Tom Watson, the former deputy Labour leader who spearheaded an attempted coup against Tony Blair in 2006, has urged current Labour MPs to stop plotting to remove Prime Minister Keir Starmer, warning that such a move would be disastrous with voters.
In a Substack post, Watson recounted his role in the 2006 rebellion, when a letter from MPs called on Blair to set a departure date, leading to junior ministerial resignations, including Watson's. He advised MPs not to be "as reckless as we were in 2006," emphasizing that the solution is not a public letter demanding Starmer's resignation.
Watson wrote: "Whatever the rights and wrongs of Labour's current woes, the answer is not two-dozen backbench MPs writing a public letter calling on the prime minister to resign." He warned that such an action would create a "Westminster psychodrama," be exploited by opponents, and alienate voters. "Voters will see a party talking to itself while the country is shouting at it," he added. "The party has to listen harder, think deeper and recover its political purpose."
Cabinet Minister Warns of 'Annihilation'
Housing and Communities Secretary Steve Reed, a key Starmer loyalist, echoed the warning, saying Labour would risk "annihilation" if it attempted to change leaders. He told Times Radio: "The whole notion that we would copy the Conservatives and go doomscrolling through leaders ... is absolute nonsense."
Despite poor expected results in Thursday's elections for the Scottish and Welsh parliaments and English councils, senior party figures told the Guardian that activists were blaming Starmer rather than the party. One source said: "They don't hate Labour, they hate Keir, as unfair as that is."
Mexican Standoff Among Potential Challengers
However, immediate challenges are considered unlikely, with potential contenders including Andy Burnham, Angela Rayner, and Wes Streeting in what one cabinet minister called a "Mexican standoff," with no one ready to move first. Supporters of Burnham are waiting for local election results in the north-west before potentially intervening on Friday evening, asking Starmer to set a timetable for a dignified exit.
Steve Wright, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, reiterated his call for Starmer to go, saying that if election results are as bad as anticipated, the prime minister would be "a bit of a sitting duck." But one cabinet minister said: "A number of candidates are in a Mexican standoff but nobody is ready to pull the trigger. ... My sense is that no one will trigger a contest."
Some in Labour believe the political hole is so deep that someone will act. A senior party source said: "Plenty of MPs now think they might as well just roll the dice and that anything would be better than where we are now."
