Durham MP calls for PM to resign warning ‘Labour on death bed’

Ms Foy, who was elected as MP for the City of Durham in 2019, became the latest parliamentarian to call for Sir Keir Starmer’s resignation following damaging local election results in May which saw the party lose badly in Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, South Tyneside and Hartlepool.

Three Government aides resigned on Monday evening – Joe Morris, a parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to Health Secretary Wes Streeting, and Tom Rutland, a PPS to Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds, urged the Prime Minister to set out a timetable for his departure.

Ms Foy said: “After listening to the Prime Minister carefully this morning, I’ve decided to offer my honest opinion about the situation we currently find ourselves in.”

She claimed “no one listened” to her various warnings about the state of the government impacting local election results both last year and this month.

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“Backbench MPs like me have felt consistently ignored, disappointingly branded the ‘usual suspects’ who aren’t ‘playing the team game’,” she said.

“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 stating 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.

“Apologies won’t cut it any longer. I know I might disappoint some Labour members by saying this, but we’ve reached an existential crisis.

“Labour lies on its death bed – with the only realistic cure being a change in direction and a change in leadership.”

Ms Foy is the latest North East MP to call on Sir Keir to step down, following earlier calls from Jonathan Brash, Kate Osborne, Andy McDonald, Luke Myer and Mr Morris, among others.

In a speech in central London on Monday, Sir Keir said he took “responsibility” for the losses but would fight on.

Monday’s address had been billed as a move to set out sweeping changes needed to tackle the “big challenges” facing Britain, and was widely seen as a “make-or-break” moment for the Prime Minister.

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 on Saturday and a plan to put the UK “at the heart of Europe”.