Sir Keir Starmer is facing mounting calls from within his own party to set out a timetable for his departure from Downing Street, after a catastrophic set of local election results left Labour MPs in open revolt — with even senior figures refusing to rule out the Prime Minister’s imminent end.
Starmer insisted on Friday morning that he was “not going to walk away and plunge the country into chaos,” but his defiant language was swiftly seized upon by critics who noted he had stopped short of ruling out an orderly, planned exit — leaving the door open to precisely the kind of managed departure his critics are now demanding.
The Times reported that Energy Secretary Ed Miliband had held a private phone call with the Prime Minister overnight to discuss a timeline for his departure from Number 10. Miliband’s team did not explicitly deny the report.
The calls for a timetable came from across the Labour benches. Graham Stringer, Labour MP, told The Telegraph: “I think it would be much better for him to set out a timetable. I think we might be in danger of getting somebody who’s no better. Without a policy debate to clarify where people are going, we could just have a ridiculous beauty contest.”
Ian Lavery, former Labour chairman, was blunter, warning on BBC Radio 4 that Starmer risked destroying the party if he clung on. “An organised withdrawal would be the best course of action,” he said, adding that the Prime Minister could “kill the Labour Party” if he remained its leader. Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell and Jonathan Brash, MP for Hartlepool, also publicly called for a “timetable” for the Prime Minister’s exit.
The results that triggered the revolt were severe. Starmer, who won in a landslide less than two years ago, has faced sustained criticism for his inability to deliver on key economic promises and his handling of the cost-of-living crisis. Reform UK swept into control of Essex County Council, ending 29 years of Conservative rule, while the party made sweeping gains across England and inflicted heavy losses on Labour in areas it once considered safe.
In the event of Starmer’s departure, several figures are expected to enter a leadership contest, among them Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, and Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Manchester.
For now, the Prime Minister says he is staying. But with cabinet ministers reportedly discussing exit terms, backbenchers demanding deadlines and the arithmetic of Thursday’s results pointing to a party in freefall, the question is no longer simply whether Starmer goes — but when.
