London: Britain has plunged into a leadership crisis after Labour MPs went public with calls for Prime Minister Keir Starmer to quit after devastating losses in elections last Thursday, with ministers also telling him to go.
Starmer raised the stakes at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning in London (7pm Tuesday AEST), where he told colleagues he would not resign despite the calls from more than 70 MPs for a transition to a new leader.
His move puts the onus on his critics, including Australian-born MP Catherine West, to launch a formal leadership contest and prove they not only have a large number of MPs but can also secure a majority of party members.
Starmer argued in cabinet that he took responsibility for the election result but that the party had a process for a leadership election.
“The past 48 hours have been destabilising for government, and that has a real economic cost for our country and for families,” he said.
“The Labour Party has a process for challenging a leader and that has not been triggered.
“The country expects us to get on with governing. That is what I am doing and what we must do as a cabinet.”
While the media has reported that three cabinet ministers have advised Starmer to set out a transition to his resignation, they have not gone public. The media has named Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper as the trio who put this to the prime minister.
One junior minister, Miatta Fahnbulleh, announced her resignation on Tuesday morning in London and called on Starmer to quit.
“Our country faces enormous challenges and people are crying out for the scale of change that this requires,” said Fahnbulleh, whose portfolio included communities and faith.
“The public does not believe that you can lead this change – and nor do I.”
Starmer prepared for the cabinet meeting by making a speech to supporters and the media on Monday morning (Monday night AEST) to warn that a leadership change would plunge the government into chaos.
“I know that people are frustrated by the state of Britain, frustrated by politics, and some people, frustrated with me,” he said.
“I know I have my doubters and I know I need to prove them wrong – and I will.”
He used the address, made to a relatively small group but televised live, to announce the nationalisation of British Steel and set out his plans for stronger ties with Europe.
Within hours of the address, however, more MPs went public with calls for him to set out a pathway to his resignation, and the British press reported that at least 70 wanted him to go.
Labour has 403 members in the House of Commons and the party rules say that a spill can only be launched if 20 per cent of that group, which amounts to 81 in the current parliament, put their names to a formal document asking for the vote.
The formal call for a vote then triggers an election of the Labour Party membership. About 161,000 members voted in the ballot that chose Lucy Powell as deputy leader last October.
More to come
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David Crowe is Europe correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.
