Wes Streeting to meet with PM as four ministers quit and Labour MPs split over resignation calls

More than 100 Labour MPs have signed a statement urging Sir Keir Starmer not to stand down
Health secretary Wes Streeting , who is widely seen as a leadership hopeful, is set to meet with Keir Starmer tomorrow morning as four ministers quit and call for the prime minister to resign.

Jess Phillips, Alex Davies-Jones, junior minister Miatta Fahnbulleh and Health Minister Zubir Ahmed have all resigned and implored Sir Keir “to act in the country’s interest and set out a timetable for your departure.” Plus at least 80 Labour MPs have called for a leadership change.

Speculation is mounting around who may challenge the prime minister’s leadership.

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham , health secretary Wes Streeting , and armed forces minister Al Carns are all rumoured to be plotting a challenge to Sir Keir’s position.

But a defiant Sir Keir told his Cabinet earlier he “will not quit” – and urged them to back him amid what has been seen as the biggest crisis of his premiership.

The fresh statement, signed by 103 MPs, tells colleagues they must start “working together”.

MP is 'confident' of leadership being challenged soon
A Labour MP has said she is “confident” there will be a leadership challenge to Keir Starmer soon.

Welsh Labour Party politician Tonia Antoniazzi has called on the prime minister to resign.

she said she feels “really bad” because he is a “very nice man” but stressed that isn’t enough.

She told Sky News: "Well, no, there isn't a name on a ballot paper yet - but we're going to see one emerge, maybe two emerge, pretty soon."
Keir Starmer replaces ministers who resigned in calls for the prime minister to quit
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has made replacements for the ministers who have left government.

Jess Phillips MP, Alex Davies-Jones MP, Miatta Fahnbulleh MP and Dr Zubir Ahmed have all resigned and implored Sir Keir “to act in the country’s interest and set out a timetable for your departure.”
The King has been pleased to approve the following appointments:
America’s largest bank wades into Labour Party’s Starmer crisis
The chairman and CEO of JP Morgan-Chase has delivered his verdict on Keir Starmer’s mounting leadership troubles, warning Labour against becoming “hostile to banks again”.

While Jamie Dimon offered his support to the prime minister, who has been facing intensifying pressure to resign, he threatened to pull a billion-dollar project if Labour moved towards the left.

Nearly 100 MPs have called on Sir Keir to resign or issue a timetable to step down amid the fallout, which has also seen four of his government ministers quit after last week’s disastrous local election results.

Recap: All the ministers and ministerial aides that have left so far
A change in leadership is 'probably coming' says Labour Growth Group’s parliamentary chairman
Chris Curtis, the Labour Growth Group’s parliamentary chairman, said a change of party leadership is “probably coming at this stage”.

The MP told Sky News : “I think that clearly when this number of MPs have come out and said that they think that a change of leadership is required – and I added my voice to that chorus – it’s going to be very difficult to put that genie back into the bottle, and a change of leadership is probably coming at this stage.

“The only question is how quickly it comes about and what that process is.”
Asked if he would like to see Health Secretary Wes Streeting launch a leadership campaign, Mr Curtis added: “There are many talented people who might be interested in running for the Labour leadership.

“I can’t speak for any of them, nor can I speak for any other MPs.

I can only speak for myself.

“Wes is incredibly talented if he were to put his name forward, but I think what we need is we need to ensure that there is an orderly process, a transition that happens as quickly as possible, because we can’t have this dragging out for too long.”
Watch: Trump says Starmer is 'windmilling his country to death'
MP 'surprised' to see her name on a list supporting Keir Starmer
Labour MP Rupa Huq has denied signing a letter in support of the Prime Minister and said she was “surprised” to see her name on the list.

More than 100 MPs were listed on the letter, which said it is “no time for a leadership contest”, including Ms Huq, the MP for Ealing Central and Acton.

In a post on X, she said: “Surprised to see my name on this list when I haven’t either signed any letter supporting the PM or called for the PM to go??

“Not very courteous of colleagues to put names down without their approval.”
Ed Miliband prepared to run for Labour leadership, according to reports
Ed Miliband is reportedly ready to run for the Labour leadership if Sir Keir Starmer resigns, according to The Times.

He is understood to back Andy Burnham as the prime minister’s successor if he quits and has been viewed as a “kingmaker” for the mayor.

However, two senior government sources told cabinet colleagues that Miliband has now reconsidered his position and would be prepared to stand as a candidate himself in a bid to prevent health secretary Wes Streeting from doing so.

.”This is mischief-making — it is categorically untrue that Ed told Cabinet colleagues that he was preparing to stand in case of a contest,” a source close to the energy secretary said.

Trump gives Starmer advice as Labour MPs call for him to resign
US president Donald Trump has told Keir Starmer to “open up oil your in the North Sea” and “get tough on immigration”, as Labour MPs call for him to resign.

When asked about whether Starmer should stay as prime minister, Trump replied: “That’s up to him.”
He added: “I told him from day one, you’re getting killed on energy.

“You’re windmilling your country to death.

Open up the North Sea.

You have one of the greatest sources of energy in the world.”
Former minister says she did not resign as part of a 'coup'
Former housing, communities and local minister Miatta Fahnbulleh did not resign from the Government as part of a “coup”, she said.

Speaking on Sky News , Ms Fahnbulleh said she was not working with Health Secretary Wes Streeting – who is widely seen as a leadership hopeful – nor with his aides to bring down Sir Keir Starmer.

She said: “I don’t think this is a coup.

For me, this is a personal decision.

“It’s a really hard thing for colleagues to go on the record and to say that they have lost confidence in the Prime Minister, that they don’t think he can lead us forward.

That is a very personal decision.

“I know each and every colleague will be grappling with what they heard on the doorstep, and those were some tough, brutal messages that we got, and trying to make a judgement about what is best for the country.

“And ultimately, it’s not about a coordinated plot.

It’s about each of us making that decision.”
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