)
“A timetable for his departure is now necessary. The longer this is delayed, the greater the damage to the party and the country.”
Rachael Maskell (York Central)
“The prime minister cannot continue.”
Andy McDonald (Middlesborough and Thornaby East)
“We need a change of leader tied to a change of policy.”
John McDonnell (Hayes and Harlington)
Anneliese Midgley (Knowsley)
Navendu Mishra (Stockport)
Abtisam Mohamed (Sheffield Central)
Luke Myer (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Connor Naismith (Crewe and Nantwich)
“It is clear to me we need new leadership.”
If we go into the next election with him, we are going to get slaughtered I think.”
Kate Osborne (Jarrow and Gateshead East)
David Smith (North Northumberland)
Graham Stringer (Blackley and Middleton South)
“I’ve just heard that Catherine West is going to challenge him. It would be much better if he announced that he was going”.
Jon Trickett (Normanton and Hemsworth)
Tony Vaughan (Folkestone and Hythe)
Catherine West (Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Nadia Whittome (Nottingham East)
“I believe the prime minister should announce a timetable for his departure.”
Labour List’s site goes into detail about what each MP said about the PM here.
A resolute stance or a mountain too high to scale?
Despite a number of unhappy MPs voicing their concern, the party leadership continues to be resolute in the face of such calls.
Labour Deputy Leader Lucy Powell told BBC Radio 4 on Saturday: “Thinking that setting out some kind of timetable would put to bed the issues of leadership, I think is actually the wrong conclusion here.
“Because all that would do is fire the starting gun of a, quite honestly, very distracting and ongoing debate about leadership.”
While the PM himself wrote in the Guardian: “While we must respond to the message that voters have sent us, that doesn’t mean tacking right or left.
“It means bringing together a broad political movement, being assertive about our values, bold in our vision and addressing people’s demands.
“Unifying rather than dividing. That is the right approach for our party and, more importantly, it is the right approach for our country.”
Starmer has appointed Labour veterans Gordon Brown and Harriet Harman as advisers on Saturday (9 May).
An address to the nation
Starmer addressed the nation. Getty.
Starmer also addressed the nation today (Monday 11 May).
The prime minister began his remarks by admitting that the results were, “tough, very tough,” before adding he took full responsibility for the setback.
He said: “It is about taking responsibility to explain how as a political force we will be better, and do better, in the months and years ahead.”
On the losses to Reform and the Green Party, the Labour leader added: “We are not just facing dangerous times. But dangerous opponents, very dangerous opponents.
He then said: “If we don’t get this right, our country will go down a very dark path.”
“I take responsibility for delivering the change that we promised.”
“I take responsibility for not walking away, not plunging our country into chaos, as the Tories did time and again, chaos that did lasting damage to this country.
“A Labour government would never be forgiven for inflicting that on our country again.”
The Prime Minister then discussed the fact that a growing group of MPs have called on him to set out a timeline for a departure, saying: “Some people are frustrated with me.
“I know I need to prove them wrong and I will.”
“Let me start on a personal note. Like every prime minister, I’ve learned a lot in the first two years in the job in terms of the policy challenges that our country faces.
“Incremental change won’t cut it.
“On growth, defence, Europe, energy, we need a bigger response than we anticipated in 2024 because these are not ordinary times, and this is a political challenge just as much as it’s a policy challenge. Delivery is of course essential, but it’s not sufficient on its own to address the frustration that voters feel.
“We’re battling Reform and the Greens.
“But at a deeper level, we’re battling the despair on which they [play on], despair that they exploit and amplify. And so analysis matters. Argument matters.
“But so too does emotion. Stories beat spreadsheets. People need hope.”
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