Labour MP says PM should go but pulls back from leadership challenge

Labour MP Catherine West has pulled back from launching a leadership challenge against Sir Keir Starmer but has called on him to set out a timetable for his departure in September.

Over the weekend, the north London MP had threatened to kick-start a contest but said she would first listen to the prime minister's speech responding to Labour's poor election results.

In the speech, the PM said he would prove the "doubters wrong" and would not be stepping down. He added that his government had made mistakes but insisted it had "got the big political choices right".

So far around 45 Labour MPs have publicly urged Sir Keir either to step down immediately or set out a timetable for his departure.

West said the prime minister's speech had "renewed energy and ideas" but "was too little too late".

In a statement she said: "The results last Thursday show that the prime minister has failed to inspire hope.

"What is best for the party and country now is for an orderly transition.

"I am hereby giving notice to No 10 that I am collecting names of Labour MPs to call on the prime minister to set a timetable for the election of a new leader in September.

"We need our best top team in place to fight the next election. We owe working people up and down the country nothing less."

West's withdrawal from making a challenge means a leadership contest is less likely to take place immediately and will be a boost for Downing Street.

However, it is also helpful for those MPs who want to see Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham replace Sir Keir as prime minister.

Burnham is not currently an MP meaning he cannot join a leadership race.

If a contest is delayed until the autumn, it gives him more time to find a parliamentary constituency he can stand in and, providing he wins, thereby make his return to Westminster.

Earlier this year he was blocked by Labour's ruling body from running in the Gorton and Denton by-election.

Clive Lewis, a Labour MP and Burnham backer, told the BBC that West's leadership threat over the weekend had "caused a commotion" but that since then "other people have got to her and said 'the way you've done this isn't going to produce the end that we want'."

He said the Labour Party would only get "one chance" to pick a new leader and that they had to make sure "we get the best possible person".

West's statement came around 90 minutes after the prime minister had delivered his speech to a room full of supporters.

He told the audience in central London that he would fight a leadership contest, if one was triggered.

He acknowledged that Labour's election performance "hurt" adding: "I get it, I feel it."

He said he took responsibility for the results but also said he had a responsibility not to walk away and "plunge the country into chaos as the Tories did time and time again".

"A Labour government would never be forgiven for inflicting that on our country again."

Sir Keir also reiterated his desire to improve relations with the EU but did not commit to re-joining either the customs union or single market, as some of his MPs have called for.

Former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner - who is viewed as a potential challenger - told a conference of the Communication Workers Union that the prime minister had "acknowledged the frustration that was expressed last week" but said Labour would be "judged on actions and not just our words".

She said the party had to "do better" and should put "the common interest ahead of factionalism".

"We can start by accepting that Andy Burnham should never have been blocked - it was a mistake that the leadership of our party should put right," she said.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told BBC Radio 5 Live's Matt Chorley that she would not have blocked Burnham from standing as an MP, saying: "I think you need the strongest team on the pitch."

Asked if Burnham would make a better prime minister than Sir Keir, Nandy replied: "Hypothetically, I have no idea."

She went on to praise the PM telling the BBC: "He was one of the few people who really believed that we [Labour] could win a general election in one term.

"He stuck to his plan and he turned the situation for the party around - now he wants to do the same for the country and I want him to succeed."

Labour MPs gave differing reactions to the prime minister's speech, but the numbers calling for Sir Keir to outline a plan to step down has ticked up in the hours following the speech.

David Smith put out a statement saying he believed Sir Keir was "a man of integrity" but that the party "cannot carry on with the approach we have taken in the first two years of this Labour government".

He urged the prime minister to "set a clear timetable for his departure".

Other MPs backed Sir Keir, with Catherine Atkinson telling the BBC the speech demonstrated that the prime minister would "come out fighting in Britain's interest".

She said the "overwhelming majority" of Labour MPs were committed to helping deliver the prime minister's vision of a "stronger, fairer Britain".

Jack Abbott also offered the prime minister his support telling the BBC that the government could not deliver the "fundamental change" voters wanted "if we keep chopping and changing leaders".

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the prime minister's speech was "sad to watch... but I do not take pleasure in watching the prime minister flounder.

"The country needs leadership, not another speech from a man who clearly knows something has gone badly wrong, but still can't explain why."