If number of MPs continues to tick up, PM will be under pressure to respondpublished at 18:41 BST 11 May

18:41 BST 11 May

Chris Mason
Political editor

As Labour MPs call for Starmer to go, there is a feeling of momentum that the pace is quickening, that more and more names are being made public.

There is plenty of talk here tonight that there is plenty more to follow.

So, 55 Labour MPs and counting saying the prime minister should go or set a timetable to go.

If that number continues to remorselessly tick up, as it has been doing in the last few minutes and hours, it won't be sustainable in all likelihood.

There will be demands for the prime minister to say something, do something and respond to a party that increasingly is in open revolt.

Two parliamentary private secretaries (PPS) have quit their roles as they call for Starmer to resign.

A PPS is appointed by a minister to act as their assistant.

They are selected from backbench MPs as the "eyes and ears" of the minister in the House of Commons, according to the UK Parliament website.

It's an unpaid role but helps the PPS to gain experience of government work.

The number of Labour MPs that have now explicitly called for Keir Starmer to resign or set a timetable for his resignation as PM has risen to 55.

The BBC has counted MPs who have made public statements or interviews saying the PM should resign or set a timetable to go since the local elections last week.

We can now bring you the full statement from Tom Rutland, MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, who has just resigned from the role of parliamentary private secretary to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Rutland says he will continue to represent his constituents as a backbencher. He writes:

"It is with regret that I believe the prime minister should now set out a timetable for his departure and for a new Leader to be chosen to lead the Labour Party and the country. I watched brilliant councillors lose their seats last week through no fault of their own.

"Time and time again, speaking with voters at their doors, I heard little dislike for local councillors nor for the Labour Party, but the animosity towards the prime minister was clear from every voter who was choosing to vote for another party or considering doing so. It reminded me of the reaction I got when speaking with voters under a former leader.

"It is clear to me that the prime minister has lost authority not just within the Parliamentary Labour Party but across the country and that he will not be able to regain it. That significantly impedes the ability of the Government to deliver the change that people voted for at the general election - change that we must deliver.

"We also have a generational responsibility to stop Reform's hatred and division from taking over our great country. It weighs heavily on me and all of us must do all we can to prevent this from happening. I do not have faith that the prime minister can meet this challenge.

"It is not compatible to hold this view and continue to serve on the frontbench, so I have resigned as a Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and will continue to represent my wonderful constituents in East Worthing and Shoreham from the backbenches."

Jack Fenwick
Political correspondent

A number of ministerial aides have now called for the prime minister to set a timetable for his resignation.

Wes Streeting’s ministerial aide Joe Morris has quit and called for the prime minister to set out a “swift” timetable to stand down.

Tom Rutland, the ministerial aide to the Environment Secretary, has also quit and says he does not have faith in the prime minister to meet the challenge to face Reform UK.

Sally Jameson, who is the ministerial aide to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, has also called for Starmer to set a timetable to resign.

Tom Rutland, a parliamentary private secretary, has resigned and is the first resignation from a government position over the issue of Starmer's leadership.

In a statement, he says he believes the prime minister should "set out a timetable for his departure", writing that he "does not have faith" in Starmer.

We'll bring you more on his statement shortly.

Jack Fenwick
Political correspondent

It’s important to remember in these moments that there are many Labour MPs who don’t readily go on the TV and radio or take to social media to air their views.

One such backbencher just got in touch to say they do not want a leadership election and they believe the “quiet majority” of Labour MPs agree with them.

They acknowledged that more colleagues than ever before now want the PM to go, but said it was still largely “the same old people”.

They insisted no would-be leadership contender camps had been in touch to ask for their support.

But they also said that among like-minded MPs, there was no organisational effort going on to try and dissuade colleagues from publicly calling on Starmer to resign.

Glenn Campbell
BBC Scotland Political Editor

Scotland’s first minister, John Swinney, has said the prime minister is in a “perilous” position following big losses for Labour in elections across Britain last Thursday.

Swinney said he thought Sir Keir Starmer’s days in office were now numbered after what he described as an “underwhelming” reset speech this morning.

The first minister said he had not spoken to Sir Keir Starmer since the SNP’s victory in the Holyrood vote but that he “thought he (the PM) might have called”.

James Kelly
BBC News

Image source, Lily Graham

We've been hearing from young people across the country who have been sharing their thoughts on the prospect of a leadership challenge to Keir Starmer's premiership.

Lily Graham, 21, from Buckingham, believes Starmer is the right person to lead the country and the Labour Party needs to "stay united" to fight against "the rise of Reform".

"If a leadership contest was to happen, I fear Labour would be following the same path as the Tories," the Newcastle University politics student tells the BBC.

Liv Overett Somnier, 18, from Lewisham, says "I'm not sure I agree with the new precedent under the Conservatives that we should constantly replace the PM, choosing people not directly democratically elected by the country".

Meanwhile, 22-year-old Joe from Leeds says he voted Green in the local elections last week as he believes Zack Polanski's party is "the only real left-wing alternative in this country".

"If Labour remembered how the party was founded and moved towards that, then the Labour left may be willing to trust them again," says Joe.

Alfie Beresford, from Sheffield, believes the Labour Party would do better if Starmer was replaced, and says the best option for a leader at the moment is Angela Rayner.

"People have no idea what Starmer or Labour stand for anymore because of policies implemented to please both sides of the spectrum," the 20-year-old says.

Image source, PA Media

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy says Starmer's speech earlier today was "deliberately not policy-heavy".

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's World at One, Nandy says she spoke with the PM over the weekend and he "felt he needed to do something much more personal" with his speech, "where he acknowledged his mistakes".

She says young people were a deliberate focus, and Labour will use "every lever at our disposal" to improve people's lives.

Starmer will pick himself up and fight, Nandy says, adding: "His success is our success."

More Labour MPs have been joining calls for Starmer to step down as prime minister.

Lorraine Beavers MP, representing Blackpool North and Fleetwood, says Starmer's speech didn't suggest "anything close to the scale of change needed to rebuild communities like mine", and she believes he should announce a timetable for stepping down.

"A cabinet appointment, without consulting the wider party and labour movement, would risk repeating the same mistakes already made," she says.

MP for Newcastle North Catherine McKinnell writes: "It's become clear that it's time for a new leader to take us to the finish line of this term."

In a statement released on X, the MP says it is "vital we see a swift and orderly transition" to get on with delivering the "promise of change".

Fred Thomas, MP for Plymouth Moor View, says "it is clear now that to deliver on our promise of change and to secure Britain’s future, we must look to a new leader".

Image source, PA

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan says the government is going to "accelerate" the pace of change.

"I'm not somebody calling for a change in leadership, but I am calling for a change in the pace of delivery," says Khan.

The London mayor - who is not an MP - adds that Andy Burnham is "an excellent politician" who wants to return to Parliament, and should be able to do so "as soon as possible".

Nick Eardley
Political correspondent

Image source, PA

Catherine West is not going to trigger a leadership contest today. That lifts a bit of the pressure on the prime minister. Unless someone senior moves in the next few hours, it may mean this attempt to get rid of the PM fizzles out.

But the number of MPs calling for him to resign is ticking up. There are more privately who were unimpressed with his speech - and don't think he can turn things around.

Which means the pressure on the prime minister isn't going away.

If he gets through the week, the prime minister will hope he can change the narrative. Time is an important commodity in politics.

But there is likely to be months of speculation now about what comes next. How does Andy Burnham get back in? Will someone else move? If this is immediate crisis averted, it isn't crisis over.

Image source, Gareth Fuller/PA Wire

Green Party leader Zack Polanksi says Keir Starmer's speech today proves he doesn't understand why voters "overwhelmingly rejected Labour" in Thursday's elections.

"Starmer has shown he’s incapable of taking on Reform. He must go. Only the insurgent Green Party can stop Reform," says Polanski.

"People want real change and are fed up to the back teeth with a status quo that has failed the vast majority."

Kate Whannel
Political reporter

Although Catherine West has pulled back from her threat to launch a leadership challenge, the number of Labour MPs publicly calling on Starmer to step down (either immediately or as part of an “orderly transition”) has been ticking up during the day.

The BBC has counted at least 44 so far – that is roughly 10% of all Labour MPs.

A further 20 MPs have been critical but not gone as far as saying the prime minister needs to go, or have said he should have a bit more time to turn things around.

Image source, UK Pool

Labour's deputy leader Lucy Powell has urged the Labour Party to "step up as one team" to deliver for the country amid the rising number of MPs calling for Keir Starmer's resignation.

Asked about the possibility of allowing Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to become an MP, Powell tells broadcasters he is "an asset to the party" but there is "no opportunity" to see him return to Westminster.

Her comments come after Angela Rayner told a conference in Bournemouth it was wrong to block Burnham from standing in the Gorton and Denton by-election earlier this year.

"I really want to see us using all the assets we have as a Labour party because this is the real battle for the future soul of this country," Powell says.

She says all of the Labour Party should be working together to fight Nigel Farage and Reform UK, describing them as the "real enemy".

This morning, Labour MP Chris Curtis told the BBC he was willing to give Keir Starmer the "benefit of the doubt" and wait to hear what he had to say.

Starmer has now made his speech, and Curtis' verdict is in: "I think it's time for us to look for new leadership."

Speaking to Sky News, the Milton Keynes North MP adds that Starmer's speech failed to convince him there was a plan in place "to implement the kind of change that this country needs".

While he says he has "immense respect" for the PM, "we need more radical change than the government has set out so far".

He adds that he'll support Catherine West’s letter calling for a timetable for the PM's resignation, but he wants to see a "much shorter" deadline for a transition than September.

Has Starmer done enough to save his premiership?published at 14:10 BST 11 May

14:10 BST 11 May

Henry Zeffman, Chris Mason, Iain Watson and Nick Eardley
BBC Politics

Image source, Getty Images

In the room for the prime minister's speech, the jeopardy hung heavy.

But was it enough to avert a challenge to the prime minister's leadership less than two years after he won a landslide general election victory?

In the first instance, the person whose answer to that question matters most - and this would have sounded like a strange joke just two days ago - is Catherine West.

West, until the last 48 hours a relatively unknown former minister, told the BBC on Saturday night she was willing to try to force a leadership contest if no one else came forward.

But having heard the prime minister's speech, she is standing down from running as a stalking horse candidate and trying to trigger a formal leadership contest right now.

A sigh of relief, in the immediate moment at least, for Downing Street.

Around 40 MPs have now said they want the prime minister to go publicly. But at least some of them say they want him to set a timetable for an "orderly transition".

In many cases, an "orderly transition" is code for an orderly transition to Andy Burnham.

If, as some of his supporters claim, Burnham has a route back to Parliament in the form of an MP willing to resign and trigger a by-election, then surely the coming hours and days are when he must make that clear.

• Read the full analysis

Image source, James Manning/PA Wire

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch says Starmer's speech was "sad to watch", but argues his potential leadership challengers "don't have the answers either".

"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," says Badenoch.

Badenoch says she does not "take pleasure in watching the prime minister flounder" - but argues that Britain "needs leadership, not another speech from a man who clearly knows something has gone badly wrong".

In the moments after Keir Starmer wrapped up his speech earlier, Labour MP Catherine Atkinson told the BBC he made it clear he "understood the scale of the challenge that people face".

She also said the PM had listened to what people said during the local elections and "gave a sense of hope".

Atkinson says she will do everything she can to help Starmer deliver "a stronger, fairer Britain".

When asked about the calls from some Labour MPs for another leader, she says the "overwhelming majority" will want to do all they can to help deliver the "stronger, fairer Britain that this prime minister is committed to delivering".