Ex-Minister Calls On Cabinet To Speak Out Against Keir Starmer

A minister who resigned over Keir Starmer’s leadership has called on cabinet members to speak out against the prime minister.

Zubir Ahmed left his government role on Tuesday, saying Starmer’s “continuation in office is wholly untenable.”

He urged him to set a timetable for “an expedient and orderly transition to new leadership that commands the confidence of our country.”

He was the fourth minister to resign on Tuesday, after Miatta Fahnbulleh, Jess Phillips and Alex Davies-Jones.

Four ministerial aides also quit on Monday and more than 80 Labour MPs have publicly urged the prime minister to step down following the party’s drubbing in last week’s elections in England, Wales and Scotland.

However, no one in the cabinet has joined the dissenting voices just yet.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4′s Today programme on Wednesday, Ahmed called on the senior members of Starmer’s government to “articulate their dissatisfaction” with the prime minister.

He said: “I think it’s very telling – just as ministers in the junior ministerial ranks have stepped forward to articulate their dissatisfaction, some of us publicly but more of us privately – that the whole of the cabinet has not, on this occasion, been able to articulate support for the prime minister in the full-throated way that would have perhaps had happen in the past.

“I think there is a responsibility on all of us in parliament and ministerial office to be honest with ourselves and the prime minister at this time.”

He added: “We have been put in these positions by the public, to govern the country and to lead, and I think this is a moment for leadership and everyone, to articulate, with honesty, their opinion on the prime minister.”

Ahmed is a known ally to health secretary Wes Streeting, who is a potential rival to the prime minister.

He had a private coffee with the prime minister on Wednesday morning, allegedly to ask Starmer how he was going to turn his party’s fortunes around.

The health secretary left after less than 20 minutes.

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