British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is recovering from a crushing defeat in local elections, faced a fresh setback in his leadership on Saturday (9), when a former minister said she would challenge him for the top job if no one else stood up.
Starmer’s Labour Party recorded the worst losses by a governing party in local elections since 1995, which led an increasing number of its own MPs to call for his resignation.
To try to shore up his position in the party, earlier this Saturday he named two influential Labour figures as advisers: former prime minister Gordon Brown and former Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman.
However, a few hours later, Labour MP Catherine West, a former minister, told BBC Radio that she wanted the cabinet to draw up a plan to replace Starmer by Monday (11), or she herself would challenge him for the post.
‘If… there is no leadership candidate standing tomorrow, then on Monday morning I will put my name forward to contest the Labour leadership,’ she said.
As the scale of the defeat began to emerge, more than 20 MPs publicly and privately urged Starmer to set a timetable for his departure. Asked whether he would resign, he told British media that that was not the right thing to do.
‘I will not walk away from this,’ he said on Saturday (9).
Several cabinet ministers said on Friday (8) that they continued to back Starmer, who just under two years ago led the Labour Party to a crushing victory in national elections, and an immediate challenge from potential leadership rivals does not appear straightforward.
The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, does not hold the seat in Parliament he would need to mount a challenge, and former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner has not yet fully resolved the tax-related issues that led to her resignation from the post last year.
Wes Streeting, currently Health Secretary, is, like Starmer, tainted by the appointment of Peter Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to the United States. Streeting was close to Mandelson, who was dismissed for his ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Any candidate wishing to mount a challenge would need to secure the public backing of 20% of Labour MPs in Parliament. With Labour currently occupying 403 seats, this equates to 81 backers.
West said that, so far, she had 10 names in her favour, but her preferred option was that another candidate come forward.
‘I think there are several people who would like to do this and have been planning for months,’ she said.
With the aim of redefining his leadership and winning back the party’s support, Starmer’s team announced that Brown, 75, and Harman, also 75, would join his team.
‘They are vital to strengthening our country, moving it forward, and delivering the opportunities that give people the hope of a better future,’ he said when asked whether figures from the past could help in his plan for the future to improve people’s lives.
