Starmer insists he won’t quit as PM, as former minister Catherine West seeks to trigger Labour leadership contest – UK politics live

Good morning. There were many predictions for Labour’s future ahead of the English, Scottish and Welsh elections, which have been terrible for the party, but there is one outcome foreseen by no one: a leadership challenge by Catherine West.

West, MP for Hornsey and Friern Barnet and a junior Foreign Office minister until she was sacked in the reshuffle last year, announced yesterday afternoon that, unless a cabinet minister comes forward to challenge Starmer for the Labour leadership by tomorrow morning, she will do it herself. She would need the support of 81 Labour MPs to trigger a contest; there is no evidence that she has those numbers and (for reasons that are probably a mystery to anyone under the age of 50 – more on that later) she is being described as a stalking horse.

While there may not be 81 Labour MPs who want to see West as party leader, there probably are many more than 81 who want to see Starmer replaced as leader befor the next election. Almost 40, by one count, have been going public since the elections on Thursday saying as much. But, in their comments, mostly they have been adopting the same line as St Augustine took on chastity; ‘Lord, give me a Labour leadership contest, but not yet.’

Why? Some of them have been saying Starmer should be given a chance to show that he can turn things round. But mostly the Labour MPs speaking out are on the soft left of the party and believe Andy Burnham would be the best replacement. They want a commitment from Starmer that he will stand down in the medium term, so that Burnham has time to get elected to parliament first so he can stand as a candidate.

West is trying to speed up the process. This is seen as fatal to Burnham and potentially helpful to Wes Streeting, the health secretary, and Angela Rayner, the former deputy PM, who would probably be the lead candidates in a contest held now. West has dismissed suggestion that she is acting on behalf of someone else. Yesterday she said there was “plenty of talent” in the shadow cabinet capable of providing leadership. Since Thursday, Rayner has not yet commented on the election defeats; Streeting has said he supports Starmer.

The prospect of an early contest explains why some Labour MPs on the soft left are now reviving talk of trying to get Ed Miliband to stand. Here is our story by Peter Walker and Jessica Elgot.

Starmer insists he will not give up without a fight. He has given an interview to the Observer and he told the paper that he was engaged in a “10-year project of renewal” and that his intention was to lead the party into the next general election and serve a full second term.