Cogito Ergo Non Serviam
Starmer Quells Mini-Rebellion
After the Labour Party took a drubbing in the local elections held in the UK on Thursday, there was some discomfort on the government backbenches. It is usual for governments to lose seats in local elections and by-elections. They are the two best ways for the voters to express their discontent, and the British people are quite dissatisfied with how the country is going. Over the weekend, that turned into a rebellion with some MPs demanding Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had in his resignation. One MP went so far as to say she would challenge him if he did not quit today. He did not quit, and she did not challenge him. The rebellion has been put down, for now.
As this is posted, the BBC have counted 64 MPs who want the PM to quit either immediately or by some date yet to be decided. This is rather rich coming from people who followed him in the general election less than two years ago, people who make up his 174 seat working majority. Four Parliamentary Private Secretaries have resigned (these are ministerial assistants, the lowest rank in the government of any UK political party). So, this is a serious situation.
Over the weekend, Catherine West said it was time for the PM to leave, and if the cabinet did not find a replacement, she would start a leadership fight. There were two problems with that. First, the Labour Party constitution does not allow the cabinet to overthrow the prime minister/party leader. Second, in order for anyone to challenge the party leader, that person must have 20% of the MPs sign a petition or submit letters of support backing the challenger. Because of the massive size of the Parliamentary Labour Party [PLP], 81 MPs are needed. As noted, the BBC says there are at most 64.
Now, it is certain that the public does not like Sir Keir. Labour canvassers have said that they heard on the voters' doorsteps that the electorate does not like him. Changing leaders would fix that part of the problem, but one must ask whether Sir Keir really is the problem. He does not have the charisma of a Churchill or a Thatcher, but if the country were doing well, that would be irrelevant.
The Conservatives have already shown how this works out. When Theresa May resigned because she could not “get Brexit done,” it was 2019. By 2024, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak all had served as PM. It was so unsuccessful, Sir Keir won the 2024 general election with a 174 majority, a huge victory. Were Labour to oust Sir Keir, it is almost certain things would not improve enough to prevent Labour getting crushed in the next general election, due by 2029.
Sir Keir made a speech today hoping to calm everyone down. It was well-delivered, but nothing in it said the future will be radically different from the first part of his premiership. Renationalizing British Steel is red meat to the real socialists in the party, but it feels like it is warmed up leftovers. The fact is that a speech alone is not enough. Things in Britain have to improve before the voters will start thinking better of Sir Keir and his government. The trick is to make that happen in a timeframe that people can accept. It might take the rest of this parliament and much of the next to put Britain to rights. The voters and the PLP are thinking in days and weeks, not years.
It seems the embers of the rebellion are still glowing, but Sir Keir cannot be ousted if Labour has any desire to accomplish anything. He may not be as good as he should be, but no one else won a 174-seat majority. No Labour MP wants a general election, but without one, any successor will have less legitimacy than Sir Keir. As the world saw with the Tories a few years ago, less legitimacy makes accomplishing anything more difficult.
Labour should simply tough it out. There is a chance global economic winds will change and make Labour more popular. And if not, how would it be worse by sticking with the man who got elected?
© Copyright 2026 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
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