Keir Starmer will deliver a make-or-break speech with an explosive intervention by Angela Rayner ringing in his ears – as backbencher Catherine West threatened to trigger a leadership contest
Keir Starmer will deliver a make-or-break speech on Monday as he fights for his political survival – after a Labour big dog warned the party is on its last chance.
The Prime Minister will vow to deliver strength through fairness with no half measures and put the UK back at the heart of Europe after Friday’s local elections mauling.
Former Deputy PM Angela Rayner issued an explosive ultimatum to Mr Starmer on Sunday night as she accused the government of failing to deliver. It came after she posted photos of herself taking part in a Tough Mudder race, captioned: “When the going gets tough…”
A growing number of MPs are calling for him to step down, with backbencher Catherine West threatening to launch a leadership bid herself if Mr Starmer’s Cabinet does not topple him.
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Ms Rayner, widely tipped as a leadership challenger, released a statement which said: “What we are doing isn’t working, and it needs to change. This may be our last chance. The Labour Party must now live up to our name: we must be the party of working people. We’ve heard the same on the doorstep as we’ve seen in the polls – the cost of living is the top issue for voters of all parties. People have turned to populists and nationalists because we have not done enough to fix it.”
Referring to Friday’s disastrous poll results in which Labour suffered big losses to Reform UK and the Greens, she said: “In London, we lost young people who fear they will never afford a home.
“Across the north, we lost working people whose wages are too low and costs too high. In Scotland and Wales, people do not see Labour as the answer. We are in danger of becoming a party of the well-off, not working people.”
She said the Peter Mandelson scandal highlighted “a toxic culture of cronyism” in the party.
And she blasted Mr Starmer’s decision to stop Andy Burnham from standing in the Gorton and Denton by-election in February, which saw the Greens take a previously safe Labour seat.
She wrote: “This is bigger than personalities, but it is time to acknowledge that blocking Andy Burnham was a mistake. We must show we understand the scale of change the moment calls for – that means bringing our best players into Parliament – and embracing the type of agenda that has been successful at a local level, rather than reaching back to an agenda and politics that has failed people.”
Ms Rayner, who stepped down in September after admitting a stamp duty error, stopped short of calling for the PM to stand down.
We understand Health Secretary Wes Streeting has told No10 he has drawn up plans to lead if Mr Starmer’s leadership falls apart, but does not plan an immediate challenge. And it was claimed Greater Manchester Mayor Mr Burnham will this week unveil a plan to get back into Parliament, opening the door for a leadership contest.
Ms Rayner said: “Policy tweaks will not fix the fundamental challenges facing our country. This government needs, at pace, to put measures in place that make people’s lives tangibly better, while fixing the foundations of a system rigged against them. The Prime Minister must now meet the moment and set out the change our country needs.”
Mr Starmer’s speech today comes ahead of Wednesday’s King’s Speech, which will set out the government’s agenda for the next Parliamentary session.
The PM is expected to say: “To meet the challenges that our country faces, incremental change won’t cut it. On growth, defence, Europe, energy – we need a bigger response than we anticipated in 2024 because these are not ordinary times. Strength through fairness. It’s a core Labour argument. And you will see those values writ large in the King’s Speech.”
He faces a moment of peril after former Foreign Office Minister Ms West threw petrol on the flames to speed up his departure. She said yesterday: “I will hear what the Prime Minister’s got to say tomorrow and, then if I’m still dissatisfied, I will put out my email to the Parliamentary Labour Party, asking for names [to support a leadership bid]. And the reason is not for me. It’s for working people, because Labour is the only party that can beat Reform.”
A growing number of MPs are calling for Mr Starmer to set out a timetable for his departure, potentially allowing time for Mr Burnham to join the race.
Josh Simons, ex-head of think-tank Labour Together which helped propel the PM to power, said yesterday he had “lost the country”.
The former justice minister wrote: “Putting the people I represent and the country I love first, I do not believe the Prime Minister can rise to this moment. He has lost the country. He should take control of the situation by overseeing an orderly transition to a new PM.”
In order to become PM, Mr Burnham would need to contest and win a by-election. Once back in the Commons, he could then launch a leadership campaign if he secured the support of 81 MPs. Yesterday it was claimed he would announce his intention to stand for an unnamed seat in the North West this week.
Mr Burnham himself is yet to respond to the election drubbing, in which Labour lost more than 1,100 councillors in England and control of 36 local authorities. In Wales it lost control of the Senedd, and it suffered major losses in the Scottish Parliament election.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson yeterday warned against changing PMs. She told the BBC: “I just do not believe we ought to spend time as a party amongst ourselves, arguing amongst ourselves, fighting amongst ourselves. We do need to tell a better story. We do need to deliver faster.”
And she added: “The Prime Minister will set out a fresh direction for our country and for our party that will rise to the scale of what we face.”
Ms Rayner took part in the charity Tough Mudder challenge on Saturday to raise funds for Send-friendly playground facilities.