Health Secretary Wes Streeting was accused by a senior London MP of launching a “coup” against Sir Keir Starmer as the Prime Minister was fighting for his political life.
Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell hit out at Mr Streeting, arguing he was moving against the PM now to avoid a leadership contest which could include Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham.
Ahead of a showdown Cabinet meeting, Mr McDonnell, MP for Hayes and Harlington, messaged on X: “ I called for time for serious discussion, no precipitous coup & fully democratic process if leadership election.
“Instead Wes Streeting has launched coup for fear of a democratic process & whilst candidates are blocked.”
However, allies of Mr Streeting strongly dismisssed the accusation, pointing out that it was the Left of the party that had first moved against the PM.
Sir Keir was battling to stay in No10 after over 75 of his MPs demanded he quit in the wake of Labour’s disastrous local election results.
Senior Cabinet ministers including Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood also reportedly told the Prime Minister he should consider his position after he failed to quell a revolt by Labour MPs with a keynote speech.
Junior members of the government joined the chorus of backbenchers publicly calling on Sir Keir to stand down.
They included expected leadership challenger Mr Streeting’s aide Joe Morris, who was among a string of ministerial aides to quit from the Government.
Ilford South MP Jas Athwal, an ally of Ilford North MP Mr Streeting, also called for Sir Keir to resign.
But as the pressure piled on the Prime Minister, loyalists came out to fight his corner as questions over his future sparked a civil war within the parliamentary Labour party.
There was also a split in the Cabinet over whether the PM should go, with Communities Secretary Steve Reed, MP for Streatham and Croydon North, one of his staunchest defenders.
He said the Government accepted change was needed but it didn't help to "chuck out" prime ministers.
London MP Catherine West, who led moves over the weekend to force Sir Keir to stand down, on Monday emailing Labour colleagues to see if they would back her demand for the PM to set a timetable for the election of a new leader in September.
The Hornsey and Friern Barnet MP shied away from seeking to trigger an immediate leadership contest now, as threatened over the weekend, by getting 81 MPs to back such a step.
But she said Sir Keir’s make-or-break speech on Monday was “too little too late” and that Labour’s May 7 elections hammering showed that he had “failed to inspire hope”.
A growing number of Labour MPs were calling on the PM to go including Clapham and Brixton Hill Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy.
She messaged on X: “It is clear the PM does not have a credible plan. He must now set out a timetable for departure. But the process to replace him cannot be a coronation.”
With his premiership in peril, Sir Keir vowed to prove his “doubters” wrong as he fought back against the growing calls for him to quit.
In his speech, he said he took responsibility for Labour’s elections disaster, during which it lost nearly 1,500 councillors including in London, was kicked out of power in Wales and suffered a further setback in Scotland.
“This hurts not just because Labour has done badly, but because if we don’t get this right, our country will go down a very dark path,” he argued in a swipe at Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.
As he faced spiralling pressure to stand down, he added: “I’m not going to shy away from the fact that I’ve got some doubters, including in my own party.
“I’m not going to shy away from the fact that I have to prove them wrong, and I will.”
But he faced a battle to stay in No10 as former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner launched a devastating attack on his Government.
As the Prime Minister battled to save his job, Monday’s speech in central London had been billed as setting out sweeping changes needed to tackle the “big challenges” facing Britain.
Sir Keir set out a number of measures including legislation to nationalise British Steel, a ban on “Far-Right agitators” coming to the UK for a planned march in London on Saturday and a plan to put the UK “at the heart of Europe”.
A handful of backbenchers spoke up in support of the Prime Minister in the immediate aftermath of the speech, with Macclesfield MP Tim Roca and Gedling’s Michael Payne saying Sir Keir had demonstrated he understood “the scale of the challenge” facing the country.
Labour Deputy Leader Lucy Powell highlighted the threats facing Britain and urged colleagues to “come together as one team”.
But more MPs continued to call for Sir Keir’s resignation.
Labour MP for Birmingham Erdington, Paulette Hamilton, told Jeremy Vine on 5 this morning: “We may as well hand over the keys to No10 now if we don’t change our leader soon.”
Labour MP and ex-parliamentary private secretary to Ms Rayner, Navendu Mishra, said the Prime Minister should set out a timetable for an “orderly transition” to give leadership hopefuls time to come forward.
Labour is divided over a change in leadership, with some on the Left of the party wanting to delay a challenge to try to get Mr Burnham back into Parliament so he can be a candidate.
