Catherine West Challenges Keir Starmer By Monday Or Triggers Labour Leadership Contest

Labour MP Catherine West told the BBC that she would challenge Sir Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership if a cabinet minister did not challenge him by Monday, after what the BBC described as devastating election results for Labour.

“In short: Former Labour minister Catherine West has threatened to challenge the leadership of PM Sir Keir Starmer if he does not step down”

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

West said her preferred outcome was for the cabinet to "reorganise themselves" and put forward their "best communicator" to replace Sir Keir, avoiding a leadership election.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

She said she was putting the cabinet "on notice" and that if she did not hear from a leadership hopeful by Monday she would ask Labour MPs to back her to trigger a contest.

The BBC said the threshold for a challenge was 20% of Labour MPs, "81 people," and that West currently had 10 MPs prepared to back her while being "confident" more would come forward.

Cabinet Office Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds warned against the proposal, telling the programme: "We've seen over the past 10 years now, what happens when a party in government just starts chopping and changing leaders."

Sir Keir Starmer insisted he would not step down, telling British media, "I'm not going to walk away from this," as pressure mounted after Labour’s local election defeats.

The BBC reported that cabinet ministers rallied round the PM on Friday evening on social media, while around 30 Labour MPs had publicly called for a change of leader or a timetable for Sir Keir to go.

BBC

The BBC said Labour had lost more than 1,460 seats in English council elections, with Reform UK making huge gains in former Labour heartlands in northern England and the Midlands.

In Wales, Labour suffered a historic defeat in the Senedd, finishing third behind Plaid Cymru and Reform UK, while in Scotland the SNP won a fifth successive term and Labour finished a distant second tied with Reform.

The BBC also reported that West declined to name who she thought would be best replacement for Sir Keir, saying, "I don't have a candidate. That's part of the problem."

Under Labour rules described by the Institute for Government, a challenger must be nominated by at least 20% of Labour MPs, which currently translates to 81 MPs, to trigger a leadership contest against a sitting leader.

The Institute for Government said nominations must be submitted in written form to the general secretary of the party, and that in these circumstances the sitting leader is not required to seek nominations because they are on the ballot paper by default.

The BBC said West currently had 10 MPs prepared to back her and was "confident" enough people would come forward to trigger a contest, while Downing Street sources did not believe she would reach the threshold.

The BBC reported that one Labour MP who was not a prominent critic of Sir Keir said they would support West on Monday and was "reasonably confident she will be able to get to 81 [backers]."

The Institute for Government added that there is no formal role for a vote of no confidence in the process of a leadership challenge, stating, "Unlike the Conservative Party, there is no formal role for a vote of no confidence as part of the process of a leadership challenge."