At an address to the party faithful in London, Starmer had made an impassioned plea to both his party and voters to stick with him and avoid a leadership contest he said would only bring chaos, promising to be bolder.

Several frontbenchers told the Guardian they agreed the prime minister’s time in office should not go beyond the end of the year

The embattled PM will seek to persuade his MPs not to ditch him as Labour leader in a speech on Monday.