Sir Keir Starmer is defying mounting calls for him to quit, telling a meeting of his Cabinet that the country “expects us to get on with governing” and “that is what I am doing”.
The Prime Minister’s woes deepened on Tuesday morning as the first minister resigned from his Government urging him to go, and as the number of Labour MPs telling him to set out a timetable for his departure grew to 75.
According to Downing Street, Sir Keir told his Cabinet: “As I said yesterday, I take responsibility for these election results and I take responsibility for delivering the change we promised.
“The past 48 hours have been destabilising for government and that has a real economic cost for our country and for families.
“The Labour Party has a process for challenging a leader and that has not been triggered.
“The country expects us to get on with governing. That is what I am doing and what we must do as a Cabinet.”
The meeting was expected to be fraught, with some ministers said to be joining calls for the Prime Minister to go.
Earlier, housing, communities and local government minister Miatta Fahnbulleh told the Prime Minister “to do the right thing for the country and the party and set a timetable for an orderly transition” as the public had lost trust in him because of issues such as the scrapping of the winter fuel payment.
And one of Sir Keir’s closest aides declined to say whether he would lead his party into the next general election.
Cabinet minister Darren Jones, the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, said: “I’m not going to get ahead of any decision the PM may or may not take.”
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