How could Labour remove Keir Starmer? Four possible routes

2. Public pressure

There are various ways in which Labour figures can exert enough public pressure to persuade a leader to stand down. The most obvious is for ministers to quit en masse, as happened to Boris Johnson in 2022, when the resignation of 30 ministers made running a government all but impossible.

Boris Johnson delivers a speech outside 10 Downing Street before officially resigning on 6 September 2022. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty

When Anas Sarwar, the leader of the Scottish Labour party, called for Starmer to be replaced earlier this year, the prime minister’s allies thought cabinet ministers might follow. Only once they had secured public messages of support from every one of them did they feel the prime minister’s position was completely safe.

If regional Labour leaders all decided to call on the prime minister to resign, that would have a less direct impact but would also make it difficult to stay in post. So far, Sarwar is the only one to have done so.

3. The men and women in grey suits

Rather than stage a public display of disloyalty, senior Labour MPs may choose private persuasion to try to get Starmer to go.

Politicians such as the former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith and the Liberal Democrat Charles Kennedy have been quietly ousted in such a manner. It would allow Starmer to keep his dignity and resign on his own terms.

However, given that the prime minister has said he intends to stay in post come what may, it may require someone very close to him to apply the necessary pressure, backed up with the threat of multiple resignations.

4. A vote of confidence

Labour ministers trying to oust Jeremy Corbyn in 2016 found him a stubborn opponent. After half his shadow cabinet resigned in protest against his leadership following the Brexit referendum, Corbyn replaced them and carried on.

As a result, two Labour MPs then called a parliamentary vote of no confidence in Corbyn. The rebels won the vote 172-40 but still he fought on, refusing to resign.

Jeremy Corbyn faced a vote of no confidence in June 2016 but fought on, refusing to resign. Photograph: Carl Court/Getty

In the end, a leadership contest was held after Corbyn’s challenger, Owen Smith, gained the requisite number of signatures. But the sitting leader was allowed to fight the contest automatically and ended up winning.

For Starmer’s rivals, there is a lesson here. A parliamentary vote of no confidence is easier to call than a formal leadership election, and if the sitting leader loses they come under huge pressure to resign.

But given the fact that such a vote has no binding power, Starmer could choose to do what his predecessor did and cling on.