Sir Keir Starmer will give a key speech on Monday as he tries to save his job after Labour’s disastrous 2025 local election results amid a growing Labour leadership challenge
Sir Keir Starmer will outline a “fresh direction” as he fights to rescue his position amid a leadership challenge following Labour’s catastrophic election performance.
The Prime Minister, who has signalled his desire to remain in office until 2034, delivers a crucial speech on Monday as he attempts to strengthen his grip on power after MP Catherine West announced her intention to mount a leadership campaign.
Former minister Ms West plans to seek nominations on Monday but has made it clear her bid represents an effort to pressure the Cabinet into backing a candidate to move against Sir Keir rather than a serious attempt to secure the keys to No 10 herself.
Alongside Monday’s address, the King’s Speech on Wednesday outlining the Government’s agenda will form part of Sir Keir’s bid to reboot his leadership after Labour suffered a crushing defeat at the polls.
In another damaging development, former ally Josh Simons urged Sir Keir to step down, declaring he had “lost the country”. Despite growing pressure for his departure, the Prime Minister insisted he would not abandon his role.
When asked whether he would lead Labour into the next election, anticipated in 2029, and complete a full five-year term, he told the Sunday Mirror: “Yes I will, and I’ve always said it’s a decade of national renewal, where the legacy we inherited was an appalling legacy on all fronts, not just the economy, which was broken.” Sir Keir has been struck by Nigel Farage’s Reform UK seizing councils, some of which had been Labour for decades, in northern England while Zack Polanski’s Green Party tempted voters away from him in former urban bastions, including gaining control of some London authorities.
However, Sir Keir told the Observer: “I have a strong belief that there aren’t many people who actually want Zack Polanski or Nigel Farage as prime minister.
“I think that the mainstream majority actually want to know that we, the Government, have progressive answers to the challenges that they face on a daily basis, and we need to spell out in terms and with conviction that we do have those progressive answers.”
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said people felt “bitterly let down” by Labour. “I just do not believe that the message we should take from these elections is that we ought to spend time as a party amongst ourselves, arguing amongst ourselves, fighting amongst ourselves,” she told the BBC. “We do need to tell a better story. We do need to deliver faster.”
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 West said she would wait to hear Sir Keir’s speech on Monday before beginning the process of gathering the 81 MPs she would need to formally trigger a contest. She told BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “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.
“And the reason I’m doing that is not for me. It’s for working people, because Labour is the only party that can beat Reform. I say to the women of the Parliamentary Labour Party, don’t just allow the men to stand.”
Former deputy leader Angela Rayner is broadly seen as a possible leadership candidate, with Health Secretary Wes Streeting expected to be her primary opponent within the parliamentary party.
However, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham would require fighting and winning a by-election to become an MP to advance his own leadership aspirations, meaning his backers are cautious about a rapid contest to replace Sir Keir.
In the latest indication that dissatisfaction with the Prime Minister has extended beyond the typical critics on Labour’s left, former minister Mr Simons demanded his resignation.
The Makerfield MP wrote in the Times: “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 prime minister.” John McDonnell, the former shadow chancellor under Jeremy Corbyn and a prominent figure on the Labour left, encouraged Ms West to refrain from potentially sparking a swift contest or coronation for Sir Keir’s successor.
“We need to discuss how we go forward,” he stated. “I worry some in shadows want to exploit her concerns and bounce us before we have a proper democratic process.”
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