Keir Starmer was fighting for his political survival last night after Labour was thrashed in the local elections.
MPs, ministers and unions lined up to call on Sir Keir to set out a timetable for his departure following humiliating defeats across England, Scotland and Wales.
Allies of Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham told the Daily Mail he was ready to throw down the gauntlet to Sir Keir as soon as next week.
Nigel Farage hailed a ‘historic’ result last night as Reform smashed through Labour’s Red Wall strongholds in the North and Midlands.
Meanwhile, Labour lost control of Wales for the first time in a century, with leader Eluned Morgan losing her seat.
And the party was also crushed in Scotland, where it had hoped to finally dislodge the SNP.
Sir Keir said he took ‘responsibility’ for the electoral disaster but insisted he would not ‘walk away’.
However, furious Labour figures blamed the PM directly, with one MP saying he was ‘detested on the doorstep’.
Sir Keir Starmer is desperately fighting to subdue a Labour revolt tonight after a local elections saw the party routed on English councils, and destroyed in Wales and Scotland
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham (pictured) is ready to throw down the gauntlet to Sir Keir as soon as next week, his allies have told the Daily Mail
Nigel Farage hailed a ‘historic’ result last night as Reform as he joked that he would be ‘very sad’ to see Sir Keir ousted – adding ‘he is the greatest asset we have got’
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Former Cabinet minister Louise Haigh, an ally of Mr Burnham, said it was ‘abundantly clear’ that Sir Keir ‘cannot lead us into another election’ unless there is ‘significant and urgent change’.
And ex-frontbencher Jon Trickett said it was ‘curtains for Keir’, adding: ‘Voters sent us a clear message: the party and the Government, including the leadership, must change with immediate effect if we want to recover.’
Downing Street was last night pressuring ministers to get out to defend the PM.
A sudden blitz of support landed on social media from most of the otherwise silent Cabinet in the early evening – but Ed Miliband, Wes Streeting and Shabana Mahmood, the latter pair said to have their own eyes on No10, were noticeable in their absence.
Privately, some ministers are also pushing for the PM to go.
One told the Daily Mail: ‘These results put to bed any idea that Keir can lead us into the next election.
‘It is a disaster – Farage is killing us, the Greens are killing us, the nationalists are killing us.
‘It is completely unsustainable and him suggesting he can fight on for years is just delusional.’
Unite union boss Sharon Graham said ‘the writing is on the wall for this Labour government’, adding that it ‘could be the beginning of the end for the party itself’.
Ms Graham, whose union bankrolled Labour for years said voters had ‘delivered their verdict’ and urged ministers to stop ‘loyally reading out lists of their achievements’ as ‘no-one is listening’.
‘If the party does not shift decisively towards the working class it is finished,’ she said. ‘It is change or die. Now or never.’
However, Technology Secretary Liz Kendall insisted that the PM would not bow to calls to quit.
‘He’s not going to go, and he is not going to set a timetable,’ she said.
‘People want us focused on their jobs and their future, not our jobs and our future.’
On a dramatic day:
- Nigel Farage hailed a ‘truly historic shift in British politics’ which he said put Reform on course to win the next general election.
- The Conservatives celebrated regaining Westminster but were defeated by Reform in Kemi Badenoch’s Essex backyard.
- Reform and the Tories faced fresh calls to ‘unite the Right’ after analysis suggested yesterday’s result would have produced a hung parliament.
- Welsh nationalists Plaid Cymru were on course to take power for the first time after Labour’s vote collapsed.
- Britain’s traditional two-party system was crumbling as Reform, the Greens, the Lib Dems and nationalist parties all took votes off Labour and the Conservatives.
- The Greens took control in Norwich, as well as winning mayoral contests in Hackney and Lewisham.
- Yesterday’s results were the biggest test of electoral opinion since the 2024 General Election and Labour’s ‘loveless landslide’.
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Mr Farage emerged as the big winner, with Reform on course to gain well over 1,000 seats across the country.
They scored a series of stunning victories in traditional Labour strongholds, such as Sunderland, Gateshead, Barnsley and St Helens.
The party made sweeping gains in seats held by senior Labour figures, including Angela Rayner, Bridget Philipson and Lisa Nandy, who saw their local powerbases decimated.
Mr Farage said his party had ‘absolutely torn the most massive historic chunk out of the Labour vote in the North of England’.
Reform’s successes also included wins in Havering, its first London borough, and taking Essex County Council and Suffolk from the Conservatives.
Mr Farage said: ‘It’s a big, big day, not just for our party, but for a complete reshaping of British politics in every way.’
Mrs Badenoch insisted she was ‘very proud’ of the Tory result despite losing hundreds of council seats, saying there were ‘signs of recovery’ after the party’s 2024 landslide defeat.
But the immediate focus was on Labour’s disastrous performance – and the implications for Sir Keir’s survival.
London mayor Sadiq Khan said that without ‘a change in course and an acceleration in delivery, the threat to Labour is existential’. Last night around a dozen Labour MPs had publicly called on Sir Keir to resign or set out a timetable for his departure.
Last night around a dozen Labour MPs had publicly called on Sir Keir to resign or set out a timetable for his departure.
Paula Barker, MP for Liverpool Wavertree, warned the Government appeared ‘tin-eared and defensive’, adding: ‘We need to deliver an orderly transition through an open and transparent contest.’
Fellow Liverpudlian Ian Byrne called on the PM to set out a ‘clear timetable for his departure’, adding: ‘The longer this drags on, the greater the damage to the party and the country.’
Labour’s affiliated unions, meanwhile, demanded a meeting with Sir Keir ‘to discuss the urgent change in direction that we all know is needed’.
Andrea Egan, head of the Unison union and a supporter of Mr Burnham, called for Sir Keir to go, adding: ‘What must change is not just the leader but the entire approach.’
The Mail revealed this week that Mr Burnham is in advanced talks about a potential return to Parliament, with a sympathetic MP said to be ready to stand aside for him within days.
But Sir Keir yesterday insisted he would not quit. He is planning a fightback next week, including a speech in which he will pledge to go further in unpicking Brexit.
He said the results ‘hurt’ but claimed he could still turn things round. ‘They are tough and there’s no sugar-coating it,’ he said.
‘I take responsibility [but] tough days like this, they don’t weaken my resolve to deliver the change that I promised at the general election, they strengthen my resolve to do so.’
