WARRINGTON’S two Labour MPs, Charlotte Nichols and Sarah Hall, have joined a growing rebellion, publicly calling on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to step down as pressure mounts following Labour’s bruising local election losses.
Speaking during an appearance on LBC’s Cross Question earlier today, Nichols said she believed Starmer should resign, becoming one of the latest Labour MPs to break ranks with the Prime Minister. She was joined by her Labour colleague, Sarah Hall, who issued a statement this evening.
It comes amid a rapidly escalating internal crisis for the government. More than 70 Labour MPs are now reported to have either called for Starmer to quit or urged him to set a timetable for his departure after the party suffered heavy setbacks in recent local elections across England, Scotland and Wales.
The scale of the unrest has exposed deep fractures within Labour, with critics accusing Starmer of failing to inspire voters and allowing support to drift towards rivals, including Nigel Farage and Reform UK. Several MPs have warned privately that the party risks heading into the next general election divided and directionless unless there is a change at the top.
Ms. Nichols, the MP for Warrington North since 2019, is among a widening coalition of MPs from different wings of the party voicing dissatisfaction with the Prime Minister’s leadership.
Ms. Nichols said, “I was booked on Cross Question weeks ago and would rather have been talking about anything else, but we are where we are.”In sadness, rather than in anger, and despite repeated attempts over the last year to give him more time to make changes he promised he would and the benefit of the doubt in spite of my misgivings because of the uncertainty a change of leader would create at a time of great geopolitical uncertainty, I no longer have confidence in Keir Starmer as Prime Minister.
“I do not believe he is the person who can meet the political moment, steer us as a country through the challenges we face, and deliver on our manifesto and the mandate for change we came into Government on.
“I have been a Labour member for 17 years – not just my whole adult life, but the majority of my life – but my loyalty is not to our leader but to my constituents and our party, and he is serving neither. It is time for a PM who can command the confidence of Parliament and the country, and govern in the national interest with Labour values.
Despite the growing revolt, Starmer has insisted he will not resign. The Prime Minister has described his premiership as a “10-year project” and warned that forcing a leadership contest could plunge both the government and the country into instability.
Speculation is already intensifying over potential successors. Figures being discussed by Labour MPs include Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, although none have formally launched leadership bids.
The rebellion deepened further on Monday after junior government aides reportedly resigned and additional MPs joined calls for Starmer to go, leaving the Prime Minister facing the gravest threat to his leadership since entering Downing Street.
Ms Hall issued the following statement: “Last week’s election results were devastating for our party.
“Across the country and our region, we lost hardworking Labour representatives who dedicated themselves to their communities and to the values our movement was founded on. Voters delivered a clear message.
“They feel disconnected from the current leadership and frustrated that progress is not happening quickly enough.
“A pattern of poor decisions and unforced errors has created a growing sense of distance between the government and the people I was elected to serve.
“We cannot respond to this moment with another reset, another relaunch or more rhetoric. This moment demands radical ambition, unapologetically rooted in the lives of working people.
“The people of Warrington South and across the country want to see a government with purpose, conviction and the courage to change course.
“That is why, for the good of my constituents and the country, I am calling on the Prime Minister to set out a clear timetable for his resignation, with an orderly transition of leadership to take place by September.
“This is not a decision I have taken lightly, but I believe it is the only viable path in front of us.
“Labour governments of the past achieved the greatest successes when we were bold, confident and unapologetic about standing with working people. That is when the country trusted us most.
“It was that boldness that founded the NHS, delivered secure and affordable housing, brought key industries into public ownership, introduced the national minimum wage and advanced equal pay and equality under the law.
“Labour changed this country for the better because it understood that everyone deserves not just compassion, but fairness, security and opportunity.
“The Labour Party was built to be the voice of working people. We cannot allow it to drift away from them now.”
1 Comment
Liebour is a sinking ship and they know it.