Keir Starmer to face mutinous Cabinet in just hours after senior ministers urge PM to finally quit

Sir Keir Starmer could face his final Cabinet meeting as Prime Minister today after a number of his own ministers demanded he step down.

The Foreign and Home Secretaries have both are thought to have demanded an "orderly transition of power" following Labour's local elections bloodbath - though his closest ally Lord Hermer has urged him to fight on.

Meanwhile, the Deputy PM and Defence Secretary are said to have discussed with Sir Keir about how to take a "responsible, dignified and orderly" approach to whatever he decides to do.

"In the end, Keir has listened to cabinet ministers - there are differences about where this will go and what is in the best interests of party and country," a minister told The Guardian last night.

"He’ll have to make a decision about what he's going to do before cabinet tomorrow."

So far, six ministerial aides have had to be replaced by No10, after they either quit or called for the PM to go - while the number of Labour MPs to have demanded he resign is more than 10 times that figure.

By late last night, just under 80 had publicly called for his head.

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Darren Jones refuses to say if Keir Starmer will lead Labour into next General Election

Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones has refused to confirm if Keir Starmer will lead Labour into the next General Election,

Asked if Sir Keir would be leading Labour into the next election, Mr Jones said: "I’m not going to get ahead of any decision that the Prime Minister may or may not take.

"He was very clear yesterday that he will not be walking away, as some of my colleagues have asked him to do.

"We’ve got over 400 Labour MPs in the House of Commons. I think there are now 70 who have raised concerns publicly.

"All I would say is that the vast majority of us are focused on using the time we have in government to be able to deliver the types of change for people across the country that we’re also passionate about delivering, but that we have to work together then as a party in this new political era of five-party politics, of the rise of populist parties in our country, to be able to set the course for winning that next election."

Cabinet minister says discussion around Keir Starmer's future should take place in private

A cabinet minister has said the debate about the future of Sir Keir Starmer's time in Downing Street should take place in private.

Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones said Labour must not "fall into a trap" of open infighting.

He told Sky News: "I appreciate that we had an awful set of election results last week… It’s right that we had a conversation about the lessons to be learnt there. And I say to my colleagues we can have those conversations in private.

"There’s a way to have these conversations and a way not to have them."

He added Labour was "absolutely focused as the Government in this country on doing the right things by the public and the country".

Rhun ap Iorwerth set to become next First Minister of Wales

Rhun ap Iorwerth, the leader of Plaid Cymru, looks set to become the next First Minister of Wales after his party won the most seats in a historic Welsh Parliament election.

With the vote scheduled to take place later today, Mr ap Iorwerth is expected to have the most support behind him to become the next leader of the country.

His party won the largest bloc in the Welsh Parliament in the election, but fell short of a majority with 43 Members of the Senedd (MSs). Mr ap Iorwerth, who said he will seek to form a minority government, could become the first Plaid Cymru MS to lead Wales.

In the vote later today, Mr ap Iorwerth will have the support of the Wales Green Party’s two MSs, Welsh Green leader Anthony Slaughter has said, as well as Plaid Cymru’s 43 members.

Wales has been led by a Labour first minister since the Welsh Parliament was established more than two decades ago.

Baroness Eluned Morgan, the outgoing first minister, resigned from her role as Welsh Labour leader after losing her seat in the Senedd election.

Ken Skates, who scraped in as the sixth and last MS to win a seat in Fflint Wrecsam, will serve as the party’s interim leader until a full leadership contest takes place.

Labour CHAOS: Left-wingers warn Wes Streeting they'll oust him - before he's even become Prime Minister

Labour in-fighting is already underway between the factions trying to replace Sir Keir Starmer - but the PM has not publicly said anything about resigning.

A "senior soft-left source" last night condemned Team Streeting for their public statements calling for a "swift" leadership contest before Andy Burnham can get in.

The source told Bloomberg: "If Wes thinks he can pull off some kind of stitch up to avoid a fair process that he will have no legitimacy even if he briefly ends up in office.

"There would be no support for the Government in the Commons and we would challenge him at the first opportunity.

"He'd be lucky to outlast a lettuce."

Outside No10... Zack Polanski now admits he paid the wrong council tax during stint on east London houseboat

Zack Polanski has admitted he failed to pay the correct council tax while he was living on a houseboat in east London.

The Green Party leader came under fire after an investigation by The Times raised questions over his living situation.

Speaking through a party spokesman, the 43-year-old previously claimed he only stayed on the vessel “occasionally” - but an unearthed online listing from his partner had described it as the pair's "amazing home".

Neighbours told the newspaper they believed Mr Polanski lived at the address permanently, saying they had seen him there “all the time”.

But now, the Greens have finally admitted that Mr Polanski was living at the property "until relatively recently", adding that it "came with its own unique practical circumstances and considerations".

A party spokesman said: "He has immediately taken steps to pay any council tax he may be found to owe... Zack apologises sincerely for the unintentional mistake."

Mr Polanski last year said Angela Rayner's tax scandal of her own was a "resigning matter", though added that his "first thought is actually compassion for when anyone makes a mistake"...

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Angela Rayner 'would be PM Andy Burnham's Foreign Secretary as reward for stepping aside'

Angela Rayner would be offered the Foreign Secretary job under Andy Burnham, political blog Guido Fawkes has revealed.

Figures in Ms Rayner's inner circle are lobbying for the post as a reward for stepping aside for the so-called "King of the North".

But time is running out for Mr Burnham's leadership bid, with the PM facing down his Cabinet today.

Allies of the Mayor say he will secure his return to Parliament by triggering another by-election in a nearby seat.

The Telegraph reported a seat has been identified - and that Mr Burnham's team believes it is "broadly confident" that it is "winnable".

Nigel Farage's Reform UK, however, could throw a major spanner in the works, picking up more than 200 seats in the North West last Thursday.

Andy Burnham prepares rallying cry to bond markets - Greater Manchester Mayor faces race against time to become PM

Andy Burnham is reporting to be preparing his pitch to the bond markets in a bid to shore up his credibility before a potential shot at No10.

The Greater Manchester Mayor, according to The Telegraph, will endorse an economics pamphlet to help raise his credentials on the national stage.

"The Productive State: A Framework for Manchesterism" will be published by Mainstream, a Labour-linked group affiliated with Mr Burnham which has called for more left-wing policies, in the coming weeks.

Sources close to discussions said the document would set out how Mr Burnham's ideas in Greater Manchester could be rolled out across the UK - as well as the wider economic theory behind his ideas, which allies hope will reassure markets.

It will also suggest that Mr Burnham is the natural heir to the "titans of political economy" in the Labour movement.

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