𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Keir Starmer’s mutinous backbench MPs were rallying together on Monday to try to overthrow the Prime Minister.

Former minister Catherine West fired the starting gun, in what is essentially a no confidence vote, by writing a letter calling for a timetable laying out Sir Keir’s Downing Street exit by September.

For a leadership contest to be triggered against the PM, a challenger must be nominated by at least 20% of Labour MPs – which currently translates to 81 MPs.

At least 50 Labour MPs demanded the Prime Minister resign following a speech on Monday which was “too little too late”.

Ms West said: “I have listened to the Prime Minister’s speech this morning. I welcome the renewed energy and ideas. However, I have reluctantly concluded that this morning’s speech was too little too late”.

If the Labour Party leader resigns, then a contest for a replacement is automatically triggered.

The top contenders to replace him are Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham.

Ms Rayner said Andy Burnham “should never have been blocked” from seeking a seat in the Commons.

Her comments came soon after Sir Keir would not be drawn on whether he would support Mr Burnham’s return to Westminster, saying it was a matter for Labour’s national executive committee (NEC).

The NEC, dominated by supporters of the Prime Minister, blocked Mr Burnham from contesting the Gorton and Denton by-election earlier this year.

The formerly safe Labour seat went on to be won by the Green Party.

As a directly elected mayor, Mr Burnham had to get approval from Labour’s NEC after he applied to be a candidate in the race.

But Labour said the party had decided to deny him permission to stand to “avoid an unnecessary mayoral election, which would use substantial amounts of taxpayers’ money and resources”.

For the so-called King of the North to have a chance of being Prime Minister now, he needs to get a seat as an MP.

This would involve a current parliamentarian agreeing to stand down in a safe seat, triggering a by-election. The NEC would then have to vote on him again.

Mr Burnham would also have to resign the mayoralty, triggering another vote.

There is a chance that Labour lose both ballots as Reform UK and the Green Party surge in popularity.

Nigel Farage’s turquoise party saw major gains across Greater Manchester in the local council elections last week while Zack Polanski’s Green Party enjoyed huge support in Manchester.

Sir Keir made a key speech yesterday (MON), vowing to prove his doubters wrong, and that he would not “walk away”.

He was elected at the last vote for the leader of the Labour Party in April 2020.

Sir Keir was crowned after Jeremy Corbyn by winning the contest in the first round of voting with 56.2% of all first preference votes.

Another route MPs could take to get Sir Keir to quit is for ministers to resign en masse.

This happened to Boris Johnson in 2022, when the resignation of 30 ministers made running a government all but impossible.

Anas Sarwar, the leader of the Scottish Labour party, called for Starmer to be replaced earlier this year but his Cabinet rallied around him which saved the PM.

MPs could also revert to a Parliamentary vote of no confidence which is easier to call than a formal leadership election, which would put Sir Keir under pressure to resign.

Parliament returns after the King’s Speech on Wednesday.

Neil Kinnock has suggested that Labour MPs attempting to remove Sir Keir are “inflicting the worst kind of self-harm”.

The former Labour leader told The Times: “The current conditions are a test of their resistance and realism.

“The departure of Keir Starmer would be seen as abandonment, not just domestically, but internationally.”

He added: “Failure to recognise those realities is inflicting the worst kind of self-harm.

“I would say to Labour MPs that cool heads are not dead heads. Cool heads are what we do when we are confronted by national upheaval, which our country can’t afford.”