Live: The Labour MPs calling for Sir Keir Starmer to go

A devastating set of local elections has left Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership on the brink. Calls for the prime minister to exit stage left are growing and have now surpassed the usual hard-left Corbynite suspects.

Furious backbenchers have vented that Sir Keir is simply too toxic on the doorstep to make a comeback and that the game is up. Downing Street this evening scrambled to rally the Cabinet to the prime minister’s defence. While, through gritted teeth no doubt, some have taken to backing him, there remains either a very noticeable silence or non-committal statement from a handful. They are: Wes Streeting, Yvette Cooper, Ed Miliband and Shabana Mahmood.

Far more vocal are those who haven’t been prized with a plum government gig. So here they are: the Labour MPs demanding a new leader.

1. John McDonnel – ‘Keir will need to put party and country first in judging whether he is risking opening door to Farage.’
2. Ian Lavery – ‘Keir Hardie started the Labour Party… It could be another Keir – Keir Starmer – that could end the party forever.’
3. Simon Opher – ‘We need to change our leader. If we go into the next election with him, we are going to get slaughtered.’
4. Anneliese Midgley – ‘Unless that changes significantly and quickly it’s clear the PM can’t lead us into another election.’
5. Jonathan Brash – ‘The very best thing the prime minister can do now is address the nation tomorrow to set out a timetable for his departure.’
6. Clive Lewis – ‘A timetable for his departure is now necessary. The longer this is delayed, the greater the damage to the party and the country.’
7. Louise Haigh – ‘I think what is abundantly clear, is that unless the government delivers significant and urgent change, then the prime minister cannot lead us into another election.’
8. Richard Burgon – ‘It is clear that Keir has fought his last election as Labour leader and, deep down, he will know it.’
9. Graham Stringer – ‘I don’t think he can fight the next election if the Labour Party wants to survive.’
10. Conor Naismith – ‘In the wake of these catastrophic local elections results, with regret, it is clear to me that we need new leadership.’
11. Olivia Blake – ‘We need an orderly plan.’
12. Sarah Owen – ‘Unless Keir Starmer delivers tangible change and truly connects with the public on a human level, he can’t lead us into another election (locally or nationally). People want politics and politicians who are up-front and true to their values.’
13. David Baines – Warned Sir Keir is not the right person for the job and ‘his popularity has plummeted’.
14. Catherine McKinnell – ‘We must listen to the message sent by voters and urgently change so that we can deliver the change that people so desperately want to see.’
15. Kim Johnson – ‘Keir has faced his last election as leader. We need a timetable for a smooth transition this year.’