Labour MP Catherine West has given Sir Keir Starmer’s cabinet until Monday to challenge him for the party leadership, warning that if no senior minister steps forward, she will attempt to trigger a leadership contest herself.
West, a former junior Foreign Office minister and MP for Hornsey and Friern Barnet, said in an interview with the BBC that her preferred outcome would be for the cabinet to “reorganise themselves” and put forward its “best communicator” to replace Starmer without a full leadership election. But after disastrous election results for Labour across England, Wales and Scotland, she said she was putting ministers “on notice.”
If no cabinet figure emerges by Monday, West said she would ask Labour MPs to back her as the formal challenger needed to start a contest. Under Labour rules, 20% of the party’s MPs, currently 81 people, would need to support the move.
West said she already had 10 MPs prepared to back her, and was “confident” more would come forward.
“My preferred option is for the cabinet to do a reshuffle within itself, where there's plenty of talent, and for Keir to be given a different role, which he might enjoy, perhaps an international role,” she said.
“Then for others to come to the fore who can communicate the message, who are very able, so we can have minimum fuss.”
Cabinet Office Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds warned Labour MPs against backing such a move, arguing that Britain had seen the damage caused when a governing party repeatedly changed leaders.
“We've seen over the past 10 years now, what happens when a party in government just starts chopping and changing leaders,” he said. “It just generates instability and it militates against a focus on delivery.”
West is not seeking the Labour leadership herself, but her intervention could force other potential contenders to show their hand. If the effort collapses, however, it could also strengthen Starmer by pushing wavering MPs to rally behind him.
Starmer has insisted he will not “walk away and plunge the country into chaos” after Labour suffered heavy losses in English council elections and setbacks in the Welsh and Scottish parliaments. Cabinet ministers publicly backed him on social media Friday evening, but around 30 Labour MPs have already called for a change of leader or for Starmer to set out a timetable for his departure.
Labour lost more than 1,460 seats in English council elections, with Reform UK making major gains in former Labour strongholds in northern England and the Midlands. The Greens also seized control of Waltham Forest, Lewisham and Hackney in London, areas where Labour had long dominated, and won their first elected mayors in Hackney and Lewisham.
In Wales, Labour suffered a historic defeat in the Senedd, finishing third behind Plaid Cymru and Reform UK. In Scotland, the SNP won a fifth consecutive term, while Labour finished a distant second, tied with Reform.
West declined to name her preferred replacement for Starmer.
“I don't have a candidate. That's part of the problem,” she said.
“But I think there are several people who would like to do it, who have been planning for months, but I'm very surprised that none of them has popped up today to say 'I will do it'.”
She credited Starmer with doing “excellent” work rebuilding Labour and handling foreign policy, but said he had “less of a grip” on the domestic agenda and argued the party needed to “take the fight to Reform.”
Her warning appeared to catch many Labour MPs off guard. One minister critical of Starmer dismissed the move, saying: “She's mad.”
A prominent backbench critic of the prime minister called it a “totally irresponsible solo mission.”
Immigration Minister Mike Tapp also condemned West’s intervention.
“When those within your own walls begin dismantling the gate, the enemy no longer needs a battering ram,” he said. “Reform are loving it. Awful from Catherine West and she should know better.”
But one Labour MP who is not known as a leading Starmer critic said they had been blindsided by West’s interview but would support her on Monday.
“I am reasonably confident she will be able to get to 81 [backers],” the MP said.
“The frustration on the backbenches runs far wider than the voices we've heard from publicly. There are far more moderate centrist Labour MPs who also think his time is up.”
Downing Street sources do not believe West will reach the threshold.
Some in government interpreted her call for the cabinet to put forward its “best communicator” as an implicit nod to Health Secretary Wes Streeting, though those close to him denied it. Streeting said Friday that Starmer had his support, while adding that “we have to take responsibility in government for our mistakes.”
Asked whether he was ruling out a leadership bid, Streeting said Starmer had “delivered a majority that people thought was absolutely impossible after the crushing defeat of 2019.”
Other possible names include former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, who resigned in September after failing to pay enough tax on a flat purchase. Rayner is believed to be waiting for the conclusion of an HMRC investigation into her tax affairs before considering any move.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham also has support among some MPs, but any leadership contender must be a member of Parliament. Burnham was blocked earlier this year from standing in the Gorton and Denton by-election and would need to find a parliamentary seat and secure approval from Labour’s National Executive Committee before entering a race.
Supporters of Burnham had hoped to keep Starmer in place temporarily while encouraging him to announce a timetable for leaving, giving Burnham time to return to Westminster. They have tried to persuade West, who is also on the party’s center-left, to abandon her immediate challenge plan. For now, she is proceeding, arguing that waiting for Burnham would take too long.
In an attempt to shore up his position, Starmer appointed former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and former deputy leader Harriet Harman as government advisers. Brown will advise on global finance, while Harman will focus on tackling violence against women.
The appointments puzzled some Labour MPs.
“It's a joke. No question bringing these two back is the answer,” one normally loyal minister said.
Paula Barker, Labour MP for Liverpool Wavertree, said: “I have enormous respect for both Gordon and Harriet, but I would have had even more respect for them if they had declined the offer of, quite frankly, non-jobs and told the prime minister that it's time for a change and he should set out his timetable.”
Starmer is expected to try to reset his premiership next week with a major speech and a new legislative program. In an interview with the Sunday Mirror, he pledged to be “full-throated” about closer ties with the European Union and promised action to address the economic impact of the Iran war.