The leader of one of Labour’s biggest union backers has warned the party is at risk of “going extinct” if it does not change direction as Sir Keir Starmer attempts to fend off a leadership ultimatum.
The prime minister has vowed to lead Labour into the next general election and has promised to forge closer ties with Europe as he deals with the fallout from disastrous results for the party in the local election.
Labour MP Catherine West has issued an ultimatum to cabinet members, telling them to challenge Sir Keir by Monday, or she will start formally gathering names to trigger a contest.
In a damning assessment of Labour’s performance, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said the party has “abandoned the working class, and the working class have now abandoned Labour”.
Warning Labour must take “a completely different economic direction and political direction”, she told the BBC: “I actually think we're in a situation here where they could be extinct. There's no God given right for Labour to exist.”
Local election results on Saturday underlined the challenge facing Sir Keir, with Reform taking control in Barnsley and pushing Labour out of office in Bradford while a Green surge took Lewisham and forced Labour out in Lambeth for the first time in 20 years.
Read MoreStarmer turns back to attacking Brexit as he shares fightback plan after election rout
The towns and cities that show politics in England is splintering from two-party system
Labour MP issues leadership threat to Starmer, telling Cabinet ministers to ‘get yourself in there’
Key Points
- Labour MP calls for cabinet members to challenge Starmer's leadership
- Starmer gathers allies to see off Labour MP's leadership threat
- Analysis: Results show stark differences between London and elsewhere
- Ed Miliband urged by Labour MPs to consider leadership bid
- John Rentoul: Angela Rayner has missed her chance
- Unite boss warns Labour ‘in danger of going extinct’
Women of Labour Party need to stand against Starmer, MP says
12:05 , Amy-Clare MartinCatherine West said women in the Labour Party need to stand against Sir Keir Starmer.
Ms West told BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “I say to the women of the Parliamentary Labour Party, don’t just allow the men to stand.
“I think we need to modernise. I think we’re looking very dated and I think we need to energise our communications and I think we need to repair our relationship with the Civil Service.”
Parties accused of ‘political posturing’ by refusing to engage with Reform
11:59 , Amy-Clare MartinThe deputy leader of Reform UK Scotland has accused other parties at Holyrood of “political posturing” by not engaging in talks with the party.
Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, First Minister John Swinney said he would not be inviting Reform UK to talks at the Scottish Government headquarters in St Andrew’s house.
Previous housing secretary and newly elected SNP MSP for Clydesdale Mairi McAllan doubled down on Mr Swinney’s comments while speaking on BBC Scotland’s Sunday Show.
She said: “I think there are a portion of Reform voters who have voted for Reform this time because they’re either angry or because they’ve been made to feel scared.
“We will speak directly to them and work to improve their lives so they no longer have to feel that way.
“But we will not deal with the likes of Malcolm Offord and his acolytes in the Parliament.”
Reform UK won their first seats in the Scottish Parliament, coming in joint second place with Labour after the Holyrood elections.
Asked if he would have invited Reform in for talks had Labour won the election, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said “no”.
Reform UK Scotland’s deputy leader Thomas Kerr said the comments were “political posturing and “anti-democratic”.
He said: “We’ve not even stepped foot in the chamber yet. These are politicians who are doing political posturing before we’ve even stepped foot in the chambers of the Holyrood Parliament.”
Starmer’s critics on the left of Labour oppose Catherine West leadership bid
11:40 , Amy-Clare MartinThe Independent’s political editor David Maddox reports:
Two senior MPs on the left of the Labour Party from the Socialist Campaign Group (SCG) have said they are unhappy with Catherine West’s bid to remove Keir Starmer as leader.
The SCG has previously made it clear that it wants Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham to return to Westminster to replace Sir Keir.
However in a statement SCG chair Richard Burgon, a leading critic of Sir Keir, said that Ms West wants “a palace coup” which he cannot support.
He said: “I do understand Catherine West’s deep frustrations. They are shared by a large number of MPs and Labour members who feel we cannot go on like this and that Keir needs to go - as I have also called for.
“But I can’t support the proposals she explained on TV this morning. Catherine’s stated preference is for a Cabinet stitch-up - a kind of palace coup.
“That would mean the very people who sat back and allowed terrible decisions like the winter fuel and disability cuts to happen end up deciding the future of the party. That will not be seen by the public as a clean break.”
He called for Sir Keir to set a date for his departure followed by a “full and proper democratic process”, involving all MPs, made unions and party members - not just the cabinet.
Earlier, former shadow chancellor John McDonnell also called for a democratic process.He said: “Catherine West is reflecting the upset in her constituency where so many seats were lost but I don’t think this is right approach. We need to discuss how we go forward & I worry some in shadows want to exploit her concerns and bounce us before we have a proper democratic process.”
Tice dodges question on further undeclared gifts to Farage
11:25 , Amy-Clare MartinRichard Tice refused to say whether Nigel Farage had received any further large donations that had not been declared on Sunday morning.
The Reform leader was referred to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner by the Conservatives after it emerged he had received a £5m previously undeclared gift from a Thailand-based crypto billionaire in 2024.
Asked on Sunday whether there are any other undeclared gifts, Mr Tice told the BBC: “I look after my own finances, and Nigel looks after his.”
Anna Turley MP, chair of the Labour Party, said the response shows “Farage and his MPs clearly believe there’s one rule for them and another for everyone else”.
She said: “Reform have consistently attempted to dodge scrutiny. Deputy leader Richard Tice still refuses to answer over his own tax scandal. Reform are simply riding roughshod over public trust in politics."
Tice dismisses questions on £5m donation as a ‘smear’
11:15 , Amy-Clare MartinRichard Tice has dismissed questions raised about a £5 million donation given to Nigel Farage as a “smear”.
The Reform leader was referred to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner by the Conservatives after it emerged he had received the previously undeclared gift from a Thailand-based crypto billionaire in 2024.
But asked about the donation on Sunday, the party’s deputy leader dismissed the issue as a “smear”.
“You keep on with this trying to smear us, and sneer us and libel us. We're sick of it, and the voters are sick of it.
“They've literally delivered a massive, massive rebuttal against the establishment media, and they said we want more Reform, more Reform-led councils doing great work.”
Update: Allies of West say she has had lots of ‘expressions of interest’ from MPs
11:02 , Amy-Clare MartinThe Independent’s Whitehall editor Kate Devlin reports:
Allies of Catherine West say she has had “lots of expressions of interest” from MPs since laying down her leadership challenge.
She will seek the 80 names needed to run if no other Labour leadership hopeful comes forward by tomorrow. So far no leadership rival is understood to have indicated to her that they intend to stand, meaning her Monday deadline is still on.
One ally said: “She has had an awful lot of expressions of interest since she announced.” They added that they expected those to harden on Monday “when it becomes official”.
MP warns she will start gathering names if still 'dissatisfied' after PM's speech
10:55 , Amy-Clare MartinMP Catherine West said she will formally start name gathering after waiting to hear Sir Keir Starmer’s speech on Monday.
Ms West told BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “I will hear what the Prime Minister’s got to say tomorrow and, then if I’m still dissatisfied, I will put out my email to the Parliamentary Labour Party, asking for names. And the reason I’m doing that is not for me. It’s for working people, because Labour is the only party that can beat Reform.”
When asked if she believes she will get the numbers behind her, she added: “We will find out when I put out my email to the Parliamentary Labour Party, but what we need is that timetable from the chair of the party, and she and I are very good friends, she knows, I’ve asked her for an orderly transition into a leadership election, which will allow us to make the case to the country, as well as to our colleagues, so that we can go forward.”
Former Labour shadow chancellor warns leadership ultimatum could risk ‘proper democratic process’
10:40 , Amy-Clare MartinJohn McDonnell has warned Catherine West’s urgency to oust Sir Keir Starmer from office could put “proper democratic process” at risk.
The former Labour shadow chancellor and current MP for Hayes & Harlington said he did not think Ms West’s approach was right.
“Catherine West is reflecting the upset in her constituency where so many seats were lost but I don’t think this is right approach,” he wrote on X.
“We need to discuss how we go forward & I worry some in shadows want to exploit her concerns and bounce us before we have a proper democratic process.”
Mr McDonnell has been critical of Sir Keir’s leadership, and said yesterday that he “will need to put party & country first in judging whether he is risking opening door to Farage”.
Catherine West is reflecting the upset in her constituency where so many seats were lost but I don’t think this is right approach. We need to discuss how we go forward & I worry some in shadows want to exploit her concerns and bounce us before we have a proper democratic process.
— John McDonnell (@johnmcdonnellMP) May 10, 2026
Former minister becomes latest Labour MP calling for Starmer to go
10:24 , Amy-Clare MartinA former minister and Starmer ally has become the latest Labour MP to call for the prime minister to resign.
Josh Simons, who was as Cabinet Office minister until a few weeks ago, declared Sir Keir has “lost the country” as he called on him to set out a timetable for his departure from No 10.
“This is bigger than any one person. All of us must be honest about these challenges, including those vying to replace the prime minister. We need radicalism, energy, and immense courage,” he wrote in the Sunday Times.
“Putting the people I represent and the country I love first, I do not believe the prime minister can rise to this moment. He has lost the country. He should take control of the situation by overseeing an orderly transition to a new prime minister.”
Mr Simons was forced to resign in March amid a probe into claims a Labour think tank he once ran paid for an investigation to “smear” journalists.
Government not told a ‘strong enough story’, minister says
10:15 , Amy-Clare MartinBridget Phillipson has admitted the government has not “told a strong enough story” to garner support after almost two years in government.
The education minister said there must be a “collective endeavour” to make sure the Labour Party is “telling a better story” after this week’s disastrous election results.
She told the BBC: “Have we told a strong enough story about who we are and what we're about and what this Labour Party is delivering? No, we haven’t.”
She insisted Sir Keir Starmer “knows that” and said it is a “perilous moment for our country”.
Watch: Catherine West calls on Phillipson directly to challenge Starmer
10:00 , Am Clare MartinLabour MP Catherine West has told education secretary Bridget Phillipson to challenge the prime minister.
Unite boss warns Labour ‘in danger of going extinct’
09:45 , Amy Clare-MartinThe boss of one of Labour’s biggest union backers has warned the party is at risk of “going extinct” if it does not change direction.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said the party has “abandoned the working class, and the working class have now abandoned Labour”.
Warning Labour must take “a completely different economic direction and political direction”, she told the BBC: “I actually think we're in a situation here where they could be extinct. There's no God given right for Labour to exist.
“They are either there to defend workers and communities, that's what they were put there to do, or they're not. And if they don't do that, there are serious problems ahead for the entirety of the Labour movement.”
Catherine West: We have to move quickly
09:30 , Amy-Clare MartinThe Labour MP who has issued an ultimatum for the cabinet to oust Sir Keir Starmer has warned the party has to “move quickly” after this week’s disastrous election results.
Catherine West said she will “hear what the prime minister has got to say tomorrow” before she decides whether to seek official support to launch a leadership bid.
She said: “The reason I am doing that is not for me, it's for working people. Because Labour is the only party that can beat Reform.”
She said that she wants the government to “reflect on the result from Thursday, where the voters sent us a very strong message that we are not good enough”.
She told the BBC: “We have a problem and need to move quickly.”
Catherine West calls on Phillipson directly to challenge Starmer
09:19 , Amy-Clare MartinThe Labour MP who has issued an ultimatum on Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership has told a cabinet minister directly to challenge the prime minister.
Catherine West has called on the cabinet to put a candidate forward to replace Sir Keir by Monday, or else she would launch her own bid.
Speaking directly to Bridget Phillipson on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, she said: “There's nothing stopping Bridget from standing.
“Why are the all the men better than the women? We do need some senior women to step forward and to challenge for what is going to be really difficult two and a half years between now and the general election, and also to take us into that second term.”
The education secretary replied: “I love you dearly, Catherine, but I just disagree on this one.”
Minister backs Starmer to lead Labour into next general election
09:15 , Amy-Clare MartinBridget Phillipson has stood firm on her support for Sir Keir Starmer lead Labour into the next general election, despite the party having suffered brutal defeats across the country this week.
The education secretary was asked whether the prime minister will lead the party into the next general elections, and whether that is something she would want. She told Sky News: “Yes on both counts.”
She was also asked about the prospect of a cabinet reshuffle, which has been rumoured in recent days.
“I’m not aware that there will be a reshuffle, but those are, of course, matters for the prime minister,” she said.
Government made mistake of ‘being too negative early on’, Phillipson says
09:10 , Amy-Clare MartinBridget Phillipson has been asked what she thinks the government’s biggest mistakes have been so far.
The education secretary gave a surprisingly direct answer, telling Sky News that changes to the winter fuel allowance “caused us real damage early on”.
She went on to say that the government had been “too gloomy and too negative early on”, which she said “embedded a sense of gloom”.
“People knew the country was in a mess,” she said. “They didn't need us to remind them in such detail that the country was in a mess... They wanted us to focus on what we as a government were going to deliver.”
Minister felt ’sick to the bottom of my stomach’ after election defeat
09:05 , Amy-Clare MartinEducation minister Bridget Phillipson has said she felt “sick to the bottom of [her] stomach” after seeing the scale of Labour’s electoral defeat this week.
Sir Keir Starmer is facing calls to resign over the defeat, which saw the party lose control of swathes of historical strongholds.
Speaking about Catherine West’s leadership ultimatum, Ms Phillipson said: “Catherine, like lots of other colleagues and like lots of candidates who stood in the elections that we've just had, are really hurting this morning.
"And I feel that. Friday morning, I felt absolutely sick to the bottom of my stomach about the scale of the defeat that we'd suffered. And we got a real kicking, from the voters. There's there's no escaping that. And we have to seriously reflect on that.”
Minister claims Starmer ‘didn’t come up’ on some doorsteps
09:00 , Amy-Clare MartinBridget Phillipson has claimed Sir Keir Starmer “didn’t come up” as much as “people might imagine” while speaking to voters on the doorstep.
The education secretary described a difficult conversation she had with a voter ahead of the election on Thursday, but said Starmer’s leadership didn’t come up.
Asked if this was true, she told Sky News: “Genuinely, sincerely, no."Now, I'm not saying that Keir Starmer's leadership did never come up, but actually not as much as people might imagine.
"What did come up, what did come up a lot was policing, GP appointments, why aren't waiting lists coming down faster?”
Minister: Catherine West is completely wrong
08:52 , Amy-Clare MartinA cabinet minister has backed Sir Keir Starmer as she sought to play down Catherine West’s leadership ultimatum.
The Labour MP called on the cabinet to have a meeting to put a candidate to replace Sir Keir by Monday, or else she would launch her own bid.
Asked when this meeting would be happening, education secretary Bridget Phillipson told Sky News: “Catherine is a great colleague, and I’ve known her a long time, and I have real respect for Catherine.
“On this one, I do part company with her. I think she's got this completely wrong.”
Asked if she thought Ms West could get the 80 names needed to trigger a contest, she said: “I don't think that will happen.”
Minister to face a grilling as leadership ultimatum given
08:43 , Amy-Clare MartinWe’re about to hear from a cabinet minister on what is an incredibly tense moment for Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership.
Education secretary Bridget Phillipson will be speaking on various shows this morning, as she answers questions on the mounting calls for the prime minister to resign.
Catherine West, the MP who issued an ultimatum on Saturday for cabinet members to challenge Sir Keir, will also be speaking this morning.
The former junior Foreign Office minister said the cabinet needed to put forward their “best communicator” to replace the prime minister by Monday, or else she would seek the 80 names needed to trigger a contest.
Recap: Starmer turns back to attacking Brexit as he shares fightback plan
08:30 , Amy-Clare MartinThe prime minister has laid out his plans to respond to a disastrous showing in the local elections, vowing he would lead Labour into the next general election.
He said he would be “full-throated” about the need for closer ties with Brussels as he sought to win back his wavering MPs and address the drift of voters from Labour to the Greens in many former strongholds in London and cities across England.
The Independent’s Dan Haygarth reports:
Starmer turns back to attacking Brexit as he shares fightback plan
Results reveal stark differences in voting between London and rest of England
08:13 , Amy-Clare MartinThe election results have revealed stark differences in how the parties fared in the capital compared with the rest of England.
Labour successfully defended a higher percentage of its seats than it did elsewhere, while Reform UK won a much lower proportion of seats in which it stood candidates than it managed outside London, according to Press Association analysis.
Sir Keir Starmer’s party has won 67 per cent of the council seats in the capital that it held just before the elections took place.
This compares with a win rate of 30 per cent for seats it defended outside London.
Reform has won just 5 per cent of the seats in the capital in which it fielded candidates, compared with a rate of 43 per cent for the seats it contested across the rest of England.
Other parties have seen contrasting fortunes inside and outside the capital, with the Greens winning 19 per cent of seats in London, in which it stood candidates, higher than the 10% it managed in the rest of England.
The Conservatives won 46 per cent of the seats they defended outside London, while the party saw a net increase of 6 per cent in its number of councillors in the capital compared with just before polling day.
How many supporters does Catherine West need to trigger leadership vote?
07:37 , Adam WithnallLabour MP Catherine West has called on members of Sir Keir Starmer’s cabinet to challenge him for the leadership, warning that she will do so herself if they fail to step up.
She told The Independent that the party needs “to take on Reform and put forward a centrist vision of the country that people can really get behind”.
Labour Party rules state that a leadership election will only take place if the prime minister resigns or if 20 per cent of the party nominate a candidate to replace them.
That means 81 MPs would need to back a challenger. West has said she will seek another 80 names to trigger a contest if no one from the cabinet does so.
But as of now, West says she has only 10 MPs willing to back her. She has nonetheless said she is "confident" others will come forward if needed.
The youth vote isn’t just turning out for the Greens
06:50 , Adam WithnallChloe Combi has been speaking to young people in the aftermath of Thursday’s election. She writes that she works with this generation every day, and struggles to find one young adult who thinks the current political system has made even one meaningful and positive change in their lives.
Out of this desperation, a hunger for an alternative is growing, she says. There was an early assumption that Zach Polanski’s Green Party was going to “do a Zohran Mamdani” in the 2026 council elections and the hysterical portrayal of the leader in some quarters of the press as a kind of political bogeyman was telling. But, while the Greens made some significant gains, it’s how this generation is relating to Farage’s party that is just as telling.
Read more:
The youth vote isn’t just Green – they are turning up for Farage’s Reform too
Analysis: Results show stark differences between London and elsewhere
05:40 , Adam WithnallThe results of this year’s local election in London have sent historical records tumbling, while revealing stark differences in how the parties fared in the capital compared with the rest of England.
Labour successfully defended a higher percentage of its seats than it did elsewhere, while Reform UK won a much lower proportion of seats in which it stood candidates than it managed outside London, according to Press Association analysis.
Sir Keir Starmer’s party has won 67% of the council seats in the capital that it held just before the elections took place.
This compares with a win rate of 30% for seats it defended outside London.
Reform has won just 5% of the seats in the capital in which it fielded candidates, compared with a rate of 43% for the seats it contested across the rest of England.
Other parties have seen contrasting fortunes inside and outside the capital, with the Greens winning 19% of seats in London, in which it stood candidates, higher than the 10% it managed in the rest of England.
The Conservatives won 46% of the seats they defended outside London, while the party saw a net increase of 6% in its number of councillors in the capital compared with just before polling day.
The results show clearly how people in the capital voted for a wider range of parties than ever before, with nearly four in 10 council seats (39.3%) won by someone other than Labour or the Conservatives.
Starmer gathers allies to see off Labour MP's leadership threat
03:53 , Adam WithnallAs Catherine West urged would-be leaders in the cabinet to challenge Sir Keir Starmer by Monday, Sir Keir recruited party veterans Gordon Brown and Baroness Harriet Harman to help to secure his flagging premiership.
The Independent has also learnt that some senior ministers were trying to prevent a leadership election but feared that the former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner could launch a coup as early as next week. Meanwhile, support is growing for energy secretary Ed Miliband, health secretary Wes Streeting and defence minister Al Carns.
Read more here:
Labour MP issues leadership threat to Starmer after election misery
The towns and cities that show politics in England is splintering from two-party system
02:30 , Dan HaygarthThe outcome of these elections provides more evidence of a country pulling away from a traditional two-party system, with strong support coming in for other parties, at least at local elections so far. Here are some of the towns and cities that highlight the trend:
The towns and cities showing politics in England is splintering from two-party system
John Rentoul: Angela Rayner has missed her chance
01:30 , Dan HaygarthKeir Starmer’s premiership is teetering on the brink, but his rivals cannot give him the final push, writes John Rentoul. Read below.
Angela Rayner has missed her chance
Watch: Gordon Brown and Baroness Harman leave No10 after meeting with Keir Starmer
Sunday 10 May 2026 00:30 , Dan HaygarthFull story: Starmer turns to attacking Brexit again as he shares fightback plan to save his job
Saturday 9 May 2026 23:55 , Dan Haygarth Starmer turns to attacking Brexit again as he shares fightback plan to save his job
London voting for wider range of parties than ever before
Saturday 9 May 2026 23:08 , Dan HaygarthThe results show clearly how people in the capital voted for a wider range of parties than ever before, with nearly four in 10 council seats (39.3 per cent) won by someone other than Labour or the Conservatives.
This is more than double the equivalent figure at the 2022 local elections (14.1 per cent) and is the highest percentage of seats not won by either Labour or the Tories in the modern history of local government in London, which began when the current system of councils was established in 1964.
Of the 1,817 seats up for grabs in the capital this year, the Greens won 16.3 per cent, the Liberal Democrats 13.4 per cent, Reform 4.3 per cent and Aspire 1.8 per cent.
Labour won 38.3 per cent, down from 63.6 per cent in 2022 and its lowest figure since 2006 (36.8 per cent).
The Conservatives won 22.4 per cent, up very slightly from 22.2 per cent in 2022.
Election results show stark differences between London and rest of England
Saturday 9 May 2026 23:06 , Dan HaygarthThe results of this year’s local election in London have sent historical records tumbling, while revealing stark differences in how the parties fared in the capital compared with the rest of England.
Labour successfully defended a higher percentage of its seats than it did elsewhere, while Reform UK won a much lower proportion of seats in which it stood candidates than it managed outside London, according to Press Association analysis.
Sir Keir Starmer’s party has won 67 per cent of the council seats in the capital that it held just before the elections took place.
This compares with a win rate of 30 per cent for seats it defended outside London.
Reform has won just 5 per cent of the seats in the capital in which it fielded candidates, compared with a rate of 43 per cent for the seats it contested across the rest of England.
Other parties have seen contrasting fortunes inside and outside the capital, with the Greens winning 19 per cent of seats in London, in which it stood candidates, higher than the 10 per cent it managed in the rest of England.
The Conservatives won 46 per cent of the seats they defended outside London, while the party saw a net increase of 6 per cent in its number of councillors in the capital compared with just before polling day.
Full story: Starmer turns to attacking Brexit again as he shares fightback plan to save his job
Saturday 9 May 2026 22:25 , Dan HaygarthKeir Starmer took aim at Brexit and said forging closer ties with Europe will be at the heart of his response to Labour’s dismal showing in the local elections, as he vowed to lead the party into the next general election.
Read more below.
Starmer turns to attacking Brexit again as he shares fightback plan to save his job
Nine London councils with no majority, eight of them previously Labour-ran
Saturday 9 May 2026 22:17 , Dan HaygarthMore councils in London have been left in no overall control than at any point since the current system of local government in the capital was established in 1964.
There are nine London councils where no party won enough seats to form a majority.
Eight of them were previously controlled by Labour – Barnet, Brent, Enfield, Haringey, Lambeth, Newham, Southwark, Wandsworth – while one, Croydon, remains in no overall control.
The previous record for the most number of London councils left in no overall control after local elections was eight, set in 2006.
Labour had better performance in London than the rest of England at local elections
Saturday 9 May 2026 21:23 , Dan HaygarthWith all results in London now declared, Labour has successfully defended a higher percentage of its seats in the capital than it did in the rest of England, while Reform UK won a lower proportion of seats it contested than elsewhere, according to Press Association analysis.
Labour won 67 per cent of the council seats in London it held just before the elections took place.
This compares with a win rate of 30 per cent for seats the party was defending outside London.
Reform won just 5 per cent of the seats in London in which it fielded candidates, compared with 43 per cent of the seats it contested elsewhere in England.
The Greens won 19 per cent of seats in London in which it stood candidates, higher than the 10 per cent it managed outside the capital.
The Conservatives won 46 per cent of seats they were defending outside London, while by contrast, the party has seen a net increase of 6 per cent in its number of councillors in the capital.
MP warns Labour has ‘fight of our life’ to stop Farage as she issues ultimatum to replace Starmer
Saturday 9 May 2026 21:17 , David MaddoxA Labour MP has told cabinet ministers to challenge Sir Keir Starmer in a leadership contest by Monday, warning that if they fail to do so, she will.
Catherine West, the MP for Hornsey and Friern Barnet, who was sacked by Sir Keir as a junior minister in the Foreign Office, said the cabinet should “reorganise themselves” and, to avoid a contest, put forward their “best communicator” to replace the prime minister.
If that did not happen she would seek the 80 names needed to trigger a contest, she said.
Speaking to The Independent, Ms West said: “We had cataclysmic election results last week and our response so far does not match the emergency that faces us. I am terrified we will end up with Prime Minister Farage.”
Her intervention came after Sir Keir recruited party veterans Gordon Brown and Baroness Harriet Harman to help to secure his flagging premiership.
As the scale of Labour’s failures at the local elections ballot box emerged, The Independent has also learnt that some senior ministers were trying to prevent a leadership election but feared that the former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner could launch a coup as early as next week. Meanwhile, support is growing for energy secretary Ed Miliband, health secretary Wes Streeting and defence minister Al Carns.
Ms West’s move follows speculation by Labour MPs that the serious candidates to replace Sir Keir, including Ms Rayner and Mr Streeting, were awaiting “a stalking horse” to “allow them to swoop in”. Speaking to The Independent, she said she would welcome Mr Streeting, Mr Miliband, Ms Rayner or education secretary Bridget Phillipson taking over as leader and prime minister. But she warned that time was running out for Labour with an election two to three years away.
“We need to tool up for this, because it’s going to be the fight of our life. We need to take on Reform and put forward a centrist vision of the country that people can really get behind.”
Read more:
Starmer gives ‘full-throated’ backing for closer EU ties as he fights for job
Saturday 9 May 2026 21:15 , Dan HaygarthSir Keir Starmer has put measures to tackle the cost of living and forge closer ties with the European Union at the heart of his plan to revive Labour’s fortunes after a disastrous set of elections.
The prime minister is battling to save his job, with a Labour MP plotting to launch a leadership challenge on Monday in the hope of spurring his Cabinet to move to oust him.
But despite mounting pressure to quit, Sir Keir insisted he would lead Labour into the next general election to continue with his 10-year project of “national renewal”.
The Prime Minister will use an address on Monday and the King’s Speech on Wednesday to mount a fightback after growing numbers of Labour MPs demanded a change at the top of the party.
In a Mirror interview, Sir Keir promised to be “full-throated” about the need for closer ties with Brussels as he sought to win back his wavering MPs and address the drift of voters from Labour to the Greens in many former strongholds in London and cities across England.
In an apparent attempt to address the concerns of voters who felt left behind, Sir Keir promised “an economy that really works for everyone, wherever they live”.
Watch: Labour MP calls for cabinet members to challenge Starmer's leadership
Saturday 9 May 2026 20:45 , Dan HaygarthMP warns Labour has ‘fight of our life’ to stop Farage as she issues ultimatum to replace Starmer
Saturday 9 May 2026 20:15 , Dan HaygarthA Labour MP has dramatically warned would-be leaders in the cabinet to challenge Sir Keir Starmer by Monday – or she will - following the party’s disastrous local election results.
Catherine West, the MP for Hornsey and Friern Barnet, who was sacked by Sir Keir as a junior minister in the Foreign Office, said the cabinet should “reorganise themselves” and put forward their “best communicator” to replace the PM, avoiding a contest.
If that did not happen she would seek the 80 names needed to trigger a contest, she said.
Speaking to The Independent, Ms West said: “We had cataclysmic election results last week and our response so far does not match the emergency that faces us.”
She added: “I am terrified we will end up with Prime Minister Farage.”
Read more:
Starmer faces ‘stalking horse’ challenger as ministers fear Angela Rayner coup
Greens win Lewisham
Saturday 9 May 2026 19:52 , Dan HaygarthThe Greens have toppled a huge Labour majority in Lewisham to take control of their third London council.
The party won a majority by winning 30 of the first 39 results to be announced, with Labour taking just nine.
The successful Green candidates included Liam Shrivastava in Crofton Park Ward, although he will give up his council seat after winning the Lewisham mayoral election on Friday.
Labour had 50 seats on the previous council and the Greens only four, and Lewisham became the 12th London council where Sir Keir Starmer’s party lost control, with Hackney and Waltham Forest also being taken by the Greens.
The Conservatives won Westminster, while Barnet, Brent, Enfield, Haringey, Lambeth, Newham, Southwark and Wandsworth all slipped into no overall control.
Ed Miliband urged by Labour MPs to consider leadership bid - report
Saturday 9 May 2026 19:28 , Alex RossAfter 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.
Analysis: Al Carns did not want to be the 'stalking horse' opening the door for others
Saturday 9 May 2026 18:25 , Dan Haygarth & David MaddoxBefore 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.”
