11 May 2026

It’s happening

Moves are underway to challenge Keir Starmer’s leadership

After a day of eerie stasis, things are suddenly moving very quickly. A flurry of Labour MPs called on Keir Starmer to go in quick succession, bringing our tally up to 60 and rising. And now the calls from the frontbench have started. Sally Jameson, a Home Office PPS, released a statement calling for Starmer to set out a timetable for his exit, then the New Statesman broke the news that Joe Morris, Wes Streeting’s PPS, had called his whip to resign, swiftly followed by Tom Rutland, a PPS to Emma Reynolds. As I write, a fourth PPS, Naushabah Khan, has also gone over the top.

We’re now seeing a steady drip drip of Wes Streeting supporters, of increasing seniority, going over the top to call on Starmer to go. Number 10 is braced for ministerial resignations to follow. Team Streeting is resolutely silent, but Labour insiders reading the tea leaves are drawing the conclusion that we should expect a Streeting challenge against Starmer in the coming hours or days.

But, importantly, this isn’t just a drip drip of Streeting supporters now making a charge. There are Burnham supporters among the frontbenchers calling on Starmer to go, such as Jameson, the first PPS to stick her head above the parapet. The pressure is coming from several directions, suggesting perhaps a level of coordination between rival camps, or simply a decision in different parts of the party that the current situation is unsustainable.

The cabinet is meeting at 9am tomorrow morning. Some expect Streeting may have launched a challenge by then, others that that will be the moment for cabinet ministers to tell Starmer to go. “You don’t need to bother with delegations of ministers going to see Keir to tell him to go,” one insider joked, “because conveniently they’re all going to meet tomorrow morning anyway.”

But Starmer has made it abundantly clear he will not go without a fight. No deals, no timelines, no pacts – and he will fight any challenge against him. He has made it clear he believes changing prime minister or holding a leadership contest would be chaotic and reckless. But how much pressure can he withstand? It’s going to be a seismic few hours for this Labour government.

[Further reading: Labour faces ‘civil war’ to replace Starmer]