British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Tuesday continued to fight rumors of dissent within his Labor Party, following a crushing defeat in local and regional elections in Britain last week.
A major speech on Monday when Starmer said he was “not going away” did nothing to calm the waters, and a junior minister in his government, Miata Fahnebouleh, became the first to resign on Tuesday, urging Starmer to “set a timetable for an orderly transition”.
Security Minister Jess Phillips followed up a few hours later, with Phillips saying in his letter to Starmer that he thought he was “fundamentally a good man” but “that’s not good enough.”
What did Starmer say to his cabinet?
As his Cabinet convened in mid-morning to discuss reopening Parliament following Wednesday’s vote, Starmer’s office was forced to issue another statement expressing his intention to remain in office.
“The Labor Party has a process for challenging a leader and this has not been initiated,” the statement from 10 Downing Street said.
Starmer told his colleagues, “The country expects us to keep governing. That’s what I’m doing and that’s what we should do as a cabinet.”
“The last 48 hours have been destabilizing for the government and it has had a real economic cost to our country and families,” he said.
The statement does not explicitly address or refute the notion of “systematic change”, as some Labor rebels have suggested in the longer term – instead addressing the immediate term.
What did the cabinet ministers say?
Following the cabinet meeting Liz Kendall and several ministers, including Steve Reid and James Murray, used a similar phrase, saying that Starmer had their “full support”.
One politician, Health Minister Wes Streeting, raised eyebrows by ignoring questions from the assembled press and walking out quietly. Streeting is seen as a potential challenge to Starmer.
Defense Minister John Healey wrote online that more uncertainty was not in Britain’s interests.
“Our entire focus must now be on addressing the immediate economic and security challenges,” he said.
How did we get here?
For those who haven’t been following British politics closely, here’s a quick recap of the past two years or so, from Starmer’s Labor landslide victory in the 2024 general election to its poor performance at the local level in Scotland, Wales and much of England last week.
- July 4, 2024: Labor wins a landslide victory, 411 seats, in the general election, ending 14 years of Conservative-led government.
- However, notably, the party won only 33.7% of the vote – one of its lowest vote shares ever – due to the collapse of all the rest, as well as its own popularity.
- A series of policy U-turns began to undermine the government’s credibility and approval ratings, often amid criticism from Labor backbenchers.
- One scandal in particular, the appointment and then dismissal of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador, has repeatedly surfaced to haunt Starmer amid the release of the so-called Epstein files.
- Reforms to the populist right and the Greens to Labour’s left continued to gain momentum, while the Conservative Party was in recession and Labour’s popularity was also declining.
- Nationalist parties in Scotland and Wales similarly enjoyed a resurgence as Labor – the historical political force in both those countries – faltered.
- This resulted in major defeats for Reform, the Greens, the Scottish National Party and plaid Cymru in regional and local elections in Wales last week.
Who in Labor has put pressure on Starmer and what are they saying?
Miyata Fahanbulla, a junior minister, became the first member of Starmer’s government to resign on Tuesday.
The only Member of Parliament from 2024, the Minister for Devolution, Faith and Communities is a former left-wing think tanker best known as an ally of former Labor Party leader Ed Miliband.
“Our country faces enormous challenges and people are demanding change on the scale that is needed,” he wrote in his resignation letter, which he published online. “The public does not believe you can lead this change – and neither do I. So, I urge you to do the right thing for the country and the party and set a timetable for an orderly transition so that a new team can deliver the change we promised the country.”
Security Minister Jess Phillips, in charge of tackling violence and crimes against women and girls, also submitted her resignation on Tuesday afternoon. He said he thought Starmer was a good person but also accused him of not being courageous enough.
Phillips charged, “The desire not to debate means we rarely debate, thereby stifling and delaying opportunities for progress.”
The first Labor MP to publicly call out Starmer over the weekend was a similarly low-profile former junior minister, Katherine West.
She initially urged more senior politicians to launch a leadership challenge against Starmer and said that if they did not do so by Monday, she would do so.
But after Starmer’s speech on Monday sought to quell resignation rumors, West turned to a stance similar to that adopted by Fahnbulleh the next day – calling on Starmer to initiate “systemic change” in the coming weeks and months.
what happens next?
There is no immediate escape from the spotlight for Starmer or the British government.
On Wednesday, King Charles III will read the “King’s Speech” as Parliament reconvenes following last week’s elections.
This name is a misnomer, the speech is not written by the king, it is only read by him. Written by Starmer’s government, it will set out some of their legislative priorities for the coming months and years. Starmer said on Monday that a guiding principle of “strength through fairness” would be “written extensively” into the speech.
When it comes to a potential Labor leadership challenge, if MPs decide they want to launch a hostile challenge to Starmer, they need the support of 20% of Labor MPs.
This figure currently stands at 81. More than 80 people have already expressed their desire to give way to Starmer.
But crucially, they both differ on how they want Starmer to leave – whether immediately or within the next few months – and who would be best suited to succeed him. Asked by a reporter on Monday, Starmer said he would take on a leadership challenge if it arose.
Edited by: Rana Taha