Starmer Holds Cabinet Meeting Amid Calls from Ministers and MPs to Set Exit Timetable

Sir Keir Starmer convened a cabinet meeting Tuesday as he battles to remain prime minister less than two years after Labour's landslide election victory.

The session comes amid a rebellion by Labour MPs and pressure from ministers to outline a departure schedule after poor results in last week's elections.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood joined several cabinet members in pressing Starmer to set a timetable for leaving office. The prime minister told the cabinet that the country expects Labour to get on with governing, daring potential rivals to launch a formal challenge for party leadership.

No Labour MP has started a leadership bid, which requires support from 81 colleagues or 20 percent of Labour MPs under party rules.

More than 70 Labour MPs have publicly called for Starmer to resign right away or prepare an exit plan. Communities Minister Miatta Fahnbulleh resigned earlier as the first government member to do so.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting and former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner rank as the top potential challengers among MPs. Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has backing too but would need to enter Parliament first, extending any contest.

Starmer delivered a rushed speech Monday to bolster his standing. The effort appeared to misfire as calls for his departure from Labour MPs grew in the hours that followed.

The uprising stems from Labour's election defeats last week. The party lost nearly 1,500 councillors in local contests across England, surrendered control in Wales and posted its worst result ever in a Scottish Parliament election.

Those outcomes served as a major test for Starmer's leadership given his low poll numbers and controversy over naming Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the United States, prompting some MPs to doubt his judgment.