Labour was plunged deeper into crisis last night after Clive Lewis became the first MP to openly call for Keir Starmer to step down, capping off a tumultuous week for the Government.
The Norwich South MP dramatically broke ranks during a Friday night interview, insisting the party must now look to Andy Burnham for leadership.
Mr Lewis told Channel 4 that the Manchester mayor should “step up and become the next prime minister,” adding that the Labour Party could no longer limp on amid bitter internal feuding.
His intervention comes after an extraordinary briefing war erupted in Westminster, with No 10 aides accusing alleged coup plotters of attempting to weaken Keir Starmer. In a striking move intended to bolster the Prime Minister’s authority, officials briefed journalists that Starmer would fight any attempt to unseat him, warning that removing him might rattle the markets.
But the strategy spectacularly backfired. Furious Cabinet ministers demanded resignations, while Health Secretary Wes Streeting, publicly named as one of Sir Keir’s supposed rivals, condemned the briefings as “toxic” and “juvenile”.
The Government then faced further embarrassment on Friday as it retreated from plans to raise income tax, a move that would have broken a key manifesto pledge.
Pressed on whether Keir Starmer’s position remained viable, Mr Lewis replied bluntly: “No, it’s not tenable, frankly. And we now need to do what the Prime Minister once said, which is put country before party and, frankly, party before personal ambition.”
Asked if that required a new prime minister, he said: “I just don’t see how this can stagger on without any resolution on the horizon.
“I think the Labour Party, the Labour grandees, the men in grey suits, need to now really seriously think, how do we get Andy Burnham back into this parliamentary Labour Party and let him step up and become the next prime minister?
“That’s my personal view. I know it won’t be shared by everyone, but I don’t see many other options.”
Speculation over Mr Burnham’s ambitions has been simmering for months. Earlier this year, he refused to rule out challenging Sir Keir, prompting unease among loyalists.
The party’s woes have been compounded by sliding poll numbers and a series of damaging scandals at the top of Government. Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner quit after a Telegraph investigation into her tax affairs, while Lord Mandelson was sacked as ambassador to Washington over his ties to convicted paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
On Wednesday, Labour MP Barry Gardiner claimed it was “common knowledge” that discussions about how to remove Sir Keir were already underway among party colleagues.
With unrest spreading and Labour’s authority visibly fraying, Mr Lewis’s intervention will likely intensify the pressure on Keir Starmer as he fights to retain control of a Government increasingly engulfed by its own internal battles.
