Catherine West Threatens Leadership Contest Against Keir Starmer If Cabinet Minister Won’t Challenge By Monday

Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer faced renewed leadership threats after Labour suffered major losses in Thursday’s local elections, with BBC reporting that growing numbers of Labour MPs went public with calls for him to quit.

“- Published Sir Keir Starmer is to promise bolder action to tackle "big challenges" facing the country, as he battles to persuade his MPs not to ditch him as Labour leader”

BBC

Labour MP Catherine West told the BBC that if a Cabinet minister does not challenge Starmer by Monday, she will trigger a leadership contest herself, saying, "I’m putting people on notice — if I don’t hear by Monday morning".

BBC

West said she would need support from 20% of Labour MPs, or 81 members, to trigger a contest, and she said about 10 MPs were backing her effort.

The BBC said Starmer would seek to reset his premiership in a speech on Monday after heavy election losses left him facing renewed calls to quit, and it described the speech as a reset after "heavy election losses".

Fox News reported that Starmer accepted responsibility for the losses but resisted calls to resign, saying he was "not going to walk away and plunge the country into chaos."

In parallel with the leadership pressure, a committee of the British Labour Party blocked Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, from standing in a by-election, even though he is considered a potential successor to Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Blick reported that the Labour Party’s National Executive Committee imposed a veto on Burnham’s candidacy on Sunday, with the NEC led by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood voting "by eight votes to one".

Blick

Blick said Keir Starmer voted to block Andy Burnham’s candidacy, and it quoted Louise Haigh, former Transport Minister, saying, "Otherwise, I think we will all end up regretting it".

The BBC said Burnham is also seen as a potential leadership rival, but it noted that a speedy contest would hamper his chances because he would first need to become an MP to stand as a candidate.

Blick added that the committee cited the cost of a by-election for the Greater Manchester mayoralty if Burnham were elected to Parliament, requiring him to resign his local mandate if he went to Westminster.

As Starmer prepares his Monday speech, the BBC said the prime minister will promise bolder action to tackle "big challenges" facing the country while battling to persuade MPs not to ditch him as Labour leader.

The BBC reported that at the heart of the speech will be an ambition to put Britain "at the heart of Europe" by seeking closer ties with the EU, and it said the move would "define" his government and strengthen the UK's economy, trade and defence.

The BBC also said the prime minister will set out legislative plans for the coming year at the King's Speech on Wednesday, with Downing Street extracts saying the plans will show "hope, urgency and exactly whose side we are on".

In her intervention on Sunday, BBC reported that Angela Rayner stopped short of launching a leadership bid herself but warned Labour faced its "last chance" to repair its relationship with voters facing "squeezed living standards".

Blick said Labour came to power in July 2024 and is very low in the polls, trailing Nigel Farage's anti-immigration Reform UK party, with the next general elections not expected before 2029 and a major electoral test in local elections in May 2026.