Keir Starmer’s government fractured on Tuesday as the first sitting minister resigned and urged him to set a timetable to quit, with at least 83 Labour MPs publicly calling for his departure — a figure that continued to rise throughout the day — following the worst set of local election results the party has seen in decades.
Miatta Fahnbulleh, Minister for Devolution, Faith and Communities, resigned just minutes before Starmer’s crunch cabinet meeting, writing that his government had not “acted with the vision, pace and ambition that our mandate for change demands of us.”
“The public does not believe that you can lead this change — and nor do I,” Fahnbulleh wrote. She urged Starmer to “set a timetable” for an orderly transition of power.
The cabinet meeting — attended by senior ministers including Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens — would be dominated by the question of whether Starmer can survive a rebellion that has spread well beyond his usual critics on the left.
Four Cabinet ministers have separately told Starmer to set a resignation timetable, according to ITV News. Starmer has remained defiant, with a government source telling reporters he is “not listening” to demands he step down.
Under Labour Party rules, a formal leadership challenge requires 20% of the parliamentary party — exactly 81 MPs — to nominate a challenger in writing to the party’s general secretary. With the count already past that threshold and climbing, the mechanisms for a formal challenge are in place.
Fahnbulleh’s departure was the most significant yet in a cascade of resignations that began Monday when four parliamentary private secretaries — Joe Morris, Naushabah Khan, Tom Rutland, and Melanie Ward — quit and called for Starmer to announce a departure date. No 10 moved quickly to replace them, appointing six new PPSs: David Burton-Sampson, Linsey Farnsworth, Jayne Kirkham, Michael Payne, Tim Roca, and Sean Woodcock.
The trigger is last Thursday’s local elections, which delivered Labour a catastrophic result. The party lost almost 1,500 English councillors and control of more than 30 councils. In Wales, Labour was reduced to a rump, with First Minister Eluned Morgan losing her Senedd seat. In Scotland, the party made no significant inroads against the SNP. Reform UK made sweeping gains across England, positioning itself as the dominant opposition force.
On Monday, Starmer gave a speech at a community center in Waterloo, framing the moment as “a battle for the soul” of the UK and promising sweeping changes — widely seen as his attempt to reset. It did not stop the resignations.
Tim Roca and Michael Payne said Starmer had demonstrated he understood “the scale of the challenge.” But Labour MPs from across the party continued to demand his departure.
Among those calling for Starmer to go, Sarah Smith said she had “regretfully concluded that he is unable to lead us into future elections” and urged him to set a timetable by the end of 2026. Rachel Taylor said the prime minister had not “spoken clearly enough about the change my constituents need to feel.” Graham Stringer told Talk TV: “I don’t think he can fight the next election if the Labour Party wants to survive.”
The political uncertainty is feeding into markets. Yields on UK government bonds — gilts — rose Tuesday as investors priced in the likelihood of a leadership change.
Economists at Capital Economics warned that Starmer’s potential successors would likely be “not as fiscally disciplined” and increase public spending, adding: “We doubt a new Prime Minister would be any more successful at boosting the economy’s medium-term growth rate.”
Starmer took office in July 2024 following Labour’s landslide general election victory. This is the most serious internal threat to his leadership since taking office.
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