British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing mounting pressure from within his own Labour Party, with more than 60 MPs reportedly urging him to set a timetable for stepping down after the party’s poor performance in recent local elections across England and Wales.
Several Labour lawmakers have privately and publicly called for a change in leadership, amid fears that Starmer’s leadership could hurt the party’s prospects ahead of the next general election, as per Reuters.
Former junior minister Catherine West is among those leading efforts to gather support for the change.
“I have listened to the Prime Minister’s speech this morning. I welcome the renewed energy and ideas. However, I have reluctantly concluded that this morning’s speech was too little too late,” she said in a statement on Monday, May 11.
She wrote that an “orderly transition” is best for the party.
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“I am hereby giving notice to No. 10 (Starmer’s office) that I am collecting names of Labour MPs to call on the prime minister to set a timetable for the election of a new leader in September.”
The backlash follows Labour’s heavy setbacks in local and devolved elections, which triggered criticism from within the party over Starmer’s political strategy and inability to connect with voters.
Starmer vows to prove doubters wrong
Responding to the calls to quit, the UK PM pledged that he would prove his doubters wrong.
“I’m not going to shy away from the fact that I’ve got some doubters, including in my own party – and I’m not going to shy away from the fact that I have to prove them wrong, and I will,” Starmer said, while giving a speech in London.
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“I take responsibility for not walking away, not plunging the country into chaos as the Tories did time and time again. Chaos that did lasting damage to this country. A Labour government would never be forgiven for inflicting that on our country again,” he added.
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