'Get rid of Keir Starmer or I will!' Labour MP issues brutal warning to ministers
The Prime Minister may face an imminent leadership challenge if a backbencher becomes the lightning rod for anger in the Labour party. Former foreign minister Catherine West has said she will challenge Sir Keir if he is not removed by the cabinet on Monday.Ms West told the BBC that she has the support of ten MPs – far fewer than the 81 she said are required to trigger a contest. But by going public, she may win support from more MPs who do not want her to become prime minister but are impatient to get rid of the PM and start the process of choosing a successor.She said: “I'm putting people on notice: if I don't hear by Monday morning of some leadership hopefuls, I will be asking everybody in the Parliamentary Labour Party to put a name against my name.”She told Radio 4's PM programme: "This afternoon, I would like the cabinet to come around the table and elect a leader amongst themselves. If that cannot happen, and there are no leadership hopefuls who come forward tomorrow, then Monday morning I will put my name forward to stand for the leader of the Labour party. I will be seeking the 81 names that are needed to take to the party chair, and I will begin a leadership election."Ms West said she did not have a preferred candidate to succeed Sir Keir, describing this as "part of the problem".But she added: "I think there are several people who would like to do it who have been planning for months. But I'm very surprised that none of them has popped up today to say, 'I will do it.'"The MP for Hornsey and Friern Barnet said her "preferred option is for the cabinet to do a reshuffle within itself, where there's plenty of talent, and for Keir to be given a different role which he might enjoy, perhaps an international role [and] then for others to come to the fore who can communicate the message, who are very able, so we can have minimum fuss".She added: "Let's get out there in the television studios, let's get out there talking to people, about this election result – what they didn't like, what can we do to be better, and then go forward with those proposals."Arguing it was time for the Starmer era to end, she said: "The building blocks of the party that Keir gave us between 2019 and 2024, that part of the project is finished. Now we need to bring on the person who can really sell Labour values and sell our programme."
