LONDON: UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is among several cabinet ministers pressing Prime Minister Keir Starmer to announce a timetable for stepping down, exposing growing divisions within the government’s top ranks.
Reports suggest Mahmood remains in the minority within the cabinet on the issue of whether Starmer should publicly set out a departure timeline.
The unrest has also spread through the government’s junior ranks. Six parliamentary private secretaries (PPSs) — the most junior ministerial aides — were replaced by Downing Street after either resigning or openly backing calls for Starmer to clarify his succession plans.
By late Monday night, more than 70 Labour MPs had publicly urged the prime minister either to resign immediately or to confirm when he intends to leave office. The cabinet is scheduled to hold a formal meeting early Tuesday morning.
Among those resigning on Monday was Joe Morris, PPS to Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who is widely viewed as a possible future leadership contender. Morris said Starmer had lost “the trust and confidence of the public.”
Other resignations included Melanie Ward, aide to Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, Naushabah Khan, aide to Cabinet Office Minister Darren Jones, and Tom Rutland, aide to Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds.
Meanwhile, Gordon McKee, PPS to Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden, and Sally Jameson, aide to Shabana Mahmood, joined calls for Starmer to set out a clear timetable for his departure.
In total, 72 Labour MPs have now publicly demanded either Starmer’s immediate resignation or a commitment to step aside within a defined timeframe.
Speaking earlier in the day, Starmer rejected suggestions he would quit, insisting he would prove his critics wrong. While acknowledging mistakes made by the government, he maintained that his administration had made the “big political choices” correctly.
However, pressure on the prime minister intensified throughout Monday, including from allies of Andy Burnham, who have called for a formal timetable for Starmer’s resignation.
Demands for a faster leadership transition have also emerged from the party’s right wing, including figures close to Wes Streeting, with some reportedly hoping to prevent Burnham from entering any future leadership contest.
(Inputs from BBC)
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