Keir Starmer was facing growing pressure to step down as Britain’s prime minister after dozens of members of Parliament, including Cabinet allies, joined the calls for him to set out a timetable for his departure.
Those privately urging Starmer to consider plans for handing control to a successor included Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, according to people familiar with the matter. Her intervention followed a similar overture by Energy Secretary Ed Miliband in recent weeks, suggesting that the Cabinet support that had so far protected Starmer’s position was ebbing away.Darren Jones, chief secretary to the PM, said Tuesday that Starmer was considering his options. “He’s listening to colleagues, and he’s talking to colleagues,” Jones told Times Radio. “I can’t say what decision he may or may not take.”
More than 70 of Labour’s 403 MPs have called on the prime minister to step aside in the wake of last week’s local elections, in which the party lost control of the Welsh parliament and almost three of every five English council seats it was defending. The prospect of selecting a new leader has exposed a deep factional divide in the governing party between those who favored a center-left candidate similar to Starmer and those who want a standard-bearer who could better unite the left.The pound extended losses on Tuesday morning, down more than 0.5% to $1.3536 having traded above $1.3650 the previous day. Gilts came under further pressure, with the yield on 10-year notes jumping beyond 5.10% on Tuesday as bond investors expressed concern that any replacement for Starmer would increase fiscal spending, potentially driving borrowing costs higher. The yield on 30-year debt hit its highest level since 1998.Some Labour MPs are now talking down the prospect of higher spending despite many of the party’s critics of Downing Street calling for a more relaxed approach to borrowing at various points since Starmer was elected in 2024.“I don’t think there’s anyone who’s seriously asking for large unfunded pledges,” said Yuan Yang, a Labour MP on parliament’s Treasury Committee. “We understand the importance of fiscal rules, we understand the importance of getting down the cost of borrowing.”Still, others on the left of Labour are touting various ways to boost public services.Read More: Labour Group Criticizes UK Fiscal Caution With Starmer on BrinkThe rebellion sets up a dramatic scene in Downing Street on Tuesday morning, when Starmer is due to chair a regularly scheduled Cabinet meeting. Some Cabinet ministers such as Housing Secretary Steve Reed and Attorney General Richard Hermer were said to be urging the prime minister to fight on, while others like Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper and Defense Secretary John Healey were said not to be pushing him either way.No. 10 Downing St. declined to comment on the latest developments.At least one minister expected to be seated around the Cabinet table, Health Secretary Wes Streeting, has been preparing for months to seek Starmer’s job if the opportunity presented itself. A ministerial aide of Streeting’s and his constituency neighbor joined the calls for the prime minister’s exit, fueling speculation that the health secretary was preparing to seek the premiership.
