Starmer to face split cabinet as demands for his resignation mount

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to face his cabinet as more than 80 Labour MPs have called for him to resign, following the party’s devastating local elections losses last week.

The cabinet is said to be divided on whether he should remain on and will meet on Tuesday. Starmer’s chief secretary, MP Darren Jones, told Sky News the prime minister was talking to colleagues but “was very clear yesterday that he will not be walking away”.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is understood to have told the prime minister to oversee the transition of power, according to reporting in UK news outlets, amid a deluge of similar statements from parliamentarians, and six ministerial aides quitting on Monday. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper and Defence Secretary John Healey also met with Starmer yesterday.

Miatta Fahnbulleh, the junior minister for devolution, faith and communities, resigned from government on Tuesday, saying Starmer had “lost the trust and confidence of the public”.

“I urge the Prime Minister to do the ⁠right thing for ⁠the country and the Party ⁠and set ⁠a ⁠timetable for an orderly transition,” she wrote ‌on X.

In a speech on Monday, Starmer took responsibility for the “very tough” election results, but said Labour would “never be forgiven for inflicting” the “chaos of constantly changing leaders”, as seen under the Conservatives, on the country again.

The local elections last Thursday resulted in Labour losing more than 1,400 seats and losing power in Wales, with Reform and the Greens making gains.

A leadership contest requires the endorsement of 81 Labour MPs, 20 percent of the party in the Commons.

Potential challengers to Starmer include Health Secretary Wes Streeting, former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham.

However, Rayner’s ability to run is hampered until an investigation into her tax affairs is resolved. She resigned in 2025 after admitting she had underpaid stamp duty on a flat, which she said was the result of improper legal advice.

Burnham, who polls most favourably of the three, would need to become an MP again. He was prevented from becoming a candidate in the February Gorton and Denton by-election by Labour’s National Executive Committee, which included Starmer. In a statement calling for change on Monday, Rayner noted that it was a “mistake” to block him.

While Streeting is yet to speak out, former Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell has accused him of launching a coup against Starmer. He said Streeting was doing so “for fear of a democratic process & whilst candidates are blocked” in a social media post. “Handing leadership to Mandelson’s protege is gift to Reform,” he added.

Starmer’s argument for staying

In his speech on Monday, Starmer described Labour as “a mainstream party of power, not protest”.

He took aim at far-right Reform UK and the Greens, claiming both prey on “despair that they exploit and amplify” and saying neither “offer the serious, progressive leadership that these times demand”.

Starmer’s government has been in power since 2024, when it ended 14 years of Conservative rule in a landslide victory. His popularity has since fallen, with the decision to cut the winter fuel allowance amid a cost-of-living crisis, Labour’s policy on Gaza and the scandal over United States Ambassador Peter Mandelson’s links to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein contributing to the decline.

During this time, support has grown for both Reform UK and the Green Party under progressive Polanski, who has been vocal in his criticism of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.