At least 81 Labour MPs, including Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, have openly demanded that Prime Minister Keir Starmer resigns or set a date for his departure.
The figure represents 20 percent of the party’s 403 MPs, the threshold required to trigger a leadership contest. Starmer is now facing the strongest internal challenge yet from within his own party.
Starmer, However, has not wavered.
The prime minister said on Monday that “The past 48 hours have been destabilising for government and that has a real economic cost for our country and for families.”
“The Labour Party has a process for challenging a leader and that has not been triggered.
“The country expects us to get on with governing. That is what I am doing and what we must do as a cabinet.”
Meanwhile, pressure on Starmer has increased after last week’s poor local election results, in which Reform UK and the Greens made gains.
The Scottish National Party also defeated Labour in Edinburgh’s devolved parliament and ended the party’s century-long dominance in Wales.
The results have added to a difficult few months for Starmer, who has faced controversy over his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the United States and then remove him later. Mandelson had once been an associate of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Starmer resisted calls earlier this year to resign over his decision to appoint Mandelson.
Additionally, the prime minister has also faced criticism over a failure to revive the economy, leaving British citizens to grapple with a high cost of living.
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