Phillipson: challenge to Starmer would be wrong despite election ‘kicking’

Labour MPs would be wrong to remove Keir Starmer, even though voters have given the party a “real kicking” at the ballot box and people feel “bitterly let down”, the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson , has said. Phillipson said Labour had been “too gloomy” and had made a mistake in trying to withdraw the winter fuel allowance, after the party lost control of about 40 councils and 1,500 seats at the local elections on Thursday. However, she said a leadership challenge from the Labour backbencher Catherine West would be “completely wrong”. West, a former minister, said she would begin collecting the 80 necessary names for a challenge on Monday. She is not widely considered a viable candidate but if she triggers a contest then other contenders such as Wes Streeting, Angela Rayner or Ed Miliband could come forward. A contest in the coming weeks would rule out a return for Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, who is not in parliament. The Guardian reported on Saturday that MPs from Labour’s left are expected to urge Miliband to consider a leadership bid in the coming days. About 40 Labour MPs have said they think Starmer should quit or name a date to go. The latest to add his support to West was Josh Simons, the former Cabinet Office minister, who said Starmer must arrange an orderly transition to a new leader as he had “lost the country” and was incapable of “rising to this moment”. …