Labour MPs are planning to give Sir Keir Starmer an ultimatum for his departure if this week’s elections are a disaster for the party, according to reports.
It is widely anticipated that Labour will suffer deep losses on Thursday, with polls suggesting it could fall to third place in Wales after winning every Senedd election since the Parliament was created in 1999.
Some forecasters have predicted the party could lose around 1,900 seats in the English local elections too, with Reform and the Green Party likely to win big.
The Times reports a group of backbenchers who were first elected in 2024 are planning to send an open letter to Starmer calling on him to stand down.
According to the newspaper, the MPs will call for the PM to set a date for his resignation as Tony Blair did in 2006.
The story has already been seized upon by Labour’s opponents – including Reform, with leader Nigel Farage saying it backs up his campaign slogan of ‘vote Reform, get Starmer out’.
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Holding up a copy of the Times in a social media video, he said: ‘They’re beginning to realise if we sweep the board against Labour, they’ll mount a coup and Starmer will be gone.’
But Housing Secretary Steve Reed said he was not aware of any plans to encourage the PM to go.
He told Times Radio it was ‘absolute nonsense’ to suggest Labour would want to ‘copy the Conservatives and go doomscrolling through leaders’.
Reed added: ‘I’m not going to engage in it and most of our MPs would not engage in that either.’
Three names repeatedly come up in Westminster discussions over who could replace Starmer at No 10: Health Secretary Wes Streeting, ex-deputy PM Angela Rayner and Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham.
Both Streeting and Rayner are said to have the backing of enough MPs to mount a leadership challenge if they wish.
However, neither are believed to have any appetite to make the fraught first move.
Allies of Andy Burnham, meanwhile, will want to stall any leadership contests until after he is able to bag a seat in the House of Commons – a process laden with logistical obstacles.
Starmer himself sent a clear message to his party in an article for the Observer on Sunday.
He wrote: ‘When the nation rallied together to deal with Covid, the last government could have channelled that spirit to build a better nation.
‘But instead, they descended into political infighting and let the country slump back to the old status quo. Not this time.’
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