Cabinet rallies as Sarwar calls on Starmer to quit

CABINET ministers publicly pledged support to Sir Keir Starmer as he battled to remain in No.10 after Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar called for him to quit.

- DAVID HUGHES, HELEN CORBETT and KATRINE BUSSEY

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer

(PETER NICHOLLS)

Downing Street said Sir Keir had a “clear five-year mandate” from voters, while senior ministers backed him, with Labour's chief whip calling for an end to the party’s “infighting”.

The Prime Minister's position is in jeopardy over his decision to appoint Lord Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US despite his friendship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Mr Sarwar hit out at “failures in the heart of Downing Street” warning they were hurting Labour's chances in Scotland. He is the most senior Labour politician to call for Sir Keir to go, conscious of the task facing Scottish Labour in May’s Holyrood elections where opinion polls indicate his party faces coming third behind the SNP and Reform.

At a hastily convened press conference in Glasgow, Mr Sarwar said: “The distraction needs to end and the leadership in Downing Street has to change.”

But as he was speaking, a series of Cabinet ministers rushed out statements in support of Sir Keir.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said Mr Sarwar was “wrong”, while chief whip Jonathan Reynolds said: “Resorting to infighting now does not serve the country.”