Keir Starmer is set to defy his critics in the Labour Party and claim he is the one best placed to “face up to the big challenges for this country” as he delivers a career defining speech to save his premiership on Monday morning.
The prime minister’s speech comes after a dramatic ultimatum by former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner who warned his government takes a hard turn to the left if he wants to stay in Downing Street.
With speculation mounting that she is ready to launch a leadership challenge, the former deputy prime minister warned Sir Keir: “What we are doing isn’t working, and it needs to change. This may be our last chance.”
It comes as Labour MPs believe that former junior minister Catherine West is closing in on the 81 parliamentarians she would need to launch a stalking horse leadership challenge.
With leadership rivals circling, health secretary Wes Streeting is also believed to be ready to launch a bid with MPs also eyeing campaigns from energy secretary Ed Miliband and defence minister Al Carns.
But in a defiant speech in central London, Sir Keir will use undoing Brexit as the centrepiece of a last desperate reset to save his premiership.
The speech comes against a backdrop of historically bad election results last week with more than 40 Labour MPs now publicly calling for him to quit and many more privately saying he cannot lead them into the next election.
The besieged prime minister will concede that “incremental change won’t cut it” as he vows that “we will face up to the big challenges” the country faces.
He will admit: “On growth, defence, Europe, energy – we need a bigger response than we anticipated in 2024 because these are not ordinary times.
“Strength through fairness. It’s a core Labour argument. And you will see those values writ large in the King’s Speech. And you will see hope, urgency and exactly whose side we are on.”
He will add: “People need hope. We will face up to the big challenges and we will make the big arguments.
“The Labour case that only Labour values and Labour policies can ensure our country not only weathers these storms but emerges stronger and fairer.”
Addressing fears about Nigel Farage becoming prime minister if he stays on as Labour leader, he will go on to say that Mr Farage and the Conservatives are “defined by breaking our relationship with Europe”.
He will add: “This Labour government will be defined by rebuilding our relationship and by putting Britain at the heart of Europe. So that we are stronger on the economy, on trade, on defence, you name it.
“Because standing shoulder to shoulder with the countries that most share our interests, our values and our enemies, that is the right choice for Britain, that is the Labour choice.”
But his prospects may depend on him persuading Labour MPs to give him one last chance.
While Ms West has not formally asked for nominations yet and made it clear she will wait to hear the prime minister’s make or break speech, it is understood that already around 70 of her colleagues are willing to back her to ensure there is a contest.
Former home secretary Lord David Blunkett warned on Times Radio: “I think either Keir pulls out the stops and there’s a massive transformation in how we relate to the public. Or he and [his wife] Victoria will have to talk about the best way of doing it in a seemly fashion and someone else will take over. The jury’s well and truly out.”
MPs have reacted with outrage over Sir Keir giving an interview over the weekend suggesting that he wants to be prime minister for a decade.
Meanwhile, Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite the union, warned: “The Labour Party is in danger of going extinct.”
In her ultimatum to the prime minister, Ms Rayner warned: “We are in danger of becoming a party of the well-off, not working people.”
And in a barbed attack on the prime minister, she said: “The Peter Mandelson scandal showed a toxic culture of cronyism. Decisions like cutting winter fuel allowance just weren’t what people expected from a Labour government.”
Laying out a left-wing agenda, she called for more interventions in cutting household bills, increased planning reforms, more community ownership and taking private companies into public ownership.
She criticised Sir Keir for blocking Andy Burnham from returning to parliament and, in an implied threat to the leadership, added: “The prime minister must now meet the moment and set out the change our country needs.”
The fallout from last week’s catastrophic results for Labour which saw them largely wiped out in Wales, getting their worst result in Scotland and losing 1,500 council seats in England, has fuelled fears on the left of the party that Mr Streeting is planning a coronation to replace Sir Keir.
A source close to Mr Streeting denied he had told Sir Keir he is ready to be prime minister but confirmed that having failed to endorse the prime minister on Friday, the health secretary is not planning on any further interventions until Thursday when new NHS data is set to be published.
Meanwhile, one member of the 2024 intake of Labour MPs confirmed that a leadership team is being put together for Mr Carns.
They said: “Why are we turning once again to the same familiar faces to solve problems they were involved in creating? If we want to demonstrate genuine change to the public, we need a fresh face leading that change. Members of the 2024 intake are still hopeful of persuading Al Carns to stand should there be a contest, and support for that view appears to be growing.”
