LAST UPDATE | 2 hrs ago

FOUR JUNIOR MEMBERS of the UK government have resigned from their positions, calling for prime minister Keir Starmer to step aside as leader of the Labour Party.

Tom Rutland, a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) – a role also known as a ministerial bag carrier – said a new leader should be chosen after Labour’s major loss in the UK’s local elections.

He said he would continue to work for his constituents. Rutland’s announcement was then followed by the resignation of Joe Morris, PPS to health secretary Wes Streeting. Streeting is one of the frontrunners to succeed Starmer. 

Cabinet Office PPS Naushabah Khan and Melanie Ward, a PPS to Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy called for new leadership as they announced their resignations later in the evening.

It’s the latest of many blows to Starmer’s leadership.

More than 80 of his MPs have now called on him to resign.

The embattled prime minister earlier vowed to prove his “doubters” wrong as he fought back against calls for him to quit.

In a speech in Central London this morning, Starmer said he took responsibility for the results that saw Labour lose almost 1,500 English councillors, go backwards in Scotland and slump to third in Wales.

The results have seen a succession of Labour MPs call for Starmer to set out a timetable for his departure, while former minister Catherine West suggested she would launch a leadership bid.

West this afternoon said she would not stand for the Labour leadership but called on Starmer to set a timetable for the election of a new leader in September.

Catherine West had said if a cabinet minister does not challenge Starmer as party leader by Monday, she would attempt to trigger a leadership contest herself. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Facing down those calling for his resignation, Starmer said: “I’m not going to shy away from the fact that I’ve got some doubters, including in my own party.

“I’m not going to shy away from the fact that I have to prove them wrong, and I will.”

Starmer’s speech comes at a pivotal moment in his premiership, with last week’s election results reigniting speculation about potential challengers.

Others within the party have looked towards Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, saying he should be allowed to return to Parliament.

But Starmer would not be drawn on whether he would support Burnham’s return to Westminster, saying it was a matter for Labour’s national executive committee (NEC).

The NEC, dominated by supporters of Starmer, blocked Burnham from contesting the Gorton and Denton by-election earlier this year, with the formerly safe Labour seat going on to be won by the Greens.

As Starmer battled to save his job, today’s speech had been billed as setting out sweeping changes needed to tackle the “big challenges” facing Britain.

Starmer set out a number of measures including legislation to nationalise British Steel, a ban on “far-right agitators” coming to the UK for a planned march on Saturday and a plan to put the UK “at the heart of Europe”.

He cast the current political moment as a “battle for the soul” of the UK, warning that if Labour failed the country would head down “a very dark path”.

He said: “This is nothing less than a battle for the soul of our nation and I want to be crystal clear about how we will win it because we cannot win as a weaker version of Reform or the Greens.

“We can only win as a stronger version of Labour, a mainstream party of power, not protest.”

A handful of backbenchers spoke up in support of Starmer in the immediate aftermath of the speech, but others continued to call for his resignation.

Responding to the speech, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said it was “sad to watch”, adding: “With so many resets, even his reset button needs a reset.

“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.”

Badenoch also dismissed Labour’s “pretenders jostling for his job”, saying: “They are busy arguing over who should drive the car, but the truth is they are all heading in the wrong direction. They have no vision for the future.”

Additional reporting by Emma Hickey