A Labour MP once considered to be close ally of Keir Starmer has called for him to resign as prime minister.
Josh Simons, the Labour MP for Makerfield, has written an article for the Times newspaper expressing his view that Starmer should oversee an “orderly transition to a new prime minister”.
Simons was director of the Labour Together think tank before entering parliament. The group, associated with former Downing Street chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, was prominent in supporting Starmer’s rise to power.
Simons was one of the first MPs that entered parliament at the 2024 general election appointed to a ministerial post. However, he resigned as a junior minister serving jointly in the Cabinet Office and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology in February 2026. He stepped after facing claims that Labour Together commissioned a report that looked into journalists’ backgrounds.
In his Times article, Simons wrote: “When a party fears the people it was created to represent, it is marching towards extinction…
“These elections were not a normal mid-term drubbing, they were an unequivocal judgment that our actions do not meet the moment. We constantly talk big, then act small.”
He added: “Putting the people I represent and the country I love first, I do not believe the prime minister can rise to this moment. He has lost the country. He should take control of the situation by overseeing an orderly transition to a new prime minister.”
Simons shared the article in a post to Twitter (formerly X) alongside additional comments.
He stated: “This was not an easy piece to write. But because of my history in the Labour Party I felt a duty to be honest.
“We Labour MPs must square up to the truth. These elections were not a normal mid-term drubbing, they were an unequivocal judgement that our actions do not meet the moment.
“To put the country first, the PM should lead an orderly transition. Senior figures across the party should urgently come together to agree a path forward.”
Simons’ intervention comes after a fellow former Labour minister, Catherine West, threatened to launch a “stalking horse” challenge to the prime minister.
On Saturday afternoon, West called on the cabinet to “reorganise themselves” and put forward their “best communicator” to replace Starmer. Speaking to BBC News in the wake of this week’s elections, the Labour MP and former Foreign Office said she was putting senior ministers “on notice”.
West said: “My preferred option is for the cabinet to do a reshuffle within itself, where there’s plenty of talent, and for Keir to be given a different role, which he might enjoy, perhaps an international role.”
West sought to justify her proposal across as Sunday morning media round.
West told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: “I will hear what the prime minister’s got to say tomorrow and, then if I’m still dissatisfied, I will put out my email to the parliamentary Labour Party, asking for names. And the reason I’m doing that is not for me. It’s for working people, because Labour is the only party that can beat Reform.”
West was asked if she believes that she will get the requisite number of MPs – 81 – to mount a leadership challenge.
She responded: “We will find out when I put out my email to the Parliamentary Labour Party, but what we need is that timetable from the chair of the party, and she and I are very good friends, she knows, I’ve asked her for an orderly transition into a leadership election, which will allow us to make the case to the country, as well as to our colleagues, so that we can go forward.”
