Labour MPs Start To Go Public With Calls For Starmer To Quit

Labour MPs have started to come out and call for Keir Starmer to resign in the wake of the party’s terrible local election results.

The party is on track to lose around 1,200 councillors across England while Reform UK enjoy a surge in support.

Labour is expected to face further defeats in the devolved parliaments of Wales and Scotland, too.

The prime minister has already taken responsibility for the catastrophic outcome, telling the media: “These are tough results 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.”

However, Labour MPs have started to publicly urge the prime minister to step aside.

Jon Trickett, MP for Normanton and Hemsworth, told the BBC: “Many, many Labour voters that I represent I guess in the north of England and elsewhere that the direction the government taken has not delivered the change that they thought they voted for.

“They’re angry, they’re upset, they feel let down, they’ve sent us a clear message: The party, the leadership, must change with immediate effect if we want to recover.”

Asked if that means Starmer should quit, he said: “What I would say about the prime minister is he has been a problem for us.”

The veteran MP said all party leaders come in for criticism but the “strongest I’ve ever known” has come in for Starmer.

Trickett said: “It’s hard to know what caused it but I think the initial decision to take money off the pensioners – winter fuel allowance – he was never forgiven for it, or Rachel Reeves.”

He claimed: “The message from my constituency is that it’s curtains for Keir.”

He also acknowledged that it’s a “political earthquake” in his region as Reform take votes from Labour, despite West Yorkshire typically being a Labour stronghold.

“I’ve seen many protests over the years and this is a dramatic moment,” he said.

Trickett has been an MP since 1996 and served as the parliamentary private secretary to Gordon Brown when he was prime minister.

Known to be on the left of Labour, he sat in the shadow cabinet under Jeremy Corbyn, too.

Trickett’s words come after Labour MP Jonathan Brash, whose wife was among the party’s councillors to lose her seat on Hartlepool Council, also said it was time for a new party leader.

He said: “The reality is that we need change at the top of the Labour Party. I think the very best thing the prime minister could do now is to address the nation tomorrow to set out a timetable for his departure.

“We can then have an orderly transition, one that ensures that the full breadth of talent of the Labour Party is able to stand should it want to.”

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