Keir Starmer is clinging on to power despite dozens of Labour MPs joined calls for him to quit as prime minister.

Nearly 60 backbenchers had called on him to quit by Monday evening after a steady stream of MPs joined the rebellion despite Starmer delivering a speech pledging to turn around the party’s fortunes.

In a further blow for the embattled PM, ministerial aides to health secretary Wes Streeting, home secretary Shabana Mahmood and environment secretary Emma Reynolds all quit their jobs calling on him to resign.

Starmer once again vowed not to “walk away” from No.10 and said he would prove the doubters wrong, despite Labour’s drubbing in last week’s elections at the hands of Reform UK and the Greens.

He said: “This is nothing less than a battle for the soul of our nation and I want to be crystal clear about how we will win it because we cannot win as a weaker version of Reform or the Greens.

“We can only win as a stronger version of Labour, a mainstream party of power, not protest.”

Starmer confirmed the government will nationalise British Steel and pledged to put the UK “at the heart of Europe” by agreeing closer ties with the EU.

But his speech was dismissed as “utterly inadequate” by one former minister, and was greeted by a fresh wave of demands from MPs for him to set out a timetable for when he will leave Downing Street.

They included Gower MP Tonia Antoniazzi, who said: “Keir Starmer is a man of great integrity who has led the Labour Party through difficult times.

“There will be those that disagree with me but I think it is genuinely time for him to step aside as PM in an orderly manner.”

Markus Campbell-Savours, the MP for Penrith and Solway, said:“I have listened carefully to the prime minister’s speech. Sir Keir Starmer is a decent, principled and kind man. But his leadership is not working, and it is with genuine regret that I say so.

“His position is now untenable. Colleagues should have the courage to say publicly what many have said privately for months.

“Loyalty matters. Loyalty to him, to the party and to each other. But today loyalty lies with our elected members across the country and with the 1,500 who lost their seats last week. It does not lie in maintaining a course that is not commanding confidence.

“What the party needs now is leadership with a credible vision for the country, a clear sense of direction, purpose and ambition. Those skills exist within our ranks, and I am confident we can find a leader who has them.”

Catherine West, the former Foreign Office minister who on Saturday threatened to challenge Starmer herself, instead wrote to all Labour MPs asking them to support her calls for a leadership contest by September.

Under Labour’s rules, 81 MPs would need to support a candidate to trigger a leadership election.

So far, no one has put their name forward, but the likes of Wes Streeting and Angela Rayner are thought to be weighing up their options.

Meanwhile, speculation is mounting that an MP will give up their seat in order to give Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham the chance to return to Westminster and mount his own bid to become PM.

Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Labour-backing union Unite, told HuffPost UK that Starmer’s speech had not “cut the mustard” and said he should quit.

She said: “I don’t think it’s going to happen tomorrow, but there isn’t a cat in hell’s chance that Keir Starmer’s going to lead us into the next election. It would be the death knell if that happened.”

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For many households, the “cost of living crisis” has felt inescapable and never-ending.

And now, a PwC report has found that people seem to be bracing for yet another financial shock.

It said that UK consumer confidence has seen its lowest quarterly decline in four years (in 2022, or four years ago, inflation reached a then-41-year high of 11.1%; PwC point out this is the “sharpest quarterly decline in sentiment since the onset of the Ukraine war”).

It’s the lowest overall score since 2023.

“All age groups are concerned about the rising cost of living, with most people planning short-term cutbacks and sentiment among the under-35s the hardest hit.”

90% of respondents said they were most worried about the cost of living.

80% said they plan to cut household spending in the coming months (food price surges are reportedly expected by some in November 2026).

Twice as many respondents (12% vs 24%) said they planned to drive less to save on fuel costs in the April survey than they did in the January survey. And a majority of under-45s – 65% – said they were worried about their job security and/or prospects.

The 2,000-person-strong survey, conducted after the Easter bank holidays, also found that members of every age group felt less financially healthy than they did in the previous quarter.

“In contrast to previous cost of living shocks, the gap between more and less affluent households has narrowed, while the gap between the young and old has widened,” the accountancy firm said.

PwC said that “Food prices, which are already on the rise, typically have the biggest influence on cost of living perceptions, and are expected to climb further” later on in the year.

They also pointed out that pay rises are usually given in April. They speculated that if households haven’t been given those by now, they might have begun to budget for a leaner-than-anticipated financial year.

Then, there’s the fact that the energy price cap will be removed in July. Many are expecting price hikes post the closure of the crucial shipping channel, the Strait of Hormuz.

Labour MPs can’t decide if Keir Starmer is coming or going even as his premiership hangs in the balance.

Despite the party’s horrendous performance in the local elections, the prime minister has made it clear he has no intention of stepping down.

That means it is up to the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) to try and unite behind an alternative candidate to oust the PM.

But MPs cannot decide what course of action they want to take, and so the party seems to be falling apart – in public.

Backbencher Catherine West threatened to pose a leadership challenge to Starmer if she got the required backing of 20% of the parliamentary party.

However, after Starmer’s make-or-break speech on Monday, West changed tactics and sent a letter to fellow Labour MPs.

She asked them to back her letter calling on the PM to step down in September.

Fellow Labour MP Sean Woodcock then shared his email response to her on X, writing: “I think this is a wholly unserious way of going about this.”

He added: “Please stop.”

West’s demand for Starmer to step down caused major confusion over a significant technicality: what was the deadline?

The backbencher’s initial email said she wanted the PM to resign “in September”, but she has since claimed she meant “by September”.

That sparked one of the signatories to withdraw immediately.

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham is considered to be one of the main rivals to Starmer.

However, he needs a seat in parliament to successfully challenge Starmer.

That has fuelled speculation that a Labour MP could stand aside, giving Burnham a chance of winning the subsequent by-election.

The so-called “King of the North” is rapidly accumulating support – but not many people are willing to actually give up their jobs, it seems.

As Paula Barker, MP for Liverpool Wavertree, told the BBC: “I would be delighted if a seat could be identified for Andy Burnham.”

But, when asked if she would give up her seat for him, Barker said firmly: “No.”

After an awkward pause, she was asked if that meant she was hoping someone else would give Burnham their seat. Barker said: “Yes.”