Prime Minister Keir Starmer has publicly rejected pressure to step down after a poor showing for Labour in recent local and regional elections, even as several junior ministers resigned and called for a planned change of leadership.
On Tuesday Starmer reiterated that he intends to remain in office, telling his Cabinet that the party has a set process for challenging its leader and that process had not been triggered. He warned that the past 48 hours had been destabilizing and said the government must focus on governing, adding that further uncertainty carried a real economic cost for families and the country.
Despite that message, the first resignations came quickly. Miatta Fahnbulleh, the minister for Devolution, Faith and Communities and a former left-leaning policy figure, published a resignation letter urging Starmer to ‘set a timetable for an orderly transition’ so a new team could deliver the scale of change she says the public expects. Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips followed, praising Starmer as ‘a good man fundamentally’ but arguing that was not enough and accusing the government of lacking boldness.
Two more junior ministers stepped down later in the day: Alex Davies-Jones, a Welsh MP who highlighted Labour’s heavy losses in its Welsh heartland, and Zubir Ahmed, the MP for Glasgow South West, who said his doorstep campaigning in Scotland had shown voters naming Starmer as a reason for deserting Labour. In total four junior ministers had resigned by Tuesday evening.
Inside the Cabinet meeting held mid-morning, several ministers — including Liz Kendall, Steve Reed and James Murray — said Starmer had their ‘full support’. Health Minister Wes Streeting, who is viewed by some as a potential challenger, attracted attention by refusing to take questions and walking out of a press encounter. Defence Secretary John Healey warned that more uncertainty was not in Britain’s interest and urged focus on immediate economic and security challenges.
How did Labour get here?
The turmoil follows a dramatic arc since Labour won a large parliamentary majority in July 2024. That election gave Starmer a strong government in numbers, but the party took only about 33.7% of the vote, a relatively low share driven in part by the collapse of other parties. Since then Labour has faced declining approval amid a string of policy reversals and internal criticism from backbenchers.
A particularly damaging episode was the appointment and rapid sacking of Peter Mandelson as a US envoy, which resurfaced issues linked to wider controversies. At the same time, political energy has shifted both to the right and left: the populist Reform movement and the Greens gained ground while the Conservatives faltered. Nationalist parties in Scotland and Wales — the SNP and Plaid Cymru — renewed their appeal, delivering significant regional and local defeats for Labour in last week’s contests.
Who is pushing for change?
Pressure has come from across Labour. Miatta Fahnbulleh, one of the first to defect, framed her resignation around the public perception that Starmer cannot lead the necessary change. Jess Phillips argued the party’s reluctance to argue strongly for reforms left progress stalled. Alex Davies-Jones emphasised catastrophic defeats in the Senedd and elsewhere in Wales, while Zubir Ahmed described voters specifically citing Starmer as a reason for not backing Labour in Scotland.
Earlier, backbench MP Catherine West had signalled she would press for a leadership challenge if senior colleagues did not act; she later shifted to calling for an orderly transition rather than an immediate removal. Party figures disagree over timing and about suitable successors.
What happens next?
Parliament reconvenes this week with the King’s Speech, a programme of government priorities drafted by Starmer’s team and read aloud by King Charles III. Starmer has said the speech will emphasise a guiding principle of ‘strength through fairness’.
A formal leadership challenge inside Labour requires the backing of 20% of Labour MPs — currently 81. Reports suggest as many as 80 MPs have publicly or privately expressed that Starmer should make way, but they remain divided on whether he should leave immediately or over the coming months and on who should replace him. Starmer has said he would contest any leadership challenge that was launched.
For now the government faces immediate scrutiny: managing the economic fallout of political instability, delivering on legislative priorities in the King’s Speech, and containing the internal dissent that could lead to a formal contest. The coming days will test whether the party can settle its disagreements or whether calls for an organised handover will intensify into a formal attempt to replace its leader.