More than 50 Labour MPs call for Keir Starmer to resign

More than 50 Labour MPs have called for Keir Starmer to resign after the party’s disastrous UK local election results.

The British prime minister sought to face down critics on Monday with a promise to prove his doubters wrong, as a former minister withdrew threats to imminently launch a leadership challenge.

But his speech failed to quell demands that he quit or set out a timetable for his departure from discontented backbenchers, who numbered 51 by Monday evening.

Catherine West had previously said she would challenge Starmer for the party leadership as early as Monday afternoon, in an attempt to force the Cabinet to put forward a replacement as prime minister.

But after a speech in which Starmer said he would not “walk away”, the former Foreign Office minister said she would now canvass support within the party for the prime minister to set out a timetable for his resignation by September.

In a statement, West said: “I have listened to the Prime Minister’s speech this morning. I welcome the renewed energy and ideas. However, I have reluctantly concluded that this morning’s speech was too little too late.

“The results last Thursday show that the PM has failed to inspire hope. What is best for the party and country now is for an orderly transition.”

Speaking to the Press Association, she added that she thought Starmer’s speech had been “heartfelt”, but it did not “change the mathematics of how many seats we lost on Thursday”.

Speculation about the prime minister’s future has intensified since Thursday’s elections, in which Labour lost almost 1,500 English councillors, went backwards in Scotland and slumped to third in Wales.

On top of the 51 MPs already calling for Starmer to go, others have suggested they could do so if he does not change course rapidly.

In a speech in central London on Monday, Starmer said he took “responsibility” for the losses but would fight on.

“I’m not going to shy away from the fact that I’ve got some doubters, including in my own party,” he said.

“I’m not going to shy away from the fact that I have to prove them wrong, and I will.”

Monday’s speech had been billed as a move to set out sweeping changes needed to tackle the “big challenges” facing Britain, and was widely seen as a “make-or-break” moment for the prime minister.

Starmer set out a number of measures including legislation to nationalise British Steel, a ban on “far-right agitators” coming to the UK for a planned march on Saturday and a plan to put the UK “at the heart of Europe”.

He cast the current political moment as a “battle for the soul” of the UK, warning that if Labour failed, the country would head down “a very dark path”.

A handful of backbenchers spoke up in support of the prime minister afterwards, with Macclesfield MP Tim Roca and Gedling’s Michael Payne saying Starmer had demonstrated he understood “the scale of the challenge” facing the country.

But others from across the party – going well beyond the prime minister’s usual critics on the left – continued to say he should step down.

North Northumberland MP David Smith, who has been the UK’s special envoy for freedom of religion or belief since 2024, said Labour owed “a debt of gratitude” to Starmer but he could not “carry on with the approach we have taken” since the general election.

Blue Labour, an internal pressure group founded by Labour peer Lord Maurice Glasman, also called on Monday for the prime minister to set out a timetable for his departure.

Others have looked towards Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, saying he should be allowed to return to Parliament.

But Starmer would not be drawn on whether he would support Burnham’s return to Westminster, saying it was a matter for Labour’s national executive committee (NEC).

The NEC, dominated by supporters of the prime minister, blocked Burnham from contesting the Gorton and Denton by-election earlier this year, and the formerly safe Labour seat was won by the Greens.

In a speech to the Communication Workers Union on Monday, former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner – herself regarded as a potential leadership contender – said the decision to block Mr Burnham should be “put right”.

London mayor Sadiq Khan also backed Burnham’s return to Parliament, telling PA this should happen “sooner rather than later” but that he was not calling for a leadership change, only a change in the “pace of delivery”.

Burnham is yet to comment publicly on reports that he intends to attempt a return to Westminster, and has pulled out of an event at which he was due to speak on Tuesday.

A Survation poll for Compass, conducted before the local elections, found 55 per cent of the British public think Starmer should stand down, and 22 per cent think he can turn things around.

Keir Starmer’s speech was sad to watch. With so many resets, even his reset button needs a reset.

But I do not take pleasure in watching the Prime Minister flounder. The country needs leadership, not another speech from a man who clearly knows something has gone badly wrong, but…

— Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) May 11, 2026

Responding to the speech, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said it was “sad to watch”, adding: “With so many resets, even his reset button needs a reset.

“But I do not take pleasure in watching the Prime Minister flounder.

“The country needs leadership, not another speech from a man who clearly knows something has gone badly wrong, but still can’t explain why.”

Badenoch also dismissed Labour’s “pretenders jostling for his job”, saying: “They are busy arguing over who should drive the car, but the truth is they are all heading in the wrong direction. They have no vision for the future.”