Sir Keir Starmer was today desperately clinging on to power despite more than 80 of his own MPs calling for him to quit – and Brits begging the Daily Star lettuce to reappear.
The beleaguered PM saw Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips, Victims Minister Alex Davies-Jones and Health Minister Zubir Ahmed resign from his cabinet. And Andy Burnham – hotly tipped to mount a leadership challenge – travelled to London during a day of drama in Downing Street.
More than 100 backbench Labour MPs signed a statement backing Sir Keir, saying: “This is no time for a leadership contest.” But Brits called on our lettuce – which famously outlasted Liz Truss during her disastrous reign as PM – to return and see off Sir Keir.
As Sir Keir chaired a Middle East Response Committee at lunchtime, one social media user quipped: “Will Starmer outlast the lettuce??” Another said: “We’re at the ‘Can Keir Starmer outlast a lettuce?’ stage.”
Responding to reports of the resignations of four ministers, someone asked: “Is anyone doing the lettuce yet?” And super serious political journalist Sabrina Miller begged us: “Can the Daily Star please start live streaming a lettuce?”
Sir Keir was said to have refused to discuss either last week’s devastating local election results or his leadership during an earlier meeting on Tuesday morning.
Ministers resigned today
At least 82 out of Labour’s 403 MPs have now demanded Sir Keir’s departure after the party’s electoral mauling last week. But so far, only four of his ministers have resigned from the government.
The Communities Minister Miatta Fahnbulleh was the first minister to resign from Starmer’s government, calling on him to quit, followed by Alex Davies-Jones. Zubir Ahmed also resigned as Health Innovation and Safety Minister.
But the most high-profile minister to resign was Jess Phillips, who called for him to quit and said she has grown tired of seeing “opportunities for progress stalled and delayed”.
Cabinet ministers insist everything is fine
As telly journalists lined up in Downing Street to shout questions at ministers as they emerged from their early morning cabinet meeting, big hitters like Ed Miliband and Wes Streeting remained tight-lipped.
But Starmer loyalists fronted up to the cameras and stood by their man, with Chief Secretary to the Treasury James Murray telling journalists: “Keir’s got my full support and he’s getting on with the job. We’re all behind him.”
During the meeting, Sir Keir is reported to have said he will “get on with governing”, adding: “That is what I am doing and what we must do as a cabinet”.
Burnham desire
Long-time leadership hopeful Andy Burnham was reported to be in London after travelling down from Manchester by train. The “King of the North”, who is currently Mayor of Greater Manchester, is said to have the backing of a number of MPs to replace Sir Keir.
But he would need to relinquish his current role and be elected as an MP before he could mount a challenge. He was recently blocked by Labour’s executive committee from standing in the Gorton and Denton byelection, which Labour lost to the Greens.
A number of North West MPs are rumoured to have considered giving up a seat for Burnham, including St Helens South and Whiston MP Maire Rimmer, who issued a statement to say she had not spoken to him in almost two years.
What do Labour have to do to get rid of Sir Keir?
Disgruntled Labour MPs would require 20% of the party’s parliamentarians to back a replacement candidate. There are 403 Labour MPs, so the support of 81 would be needed.
Once a Labour leadership election is triggered, other candidates could join the contest if they also have 81 backers. Sir Keir would be automatically on the ballot paper if he chose to contest the leadership election as the sitting leader and would continue as PM.
Party members and affiliated trade union supporters vote by ranking the candidates in order of preference. A candidate with more than 50% of first preferences is elected. If nobody achieves that, the bottom candidate is eliminated, and the voters who put them as their number one will see their vote moved to their second choice.
Who could stand to replace Starmer?
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner and Health Secretary Wes Streeting are thought to be the main potential challengers to Sir Keir.
But other outside choices include Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband, who led the party from 2010 to 2015, when he lost a general election. Yvette Cooper and Shabana Mahmood have also been mooted as potential contenders.
And Catherine West – the obscure backbencher who started the ball rolling over the weekend by threatening to launch a leadership bid – told the New Statesman: “You know what sometimes happens to stalking horses? They become the candidate.”
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletter by clicking here.