Labour MPs have been warned against “doomscrolling” through leaders even if the party suffers heavy losses at Thursday’s local elections.
With the party expected to lose hundreds of seats across the country, Labour backbenchers are reported to be drafting a letter blaming Sir Keir Starmer for the defeat and calling on him to set a date for his resignation.
The move would echo the drafting of a round-robin letter by normally loyal Labour MPs in 2006 that contributed to Tony Blair announcing he would step down within 12 months.
But on Tuesday morning, Communities Secretary Steve Reed – one of Sir Keir’s strongest allies – said he was not aware of plans for a letter, adding MPs were “sick and tired of all this psychodrama”.
Cautioning against any move to oust the Prime Minister, Mr Reed told Times Radio it was “absolute nonsense” to suggest Labour would “copy the Conservatives and go doomscrolling through leaders”.
He added: “I’m not going to engage in it and most of our MPs would not engage in that either.”
Reports of backbench plans to move against Sir Keir after the local elections come amid rumblings of a potential leadership tilt by Health Secretary Wes Streeting, former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner or Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham.
Allies of Ms Rayner are confident she would be able to gain the support of the 81 MPs required to launch a challenge – a number which Mr Streeting is also said to have met, though neither are said to want to be the first to move.
Meanwhile, Mr Burnham has been tipped as a party favourite to succeed the Prime Minister but he would have several logistical obstacles to clear before even returning to Westminster should he seek to mount a bid for No 10.
Writing in the Observer at the weekend, Sir Keir urged his party not to repeat the Conservative Party mistake of “descending into political infighting”.
“We have a choice. We could sink into the politics of grievance and division. Or we could rise to this moment – together – in a national effort that matches the scale of the threats and turbulence we face,” he said.
“When the nation rallied together to deal with Covid, the last government could have channelled that spirit to build a better nation. But instead, they descended into political infighting and let the country slump back to the old status quo. Not this time.”
