Three ministers resigned from the UK government on Tuesday, increasing pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to step down. Jess Phillips, a Home Office minister and close ally of Health Secretary Wes Streeting, called for Starmer to quit, stating she had grown tired of seeing “opportunities for progress stalled and delayed.” In her resignation letter, Phillips acknowledged Starmer as “a good man fundamentally” but argued that “the desire not to have an argument means we rarely make an argument, leaving opportunities for progress stalled and delayed.”
Resignations Follow Heavy Election Losses
The resignations came after dire local and devolved election results across England, Wales, and Scotland last week. More than 80 Labour MPs have publicly called for Starmer to stand down. Miatta Fahnbulleh, the communities minister and a close ally of Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, was the first to resign, urging the prime minister “to do the right thing for the country and the party and set a timetable for an orderly transition.” Alex Davies-Jones, the minister for victims and tackling violence against women and girls, also resigned, describing the electoral defeats as “catastrophic” and imploring Starmer to “act in the country’s interest and set out a timetable for your departure.”
Starmer Vows to Fight On
Despite the mounting pressure, Starmer told his cabinet earlier on Tuesday that he would continue as prime minister, asserting that the threshold for a leadership challenge had not been met. Several ministers rallied around him after a cabinet meeting. Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said no one challenged Starmer in the meeting and that the government should “carry on.” Technology Secretary Liz Kendall told reporters: “This government will do what we were elected to do, which is serve the British people. The prime minister has my full support in this.”
However, The Guardian understands that four senior cabinet ministers—Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, Defence Secretary John Healey, and Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy—spoke to Starmer on Monday. Some urged him to oversee an orderly transition of power, while others, including Richard Hermer and Steve Reed, encouraged him to fight on.
Chief Secretary Warns of Gruelling Job
Darren Jones, Starmer’s chief secretary and a close ally, said the prime minister was “listening to colleagues” but would make his own decisions. Jones warned rivals that the job of prime minister was “gruelling” and that “anybody who thinks that they can just walk into the job of prime minister and, like the second coming of the Messiah, fix all of our problems probably hasn’t really thought carefully enough about how difficult it is.” He noted that Starmer “was very clear yesterday that he will not be walking away.”
Jones also confirmed that the king’s speech would go ahead on Wednesday as planned, emphasizing that the government had been working on a programme of bills for the next session. Some Labour MPs voiced public support for Starmer, with Neil Coyle expressing horror at “the elephant trap colleagues are falling into,” and Nick Smith calling for unity, stating: “A global security crisis and its economic impact on our country means we need political stability. Unity is strength.”
