Thirty Labour MPs call on Keir Starmer to RESIGN as Labour losses hit 1,400

Thirty Labour MPs have defied their leader and called on Sir Keir Starmer to resign as Labour losses hit 1,400 overnight.

The Prime Minister suffered an atrocious 24 hours at the polls after Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan lost her seat and her party fumbled their 72-year-long grip on the country.

Labour also lost hundreds of councillors across England to Nigel Farage's Reform UK as they watched their grasp on stronghold authorities crumble before their eyes.

Tameside, Blackburn, Gateshead and Sunderland, all in former Labour heartlands, including Angela Rayner's backyard, surrendered control to the populist party on Friday.

Late on Thursday, it was revealed Energy Secretary Ed Miliband privately advised Sir Keir to set out a timetable to bow out of No10 with local elections looming.

On Friday, London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan admitted the "threat to Labour is existential" without a radical overhaul.

And, now, more than 30 of Sir Keir's juniors have followed suit and called for his head.

Richard Burgon, Graham Stringer and John McDonnell are among those calling for the Prime Minister to step down.

However, more surprising outcries come from former Transport Secretary Louise Haigh.

Simon Opher, the MP for Stroud, vowed Sir Keir could not carry Labour through the next general election – nor could he "stop the far right entering No10".

Meanwhile, rebel Nadia Whittome slammed Labour top chiefs for "doubling down on Reform-lite policies", calling for the return of Labour for working-class communities.

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Sadiq Khan calls for change as he warns Labour faces 'existential threat'

Sir Sadiq Khan has called for change as he warned Labour is facing an "existential threat".

Following the devastating set of local election results, the Mayor of London said the city's results "speak to a far-reaching disillusionment and fracturing in our politics, which cannot be downplayed, spun or dismissed".

"Without a change in course and an acceleration in delivery, the threat to Labour is existential," he declared.

"We risk a repeat in London, Wales and across England of what happened in Scotland, where we have still not recovered."

RECAP: The winners and losers of the local elections so far

With five more councils left to declare, the latest set of local election results have revealed a stark departure from support for the traditional parties of Labour and the Tories.

Reform surged across the nation, gaining more than 1,442 seats, while the Greens also made hundreds of unprecedented gains, reaching 515 councillors so far.

Meanwhile, Labour lost 1,406 seats in a historic set of electoral losses for the longstanding party.

The Conservatives' loss was not as staggering, although the Tories lost some 557 representatives across the country.

The Liberal Democrats made a gain of 151 councillors, winning the title of third place behind Reform UK and Labour.

ENGLAND COUNCIL RESULTS:

• Reform: 1,444 (+1,442)
• Labour: 997 (-1,406)
• Liberal Democrats: 834 (+151)
• Tories: 773 (-557)
• Green: 515 (+374)
• Independents: 199 (+27)

Boris Johnson pours praise on Kemi Badenoch's 'bounce and zap' during campaign

Boris Johnson has poured lavish praise over his successor Kemi Badenoch's "bounce and zap" during the local election campaign.

"She seems fresher and more full of bounce and zap than her rivals," the former Prime Minister noted.

"She has a fearlessness and knowledge of her own mind that are enjoyable to watch – and a positive tonic by comparison with the stammering glottal machine language of the Prime Minister. At the time of writing, she also seems to have done better than forecast at the ballot box," he added, writing in the Daily Mail.

Mr Johnson also ceded that Reform "did well - but not as well as expected" while appearing keen that Mrs Badenoch can "close the gap".

Keir Starmer demands 'break with status quo' after devastating local election losses

Sir Keir Starmer has demanded a "break with the status quo" after a devastating set of local election losses.

The PM added he would take "responsibility" for the loss of more than 1,400 councillors across the nation, ceding he had made "unnecessary mistakes" during his premiership.

"This time things will be different. We must break with the status quo once and for all by building a stronger and fairer country," he said, writing in The Guardian.

"A stronger country – where family finances are not at the whim of tyrants such as Vladimir Putin, and where we stand shoulder to shoulder with our European allies to rebuild our defences, grow our economy and secure our future.

"And a fairer country – where every child has the chance to thrive, where opportunity is not reserved for those who are born with it, and where people can look at their town, their workplace and their country with pride and hope."

Longest-serving Labour MP piles pressure on Keir Starmer to step down

The longest-serving Labour MP has piled pressure on Sir Keir Starmer to step down.

Clive Betts, the MP for Sheffield South East since 1992, urged Cabinet ministers to say Sir Keir should move out of No10 "in the not too distant future".

"What people said repeatedly was we might vote Labour, we’ve always voted Labour, we might vote Labour again, but not while Keir is the leader. It was repeated over and over again," the MP told the BBC.

"That’s a real problem going forward. I don’t think rebooting and refreshing is going to make any difference.

"Unfortunately, the public, by and large, has just stopped listening to Keir. They have made their minds up."

Wes Streeting refuses to back Keir Starmer to head up Labour into next election

Wes Streeting has failed to give Sir Keir Starmer the public backing to lead Labour into the next election.

The Prime Minister's leadership rival refused to say whether his boss should lead the party by the next time a general election is held.

The Health Secretary said: "Keir Starmer won a general election in 2024 that people thought was absolutely impossible after Labour’s crushing defeat in 2019.

"Now, there’s no doubt that with the message that the voters have sent us across England, Wales and Scotland, that the Government bears a huge degree of responsibility for good Labour people losing."

IN FULL: List of Labour MPs calling for Keir Starmer to step down

• David Baines (St Helens North)
• Paula Barker (Liverpool Wavertree)
• Apsana Begum (Poplar and Limehouse)
• Olivia Blake (Sheffield Hallam)
• Jonathan Brash (Hartlepool)
• Richard Burgon (Leeds East)
• Ian Byrne (Liverpool West Derby)
• Beccy Cooper (Worthing West)
• Neil Duncan-Jordan (Poole)
• Louise Haigh (Sheffield Heeley)
• Chris Hinchliff (North East Hertfordshire)
• Kim Johnson (Liverpool Riverside)
• Ruth Jones (Newport West and Islywn)
• Peter Lamb (Crawley)
• Ian Lavery (Blyth and Ashington)
• Brian Leishman (Alloa and Grangemouth)
• Clive Lewis (Norwich South)
• Rachael Maskell (York Central)
• Andy McDonald (Middlesborough and Thornaby East)
• John McDonnell (Hayes and Harlington)
• Anneliese Midgley (Knowsley)
• Abtisam Mohamed (Sheffield Central)
• Connor Naismith (Crewe and Nantwich)
• Simon Opher (Stroud)
• Kate Osborne (Jarrow and Gateshead East)
• Euan Stainbank (Falkirk)
• Graham Stringer (Blackley and Middleton South)
• Jon Trickett (Normanton and Hemsworth)
• Nadia Whittome (Nottingham East)
• Sarah Owen (Luton North)

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