Keir Starmer's support CRUMBLING just two weeks before local elections - MPs admit PM is 'dead man walking'

Alice Tomlinson
Wed, 22 Apr 2026 14:53:24 +0000

Sir Keir Starmer is facing down a growing Labour rebellion just two weeks before the local elections following yesterday's twists in the Lord Mandelson scandal.

Cabinet colleagues Yvette Cooper and Ed Miliband have already publicly distanced themselves from the PM - while one MP labelled him a "dead man walking" and said a leadership challenge could soon follow.

"It's over for him," they told The Telegraph. "He can’t come back from this. Someone needs to put an arm around him and say: 'It’s over.'"

This comes after yesterday's explosive Foreign Affairs Select Committee session with Sir Keir's fall guy, Sir Olly Robbins, and Kemi Badenoch's emergency House of Commons debate.

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Ahead of a tumultuous day in Westminster, Labour MP Imran Hussain also weighed in, saying Sir Keir had divided the party – while colleague Ian Byrne warned of a "toxic culture" inside No10.

Appearing on GB News today, Labour MP Jonathan Brash called the Prime Minister to resign and said it was not a case of “if”, but “when”.

He told The People's Channel: “They just need to get a grip. I'm completely fed up about it, and I think it's got to the point now where I genuinely think that, you know, as far as the Prime Minister is concerned, it's not a case of ‘if’, it's ‘when’.

“Ultimately, we're in a situation now where I don't think anyone reasonably expects the Prime Minister to lead the party into the next election,” he continued.

The Government is said to be concerned that the looming release of more so-called "Mandelson files" could push the Prime Minister over the edge, with new documents set to be published shortly after May 7.

Angela Rayner, a long-touted challenger to Sir Keir, said last night there were "more important questions out there" than details over Lord Mandelson's appointment as ambassador.

Neither Ms Rayner nor Health Secretary Wes Streeting want to cause further chaos before more than 2,000 Labour councillors try to keep their jobs, MPs told Bloomberg, referencing the upcoming elections on May 7.

A Government source said Sir Keir would limp on because "everyone is depressed, but nobody is resigning" – though that may change if, as polls predict, Reform UK wipes out Labour at the locals and Plaid Cymru takes control of the Senedd.

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Current polling paints a bleak picture for Labour, with Sir Keir currently polling second to Reform UK (26.1 per cent) at 19.4 per cent – 15.2 percentage points below his support at the 2024 General Election, according to data from Election Maps UK.

In Wales, the latest YouGov polling suggests Reform UK and Plaid Cymru are neck-and-neck, with Labour projected to fall to just 13 per cent – a loss of 23 percentage points on the 2021 election.

The SNP looks set to dominate in Holyrood on 35.4 per cent, with Labour significantly lagging behind at 18 per cent – a stark reduction from the 34.3 per cent high seen in the summer of 2024.

Looking beyond the Labour Party, pressure is being exerted on the Prime Minister from all other parties to resign.

Kemi Badenoch launched a scathing attack at Prime Minister's Questions today and yesterday’s emergency debate opened the door to yet more fury.

The Leader of the Opposition said yesterday during the House of Commons debate: "He appears to have no interest in doing the job of Prime Minister, just being the Prime Minister.

"The Prime Minister has let the country down, he's let Parliament down and he's also let the Labour Party down."

Sir Ed Davey also chimed in during the debate, describing the situation as “utterly depressing”.

He said: “How utterly depressing it is that we're having to have this debate at all - just a few years after we went through all this under Boris Johnson and the Conservatives, and less than two years after the British people voted them out of office for indulging in this sort of chaos and distraction."

Meanwhile, MPs on the left of the Labour Party have broken ranks with Sir Keir to call for probes into his allies and wider investigations into the "toxic culture" inside No10.

In response to Mr Brash’s comments, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said that Sir Keir was “one of four Labour leaders to win the election.

“He has a clear five-year-mandate.

"We are tackling the cost of living crisis, cutting waiting lists and restoring pride in local communities."