Several of Keir Starmer’s top Cabinet members are under scrutiny for not showing public support for him amid growing tensions as Labour MPs maneuver to challenge the Prime Minister’s leadership.
In a bid to rally behind Starmer, Downing Street urged most of the Cabinet to express their backing on social media. However, three key figures notably refrained from doing so.
One of these figures, Ed Miliband, who has allegedly advised the Prime Minister to outline his exit strategy, did not publicly support Starmer’s continuation in his position.
Describing Labour’s catastrophic losses in council elections as ‘devastating’, the Energy Secretary emphasized, “Voters are clearly expressing their dissatisfaction with the existing economic and political conditions.”
Miliband referenced Starmer’s call for the government to “go further in fulfilling the change mandate that Labour secured in 2024 and demonstrate how we plan to address the country’s demands for transformation.”
Commentators have interpreted his remarks as a veiled critique rather than a genuine endorsement.
Next up the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, appeared to scold the Prime Minister as she demanded: ‘Do better’.
Ms Mahmood, who is among those considering a leadership bid, also described the results in her native Birmingham as ‘devastating’.
Keir Starmer’s job is on the line as MPs and ministers move against him
Ed Miliband, who reportedly called on Starmer to set out a timetable for his departure, failed to back the PM in a post last night
‘Good public servants, colleagues and friends have lost their seats. This was a verdict on us not them. The PM has rightly said we must do better.
‘It is a privilege to serve the British people and we must live up to it.’
Wes Streeting, who reportedly already has enough MPs lined up to launch a coup, failed to post anything on social media last night.
Speaking on the BBC this morning he insisted that Sir Keir ‘will have my support’ and he will ‘continue putting my shoulder to the wheel as Health Secretary’.
But he also issued a coded leadership pitch when boasting that Labour in his patch of London had ‘bucked the trend’.
Setting out his ability to fend off gains from both the left and the right, Mr Streeting claimed: ‘I’m really proud that here in Redbridge, we’ve bucked the trend’.
‘We’ve shown that whether it’s opponents to our left or opponents to our right that Labour can still win, can still be the change. I’m proud of the results here, I’m particularly proud of the results in the Ilford North ward.’
Last night London Mayor Sadiq Khan was another top Labour figure to issue a withering verdict on Starmer’s performance as leader.
Mr Khan rejected claims from supporters of the Prime Minister that yesterday’s local government wipeout was simply typical midterm unpopularity for a government.
He blasted: ‘Mid-term elections can sometimes be difficult for the party in national government, but this is different.
Shabana Mahmood also appeared to chastise the Prime Minister after yesterday’s local election wipeout
London mayor Sadiq Khan demanded a ‘change in course’ and didn’t mention the Prime Minister by name at all in his social media statement
‘These results speak to a far-reaching disillusionment and fracturing in our politics, which cannot be downplayed, spun or dismissed.
‘Without a change in course and an acceleration in delivery, the threat to Labour is existential.
‘Many people who voted Labour at the last general election clearly feel angry, disappointed and let down.
‘Too many of the government’s achievements have been overshadowed by basic mistakes and a failure to boldly assert our progressive values.’
The failure to receive support from key players in his cabinet compounded the Prime Minister’s leadership crisis, after a day of calls to resign from Labour MPs.
Yesterday Former Cabinet minister Louise Haigh, an ally of Mr Burnham, said it was ‘abundantly clear’ that Sir Keir ‘cannot lead us into another election’ unless there is ‘significant and urgent change’.
And ex-frontbencher Jon Trickett said it was ‘curtains for Keir’, adding: ‘Voters sent us a clear message: the party and the Government, including the leadership, must change with immediate effect if we want to recover.’
Privately, some ministers are also pushing for the PM to go.
One told the Daily Mail: ‘These results put to bed any idea that Keir can lead us into the next election.
‘It is a disaster – Farage is killing us, the Greens are killing us, the nationalists are killing us.
‘It is completely unsustainable and him suggesting he can fight on for years is just delusional.’
Unite union boss Sharon Graham said ‘the writing is on the wall for this Labour government’, adding that it ‘could be the beginning of the end for the party itself’.
Ms Graham, whose union bankrolled Labour for years said voters had ‘delivered their verdict’ and urged ministers to stop ‘loyally reading out lists of their achievements’ as ‘no-one is listening’.
‘If the party does not shift decisively towards the working class it is finished,’ she said. ‘It is change or die. Now or never.’
In a column for the Guardian last night, Starmer insisted he would not tack left or right to chase votes after the local election wipeout.
The Prime Minister insisted that voter fury dates back to at least 2008, in an attempt to pass the buck for his own failures.
He argued: ‘While we must respond to the message that voters have sent us, that doesn’t mean tacking right or left.
‘It means bringing together a broad political movement, being assertive about our values, bold in our vision and addressing people’s demands.
‘Unifying rather than dividing. That is the right approach for our party and, more importantly, it is the right approach for our country.’
