Labour Civil War Erupts After Another Ex-Minister Calls On Keir Starmer To Quit

Josh Simons joins Catherine West in demanding the PM stand down following local election disaster.

A full-blown civil war has erupted in the Labour Party after another former minister called on Keir Starmer to quit as prime minister.

Josh Simons triggered an angry backlash by urging the PM to set out a timetable for his departure to allow “an orderly transition” to a new leader.

His intervention is hugely significant because he used to run Labour Together, the moderate think-tank which helped Starmer become party leader in 2020.

One minister told HuffPost UK: “This sort of behaviour is why Josh is widely disliked and mistrusted by every part of the Labour Party, which is some achievement from somebody who has been an MP for 20 months.”

Simons, who was forced to resign as a Cabinet Office minister in February over his part in a Labour Together smear operation against journalists, said Starmer had “lost the country” and needed to go.

Writing in The Times, he said: “He should take control of the situation by overseeing an orderly transition to a new prime minister.

“What happens next is not a horse race, it’s about the future of our........

© HuffPost