Here is a summary of today's events
More than 70 Labour MPs publicly called for Keir Starmer to stand down, after a speech he gave to shore up his leadership after bruising local election results fell flat.
The Guardian understands that two senior cabinet ministers – Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, and Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary – told the prime minister he should oversee an orderly transition of power.
Tom Rutland, MP for East Worthing and Shoreham and PPS to the environment secretary, resigned because he thinks voter “animosity” to the PM means that Starmer can no longer stay, he said in a resignation statement.
Starmer made six appointments of MPs to become PPS, replacing the ones who resigned.
A Labour MP who made a high-profile stand against the government’s proposed jury reforms – by revealing, in the House of Commons, that she had been a victim of rape – called on Keir Starmer to resign, accuding the government of having “burned through a huge amount of political capital” on plans that were not in Labour’s manifesto, such as the courts and tribunals bill.
Updated
Keir Starmer has made appointments of new Parliamentary Private Secretaries to replace the ones who resigned today, possibly signalling his determination to continue despite calls for him to resign from over 70 of his own MPs.
The following PPS appointments have been made:
David Burton-Sampson – Department for Health and Social Care
Linsey Farnsworth MP – Ministry of Justice
Jayne Kirkham MP – Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Michael Payne MP – Home Office
Tim Roca MP – Department for Work and Pensions
Sean Woodcock MP – Cabinet Office
A seventh Scottish Labour MP has called for Keir Starmer to resign, as the number of members of his own party opposing his leadership continues to rise.
Gordon McKee posted on X: “I’m deeply sad that we’re in this position and proud of what Keir Starmer achieved reforming the Labour Party.
“However, the message in Glasgow and across the country in last week’s elections was clear; the Prime Minister has lost the confidence of the public.
If we don’t change, the outcome could be Nigel Farage in Downing Street and all of the disastrous consequences that would have.
“It’s clear that the Prime Minister no longer has the trust or confidence of the public, or large swathes of the Parliamentary Labour Party, to lead this change, and he should resign to bring this to an end.”
Updated
Keir Starmer kicked off the day with a speech aimed at persuading MPs against launching any kind of leadership challenge. By lunchtime, Angela Rayner was speaking at the CWU conference calling for Andy Burnham to return.
In the afternoon the list of MPs calling on him to resign was slowly creeping up but no challenge has materialised. Why is the Labour party in such a muddle over Starmer?
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Exclusive: Senior cabinet ministers urge Starmer to set out timetable for his departure
Keir Starmer’s grip on power appeared to be slipping away on Monday as cabinet ministers urged him to set out a timetable for his departure and more than 70 Labour MPs publicly called for him to stand down.
The Guardian understands that two senior cabinet ministers – Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, and Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary – told the prime minister he should oversee an orderly transition of power after crushing election defeats risked ringing the death knell on his premiership.
At least two others – believed to be John Healey and David Lammy – discussed with Starmer how they should take a “responsible, dignified, orderly” approach to what might follow. Several others – including Richard Hermer and Steve Reed – were defiant, urging him to fight on.
One cabinet minister told the Guardian: “In the end Keir has listened to cabinet ministers – there are differences about where this will go and what is in best interests of party and country. He’ll have to make a decision about what he’s going to do before cabinet tomorrow”.
Several sources said how angry some cabinet ministers were with Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting, who they believed to have precipitated the leadership crisis by sanctioning allies to call for Starmer’s departure. “They’ve got their hands all over this,” one said.
Updated
A Labour MP who made a high-profile stand against the government’s proposed jury reforms – by revealing, in the House of Commons, that she had been a victim of rape – has called on Keir Starmer to resign.
Charlotte Nichols, the Labour MP for Warrington North, told Cathy Newman on Sky News that she called for Starmer to go “more in sadness than in anger”.
Nichols said criticised Starmer for not bringing forward legislation for a Hillsborough law after two years in office.
“We have seen time and time again the manifesto that we were elected on, time being taken away from delivering that by these side issues and things that have kind of come out of nowhere that no-one really asked for that we burned through a huge amount of political capital on, whether it’s courts and tribunals bill, whether it’s winter fuel, ID cards, why are we doing these things?” she questioned. “Ultimately it goes back to the decision making and leadership.”
Updated
Read our full analysis of a tumultuous day for Keir Starmer by our political editor Pippa Crerar and deputy political editor Jessica Elgot.
Keir Starmer’s grip on power appeared to be slipping away tonight as more than 70 Labour MPs publicly urged him to set out a timetable for his departure, despite his pledging to fight any challenge.
Pressure on Starmer mounts as more than 70 Labour MPs call for him to quit:
Over 70 Labour MPs have called for Starmer to resign
Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, is among a number of cabinet ministers to have told Keir Starmer that he should consider his position, the Times reports.
Cabinet ministers are expected to confront Starmer at cabinet on Tuesday and pressure him to stand down after over 70 Labour MPs called for him to resign.
Updated
Mary Kelly Foy, the MP for Durham, has called on Keir Starmer to resign, criticising the Labour’s party’s “misguided tactic” of trying to “beat Reform at their game”.
“My heart breaks at the current state of the party I’ve called my political home for my entire life and I’m embarrassed by the never-ending sound bites from Cabinet Ministers saying they don’t hear issues about the leadership on the doorstep.
“Perhaps they should knock on the same doors I have, but their lack of interest in listening to backbench colleagues has been made abundantly clear.”
A quarter of Labour backbenchers have now called on Keir Starmer to resign, according to a tally by the Times newspaper.
The MP for South Norfolk, Ben Goldsborough, took the number to publicly oppose the prime minister to 69. In a statement posted on Instagram, he said: “I believe our movement can still deliver the change people desperately want and deserve.
“But I no longer believe the prime minister can lead that change”, he added, calling for a “swift timetable” for Starmer’s resignation.
A separate tally by Sky News has the number of MPs who have called for Starmer to resign at 66.
The number of MPs to have called on Starmer to resign has reached 63, according to Sky News.
Four ministerial aides have quit and called on the prime minister to resign, after disasterous local election results for the Labour party.
Scottish Labour MP for Cowdenbeath & Kirkcaldy, Melanie Ward has resigned as a Justice PPS, saying: “So many of my constituents told me that they could not vote Labour as long as Keir Starmer remains prime minister.
“Their anger at early errors like changes to the Winter Fuel Payment remains palpable. Mistakes on moral issues like Gaza have also not been forgotten by the wider public.”
She called for Starmer to resign and for a “rapid process” for the election of a new leader and prime minister.
Natasha Irons, the Labour MP for Croydon East has commented on leaked WhatsApps in which she told other 2024 Labour MPs: “Bottom line, changing leader because Nigel Farage has forced us to is not something any of us can come back from. Anyone who thinks we can needs to wake up.”
After screenshots of the disagreement between the MPs in a WhatsApp group, was published by the Times chief political correspondent on X, Irons said: “I’m not one for publicly sniping at each other but seeing as that’s been taken out of my hands…I stand by this.”
Debbie Abrahams has announced on Sky News that she wants Keir Starmer to set out an “orderly” timetable to a different leader.
The Labour MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth confirmed to Cathy Newman she would like Starmer to “step down in the Autumn”.
Abrahams, the Chair of the Work and Pensions Committee, said she would “very much like” Andy Burnham back in parliament and said she would be supporting him in a leadership contest.
Newman said this took the number of MPs to have called for the prime minister to go to 61.
The Culture Secretary said Keir Starmer did “the right thing” by giving a speech this morning.
Lisa Nandy told Sky news: “What happens next is most important. Going forwards what you are going to see from this Labour government is a prime minister who will go out and wear his heart on his sleeve, who will show he is prepared to go out and fight any system that stands in the way of making people’s lives better.”
Updated
Rachel Taylor has publicly called for Keir Starmer to resign, taking the total number of Labour party MPs to have publicly done so to 59.
The MP for North Warwickshire & Bedworth posted in a statement shared on Instagram: “I watched the prime minister’s speech this morning with an open mind but I’m afraid I don’t think he spoke clearly enough about the change my constituents need to feel."
That is why with a genuinely heavy heart I am calling on Keir Starmer to announce a timetable for his departure.”
Her full statement is here:
The Chair of the Labour party has publicly come out in support of Keir Starmer, posting on X that: “This difficult moment isn’t about giving up, it’s about stepping up.”
She added she was “proud” of the prime minister – who has seen 58 of his own MPs come out to call for him to resign today – his record as a Labour PM and his leadership.
Turley said: “I support him to deliver the ambition he set out this morning to bring hope and opportunity to the country.”
Updated
The MP for Gillingham and Rainham MP has quit her role as ministerial aide in the Cabinet Office to call for Keir Starmer to resign.
Naushabah Khan said the prime minister “has lost the confidence of the public” and that “we need a clear change of direction now”.
Another newly elected MP, Yuan Yang – who took the newly created constituency of Earley & Woodley in the 2024 election – has also said Starmer should “set out a considered timeline for his departure.
Updated
A Labour peer has publicly backed Keir Starmer to remain as Labour leader, as the number of MPs calling for him to resign reached 58.
Lord Foulkes, a life peer and former Scotland Minister, said Starmer won a majority in the last general election and had a mandate to continue.
He told Sky News: “There are 400 MPs and those who support him are staying quiet, it’s only the people who are objecting who are coming public about this. He’s doing a good job.
“If he were to resign, there would be an election, there would be a lot of uncertainty during the time of that election and that would not help the country as a whole.”
An MP, who is one of the 58 to have publicly called for Keir Starmer to go today, has told Times Radio she made the decision after listening to the prime minister’s speech this morning.
Starmer gave a speech which was widely interpreted as an attempt to shore up his position after a devastating set of local election results for Labour on Friday and over the weekend.
Sarah Smith, Labour MP for Hyndburn and Haslingden, said: “I was thinking carefully about this all afternoon after listening to the speech this morning. Certainly over the weekend, I had not come to this conclusion and I don’t think Catherine West’s plan was a good one or a sensible one either.
“What I’ve certainly outlined is that I want Keir Starmer to take control of what happens next. He is a good man of huge integrity and he has done a lot for our country and for our party. But I think we have to recognise he’s not the man that’s going to help us win future elections.”
UK's youngest MP calls for Starmer to resign
The UK’s youngest MP has become the latest to publicly urge Keir Starmer to stand down, stating the Labour leader is “not the right person to lead” the change the party needs.
Sam Carling, MP for North West Cambridgeshire has posted this message on X:
Carling pointed out his constituency had never had a Labour MP before July 2024, when the Cambridge graduate was elected at just 22-years-old.
He warned: “It is clear that we are not going far enough in our ambition and delivery, and nor are we communicating our success effectively.
“Change is needed, and I have sadly come to the conclusion that Sir Keir Starmer is not the right person to lead that change.”
He urged Starmer to “step down for the sake of our movement and the people we serve”.
“We have made so much progress, but if we remain on our current course it will not last”, he added.
Updated
Voter 'animosity' to Starmer means he must go, says Tom Rutland as he quits as PPS
More PPSs have joined the calls for Keir Starmer to go.
Joe Morris, PPS to Wes Streeting, the health secretary, has told his whip that he wants Starmer to go, the BBC reports. Morris has also reportedly resigned as a PPS (which is what you are expected to do as a PPS if you rebel – although some wait to be sacked).
And Tom Rutland has put out a statement saying he has resigned as PPS to the environment secretary, Emma Reynolds, because he thinks voter “animosity” to the PM means that Starmer can no longer stay. Rutland is MP for East Worthing and Shoreham.
That is all from me for today. Charlie Moloney is taking over the blog now.
Updated
Sally Jameson become first PPS to call for Starmer to set timetable for his resignation
The first PPS (parliamentary private secretary – a ministerial aide, technically bound by government collective respsonsibility) has called for Keir Starmer to go. This is from Sally Jameson, MP for Doncaster Central and a PPS at the Home Office.
Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi says it is time for Starmer to step aside
Tonia Antoniazzi, MP for Gower in Wales, has become the latest Labour backbencher to say they have lost faith in Keir Starmer. She says:
Sir Keir Starmer is a man of great integrity who has led the Labour Party through difficult times.
There will be those that disagree with me but I think it is genuinely time for him to step aside as PM in an orderly manner.
I will make a further statement tomorrow.
Scottish Greens say new MSP will be able to stay in Scotland to serve at Holyrood on graduate visa
Severin Carrell is the Guardian’s Scotland editor.
The Scottish Greens MSP who won their Holyrood seat on a student visa has said they have applied for a graduate visa which will let them stay in the UK for the next three years.
Q Manivannan, a Tamil Indian who recently gained a PhD from St Andrews University and identifies as trans, was elected to the Scottish parliament last Friday on the Edinburgh and Lothians East regional list, helping the Scottish Greens win a record 15 seats.
Despite having no UK citizenship or permanent residency, Manivannan was allowed to stand for Holyrood under recent rule changes which allow anyone living in Scotland to contest devolved elections.
Critics of their election suggested they could be breach of UK visa rules if they worked for more than 20 hours or tried to employ people. Immigration lawyers have confirmed those rules do not apply in their case, and agree they are legally able to be an MSP with a graduate visa – at least until 2029.
In a Scottish Green party statement, Manivannan said:
I am a Commonwealth citizen and am currently on a student visa which will expire later this year. Having passed my grant-funded PhD and viva, I am able to work full time.
I am in the process of transitioning to a graduate visa which will allow me to stay in the UK for a further three years.
At the same time, I am also applying for a global talent visa, recognising my contributions to the country, which will allow me to stay in the UK for the entire of my parliamentary term and beyond.
Immigration lawyers say that global talent visa, or winning a two-year extension to their graduate visa under the golden promise option, may not be straightforward. It is designed for academics or researchers who are leaders in their field and earn money as a result of their academic qualifications, not their general employment.
Updated
Yassin El-Moudden is a Guardian reporter.
Dave Ward, the CWU general secretary, has said it it “very difficult” to see how Keir Starmer can stay as PM and Labour leader unless there without a signifcant change of course.
Speaking to the Guardian, Ward said:
My view would be it’s very difficult to see, without a major change in direction and serious action, how Keir is in a position to lead the party into the next general election.
It’s not impossible. But I think there are things that need to be discussed now, things that need to happen, and that will determine it.
Ward said that people like Andy Burnham “deserve to be heard”.
And he said that speeches from Starmer, like today’s, were not enough on their own.
The debate about what a changing direction looks like can’t just be left to Keir, can’t just be left to a speech today.
The problem is the words that Keir puts forward. Working class people and the voters in that sense are not listening. It’s actions that they want to see now. I think we’ve gone beyond some of the words. They want to see what a changing direction means.
The Labour MP Jo Platt says she is calling for Keir Starmer to resign because it is her duty to be honest about what she had heard from constituents. She also said she wanted Andy Burnham to be allowed to stand for parliament. Platt is MP for Leigh and Atherton, where Burnham was previously the MP (it was just Leigh in his day), and so perhaps that is not surprising.
Here is her statement.
Communication Workers Union votes against disaffiliating from Labour
Yassin El-Moudden is a Guardian reporter.
The Communication Workers Union has voted against a motion calling for disaffiliation from the Labour party, with the general secretary, Dave Ward, referring to the party’s recent defeats in local and devolved parliamentary elections as “probably the best opportunity we’re ever gonna have” to initiate a debate about “getting the working-class back at the forefront of everything Labour stands for”.
Neil Singh, a delegate from the Midland No 1 branch who brought forward a motion condemning “serious political and economic failings”, said that he was a former Labour party member who has since joined the Greens and pointed out that Labour in government had declined to introduce measures such as bringing Royal Mail back into public ownership.
Delegates defending the CWU’s link with Labour argued against “walking away” from power and highlighted that the union “must stay and support those in the party calling for a change in direction”.
There are currently 11 Labour-affiliated trade unions, some of which have been reevaluating their relationship with the party. The Fire Brigades Union disaffiliated from Labour in 2004, before returning to the fold in 2015 following Jeremy Corbyn’s election as leader of the party.
Steve Reed claims Labour MPs calling for Starmer's resignation are not representative of majority of PLP
Steve Reed, the housing secretary, is on Radio 4’s PM programme.
Asked about the number of Labour MPs calling publicly for Keir Starmer’s resignation, Reed said that, if 40-plus MPs have called for Starmer to go, that meant 90% of Labour MPs were not saying that, he argued. That wasn’t a “silent majority”; that was a “silent landslide”.
More Labour MPs call for Starmer's resignation
Labour MPs are continuing to come out and call for Keir Starmer’s resignation.
This is from Fred Thomas, MP for Plymouth View Moor.
This is from Sarah Smith, MP for Hyndburn and Haslingden.
And this is from Jas Athwal, MP for Ilford South.
Sir Keir Starmer transformed the Labour Party into a serious, electable force, and I voted for him. As Prime Minister, he has made real contributions, and I am grateful for them.
However, the country must come first. Millions of working people desperately need a focused Labour government delivering a brighter future. Yet we cannot govern effectively when we are constantly distracted by speculation, mistakes and a loss of trust.
Even in places like Redbridge, where we held up better in the locals, the message from voters was clear: the Prime Minister has lost the confidence of the country.
Today’s speech failed to show he can regain that trust or lead us through the huge challenges we face at home and abroad.
It is therefore with deep regret that I conclude it is in the national interest for Sir Keir Starmer to step down as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party. This must happen in a smooth, dignified and orderly way so the Party can choose new leadership and get back to the work people elected us to do.
There are various lists doing the rounds of all the MPs have called for Keir Starmer to resign. The BBC says it has at least 45 names on its list, Sky News says 48, and the Guido Fawkes website has the 57 names on its spreadsheet, including nine MPs who have spoken out since the PM delivered his speech.
The organisation Blue Labour has put out a statement saying Keir Starmer should resign. There is a group of Blue Labour MPs in parliament, but this statement is not signed by any of them and there is speculation it has been released by activists in the group, not parliamentarians.
Would Burnham win a byelection in Greater Manchester or the north-west?
Two reader ask (a version of the same question):
What occurs to me reading much of what is being said by Labour household names is that it does seem to be taken for granted that Burnham would definitely *win* a by election. It’s not a given surely?
We live in interesting times - apparently, a majority in the Labour Party believe the solution to the current fiasco is Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Manchester, the plan being that a Labour MP in a safe seat needs to resign.
However, unfortunately, any by-election in England would be won by Reform or the Greens or the LibDems !!
Until recently it was taken as a given that Andy Burnham would win a byelection in a Labour seat in the Greater Manchester area, or elsewhere in the north-west. Two years ago, in his third campaign to be mayor of Greater Manchester, he won by a landslide. There is probably no other mayor in Britain who has consistently been so popular.
But – the results for Labour in Greater Manchester were dreadful last week. For Manchester city council, only a third of seats were up for election, and so in headline terms the result was no change, Labour hold. But Labour lost 24 of the 30 seats they were defending.
It was almost as bad across the region as a whole. In a terrific article on this for the Mill, Lucy McLaughlin and Joshi Herrmann say:
The scale of the beating handed to Labour in these local elections is difficult to convey just in words. You need to see numbers and maps, showing seas of red replaced by turquoise and green and yellow; you perhaps need to see the tears and feel the desolation longtime servants of the party are feeling this evening. That this defeat has been suffered in the heartland of the modern Labour party — the stronghold atop which names like Andy Burnham, Angela Rayner, Lisa Nandy and Lucy Powell have built their reputations — is all the more harrowing.
Yes, we knew Reform would pick up seats in the outer boroughs, but did we think they would win 24 of the 25 on offer in Wigan? 18 of the 19 up for grabs in Tameside? 13 of 21 in Salford and 13 of 20 in Oldham? The scale of the Labour wipeout in places they have dominated for decades is something to behold, with 108 Labour councillors in Greater Manchester losing their seats. The only saving grace for Labour was that only a third of seats were up for election this year. Had these elections been ‘all outs’, the destruction would have been catastrophic.
This, understandably, has led a lot of commentators, and Labour MPs, to conclude that with anti-Labour sentiment running so high, even Burnham would not win a byelection.
Is that assessment correct? Ultimately, it would probably depend on how Burnham chose to campaign. Labour lost seats across the Greater Manchester region because people were fed up with the government. If Burnham were to stand on a ‘Vote for me and I’ll support Keir Starmer as he carries as he governing as he has done for the past two years’, even his personal popularity might not carry him over the line.
But Burnham wouldn’t run a campaign like that; inevitably, he would end up standing on a platform that he should be sent to Westminster to shake things up. On that basis, he could win – probably quite easy.
It would mean, though, running on a government ticket but as an anti-government candidate. You can see why a Starmer-led NEC might be reluctant to approve that.
• This post was amended on 11 May 2026. An earlier version said Labour lost all of their Manchester seats they were defending; however, they lost 24 of the 30.
Updated
Here is the Downing Street news release on the announcement in Keir Starmer’s speech this morning on legislation to nationalise British Steel. No 10 says.
British Steel could be back in government hands for the first time since being sold off in 1988, thanks to powers that will be included in new legislation to be set out in the Kings Speech on Wednesday.
The new powers would be subject to public interest tests, and if used to nationalise British Steel, they would boost national security while giving stability to workers at Scunthorpe, and British Steel’s suppliers and customers.
Starmer leadership crisis shows 'chaos' has become 'permanent pattern' at Westminster, SNP claims
Here is some more reaction to Keir Starmer’s speech this morning from rival parties.
Zack Polanski, the Green party leader, said:
Keir Starmer showed today that he still doesn’t understand why voters overwhelmingly rejected Labour on Thursday. People want real change and are fed up to the back teeth with a status quo that has failed the vast majority.
The Greens’ message about ending the affordability crisis by bringing down bills, building council housing and introducing rent controls resonated with a public that has given up on the failing Labour government.
And Keith Brown, the SNP’s depute (deputy) leader, said:
This is yet another Westminster government consumed by chaos which is now the permanent pattern on that place.
Broken, Brexit Britain is in terminal decline lurching from scandal to scandal and the question is no longer will Keir Starmer go? The question is when will Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland go.
Labour MP Lorraine Beavers says Starmer should quit, claiming party will do even worse next year in elections if he stays
Lorraine Beavers, the Labour MP for Blackpool North and Fleetwood, has joined those calling for Keir Starmer to quit. She says, if he stays, Labour will do even worse in next year’s local elections.
She says that his speech this morning was passionate – but that the content did not promise “anything close to the scale of change needed to rebuild communities like mine”.
She also says there should be an election – and that Labour should not just replace Starmer with another cabinet minister by consensus.
She says:
I’ve spent the weekend listening to my constituents, local party members and local councillors. They are as fed up as I am.
Without a massive change in approach, when elections are held in my corner of Lancashire next year, voters will send the same message with even greater force.
I wanted to give the prime minister the chance to set out that change this morning. It was a passionate speech – passion I wish I’d heard more often from the prime minister over the last two years.
But the content of the speech did not suggest anything close to the scale of change needed to rebuild communities like mine.
I believe that the prime minister should announce a timetable for leaving office. We must have a new leader in place well in advance of next year’s local elections.
For our party to rediscover its connection with working-class communities like mine, we need a democratic contest involving the most talented leaders from across our movement.
A cabinet appointment, without consulting the wider party and labour movement, would risk repeating the same mistakes already made.
A reader asks:
Andrew, the results page indicates 135 out of 136 councils in England have declared. I may have missed it, but what is the outstanding council, and when may we expect its declaration? Thanks from an American reader.
The full results from Birmingham aren’t in yet because one seat still has not been declared due to a recount.
From my colleague Jessica Elgot
Thoughts from a Labour MP:
“We have to face up to the fact every single one of them is fucking useless. Andy’s strategy has been a disaster. Angela bottled it. Ed clearly a hiding to nothing. Wes AWOL. God knows what Catherine West is doing. Not quite sure how we ended up here.”
Starmer can't win next election and must 'set date for his departure', says Labour MP Alan Gemmell
Alan Gemmell, the Labour MP for Central Ayrshire, has also called for Keir Starmer to resign, Pippa Crerar reports. Pippa says:
Another Labour MP - Alan Gemmell - calls for Keir Starmer to go following his speech. Also a Wes Streeting supporter. Coincidence?
“Our country faces enormous challenges and we need a Labour government that can deliver the scale of change this requires. The message from last week’s elections is clear: the Prime Minister no longer has the trust or confidence of the public to lead this change.
“I listened to the PM today. Sadly I don’t believe he can lead us to into, and win, the next election therefore he must now set a date for his departure.”
Catherine McKinnell, the Labour MP for Newcastle North and a former education minster, has posted an open letter on social media calling for Keir Starmer’s resignation and a “swift and orderly transition” to a new leader.
Welsh secretary Jo Stevens suggests Mark Drakeford's policy agenda helped cause Labour's crushing defeat
Bethan McKernan is the Guardian’s Wales correspondent.
Jo Stevens, the secretary of state for Wales, has said former Welsh Labour leader and first minister Mark Drakeford was distracted from “bread and butter issues”, as the party regroups after losing control of the Senedd for the first time in 27 years.
In an article for WalesOnline, Stevens said:
People are rightly cross about the rollout of 20mph speed restrictions and public money being spent on tree planting in Uganda when we weren’t getting the basics right. The NHS. Education. Cost of living. Any time spent away from those key priorities was time wasted.
Welsh Labour is still reeling from its catastrophic performance in last week’s Senedd elections: it finished a distant third after Plaid Cymru and Reform UK, with just nine seats in a 96-seat parliament. The first minister, Eluned Morgan, lost her seat, triggering a leadership contest. Ken Skates, the MS for Fflint Wrecsam and former cabinet secretary for transport, has taken over as interim leader.
Internal recriminations have begun in earnest, with the Westminster and Cardiff wings of the party laying the blame at each other’s feet for the election loss. Drakeford, widely considered to be on the left of the party, was first minister between 2018 to 2024. He retired from politics at the end of the last Senedd term.
On Monday Keir Starmer said he had spoken to Morgan over the weekend, but did not elaborate on what they talked about.
Sadiq Khan backs Burnham being allowed to stand as byelection candidate so he can return to Commons
Sadiq Khan, the Labour mayor of London, has joined those calling for Andy Burnham to be allowed to stand as a byelection candidate so that he can return to the Commons. In an interview with George Eaton for Arguably, a new Substack blog Eaton runs for progressive comment, Khan said:
I’m a firm believer in the team that I support winning, you want your best players on the pitch ... If Andy still wants to return, and an opportunity arises he should be allowed to stand … I’m a firm believer in the team that I support winning, you want your best players on the pitch.
Starmer's speech fails to stop more Labour MPs calling for his resignation
Labour MPs are continuing to come out calling for Keir Starmer to set a timetable for his resignation.
These are from Paulette Hamilton.
The local elections were devastating. We lost outstanding councillors and candidates.
On the doorstep, voters repeatedly told us the same thing, national issues and the party leadership meant they could no longer vote Labour.
We now need an orderly transition to new leadership.
The public have made it clear that they do not wish to hear further talk of a “reset” from Sir Keir Starmer.
Confidence is lost. Voters have stopped listening.
Now, an orderly transition must follow, and change must come from the top.
These are from Markus Campbell-Savours.
1/4 I have listened carefully to the Prime Minister’s speech. Sir Keir Starmer is a decent, principled and kind man. But his leadership is not working, and it is with genuine regret that I say so.
2/4 His position is now untenable. Colleagues should have the courage to say publicly what many have said privately for months.
3/4 Loyalty matters. Loyalty to him, to the Party and to each other. But today loyalty lies with our elected members across the country and with the 1,500 who lost their seats last week. It does not lie in maintaining a course that is not commanding confidence.
4/4. What the Party needs now is leadership with a credible vision for the country, a clear sense of direction, purpose and ambition. Those skills exist within our ranks, and I am confident we can find a leader who has them.
And this is from Emma Lewell.
Updated
Kemi Badenoch has claimed (implausibly) that she takes no pleasure in seeing Keir Starmer in difficulties. In a post on social media, she said:
Keir Starmer’s speech was sad to watch. With so many resets, even his reset button needs a reset.
But I do not take pleasure in watching the Prime Minister flounder. The country needs leadership, not another speech from a man who clearly knows something has gone badly wrong, but still can’t explain why.
This is Labour’s real problem. It is not just Starmer - all the pretenders jostling for his job do not have the answers either, because they all believe the same things: more welfare, more state control, more borrowing, more regulation. They are busy arguing over who should drive the car, but the truth is they are all heading in the wrong direction. They have no vision for the future.
And Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, criticised Starmer for not committing to joining an EU customs union.
Voters sent Keir Starmer a clear message that Britain needs a bold new direction, but he keeps delivering the same old speech.
If the Government wants to regain the trust of the British people, they have to end the cost of living crisis. There is no way of doing that without getting rid of Keir Starmer’s red lines on Europe and fixing the botched Brexit deal, including a customs union. It’s really that simple.
Here is Peter Walker’s story on Catherine West urging other Labour MPs to join calls for Starmer’s resignation – but no longer proposing to stand as a candidate herself.
This is from Jessica Elgot, summing up the change in West’s position perfectly.
Labour MP: “Catherine West is no longer trying to appoint herself as PM, she’s trying to appoint herself as Graham Brady.”
Curtis says new Labour leader should be elected well before September, which is timetable proposed by West
The Labour MP Chris Curtis started his interview on Sky News by paying tribute to Keir Starmer, and what he had done to get Labour elected.
But he went on:
But I think the moment, the dramatic situation that we face – the geo-political context, the fact that we had such a difficult economic inheritance – does mean that we need more radical change than the government has set out so far.
I don’t think we saw a plan from the prime minister this morning in order to implement the kind of change that this country needs.
And I therefore think it’s time for us to look for new leadership.
And I think what that means is the prime minister rightly now setting out a timetable and an orderly process for a leadership election, and one in which Labour has a discussion about the vision for the country and what changes we think are needed in order to face the very real challenges that Britain currently faces.
Curtis said the Labour Growth Group would be publishing a report tomorrow on economic plans to renew Britain. He said he hoped a new Labour leader would be able to take forward some of those ideas.
Asked about the call from Catherine West for Starmer to set a timetable for the election of a new leader in September (see 12.20pm), Curtis said that was too long to wait. “I certainly think the timetable should be much shorter,” he said.
Asked if he expected to see “overwhelming” numbers of Labour MPs coming out this week demanding a timetable for Starmer’s resignation, Curtis replied: “Possibly.”
Curtis is seen as a Wes Streeting supporter. In an interview on the Today programme this morning, when he was told that Streeting had once described him as “brilliant”, Curtis claimed not to be aware of that. Asked if he thought Streeting himself was brilliant, Curtis said he was doing a “fantastic job” as health secretary.
Asked if he thought Streeting would be a brilliant PM, Curtis said there was “a wide range of talent” in the party.
Agreeing to elect a new Labour leader by September would (provided he could win a byelection) allow Andy Burnham to be a candidate. Holding the election sooner would benefit Burnham’s rivals.
Labour MP Chris Curtis says Starmer should stand down
In an interview on Sky News, Chris Curtis, the Labour MP who is chair of the Labour Growth Group, has just announced that he no longer has confidence in Keir Starmer and wants him to set a timetable for his resignation.
Updated
Getting back to wider policy, Rayner said “tweaks” would not be enough to fix the problems facing the economy.
I don’t need to be persuaded that tweaks won’t fix the fundamental challenges that our country faces.
This government needs to put measures in place that makes people’s lives better. We need to fix the foundations of a system that is rigged against them, because we know that things can be so much better than this.
Spain and Canada have shown that a economies can grow and people can thrive when governments stay true to their values and put people first. And we need to learn from that.
In London, we lost young people who fear they will never afford a home.
And in my patch and across the north, we lost working people whose wages are too low and the costs are too high.
In Scotland and Wales people do not currently see Labour as the answer.
Conference, for too long governments have allowed wealth and power to concentrate at the top without a plan to ensure that the benefits of economic growth are shared fairly.
The result has been an economy that does not work for the majority, with wealth concentrated in far too few hands.
Rayner said that the the government could “cut the cost for households and put money back in the everyday economy”, in a way that was consistent with the government’s fiscal rules.
She ended by quoting the late John Prescott, who was also a union person and a former deputy PM.
The late John Prescott used to tell me, ‘You’ve got a voice, kid, use it.’ A union man to his core. John would have relished this fight.
Addressing the importance of affiliation to the Labour party, Rayner said that the government would not have passed the Employment Rights Act, or other workers’ rights measures, without having trade unions affiliated to the party.
Rayner tells CWU she was 'born in Stockport, but raised in trade union movement'
Rayner praises the role played by trade unions in Labour politics.
Labour exists to make working people better off, and that is not happening fast enough. And that needs to change now.
Conference, the trade union movement taught me that if you have strong values, if you work collectively, you can get things done no matter what you’re up against.
Conference, the trade union movement, the Labour party is not just a political alliance, it’s a family. And in families you have your ups and downs and we have.
But we look out for each other. And in the end, we’re always there for each other.
And it was the Tories that wrote me off and said that kids like me we’re getting pregnant to get a council house. That wasn’t what was on my mind when I was young. I was scared. I was frightened and I was looking for opportunity.
And it thanks to our Labour family that I was able to improve my life and the lives of my fellow workers who I represented as their trade union rep.
Our Labour family. Our union family gave me those opportunities.
You were there for me and proved that kids like me deserve better than that, and I wouldn’t be stood in front of you today if it wasn’t for our movement.
I may have been born in Stockport, but I was raised in the trade union movement.
These comments drew significant applause. And they are timely; later this afternoon the CWU will be debating whether it should remain affiliated to the Labour party.
Rayner says Burnham should be allowed to be Labour byelection candidate so he can return to parliament
Rayner says Andy Burnham should never have been blocked from being the byelection candidate in Gorton and Denton.
We as a party have to do better than this, and we can only prove we mean our Labour values by putting the common interests ahead of factionalism.
And we can start by accepting that Andy Burnham should never have been blocked.
It was a mistake that the leadership of our party should put right.
This was also something that Rayner said in her long statement issued last night; in fact, quite a lot of what she is saying was in that statement.
Rayner says people turning 'to populists and nationalists' because Labour not fixing cost of living problems
Rayner says people feel the system is rigged against them.
The cost of living is the top issue for voters of all parties.
People have turned to populists and nationalists because we have not done enough to fix it.
Living standards are barely higher than they were a decade and a half ago.
People feel … that the cost of living crisis will never end. And now they see the oil and gas companies using global instability to post record profits. And once again, working class people are paying the price for the decisions that they didn’t make.
It’s no wonder that across the UK people feel that the system is rigged against them.
The Labour party must now live up to its name. We must be the party for working people.
Rayner tells CWU it's clear what Labour government is doing 'isn't working'
Rayner says what Labour is doing is not working.
As Dave [Ward] says, this has not been an easy moment. Our party has suffered historic defeats. Many good Labour colleagues have lost their seats. People who gave everything for their communities that they represented. A
And it’s clear that what we’re doing isn’t working, and it needs to change.
Updated
Angela Rayner addresses CWU conference
Angela Rayner, the former deputy PM, is about to address the CWU conference in Bourneouth.
She is being introduced by Dave Ward, the CWU general secrertary, who says Rayner did as much as anyone to push the Employment Rights Act through parliament.
He says she is a “strong working-class woman”.
Starmer's speech - verdict from commentariat
This was billed as a make-or-break speech. By Keir Starmer’s standards, it was reasonably good. But it is always naive to believe that a person can transform into someone else overnight and anyone expecting Starmer to turn up this morning presenting as Barack Obama, or Nye Bevan, or FD Roosevelt – or even Andy Burnham – will obviously be disappointed.
In policy terms, Starmer failed to match the “incremental change won’t cut it” challenge that he set himself. (See 8.47am.) On Europe, there was just a refusal to rule out putting a line about joining the single market or a customs union in the next Labour manifesto. (See 11.02am.) The main announcement was about a steel plant that has already been under government control for about a year anyway. (See 10.28am.)
Some commentators believe that Starmer sounded marginally more open to Labour letting Burnham run as a byelection candidate than he had been in the past. He did not say no; just that it was up to the NEC (which he controls anyway.) But it did not sound like a big shift, or a sign that Starmer is going to green-light his return to the Commons soon.
Starmer was strongest arguing that another change of PM would be bad for Britain. (See 11.12am.) On this, he was at his most persuasive.
This is what other commentators are saying.
From Henry Zeffman, the BBC’s chief political correspondent
At points, Keir Starmer’s delivery recalled what most Labour MPs see as his most successful speech as prime minister, at the party’s conference last September.
In terms of substance, though, Starmer did not deliver the clear change of direction or policy-laden agenda that at least some of his MPs say they crave.
From Beth Rigby, Sky’s political editor
I think [Starmer] knew what he wanted to do and what he needed to do in terms of trying to inject a bit of passion into the job. But look, I think on the substance of it, there wasn’t really much in it. It was quite thin gruel.
From the BBC’s Iain Watson
I am not getting the sense that it’s been seen as a poor speech by MPs, just not transformational. “Delivery fine….but no real substance,” texted a former Labour official.
From ITV’s Paul Brand
On scale of 0-10, where 0 is Starmer’s worst performance and 10 is his best speech ever, I’d say that was somewhere around an 8 or 9.
He hasn’t set the world alight, but nobody thought he would - he was at the upper end of modest expectations.
Now over to Labour MPs for their verdict...
From the Guardian’s Peter Walker
In fairness this is a decent speech from Starmer. But I’m not sure there’s enough new in the content to save him. Nothing yet leaps out. It’s all a bit, ‘the same, but more passionately’.
The part on Brexit is interesting in the longer-term trend that we now have a Labour PM openly saying that Brexit made the UK poorer and less secure. But without any movement on those famous red lines on Europe, and it probably doesn’t mean much.
That speech was reasonably good by Starmer standards, but if he wanted *any* chance of saving his job, he needed a big old rabbit of a policy – a change to EU red lines; a nod towards electoral reform; a massive investment plan. This speech didn’t contain that.
From the Times’ Steven Swinford
The speech does not seem to have gone down particularly well with many Labour MPs, who were hoping for something more radical. The numbers calling on him to go continue to rise
From Politico’s Emilio Casalicchio
That Starmer speech felt a bit like he was launching a leadership challenge against his own leadership. Criticizing his time in government as too incremental and failing to grasp what people voted for in 2024, and criticizing his failure to offer a convincing narrative/vision
From Lewis Goodall from the News Agents
The move to guarantee survival today would have been to signal PM would be minded to allow Burnham to return if he wanted to. That would have bought time for a King’s speech, a seat to emerge, a by election fought which he might not win. As it is, lack of anything new means events likely to keep spiralling.
Updated
Starmer's speech 'too little, too late', says Catherine West, and urges Labour MPs to back calls for him to quit
Here is the full statement from Catherine West, the former minister who on Saturday announced that, if a cabinet minister did not come forward to challenge Keir Starmer for the leadership, she would do it herself.
I have listened to the prime minister’s speech this morning. I welcome the renewed energy and ideas. However, I have reluctantly concluded that this morning’s speech was too little too late.
The results last Thursday show that the prime minister has failed to inspire hope.
What is best for the party and country now is for an orderly transition.
I am hereby giving notice to No 10 that I am collecting names of Labour MPs to call on the prime minister to set a timetable for the election of a new leader in September.
I want to thank everyone who has been in contact over the weekend to offer good wishes. We need our best top team in place to fight the next election. We owe working people up and down the country nothing less.
West is no longer – at least, in this statement – proposing to stand herself. There is a mechanism for a Labour MP with the support of 80 colleagues to be a leadership candidate.
But there is no threshold in Labour party rules for the number of signatures required to force the PM to set out a timetable for his departure.
West seems to be hoping that, if enough Labour MPs back her call, Starmer will eventually shift – or an alternative candidate, capable of getting the 80 names, may come forward.
Updated
Catherine West reportedly set to press ahead with call for Starmer to set timetable for resignation
This is from Ollie Cole at Times Radio.
Understand Catherine West will go ahead with a letter to Labour MPs later today - but stopping short of stating her candidacy.
Will instead canvas support for a timetable for the PM to stand down and allow a transition.
According to Sky News, there are now 36 Labour MPs who have publicly called for Keir Starmer to stand down.
Labour MP David Smith joins those saying Starmer should set departure date, saying Labour must 'act faster, and be more radical'
David Smith, the Labour MP for North Northumberland, was not impressed by Keir Starmer’s speech. As soon as it was over, he put issued a statement on social media saying that Starmer should set a timetable for his departure and that the government neeed “to act faster, and be more radical”.
North Northumberland is a new constituency that is mostly made up of the old Berwick-upon-Tweed seat, which the Tories won in 2019 with a majority of almost 15,000.
Updated
Starmer says constant leadership changes under Tories 'inflicted huge damage on this country'
Q: [From Jack Elsom from the Sun] When you spoke to Angela Rayner, did she rule out launching a leadership challenge against you? And do you think there would have to be an election if Labour elected a new leader?
Starmer said he would not discuss his conversations with Rayner.
And, on an election, Starmer said:
On this question of chaos, look, the question whether if a government constantly changes its leadership, the question whether that damages the country is not an academic question, it’s not something that you study at university and go through various theories. We tested it. We tested it to destruction under the last government and inflicted huge damage on this country.
A Labour government will never be forgiven if we repeat that and inflict that on the country.
And that’s what I mean when I say I’m not going to plunge this country into chaos.
Q: [From Sophie Huskisson from the Mirror] Have you spoken to Anas Sarwar and Eluned Morgan since the elections? And do you agree with Angela Rayner that this is Labour’s last chance to turn things round?
Starmer said he had spoken to Sarwar and Morgan.
And he said he had spoken to Rayner, so he knew exactly what her thinking was.
Q: [From Aubrey Allegretti from the Times] Do you agree with what Peter Kyle said this morning about how a byelection for Andy Burnham, and a mayoral election in Greater Manchester, would be a distraction of Labour. Could Labour afford to let them go ahead?
Starmer said he had already answered a question about this.
Now, the first person I worked for when I came to Parliament was Andy. He wanted me and his team in the shadow Home Office. I wanted to be in his team in the shadow Home Office. So we work very well together. We’ll continue to work very well together. If the issue arises, it’ll be a matter for the NEC [Labour’s national executive committee] to decide.
Updated
Starmer refuses to rule out including plan to join EU'S single market or customs union in Labour's next manifesto
Q: [From the FT’s Jim Pickard] If you stick to your manifesto red lines on the single market and the customs union, you won’t be able to take the UK to the heart of Europe. Would you rule out single market or customs union membership in Labour’s next manifesto.
Starmer said he would be pushing for “a big leap forward” in relations with the EU at the summit coming later this year.
UPDATE: Starmer said:
What I want to do is take a big leap forward with the EU-UK summit this year and take us closer, both on trade, the economy, defence and security.
And that will then be a platform on which we can build as we go forward.
And as we do that, I strongly believe we’ve got to turn our back on the arguments of the past, not open old grievances, but look forward together to how we make this country stronger, how we make this country fairer.
And so that’s the approach that I will take.
Updated
Starmer says he will fight any challenge to his leadership
Q: [From the Guardian’s Pippa Crerar] If someone launches a leadership challenge against you, will you fight it? And do you think Britain is now ungovernable?
Starmer said yes, and no.
On the first question, he won’t walk away from a challenge, he said
And, on whether Britain is becoming ungovernable, he said:
I don’t think Britain is ungovernable. On the contrary, one of the things that I draw great strength from is [the] millions of people who care passionately about their place, their community, where they live, where they are the millions of people who give hours and hours and hours at that time for that community, volunteering, helping others, running teams, you name it. That is a great strength of our country.
I draw strength from the fact that we are a reasonable, tolerant, decent country, a live and let live country, a diverse country that is the real Britain. That’s not an ungovernable Britain. That is the Britain that I will fight for, particularly in light of the opponents.
Q: [From Katherine Forster from GB News] Many working class people voted for Brexit. So why are you promising them more Europe?
Starmer said it was important to explain that the promises made at the time of Brexit have not been kept.
The reason I reminded everyone what Nigel Farage said is because that was the promise he put to the country, that we’d be stronger, we’d be richer, we’d have lots of money for the NHS, immigration would come down and it all proved to be false.
And he doesn’t take any responsibility.
He’s not going back to the country now saying it was a good thing you’ve all benefited. He’ll talk about almost anything else apart from the consequences of the one thing that he delivered for the country, Brexit.
Starmer insists he can prove his doubters wrong
ITV’s Robert Peston went next. He said he had spent the weekend speaking to Labour MPs and ministers and most of them said he was no longer the best person for the job.
Labour supporters in the room protested.
Peston went on to ask why people should believe he could deliver more than incremental change.
Starmer said he would prove his doubters wrong.
I’m not going to shy away from the fact that I’ve got some doubters, including my own party.
And I’m not going to shy away from the fact that I have to prove them wrong. And I will.
I had my doubters when I took on the Labour Party. I had my doubters who said we couldn’t change this party and make it capable of winning an election. And I proved them wrong.
Updated
Starmer says 'chaos of constantly changing leaders' under Tories was bad for UK, with working people paying price
Q: [From Sky’s Beth Rigby] Have you considered standing down since the election results, and if not, why not?
Starmer said “the chaos of constantly changing leaders” under the Tories cost the country a “huge amount”. Working people paid the price, he said. He went on:
Yes, I acknowledge the frustration. Yes, I acknowledge the results are tough. Yes, I acknowledge that we’ve lost brilliant representatives across the United Kingdom. I have a responsibility for that.
But I also have a responsibility to deliver the change that we were elected and that we promised this country, and I’ll deliver on that.
Starmer plays down prospect of Burnham being allowed by Labour to be byelection candidate
After the speech, Starmer took questions.
Q: [From the BBC’s Chris Mason] Will this speech be enough to get Labour MPs to back you? And will you continue to block Andy Burnham returning to the Commons.
Starmer said this is not the first time the UK has faced challenges. He repeated the point about wanting to change the status quo.
On Burnham, he said:
In relation to Andy Burnham, obviously, any future decision is for the NEC and he’s doing a great job as mayor in Manchester and I actually work really well with Andy.
(That was not a no, but it sounded as if Starmer was certainly not keen on letting Burnham fight a byelection.)
Starmer gave two examples of this: Northern Powerhouse Rail, and the response to the Manchester syngague attack.
Updated
Starmer says government will ban far-right agitators from travelling to UK for march planned for Saturday
Starmer ended his speech by saying the government would ban “far-right agitators from travelling to Britain” for a march planned for this Saturday by the far right.
Starmer said his third example of how policy would change things was about opportunities for children and communities.
He said:
We will go much further on our investment in apprenticeships, in technical excellence, colleges in special educational needs. We will make sure that every young person struggling to find a job will get a guaranteed offer of a job training or work placement.
And he said the government would go much further with its Pride in Place programme.
Starmer says he will set 'new direction for Britain' at next summit with EU
Starmer says he will offer a new direction on Europe.
At the next EU summit, I will set a new direction for Britain.
The last government was defined by breaking our relationship with Europe. This Labour government will be defined by rebuilding our relationship with Europe, by putting Britain at the heart of Europe.
So we are stronger on the economy, stronger on trade, stronger on defence.
Because standing shoulder to shoulder with the countries that most share our interests, our values and our enemies, that is the right choice for Britain. That is the Labour choice.
And for our young people also something more, because Brexit snatched away their ability to work, to study and to live easily in Europe.
That’s why I’m proud we restored the Erasmus scheme.
But I want to go further. I want to make a better offer for our young people, restore that hope, that freedom, that sense of possibility.
And so I want an ambitious youth experience scheme to be at the heart of our new arrangement with the EU, so that our young people can work and study and live in Europe, a symbol of a stronger relationship and a fairer future with our closest allies. That is the Labour choice.
Starmer attacks Farage's record on Brexit, saying he is 'not just a grifter, he's a chancer'
Starmer turns to Europe. But he says he needs to start with a detour.
I need to take a bit of a detour on this because I want to remind you what Nigel Farage said about Brexit.
He said it would make us richer. Wrong. It made us poorer.
He said it would reduce migration. Wrong. Migration went through the roof.
He said it would make us more secure. Wrong again. It made us weaker.
He took Britain for a ride and, unlike the Tories [who] actually at least have to face up to it, he just fled the scene and now he’ll talk about almost anything other than the consequences of the one policy he actually delivered.
Because he’s not just a grifter, he is a chancer.
Starmer says government will bring forward legislation this week to nationalise British Steel
Starmer says there must be a complete break from the status quo.
And he says he will give examples of what that means.
He starts with steel nationalisation.
Steel is the ultimate sovereign capability. Strong nations in a world like this need to make steel. That’s why we’re backing steel in Port Talbot and across the UK.
But in Scunthorpe we’ve been negotiating with the current owner and a commercial sale has not been possible. And now a public interest test could be met.
So I can announce that legislation will be brought forward this week to give the government powers, subject to that public interest test, to take full national ownership of British Steel. Public ownership in the public interest.
Starmer says he needs to talk more about how Labour is acting on behalf of working people
But, Starmer says, he accepts that a return to the status quo would not be enough for people.
That is because the status quo does not work for them, he says.
He goes on to talk about his own working class background, making a point he often makes in speeches.
Truth be told, I’m not sure that [people] believe that we care. I’m not sure they believe that we see their lives.
That’s tough to say when you come from a working class background like me.
It’s hard to hear that because I do know what it’s like to struggle and to strive.
But what I take from it is that I spent too much time talking about what I am doing for working people, and not enough time talking about why or who I stand for.
Because I can see how hard life has been during these decades of crisis. I can see that very clearly.
My late brother Nick spent all his adult life going from one job to the next. The status quo did not work for him.
My sister is a carer, working long hours on low pay year after year after year. She didn’t even get sick pay in the pandemic. The status quo did not work for her.
For too long we’ve ignored people like that and there are millions of people in that boat, millions of people who don’t get the dignity, the respect, the chance that they deserve to go as far as their talent and effort should take them.
Starmer is talking about Labour’s achievements. He says Labour has invested in public services.
NHS waiting lists are coming down. Child poverty is coming down, immigration is coming down and we are rebuilding from the ground up.
They were the right calls and most of all we stabilised the economy.
The fundamentals are sound and that matters because it puts us in a much better place to come out of the conflict in Iran, stronger and fairer, and for living standards to improve.
Starmer says neither Nigel Farage nor Zack Polanski offer” the serious, progressive leadership that these times demand”.
He says Labour has made mistakes.
But other parties would have dragged the UK into war with Iran, he says.
Starmer says 'stories beat spreadsheets' and 'people need hope'
Starmer says he knows people feel frustrated with him.
I know I have my doubters and I know I need to prove them wrong, and I will do so.
He goes on:
Let me start on a personal note. Like every prime minister, I’ve learned a lot in the first two years in the job in terms of the policy challenges that our country faces.
Incremental change won’t cut it.
On growth, defence, Europe, energy, we need a bigger response than we anticipated in 2024 because these are not ordinary times, and this is a political challenge just as much as it’s a policy challenge. Delivery is of course essential, but it’s not sufficient on its own to address the frustration that voters feel.
We’re battling Reform and the Greens.
But at a deeper level, we’re battling the despair on which they [play on], despair that they exploit and amplify. And so analysis matters. Argument matters.
But so too does emotion. Stories beat spreadsheets. People need hope.
Starmer says Labour will never be forgiven if it gets this wrong.
He is implicitly talking about the prospect of Reform UK taking power, although he does not say that out loud.
UPDATE: Starmer said:
I take responsibility for not walking away, not plunging our country into chaos, as the Tories did time and again, chaos that did lasting damage to this country.
A Labour government would never be forgiven for inflicting that on our country again.
Updated
Starmer says UK will go 'down very dark path' if Labour does not recover and get things right
Keir Starmer is on stage now.
He thanks Botterill for her “powerful words”.
The election results were tough, he says.
That hurts, and it should hurt, he says.
He says he gets it, and takes responsibility.
But that is not just about taking responsibility for the results; it is about taking responsibility for how Labour must do better.
If Labour does not get this right, “our country will go down a very dark path”.
Botterill says voters she spoke to during the campaign felt the country does not work for them. She is a working-class Yorkshire woman, she says. She knows that the opportunities she has enjoyed would not be there if if had not been for the achievements of Labour government.
She says Labour is one of the best vehicles for changing the lives of working people that this county has ever known.
The Labour MP Jade Botterill, who was elected for Ossett and Denby Dale in Yorkshire in 2024, is introducing Keir Starmer. That was a new constituency covering an area that voted Tory in 2019.
The speech will last for about 20 minutes, we are told.
And then Keir Starmer is planning to take questions for about 40 minutes.
Key event
Keir Starmer is due to start his speech shortly.
He is speaking in London.
Navendu Mishra, who was parliamentary private secretary to Angela Rayner when she was deputy PM, told the Today programme this morning that Keir Stamer should set out a timetable for an “orderly transition” to Labour electing a new leader.
Mishra said this would allow the “best people” in the Labour party time to “put forward their vision”.
Asked if was referring to Andy Burnham, Mishra, the MP for Stockport, said:
I think he’s done some really good things in my constituency of Stockport, and in Greater Manchester, and he has the experience of a previous Labour government, having served in senior roles including in the cabinet.
Kyle says Wes Streeting, his friend, not plotting to oust Starmer
Peter Kyle is a close friend of Wes Streeting, the health secretary who is a rival to Andy Burnham and Angela Rayner among those in contention to be the next PM.
In his Today interview, asked about Streeting’s ambitions to be PM, Kyle said:
It’s one thing keeping open the option that you might try to become prime minister one day. And it’s another thing, a very different thing, to try and unseat a sitting prime minister in the moment we’re in. And Wes Streeting is not doing that.
In a separate interview on Sky News, Kyle said that he had dinner with Streeting at the weekend and they went to see a movie, The Devil Wears Prada 2, together. He said this showed Streeting was not plotting to oust Starmer.
Somebody who is planning to pull the plug and launch a leadership bid in a couple of days’ time doesn’t go to the cinema with a friend.
Kyle suggests Rayner, and other candidates, could put public finances in 'peril' with spending policies
In his Today interview, Kyle was also critical of another potential candidate for the Labour leadership.
In her statement last night, Angela Rayner, the former deputy PM, suggested she would like to see more government spending. She stressed that this could be done “within the current fiscal rules”, but she implied she favoured a shift from the fiscal policy adopted by Rachel Reeves.
Rayner said:
For too long, successive governments have allowed wealth and power to concentrate at the top without a plan to ensure the benefits of economic growth are shared fairly. The result is an economy that does not work for the majority, with wealth concentrated in too few hands. This level of inequality, alongside squeezed living standards, is the outcome of a model built on deregulation, privatisation, and trickle-down economics.
But we have the chance to fix this.
We need immediate action to cut costs for households and put money back into the everyday economy. This can be done within the current fiscal rules, by ensuring those who benefit from the crisis contribute more so that everyone can thrive.
Nick Robinson, the presenter, pointed out that government borrowing costs have nudged up a bit this morning and he asked Kyle if he was worried that Rayner’s plans would risk market instability.
Kyle replied:
I think we have a real challenge with the markets because of the inheritance that we had. The effects of Liz Truss’s mini-budget and her actions as prime minister has left a very long tail of which we’re still suffering the consequences of.
I think we toy with those challenges at our peril.
That’s not just a comment aimed at Angela Rayner. That is a comment that’s aimed at the whole of our governing party.
Kyle says it was Burnham himself who chose to leave Commons, as he rubbishes talk of Labour allowing swift return for mayor
In his Today interview, Peter Kyle, the business secretary, also rubbished the idea – popular with left-leaning Labour MPs who want to see Andy Burnham replace Keir Starmer at some point in the future – that the party should ensure that Burnham can return to the Commons quickly in a byelection.
Asked about Burnham coming back, he said:
When it comes to Andy directly, I’ll answer Andy’s question directly.
The reason that Andy Burnham is not in parliament is not because of Keir Starmer. It is because Andy Burnham decided to leave parliament and give up his seat.
He went to Manchester and he made a series of commitments to Manchester. And I think those commitments should be seen through.
Now, whether he comes back or not is a matter for the NEC [national executive committee]. It’s not a matter for the prime minister or myself.
But look, my own personal view is that there is a very long established pathway into parliament. I took it by standing as a candidate in 2013, in a Tory seat incidentally, worked on a huge campaign with lots of people, and I won. That’s the standard way back into parliament.
And I think right now, after what we’ve just been through last week, to suggest that the answer is to have another byelection and then a mayoral election, and then all the uncertainty that would go with it – my personal view is that it is not the time for those sorts of actions and distractions.
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Starmer to propose stronger links with EU, as Peter Kyle claims significant change possible within Labour's manifesto red lines
In his speech this morning, Keir Starmer will confirm that he wants to strengthen ties with the EU. According to extracts released in advance, he will say:
This Labour government will be defined by rebuilding our relationship and by putting Britain at the heart of Europe. So that we are stronger on the economy, on trade, on defence, you name it.
Because standing shoulder to shoulder with the countries that most share our interests, our values and our enemies – that is the right choice for Britain, that is the Labour choice.
But in its manifesto Labour also ruled out joining the single market, or a customs union with the EU, and Starmer is not expected to rip up those red lines.
Peter Kyle, the business secretary, has been giving interviews this morning. In his interview on the Today programme, he suggested that those red lines were not a problem because there was much more that the government could do to deepen relations with the EU without abandoning them. He said:
We’ve not touched the sides on what we can do with the European Union within the manifesto commitments, and I think that’s what you’re going to start seeing more of from Keir today.
Starmer to say ‘incremental change won’t cut it’ in major make-or-break speech to avert leadership challenge
Good morning. The news this morning is full of speculation about whether or not there will be a Labour leadership contest. A better way of explaining the situation might be to say that a leadership contest is already under way; Angela Rayner issued what was in effect her manifesto late yesterday afternoon (although she also hinted she would be happy for it to be delivered by Andy Burnham as leader), and Keir Starmer delivers what you could see as a hustings speech this morning.
Leaders can survive challenges. In 1995 John Major was widely seen as doomed, but Michael Portillo postponed a decision to stand against him, Major easily saw off a challenge from John Redwood (the Catherine West of his day, in some respects), and Major survived another two years. In 2016 the vast majority of Labour MPs voted no confidence in Jeremy Corbyn, but he survived (because he was adored by Labour members, a benefit that Starmer does not enjoy). In 2006 Tony Blair accepted he would have to go. But he was allowed to work his notice for a year; Gordon Brown and his allies were powerful enough to force him out, but not to force him out quickly.
No one knows where this will end up. It could end up fatal for Starmer, but that is not a certainty.
In his speech this morning, Starmer will say “incremental change won’t cut it”. According to extracts released in advance, he will say:
To meet the challenges that our country faces, incremental change won’t cut it.
On growth, defence, Europe, energy – we need a bigger response than we anticipated in 2024 because these are not ordinary times.
Strength through fairness. It’s a core Labour argument. And you will see those values writ large in the king’s speech. And you will see hope, urgency and exactly whose side we are on.
The problem Starmer faces is that for many people, including Labour MPs (like Josh Simons, who addressed this exact point in an article published yesterday), “incremental change” sounds like a definition of Starmerism.
Here is over overnight story.
And here is the agenda for the day.
10am: Keir Starmer delivers his speech.
12.30pm: Angela Rayner, the former deputy PM, is due to speak at the CWU conference in Bournemouth.
Around lunchtime: Catherine West, the former minister, is expected to give her response to the Starmer speech. If she is not persuaded he can turn things around, she will formally start the process of trying to get the 81 names she needs to launch a leadership challenge.
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