A prominent minister has resigned from Sir Keir Starmer’s Government, piling pressure on the embattled Labour leader to quit after he vowed to fight on.
Safeguarding minister Jess Phillips became the second minister to stand down, criticising the Prime Minister’s failure to be “bold”.
At least 81 out of Labour’s 403 MPs have now demanded Sir Keir’s departure after the party’s electoral mauling last week.
In numerical terms, this is the threshold needed to trigger a leadership contest – but on the important condition that they all line up behind the same candidate, which is not the case at the moment.
Sir Keir told his Cabinet he would continue governing and several senior ministers emerged from the meeting rallying around him.
In her resignation statement, Birmingham Yardley MP Ms Phillips said any real action by Sir Keir to tackle violence against women and girls came “in light of catastrophic mistakes”.
In her letter shared to X by Sky News, she wrote: “I think you are a good man fundamentally, who cares about the right things however I have seen first-hand how that is not enough.
“The desire not to have an argument means we rarely make an argument, leaving opportunities for progress stalled and delayed.”
She said delays to proposals aimed at preventing children from taking explicit images of themselves online were an example of “incremental change. Nothing bold about it”.
Ms Phillips continued: “I know you care deeply, but deeds, not words are what matter.
“I’m not sure we are grasping this rare opportunity with the gusto that’s needed and I cannot keep waiting around for a crisis to push for faster progress.
“Decency is vital, calm curiosity is also needed, but so too are fight and drive required. Have a row, push back, make arguments, bring people along. Standing up and being counted can’t always be workshopped. Politics is as much about feelings as policy, especially at the moment…
“I’m not seeing the change I think I, and the country expect, and so cannot continue to serve as a minister under the current leadership.”
It came after the Prime Minister defied calls for him to vacate Downing Street, telling his Cabinet the country “expects us to get on with governing” and “that is what I am doing”.
He avoided being directly challenged as he declined to discuss his leadership during Tuesday’s gathering or meet critics individually afterwards, the Press Association understands.
Sir Keir said he would only speak to ministers one-on-one about his fate in the wake of his party’s electoral mauling, but did not do so once Cabinet concluded, according to sources.
A number of loyal ministers, including Technology Secretary Liz Kendall, Business Secretary Peter Kyle, Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden and Housing Secretary Steve Reed, faced the cameras to voice their support for the Prime Minister.
However, other Cabinet ministers – including those thought to have told Sir Keir to quit – left the meeting without speaking to reporters, pointing to splits in his top team over his future.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting, seen as a possible successor, ignored journalists shouting questions at him as he left No 10.
Ms Phillips’ departure followed the resignation on Tuesday morning of Miatta Fahnbulleh as housing, communities and local government minister.
Ms Fahnbulleh, seen as a close ally of Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, told the Prime Minister “to do the right thing for the country and the party, and set a timetable for an orderly transition” as the public had lost trust in him because of issues such as the scrapping of the winter fuel payment.
