Starmer’s speech fails to stop more Labour MPs calling for his resignation
Labour MPs are continuing to come out calling for Keir Starmer to set a timetable for his resignation.
These are from Paulette Hamilton.
The local elections were devastating. We lost outstanding councillors and candidates.
On the doorstep, voters repeatedly told us the same thing, national issues and the party leadership meant they could no longer vote Labour.
We now need an orderly transition to new leadership.
The public have made it clear that they do not wish to hear further talk of a “reset” from Sir Keir Starmer.
Confidence is lost. Voters have stopped listening.
Now, an orderly transition must follow, and change must come from the top.
These are from Markus Campbell-Savours.
1/4 I have listened carefully to the Prime Minister’s speech. Sir Keir Starmer is a decent, principled and kind man. But his leadership is not working, and it is with genuine regret that I say so.
2/4 His position is now untenable. Colleagues should have the courage to say publicly what many have said privately for months.
3/4 Loyalty matters. Loyalty to him, to the Party and to each other. But today loyalty lies with our elected members across the country and with the 1,500 who lost their seats last week. It does not lie in maintaining a course that is not commanding confidence.
4/4. What the Party needs now is leadership with a credible vision for the country, a clear sense of direction, purpose and ambition. Those skills exist within our ranks, and I am confident we can find a leader who has them.
And this is from Emma Lewell.
Key events
-
Starmer leadership crisis shows ‘chaos’ has become ‘permanent pattern’ at Westminster, SNP claims
-
Labour MP Lorraine Beavers says Starmer should quit, claiming party will do even worse next year in elections if he stays
-
Starmer can’t win next election and must ‘set date for his departure’, says Labour MP Alan Gemmell
-
Welsh secretary Jo Stevens suggests Mark Drakeford’s policy agenda helped cause Labour’s crushing defeat
-
Sadiq Khan backs Burnham being allowed to stand as byelection candidate so he can return to Commons
-
Starmer’s speech fails to stop more Labour MPs calling for his resignation
-
Curtis says new Labour leader should be elected well before September, which is timetable proposed by West
-
Labour MP Chris Curtis says Starmer should stand down
-
Rayner tells CWU she was ‘born in Stockport, but raised in trade union movement’
-
Rayner says Burnham should be allowed to be Labour byelection candidate so he can return to parliament
-
Rayner says people turning ‘to populists and nationalists’ because Labour not fixing cost of living problems
-
Rayner tells CWU it’s clear what Labour government is doing ‘isn’t working’
-
Angela Rayner addresses CWU conference
-
Starmer’s speech – verdict from commentariat
-
Starmer’s speech ‘too little, too late’, says Catherine West, and urges Labour MPs to back calls for him to quit
-
Catherine West reportedly set to press ahead with call for Starmer to set timetable for resignation
-
Labour MP David Smith joins those saying Starmer should set departure date, saying Labour must ‘act faster, and be more radical’
-
Starmer says constant leadership changes under Tories ‘inflicted huge damage on this country’
-
Starmer refuses to rule out including plan to join EU’S single market or customs union in Labour’s next manifesto
-
Starmer says he will fight any challenge to his leadership
-
Starmer insists he can prove his doubters wrong
-
Starmer says ‘chaos of constantly changing leaders’ under Tories was bad for UK, with working people paying price
-
Starmer plays down prospect of Burnham being allowed by Labour to be byelection candidate
-
Starmer says government will ban far-right agitators from travelling to UK for march planned for Saturday
-
Starmer says he will set ‘new direction for Britain’ at next summit with EU
-
Starmer attacks Farage’s record on Brexit, saying he is ‘not just a grifter, he’s a chancer’
-
Starmer says government will bring forward legislation this week to nationalise British Steel
-
Starmer says he needs to talk more about how Labour is acting on behalf of working people
-
Starmer says ‘stories beat spreadsheets’ and ‘people need hope’
-
Starmer says UK will go ‘down very dark path’ if Labour does not recover and get things right
-
Kyle says Wes Streeting, his friend, not plotting to oust Starmer
-
Kyle suggests Rayner, and other candidates, could put public finances in ‘peril’ with spending policies
-
Kyle says it was Burnham himself who chose to leave Commons, as he rubbishes talk of Labour allowing swift return for mayor
-
Starmer to propose stronger links with EU, as Peter Kyle claims significant change possible within Labour’s manifesto red lines
-
Starmer to say ‘incremental change won’t cut it’ in major make-or-break speech to avert leadership challenge
Here is the Downing Street news release on the announcement in Keir Starmer’s speech this morning on legislation to nationalise British Steel. No 10 says.
British Steel could be back in government hands for the first time since being sold off in 1988, thanks to powers that will be included in new legislation to be set out in the Kings Speech on Wednesday.
The new powers would be subject to public interest tests, and if used to nationalise British Steel, they would boost national security while giving stability to workers at Scunthorpe, and British Steel’s suppliers and customers.
Starmer leadership crisis shows ‘chaos’ has become ‘permanent pattern’ at Westminster, SNP claims
Here is some more reaction to Keir Starmer’s speech this morning from rival parties.
Zack Polanski, the Green party leader, said:
Keir Starmer showed today that he still doesn’t understand why voters overwhelmingly rejected Labour on Thursday. People want real change and are fed up to the back teeth with a status quo that has failed the vast majority.
The Greens’ message about ending the affordability crisis by bringing down bills, building council housing and introducing rent controls resonated with a public that has given up on the failing Labour government.
And Keith Brown, the SNP’s depute (deputy) leader, said:
This is yet another Westminster government consumed by chaos which is now the permanent pattern on that place.
Broken, Brexit Britain is in terminal decline lurching from scandal to scandal and the question is no longer will Keir Starmer go? The question is when will Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland go.
Labour MP Lorraine Beavers says Starmer should quit, claiming party will do even worse next year in elections if he stays
Lorraine Beavers, the Labour MP for Blackpool North and Fleetwood, has joined those calling for Keir Starmer to quit. She says, if he stays, Labour will do even worse in next year’s local elections.
She says that his speech this morning was passionate – but that the content did not promise “anything close to the scale of change needed to rebuild communities like mine”.
She also says there should be an election – and that Labour should not just replace Starmer with another cabinet minister by consensus.
She says:
I’ve spent the weekend listening to my constituents, local party members and local councillors. They are as fed up as I am.
Without a massive change in approach, when elections are held in my corner of Lancashire next year, voters will send the same message with even greater force.
I wanted to give the prime minister the chance to set out that change this morning. It was a passionate speech – passion I wish I’d heard more often from the prime minister over the last two years.
But the content of the speech did not suggest anything close to the scale of change needed to rebuild communities like mine.
I believe that the prime minister should announce a timetable for leaving office. We must have a new leader in place well in advance of next year’s local elections.
For our party to rediscover its connection with working-class communities like mine, we need a democratic contest involving the most talented leaders from across our movement.
A cabinet appointment, without consulting the wider party and labour movement, would risk repeating the same mistakes already made.
A reader asks:
Andrew, the results page indicates 135 out of 136 councils in England have declared. I may have missed it, but what is the outstanding council, and when may we expect its declaration? Thanks from an American reader.
The full results from Birmingham aren’t in yet because one seat still has not been declared due to a recount.
From my colleague Jessica Elgot
Thoughts from a Labour MP:
“We have to face up to the fact every single one of them is fucking useless. Andy’s strategy has been a disaster. Angela bottled it. Ed clearly a hiding to nothing. Wes AWOL. God knows what Catherine West is doing. Not quite sure how we ended up here.”
Starmer can’t win next election and must ‘set date for his departure’, says Labour MP Alan Gemmell
Alan Gemmell, the Labour MP for Central Ayrshire, has also called for Keir Starmer to resign, Pippa Crerar reports. Pippa says:
Another Labour MP – Alan Gemmell – calls for Keir Starmer to go following his speech. Also a Wes Streeting supporter. Coincidence?
“Our country faces enormous challenges and we need a Labour government that can deliver the scale of change this requires. The message from last week’s elections is clear: the Prime Minister no longer has the trust or confidence of the public to lead this change.
“I listened to the PM today. Sadly I don’t believe he can lead us to into, and win, the next election therefore he must now set a date for his departure.”
Catherine McKinnell, the Labour MP for Newcastle North and a former education minster, has posted an open letter on social media calling for Keir Starmer’s resignation and a “swift and orderly transition” to a new leader.
Welsh secretary Jo Stevens suggests Mark Drakeford’s policy agenda helped cause Labour’s crushing defeat
Bethan McKernan
Bethan McKernan is the Guardian’s Wales correspondent.
Jo Stevens, the secretary of state for Wales, has said former Welsh Labour leader and first minister Mark Drakeford was distracted from “bread and butter issues”, as the party regroups after losing control of the Senedd for the first time in 27 years.
In an article for WalesOnline, Stevens said:
People are rightly cross about the rollout of 20mph speed restrictions and public money being spent on tree planting in Uganda when we weren’t getting the basics right. The NHS. Education. Cost of living. Any time spent away from those key priorities was time wasted.
Welsh Labour is still reeling from its catastrophic performance in last week’s Senedd elections: it finished a distant third after Plaid Cymru and Reform UK, with just nine seats in a 96-seat parliament. The first minister, Eluned Morgan, lost her seat, triggering a leadership contest. Ken Skates, the MS for Fflint Wrecsam and former cabinet secretary for transport, has taken over as interim leader.
Internal recriminations have begun in earnest, with the Westminster and Cardiff wings of the party laying the blame at each other’s feet for the election loss. Drakeford, widely considered to be on the left of the party, was first minister between 2018 to 2024. He retired from politics at the end of the last Senedd term.
On Monday Keir Starmer said he had spoken to Morgan over the weekend, but did not elaborate on what they talked about.
Sadiq Khan backs Burnham being allowed to stand as byelection candidate so he can return to Commons
Sadiq Khan, the Labour mayor of London, has joined those calling for Andy Burnham to be allowed to stand as a byelection candidate so that he can return to the Commons. In an interview with George Eaton for Arguably, a new Substack blog Eaton runs for progressive comment, Khan said:
I’m a firm believer in the team that I support winning, you want your best players on the pitch … If Andy still wants to return, and an opportunity arises he should be allowed to stand … I’m a firm believer in the team that I support winning, you want your best players on the pitch.
Starmer’s speech fails to stop more Labour MPs calling for his resignation
Labour MPs are continuing to come out calling for Keir Starmer to set a timetable for his resignation.
These are from Paulette Hamilton.
The local elections were devastating. We lost outstanding councillors and candidates.
On the doorstep, voters repeatedly told us the same thing, national issues and the party leadership meant they could no longer vote Labour.
We now need an orderly transition to new leadership.
The public have made it clear that they do not wish to hear further talk of a “reset” from Sir Keir Starmer.
Confidence is lost. Voters have stopped listening.
Now, an orderly transition must follow, and change must come from the top.
These are from Markus Campbell-Savours.
1/4 I have listened carefully to the Prime Minister’s speech. Sir Keir Starmer is a decent, principled and kind man. But his leadership is not working, and it is with genuine regret that I say so.
2/4 His position is now untenable. Colleagues should have the courage to say publicly what many have said privately for months.
3/4 Loyalty matters. Loyalty to him, to the Party and to each other. But today loyalty lies with our elected members across the country and with the 1,500 who lost their seats last week. It does not lie in maintaining a course that is not commanding confidence.
4/4. What the Party needs now is leadership with a credible vision for the country, a clear sense of direction, purpose and ambition. Those skills exist within our ranks, and I am confident we can find a leader who has them.
And this is from Emma Lewell.
Kemi Badenoch has claimed (implausibly) that she takes no pleasure in seeing Keir Starmer in difficulties. In a post on social media, she said:
Keir Starmer’s speech was sad to watch. With so many resets, even his reset button needs a reset.
But I do not take pleasure in watching the Prime Minister flounder. The country needs leadership, not another speech from a man who clearly knows something has gone badly wrong, but still can’t explain why.
This is Labour’s real problem. It is not just Starmer – all the pretenders jostling for his job do not have the answers either, because they all believe the same things: more welfare, more state control, more borrowing, more regulation. They are busy arguing over who should drive the car, but the truth is they are all heading in the wrong direction. They have no vision for the future.
And Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, criticised Starmer for not committing to joining an EU customs union.
Voters sent Keir Starmer a clear message that Britain needs a bold new direction, but he keeps delivering the same old speech.
If the Government wants to regain the trust of the British people, they have to end the cost of living crisis. There is no way of doing that without getting rid of Keir Starmer’s red lines on Europe and fixing the botched Brexit deal, including a customs union. It’s really that simple.
Here is Peter Walker’s story on Catherine West urging other Labour MPs to join calls for Starmer’s resignation – but no longer proposing to stand as a candidate herself.
This is from Jessica Elgot, summing up the change in West’s position perfectly.
Labour MP: “Catherine West is no longer trying to appoint herself as PM, she’s trying to appoint herself as Graham Brady.”
Curtis says new Labour leader should be elected well before September, which is timetable proposed by West
The Labour MP Chris Curtis started his interview on Sky News by paying tribute to Keir Starmer, and what he had done to get Labour elected.
But he went on:
But I think the moment, the dramatic situation that we face – the geo-political context, the fact that we had such a difficult economic inheritance – does mean that we need more radical change than the government has set out so far.
I don’t think we saw a plan from the prime minister this morning in order to implement the kind of change that this country needs.
And I therefore think it’s time for us to look for new leadership.
And I think what that means is the prime minister rightly now setting out a timetable and an orderly process for a leadership election, and one in which Labour has a discussion about the vision for the country and what changes we think are needed in order to face the very real challenges that Britain currently faces.
Curtis said the Labour Growth Group would be publishing a report tomorrow on economic plans to renew Britain. He said he hoped a new Labour leader would be able to take forward some of those ideas.
Asked about the call from Catherine West for Starmer to set a timetable for the election of a new leader in September (see 12.20pm), Curtis said that was too long to wait. “I certainly think the timetable should be much shorter,” he said.
Asked if he expected to see “overwhelming” numbers of Labour MPs coming out this week demanding a timetable for Starmer’s resignation, Curtis replied: “Possibly.”
Curtis is seen as a Wes Streeting supporter. In an interview on the Today programme this morning, when he was told that Streeting had once described him as “brilliant”, Curtis claimed not to be aware of that. Asked if he thought Streeting himself was brilliant, Curtis said he was doing a “fantastic job” as health secretary.
Asked if he thought Streeting would be a brilliant PM, Curtis said there was “a wide range of talent” in the party.
Agreeing to elect a new Labour leader by September would (provided he could win a byelection) allow Andy Burnham to be a candidate. Holding the election sooner would benefit Burnham’s rivals.
Labour MP Chris Curtis says Starmer should stand down
In an interview on Sky News, Chris Curtis, the Labour MP who is chair of the Labour Growth Group, has just announced that he no longer has confidence in Keir Starmer and wants him to set a timetable for his resignation.
Getting back to wider policy, Rayner said “tweaks” would not be enough to fix the problems facing the economy.
I don’t need to be persuaded that tweaks won’t fix the fundamental challenges that our country faces.
This government needs to put measures in place that makes people’s lives better. We need to fix the foundations of a system that is rigged against them, because we know that things can be so much better than this.
Spain and Canada have shown that a economies can grow and people can thrive when governments stay true to their values and put people first. And we need to learn from that.
In London, we lost young people who fear they will never afford a home.
And in my patch and across the north, we lost working people whose wages are too low and the costs are too high.
In Scotland and Wales people do not currently see Labour as the answer.
Conference, for too long governments have allowed wealth and power to concentrate at the top without a plan to ensure that the benefits of economic growth are shared fairly.
The result has been an economy that does not work for the majority, with wealth concentrated in far too few hands.
Rayner said that the the government could “cut the cost for households and put money back in the everyday economy”, in a way that was consistent with the government’s fiscal rules.
She ended by quoting the late John Prescott, who was also a union person and a former deputy PM.
The late John Prescott used to tell me, ‘You’ve got a voice, kid, use it.’ A union man to his core. John would have relished this fight.
Addressing the importance of affiliation to the Labour party, Rayner said that the government would not have passed the Employment Rights Act, or other workers’ rights measures, without having trade unions affiliated to the party.
