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Labour MP who gave Starmer leadership ultimatum says PM’s speech was ‘too little, too late’ – UK politics live

Here is the full statement from Catherine West , the former minister who on Saturday announced that, if a cabinet minister did not come forward to challenge Keir Starmer for the leadership, she would do it herself. double quotation mark I have listened to the prime minister’s speech this morning. I welcome the renewed energy and ideas. However, I have reluctantly concluded that this morning’s speech was too little too late. The results last Thursday show that the prime minister has failed to inspire hope. What is best for the party and country now is for an orderly transition. I am hereby giving notice to No 10 that I am collecting names of Labour MPs to call on the prime minister to set a timetable for the election of a new leader in September. I want to thank everyone who has been in contact over the weekend to offer good wishes. We need our best top team in place to fight the next election. We owe working people up and down the country nothing less. West is no longer – at least, in this statement – proposing to stand herself. There is a mechanism for a Labour MP with the support of 80 colleagues to be a leadership candidate. But there is no threshold in Labour party rules for the number of signatures required to force the PM to set out a timetable for his departure. West seems to be hoping that, if enough Labour MPs back her call, Starmer will eventually shift – or an alternative candidate, capable of getting the 80 names, may come forward.