A third minister has resigned from the Government, criticising Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer for a lack of “bold, radical action” as she urged him to quit.
Resignation of Alex Davies-Jones
Alex Davies-Jones announced she was stepping down as victims minister, following Jess Phillips and Miatta Fahnbulleh out of the door. Their exit piled pressure on the Labour leader, who vowed to fight on at Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting.
At least 82 out of Labour’s 403 MPs have now demanded Sir Keir’s departure after the party’s electoral mauling last week. In numerical terms, this is above the threshold needed to trigger a leadership contest – but on the important condition that they all line up behind the same candidate, which is not the case at the moment.
But backbench MPs supportive of Sir Keir are understood to be preparing a statement, while several Cabinet ministers have rallied around him.
Davies-Jones' Letter
In her resignation letter, Ms Davies-Jones wrote “we have needed to do more” on tackling violence against women and girls and “I feel I have no choice but to resign”. “The scale of the electoral defeats at the Senedd Cymru and across the United Kingdom have been catastrophic. The country has spoken and we must listen.” She added: “I know you to be a good and honest man. But in my heart are my constituents, the victims I have had the honour of working with every day, including the Hillsborough victims and their families, and all those who demand better of us.”
Previous Resignations and Pressure
It came shortly after Ms Phillips, a fellow Home Office minister and supposed supporter of leadership hopeful Wes Streeting, stood down as safeguarding minister. The high-profile Birmingham Yardley MP denounced the Prime Minister’s failure to be “bold” and said: “I’m not seeing the change I think I, and the country expect.”
The Prime Minister earlier defied calls for him to vacate Downing Street, telling his Cabinet the country “expects us to get on with governing” and “that is what I am doing”. “The Labour Party has a process for challenging a leader and that has not been triggered,” he said, according to No 10.
He avoided being directly challenged as he declined to discuss his leadership during Tuesday’s gathering or meet critics individually afterwards, the Press Association understands. Sir Keir said he would only speak to ministers one-on-one about his fate, but did not do so once Cabinet concluded, according to sources.
Cabinet Support and Splits
Downing Street’s readout said ministers had agreed that the “number one priority remains getting the Strait of Hormuz open again” as they discussed the Iran war in the meeting. The Prime Minister chaired a Middle East Response Committee this lunchtime as planned, it is understood.
A number of loyal ministers, including Technology Secretary Liz Kendall, Business Secretary Peter Kyle, Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden and Housing Secretary Steve Reed, faced the cameras to voice their support for the Prime Minister. However, other Cabinet ministers – including those thought to have privately told Sir Keir to quit – left the meeting without speaking to reporters, pointing to splits in his top team over his future.
Health Secretary Mr Streeting, seen as a possible successor, ignored journalists shouting questions at him as he left No 10. Other ministers took to X to back Sir Keir, with Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander reiterating her “full support” for him and slapping down suggestions she was endorsing plans for Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to return to Parliament to enter any leadership contest.
