A leadership challenge to Keir Starmer would not be the answer to Labour’s problems, a key ally of the prime minister has said on the eve of elections across Britain.
Voters are set to go to the polls on Thursday for the Scottish and Welsh parliaments, as well as for local councils across England.
Keir Starmer is facing the prospect of losing hundreds of council seats across England, as well as Labour’s dominance in the Welsh parliament, the Senedd, in the biggest test of public opinion since the UK general election in 2024.
MPs are reportedly moving to oust the prime minister in the wake of the elections, in a bloodless coup modelled on the way Tony Blair was encouraged to make way for his successor Gordon Brown.
But work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden insisted on Wednesday morning that Starmer was in a “resolute” mood and that triggering a leadership contest would be a mistake.
Asked if the prime minister would fight any challenge to his leadership, McFadden told Sky News: “Yes, and I hope there isn’t, because I don’t think it would be the answer to our problems.
“We’d be saying to the public, ‘just hold on for a few months while we go over here and sort something out’. That is not what the public wants to hear.
“I hope we do well tomorrow. But even if we don’t, the day after our job is to wake up, continue with doing our job and serve the country.”
Asked whether Starmer is ready to face down any challenges to his leadership, the senior Cabinet minister earlier said: “Yes, he is feeling that. He’s remarkably resolute, and he knows that to turn inward at this moment, or to turn inward after Thursday would be a mistake.
“He said he would put the country first when he fought the election a couple of years ago, and he will continue to put the country first.”
Starmer had earlier vowed to go into polling day “fighting for every vote” but acknowledged Labour could be in for a “challenge”.
He also wrote in Wednesday’s Mirror newspaper: “On Thursday, when you go to put your vote in the ballot box, there’s a clear choice on that piece of paper.
“Unity or division. Progress versus the politics of anger. The right plan for our country up against easy answers that will lead us nowhere.”
Wednesday marks the final full day of campaigning before polls open on Thursday across England, Scotland and Wales.
Almost 25,000 candidates are fighting to be elected to more than 5,000 seats on 136 councils across England.
In Scotland, all 129 seats are up for election in Holyrood, while voters in Wales will choose a set of 96 members of the Senedd.
