Home Secretary Shabana Mohamud and a number of cabinet ministers have asked Prime Minister Keir Starmer to consider setting a timetable for leaving office, The Times reported.
The call followed Labour's heavy loss in the last local election, and Shabana was one of at least three ministers who suggested Starmer should seriously consider resigning.
The "rebel" Ministerial Front argued that Starmer's continued leadership of the party after the heavy loss in the recent local elections, as well as the fallout from the security appointments scandal, would lead to the collapse of Labour's full popularity in the next general election, threatening the party's political future in the near term.
In parallel, the sources revealed a behind-the-scenes movement between ministers and party officials to coordinate a smooth transition of power, amid fears that the leadership vacuum could lead to the rise of the left wing within the party, or that the right-wing "Reform of the UK" party could take advantage of the current state of chaos to strengthen its position on the British political scene.
Domestic pressure mounts after losing 1,500 seats
Labour MP Angela Rayner, a former minister in Starmer's government, called on the prime minister to take "urgent action" to restore the party to its natural position as a party representing the working class.
In a lengthy post on the X platform, she said the party had "suffered a historic defeat" and that "what we are doing is not working and must change", in a true translation of the anger within the Labour Party following a crushing defeat in the partial local elections in which the party lost about 1,500 of the 2,500 seats it held in local councils in England, while the right-wing Reform Party won the majority of the seats lost by Labour.
Rayner added that the party made major mistakes, including excluding candidates because of their political positions, ignoring the ongoing deterioration in the standard of living of the working class, noting that "the cost of living is the number one issue for voters," and that voters "turned toward populists and nationalists because we didn't do enough to fix it."
Mandelson scandal increases pressure on Starmer
Rayner touched on what she described as a "patronage culture" within the party, referring to the Peter Mandelson scandal, which sparked widespread criticism against Starmer after he was accused of ignoring Mandelson's involvement in the Epstein affair, despite his appointment as Britain's ambassador to Washington, arguing that the party is "in danger of becoming a party of the rich" and that "the economy does not serve the majority" because wealth is concentrated in a few hands.
She called for "reforming politics itself" by returning power to the people and tackling the flow of suspicious money in political life, referring to accusations that Reform Party leader Nigel Farage received an undisclosed £5 million donation from a crypto mogul.
Rayner is one of the candidates to succeed Starmer
The stock market to succeed Keir Starmer as Labour leader and prime minister is on fire as pressure mounts on the prime minister after the recent domestic loss. Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, who is the most popular within the party and on the British street, is in the race, with a YouGov poll showing that 34% of Britons see him as a better alternative to Starmer, but the main obstacle for him is that he does not hold a seat in parliament, a constitutional requirement to run for the party's leadership, internal movements are currently underway to open the way for him through by-elections that would give him a quick seat.
Angela Rayner, the party's former deputy leader, has emerged as a strong voice for the moderate left, enjoying broad support within the grassroots and unions, and has offered an alternative vision that criticises the "culture of patronage" within the party, but her candidacy faces challenges linked to previous tax investigations, with internal sources suggesting she is now leaning toward paving the way for Burnham rather than facing a direct confrontation.
Starmer refuses to resign, promises new steps
Keir Starmer ruled out resigning, telling reporters in Ealing City Hall, west London, following the election results on Thursday: "I will not relinquish my position", stressing that voters' attention is focused on the "pace of change" rather than the issue of his leadership.
He promised to outline the steps needed to "change Britain", as the government struggles to communicate its vision to voters and tackle the cost-of-living crisis exacerbated by the wars in Ukraine and Iran.
Despite mounting calls within the party for his sake, Defence Secretary John Healy said the last thing voters wanted was "the potential chaos of the leadership election", saying Starmer was "still able to deliver the desired results".
Biggest defeat for a ruling party since 1995
Britain's ruling Labour Party suffered a historic loss of 1,406 seats as the counting of votes in local elections ended, marking the worst defeat for a ruling party since 1995.
This result put Starmer in a very critical political position, and opened the door to direct comparisons to the crisis that toppled Theresa May in 2019.
The current loss surpassed the previous record set by May's Conservatives, who lost 1,330 seats in May 2019, doubling the pressure on Starmer, who is facing mounting calls from his own MPs to step down, similar to the scenario that prompted May to resign just three weeks after her defeat.