Local election results live: ‘Challenge Starmer by Monday or I will’ Labour MP tells Cabinet ministers

After former junior minister Catherine West issued her ultimatum to Cabinet members to come out against Sir Keir Starmer on Saturday night, one name has emerged in reports as a possible challenger.

Ms West said if no cabinet members went public by Monday, she would launch a leadership challenge.

Tonight, The Guardian is reporting that MPs from Labour’s left are expected to urge Ed Miliban to consider a leadership bid in the coming days.

The newspaper says MPs would rather the energy secretary to step in than hold out for Andy Burnham, who would need to wait for a by-election to mount a challenge.

Angela Rayner does not have the necessary support, the MPs believe, according to the newspaper.

There is no formal confidence vote procedure to oust a Labour leader.

Any challenger to Sir Keir Starmer would instead require the support of 81 MPs – 20 per cent of the party in the Commons – to trigger a contest.

Written nominations would need to be submitted to Labour general secretary Hollie Ridley.

In the case of a successful challenge, Sir Keir would be on the ballot by default as the incumbent and would not need to gather nominations.

If Sir Keir were to resign, it would automatically start a contest for a new leader.

It is up to the Labour Party’s National Executive Committee to set the timeline for a leadership election.

Aspire has won the Tower Hamlets council election to secure an overall majority in the only London borough where it stands.

The party secured 23 of the first 31 seats to be declared, enough to take back control.

Aspire won 24 seats in the last council election in 2022, but later lost two to defections.

Labour has won four seats, the Greens two and the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives one each.

Aspire leader Lutfur Rahman was re-elected as Tower Hamlets mayor on Friday with almost 39 per cent of the votes.

Cabinet minister Nick Thomas-Symonds has “cautioned colleagues” against Catherine West’s demands.

He told the BBC: “We’ve seen over the past 10 years now what happens when a party in government just starts chopping and changing leaders.”

“It just generates instability and it militates against a focus on delivery.”

“I’m confident going forward that Keir Starmer is the best prime minister for our country”, he added.

Before Catherine West told cabinet ministers to challenge the prime minister in a leadership contest by Monday, warning that if they fail to do so, she will, there had been some looking to defence minister Al Carns, a former Royal Marines commander, to be the stalking horse, running to test the waters.

The problem there was that Mr Carns thinks he can win and did not want to just open the door for others to have a go.

Mr Carns has been MP for Birmingham Selly Oak since 2024.

After the dismal local election results for his party, Mr Carns wrote on X: “The answer is not more noise or easy answers. It’s having the courage to take difficult decisions, deliver properly, rebuild a country that is secure and resilient.

“To all the Labour team, tough times don’t last, tough people do. Stay focused, keep moving forward and keep delivering.

“The aim is to lay your head on your pillow in three years and be confident that we did everything in our power to make the United Kingdom the best it possibly can be.”

Political editor David Maddox looks at how Sir Anthony Meyer’s challenge to Margaret Thatcher in 1989 is now being played out in 2026 by Catherine West’s bid to oust Sir Keir Starmer.

Labour MPs and ministers loyal to Sir Keir Starmer have hit out at Catherine West’s threat to trigger a leadership challenge on Monday.

The prime minister is under immense pressure to resign following Labour’s electoral losses, with over 30 of his own MPs publicly calling for him to go.

In the firmest threat so far, Labour MP Catherine West has told cabinet ministers to challenge the prime minister in a leadership contest by Monday, warning that if they fail to do so, she will.

Responding to this, Labour MP Preet Kaur Gill hit out at the intervention as “internal theatrics”.

“With respect to Catherine West, leadership contests and public ultimatums are not what the country needs right now,” she wrote on X.

“The public expects government to govern, not endless internal theatrics. The priority should be getting on with the job the British people elected Labour to do.”

Meanwhile, Home Office minister Mike Tapp said “stability is key” and wrote: “When those within your own walls begin dismantling the gate, the enemy no longer needs a battering ram. Reform love this”