POLL: Should there be an immediate general election if Keir Starmer quits? Vote now
Talk of Keir Starmer quitting is getting louder by the hour
Sir Keir Starmer has been under huge pressure to quit as Prime Minister and outline a timetable for a transition to another leader. At the latest count, some 75 of Labour’s 403 MPs have called for Sir Keir to resign.
The embattled PM has vowed to continue, telling members of his top team that the country expects them to "get on with governing". If he goes, voters will not be the ones to decide who leads the country. Labour MPs would choose who leads their party and, ultimately, the UK in the event of a leadership contest.
While Sir Keir's supporters insist he should continue to lead the party and country, Labour's opponents are calling for a complete change in which party governs. The next general election isn't due until 2029.
So what do you think? Should there be an immediate general election if Keir Starmer quits? Vote in our poll and join the debate in the comments section.
Our poll comes as the Prime Minister’s woes deepened on Tuesday morning as the first minister resigned from his Government urging him to go, and as the number of Labour MPs telling him to set out a timetable for his departure grew to 75.
According to Downing Street, Sir Keir told his Cabinet he takes responsibility for Labour's local election results and for delivering the change the party promised.
He is reported to have said: "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."
The meeting was expected to be fraught, with some ministers said to be joining calls for the Prime Minister to go.
Earlier, Housing, Communities and Local Government minister Miatta Fahnbulleh told the PM “to do the right thing for the country and the party and set a timetable for an orderly transition”.
She said the public had lost trust in him because of issues such as the scrapping of the winter fuel payment.
One of Sir Keir’s closest aides declined to say whether he would lead his party into the next general election.
Cabinet minister Darren Jones, the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, said: "I’m not going to get ahead of any decision the PM may or may not take."
Starmer loyalist, Steve Reed, urged Labour colleagues to back Sir Keir. Writing on social media, the Housing Secretary said: "This is not a game. This instability has consequences for people’s lives. The people who will be hurt most will be those that elected us less than two years ago. We must unite behind the Prime Minister."
