Starmer latest: Home secretary urges PM to set timetable to resign as Streeting leadership bid looms

Based on full results from all 136 councils in England that held elections last week, Labour won 46 per cent of the seats it was defending, while the Conservatives won 65 per cent of the seats they were defending, according to Press Association analysis.

These figures are a comparison with how many seats the parties held just before the elections took place.

Using the same calculation, at last year’s local elections in England both Labour and the Tories won 33 per cent of the seats they were defending.

Reform UK won 30 per cent of the seats in which it stood candidates this year, while the Greens won 13 per cent.

Last year Reform won 42 per cent of the seats it contested and the Greens won 7 per cent.

Jonathan Hinder, Labour MP for Pendle and Clitheroe, has joined the growing number of MPs calling for Sir Keir Starmer to resign, adding that the prime minister “has never been an electoral asset”.

Speaking on BBC’s Newsnight, Mr Hinder said: “The blunt reality is, and every single Labour MP will tell you this, he has never been an electoral asset.

“Our best electoral asset was the unpopularity of the Conservatives and the fact that Reform split their vote and that is why I’m sat here today, most of all, but I don’t underestimate the amount of work he did.

“I think he’s in it for the right reasons. I know his team worked incredibly hard, like we all did, to get us here, but we have to face the facts now.”

He added: “We need a new leader for the Labour Party and our country, most importantly, needs a new leader.”

The following PPS appointments have been made:

 David Burton-Sampson – Department for Health and Social Care

Linsey Farnsworth MP – Ministry of Justice

Jayne Kirkham MP – Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Michael Payne MP – Home Office

Tim Roca MP – Department for Work and Pensions

Sean Woodcock MP – Cabinet Office

Editorial: As more than 60 MPs call on Keir Starmer to quit, the party must look to its PM, roll up its sleeves and get on with the hard work of delivering for the UK rather than engaging in more unnecessary infighting. Read below:

Four Government aides have resigned and more than 60 backbench MPs have called on the prime minister to quit following Labour’s heavy defeats in the local elections.

Here, the Press Association looks at who has called for Sir Keir Starmer to go or given up their position in Government:

A parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Mr Morris was among the first to resign their position, calling on Sir Keir to set out a “swift timetable” to step aside.

In a message posted on social media, the MP for Hexham, Northumberland, wrote: “The message from last week’s elections was clear: the prime minister has lost the confidence of the public.”

He added: “It is in the best interests of the country and the party that the prime minister sets out a swift timetable to ensure that a new leader is in place to regain the confidence of the public and to ensure that the government can deliver on the commitments it has made.”

Mr Streeting has widely been seen as a potential successor to the prime minister – with his allies pointing to results in his local authority, Redbridge, to show that he can retain the Westminster seat he holds with a majority of just 528.

Mr Rutland resigned as PPS to Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds, saying the prime minister had “lost authority” and “will not be able to regain it”.

In his statement posted on social media, the MP for East Worthing and Shoreham said: “It is with regret that I believe the prime minister should now set out a timetable for his departure and for a new leader to be chosen to lead the Labour Party and the country.”

Mr Rutland added: “It is clear to me that the prime minister has lost authority not just within the Parliamentary Labour Party but across the country and that he will not be able to regain it.”

The MP for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy in Scotland, Ms Ward resigned from her position as PPS to deputy prime minister David Lammy – saying Sir Keir had “lost the confidence of the public”.

In a statement on X, Ms Ward said: “So many of my constituents told me that they could not vote Labour as long as Keir Starmer remains Prime Minister.”

She added: “Keir Starmer did important work to change the Labour Party, and governing in a time like this will never be easy.

“But the message from last week’s elections was clear; the Prime Minister has lost the confidence of the public.”

Mr Lammy previously rallied around the prime minister to defend his premiership, saying his “mandate” must be delivered.

Ms Khan, the MP for Gillingham and Rainham, resigned from her position as PPS to the Cabinet Office – calling for “new leadership”.

In a statement on X, Ms Khan said: “The message from last week’s elections was clear: the Prime Minister has lost the confidence of the public.”

She added: “We need a clear change of direction now and no game playing. A Labour Government can and will rise to meet the moment if we act now.

“I am calling for new leadership, so that we can rebuild trust and deliver the better future that the British people voted for.”

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

The MP for Hornsey and Friern Barnet withdrew threats to imminently launch a leadership challenge ahead of the prime minister’s speech on Monday, but went on to write a letter urging him to step aside that was signed by 80 MPs, PA understands.

A growing number of backbench MPs have called for Sir Keir to resign as Prime Minister, including Richard Burgon, John McDonnell and Sally Jameson, an aide to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.

Ms Jameson, MP for Doncaster Central, said Sir Keir “is a man of deep integrity” but said she now feels he should “set out a clear timetable for his departure in September or shortly after”.

More than 70 backbench MPs had publicly called for the prime minister to resign by Monday evening.

Ithought Labour was going to stop the psychodramas. No such luck. We’re now in for many months more of the Labour version – every bit as angsty as the Tory sagas. The latest overhyped instalment, however, was a slight anticlimax.

Enter the prime minister. Jacket discarded, tie off, sleeves up. Was Keir Starmer getting on with the job – or fighting for his political life?

Both, as he clearly knew. I don’t know who billed this as a “make-or-break speech”, but it was a poorly chosen venue in any case. And a few people seemed to have missed the memo. Here he was, in a smallish white room in London, harshly overlit, apparently abandoned by his cabinet colleagues – none of whom were in the front room, nor probably for miles around.

He’s no Winston Churchill, as someone once said, but he’s trying. “We are not just facing dangerous times, but dangerous opponents. Very dangerous opponents,” he said, scouring the front row for them.

He was flanked only by Lucy Powell, the deputy leader of the party, whom he didn’t even want doing the job in the first place. Everyone knows the only reason she had turned up was because, if Starmer fell now, her friend and colleague Andy Burnham wouldn’t be able to succeed him.

The Independent understands at least four cabinet members, including home secretary Shabana Mahmood, have already told Sir Keir he needs to resign, before the crunch weekly meeting tomorrow.

It comes after the the health minister has said that members of Sir Keir Starmer’s cabinet “may well” tell him to resign on Tuesday.

More than 70 MPs have now publicly urged the prime minister to resign or set out a timetable for his departure, whilst four have quit as ministerial aides following a poor performance in the local elections.

Appearing on Newsnight, Stephen Kinnock said that Sir Keir may be asked to step down when cabinet members meet for their weekly meeting on Tuesday.

“It is clear for everybody to see that a lot of people are either coming out and calling for Keir to resign or whatever it might be, and it is possible that members of the Cabinet might do that”, he said.