LIVE: Starmer challenges Labour rebels as he refuses to quit

Sir Keir Starmer told his Cabinet that a leadership challenge ‘has not been triggered’ and ‘the country expects us to get on with governing’.

In a statement released by Downing Street, the Prime Minister told a meeting of the Cabinet:

As I said yesterday, I take responsibility for these election results and I take responsibility for delivering the change we promised. The past 48 hours have been destabilising for government and that has a real economic cost for our country and for families.

The Labour Party has a process for challenging a leader and that has not been triggered. The country expects us to get on with governing. That is what I am doing and what we must do as a Cabinet.

Keir Starmer brushed aside resignation demands today at a toe-curling Cabinet meeting.

The PM’s grip on power is slipping after members of his top team – said to include Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood – privately urged him to make a graceful exit in the wake of disastrous local elections.

But Sir Keir effectively dared his rivals to move against him this morning, telling the gathering in No10: ‘The Labour Party has a process for challenging a leader and that has not been triggered.

According to one Government source: ‘Keir said in Cabinet that he won’t discuss the elections or his leadership, and that he will only speak to cabinet ministers about that individually. Then after the meeting he refused to see Cabinet ministers individually.’

Andy Burnham is one of the frontrunners to replace Sir Keir Starmer if he resigns as Prime Minister.

The Manchester Mayor has previously indicated he would be willing to overthrow the current Labour leader.

As the current Mayor of Manchester, who does not have a seat in Parliament, the route to the top could be strewn with hurdles for Mr Burnham.

Let’s take a look at what steps he would have to take before becoming the UK’s next prime minister.

• Vacant seat

Firstly, a vacant parliamentary seat would need to be available and finding one may not be an easy task.

There are two by-elections coming up in Scotland, after both SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn (Aberdeen South) and SNP MP Stephen Gethins (Arbroath and Broughty Ferry) were elected to Holyrood.

Mr Burnham is unlikely to stand in either of these Scottish seats.

• Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee

If a seat were to become vacant, Mr Burnham would need to win over the National Executive Committee (NEC), who is responsible for choosing Labour’s candidates.

In January this year the NEC blocked Mr Burnham from running in Gorton and Denton.

A 10-strong group, including the Prime Minister, voted to deny Mr Burnham permission to stand in the Greater Manchester by-election.

Sir Keir justified the move arguing ‘an election for the Mayor of Manchester when it’s not necessary would divert our resources away from the elections that we must have.’

• Leadership ballot

If Mr Burnham were to be elected to Parliament, only then could he make a Labour leadership bid.

According to the Labour Party rule book, candidates seeking to enter the ballot must be an MP.

This is because the Labour leader is the Prime Minister, therefore they would need to be a Member of Parliament.

The current rules state a candidate must receive nominations from 20% of their Labour colleagues in Parliament to be in the running.

They must also receive nominations from 5% of constituency Labour Parties (CLPs), or at least three affiliates of the party, with at least two being trade unions.

Andy Burnham has been spotted at Euston station in London.

The Telegraph published a photograph of the Mayor of Greater Manchester getting into a car after he was reportedly spotted on a train.

Guido Fawkes is reporting Mr Burnham has been removed from a list of speakers at the King’s Fund healthcare conference in London later today.

Labour MP Alex Sobel has called on Sir Keir Starmer to step aside as Labour leader with the country losing confidence in him following Peter Mandelson’s resignation.

He said the Minister failed to ‘challenge the status quo’ with his speech on Monday and should ‘announce a date for his departure so we can have an open contest and an orderly transition’, urging against a ‘rushed’ contest.

He said:

The real turning point for the public was the resignation of Peter Mandelson and the subsequent revelations about his appointment, and I’ve yet to hear that properly acknowledged by the Prime Minister.

That moment represented a loss of trust in him personally which I heard time and again on the doorstep.

by Daily Mail Comment

Any pretence that Sir Keir Starmer can long remain as Prime Minister vanished yesterday.

His much-vaunted reset speech was an embarrassing collection of relaunched policies and dreary platitudes, with an extra dash of Brexit-baiting designed to pep up his party’s Euro-fanatics.

The pious PM said Labour under his leadership needed to ‘be better’ – but better at what exactly? Multiplication of zero still results in zero.

Starmer’s greatest problem remains the fact that no one has ever understood what, if anything, he truly stands for.

It is this vacuum that has contributed in great part to the dilemma now faced by Labour and the country – the truly remarkable situation that a Government in power for just 97 weeks has fallen so low.

Britain is now threatened with paralysis – potentially for months – while the Government is preoccupied with mudslinging and in-fighting.

The Daily Mail’s Political Editor Jason Groves has said Labour insiders are predicting more ministerial resignations today.

Earlier, Miatta Fahnbulleh became the first minister to quit the government when she left her role in the Housing department.

Defence Secretary John Healey has warned ‘more instability is not in Britain’s interest’ as he reiterated his support for the Prime Minister in a post on social media.

He wrote on X:

People are worried about current conflicts and looming global crises. They expect their Government to lead the country through, as the PM is doing.

More instability is not in Britain’s interest. Our full focus now must be on dealing with immediate economic (and) security challenges.

by Christian Calgie, Senior Political Correspondent-at-Large

Andy Burnham has a seat lined up and is ready to launch his long-awaited push to become Prime Minister, allies have claimed.

The constituency, a closely-guarded secret, is just one of the major hurdles the mayor of Greater Manchester will have to jump before entering Downing Street should Keir Starmer finally resign.

Support for Mr Burnham has swelled among Labour MPs in recent weeks, despite no one being able to explain a certain route back to Parliament for the ‘King of the North’.

Mr Burnham quit the Commons in 2017 to take the plum job in Manchester, after two unsuccessful runs to be Labour leader – once in 2010 and once in 2015 – and a major falling out with Jeremy Corbyn.

But the longtime leadership contender is now hoping it will be third time lucky for him, as top figures like Angela Rayner say the next leadership contest must allow him to stand.

Baroness Jenny Chapman said she was not surprised there was no direct challenge to Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership during today’s Cabinet meeting.

Speaking to reporters in Downing Street, the international development minister said:

I was not surprised. I didn’t think they would be challenging the Prime Minister at Cabinet. We have got a job to do. It’s a really serious task. The Prime Minister is leading us in that task and everybody around that table is completely focused on delivering for this country.

Asked whether Sir Keir’s authority had been destroyed by those calling for him to go, she said:

I don’t believe so. That’s not what I have just seen around the Cabinet table. I saw a Cabinet united and focused on dealing with the issues that are confronting the British people.

This is the moment Health Secretary Wes Streeting faced questions about his leadership ambitions as reporters asked him if he wanted to be prime minister.

Mr Streeting made a hasty exit from Downing Street after a Cabinet meeting this morning where he did not directly challenge Sir Keir Starmer.

Watch the incident below:

Labour former leadership candidate Rebecca Long-Bailey has called for Sir Keir Starmer to ‘set out a timetable’ for a new leader to be elected.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, the MP for Salford said the ‘full range of candidates’ must be able to stand.

Sir Keir beat Ms Long-Bailey in the Labour leadership contest in 2020.

Read her full statement below: