Labour MP threatens Starmer with leadership challenge after election rout

{"text":[[{"start":11.8,"text":"A Labour MP has threatened to launch a leadership challenge against Sir Keir Starmer after the prime minister faced down calls to quit in the wake of disastrous local election results. "}],[{"start":23.3,"text":"Catherine West, a former minister, said that if the cabinet did not choose a potential replacement for Starmer by Monday, she would seek the backing of 81 MPs needed to trigger a contest herself. "}],[{"start":35.65,"text":"But Starmer insisted he would fight for his job and wanted to deliver a “decade of change”, while his leadership rivals distanced themselves from West’s unexpected move against the prime minister."}],[{"start":47.9,"text":"West, who served as a junior Foreign Office minister under Starmer until being sacked in a reshuffle last September, is not a serious candidate for the leadership — but she hopes to flush out viable contenders."}],[{"start":60.099999999999994,"text":"She said that she did not have a clear candidate in mind: “I think there are several people who would like to do it, who have been planning for months,” she told the BBC. “But I’m very surprised that none of them has popped up today to say ‘I will do it’.”"}],[{"start":74.25,"text":"Allies of Wes Streeting, health secretary, and Angela Rayner, former deputy prime minister, insisted that they were not working in cahoots with West and were not urging their supporters to back the prospective coup."}],[{"start":86.55,"text":"Supporters of Andy Burnham, Greater Manchester mayor, want no part of West’s initiative because their preferred choice for Labour leader is not an MP and is not able to stand. They want to delay any contest."}],[{"start":99.14999999999999,"text":"Any contender would need the support of 81 MPs — a fifth of Labour’s House of Commons ranks — to trigger a contest. West said she had 10 backers but was “confident that enough people would come forward”."}],[{"start":112.35,"text":"Around 30 Labour MPs have called for Starmer to quit or set a date for his departure since this week’s election debacle in which the party lost more than 1,000 councillors across England. "}],[{"start":123.85,"text":"But Starmer, in an interview with The Observer on Sunday, vowed to fight any challenger, describing his government as “a 10-year project of renewal”. "}],[{"start":133,"text":"He will attempt to regain the initiative in a speech which will include a “full-throated” endorsement of closer links with the EU, including a promise to finalise a youth mobility scheme with the bloc by next year."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":145.65,"text":"Meanwhile, Lucy Powell, the party’s deputy leader, denounced demands for the prime minister to set a date for his exit."}],[{"start":152.3,"text":"Powell, an ally of Burnham, said she wanted Starmer to continue as leader and suggested there should be an orderly transfer of power when he eventually leaves Number 10."}],[{"start":162.3,"text":"“All [a contest] would do is fire the starting gun for a very distracting and ongoing debate about leadership,” she said."}],[{"start":170.60000000000002,"text":"Powell, a Manchester MP, has previously backed Burnham’s return as an MP. She said: “I’ve said many times before that I really respect and rate Andy. I think he’s got a huge amount to offer, he’s very popular and he’s a great asset to the Labour Party.”"}],[{"start":186.35000000000002,"text":"Burnham’s backers are eyeing the possibility of him returning to Westminster in the coming months in a by-election. “Andy’s team want to play it long,” said one minister."}],[{"start":196.15000000000003,"text":"Powell warned Starmer’s other potential rivals, including Angela Rayner, former deputy prime minister, and Wes Streeting, health secretary, not to challenge him."}],[{"start":206.80000000000004,"text":"Hinting that she wanted to see an orderly transition when the moment comes, she said: “I don’t want to see a leadership challenge — that’s not how we operate in the Labour Party. We don’t do hostile takeovers.”"}],[{"start":220.45000000000005,"text":"Sir Sadiq Khan, Labour’s London mayor, echoed Powell despite blaming the government for the party’s losses. He told the BBC that he was “not calling for a change in leadership”."}],[{"start":233.30000000000004,"text":"Nonetheless, he warned that “meaningful change” was needed to avert an existential threat: “Business as usual could lead to the future of the Labour Party being seriously questioned.”"}],[{"start":245.25000000000003,"text":"Starmer’s allies were relieved that Labour’s grim electoral performance did not spark an immediate coup."}],[{"start":252.50000000000003,"text":"Streeting was slow in offering his backing to Starmer on Friday but has done so. Number 10 will be waiting anxiously to see what Rayner does next. Her allies said they expected her to deliver a post-election verdict."}],[{"start":266.15000000000003,"text":"Both Streeting and Rayner were keen not to be seen to instigate a coup, knowing they would be blamed for what Starmer claimed would be the “chaos” of a leadership battle, and each appeared to be hoping the other would make a move."}],[{"start":279.1,"text":"There was talk about backbench MPs signing a letter calling for Starmer to quit, with both Streeting and Rayner’s allies claiming the other side was organising it. “They didn’t have the numbers,” said one minister. The letter never materialised."}],[{"start":293.25,"text":"But Labour anger towards Starmer is palpable. Veteran Labour MPs Clive Betts and Debbie Abrahams, an ally of Burnham, have added their voices to calls for Starmer to set a timetable for his departure."}],[{"start":305.25,"text":"“I think it’s a matter of months,” Abrahams said. “There needs to be a step change, not just in our communications but in the culture in our party.” Betts said Starmer had to go “in the not too distant future”."}],[{"start":318.9,"text":"One minister said: “The first thing that voters say to you on the doorstep is that they hate Keir Starmer. Once you get over that fence you can talk about the things we’ve done, but it’s a high fence to get over.”"}],[{"start":330,"text":"Starmer on Saturday insisted that he would not change direction to fend off the Greens on the left or Reform on the right. “While we must respond to the message that voters have sent us, that doesn’t mean tacking right or left,” he wrote in the Guardian."}],[{"start":343.95,"text":"Labour’s poor performance in the north-west of England in this week’s elections makes Burnham’s task harder in seeking a return to Westminster. "}],[{"start":352.25,"text":"He would still have to get the green light from the party’s National Executive Committee to stand as a candidate. The NEC blocked him from standing in the Gorton and Denton by-election earlier this year and ministers believe that it could stop him from standing in a future contest, unless Starmer indicated he was preparing to step down."}],[{"start":378.5,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1778376437_9971.mp3"}