Sir Keir Starmer has “lost the country” and is incapable of “rising to this moment”, a Labour MP has warned, as those within the Prime Minister’s own party pile pressure on him to quit. It comes after Labour’s disatrous performance in last week’s local elections, which saw bitter rival Reform UK dominate.

Josh Simons, Labour MP for Makerfield, has warned the party is “marching towards extinction” and is advising Starmer to “take control” by resigning from his post at Prime Minister. He added: “We Labour MPs must square up to the truth. These elections were not a normal mid-term drubbing, they were an unequivocal judgement that our actions do not meet the moment. We constantly talk big, then act small.”

Writing in The Times, he continued: “Labour stopped listening to places, people, and ideas from across the United Kingdom, forgetting that in a moment like this, no tradition or faction has a monopoly on the talent, radicalism, or risk appetite we need. I take responsibility for my role. I believe that humility is essential to pluralism and no big tent party can survive without it.

“For the Labour Party to rediscover its soul, we must reckon with reality. Our party has brilliant and committed people but millions are howling at us. We must ditch sharp-elbowed positioning and the ridiculous debate about whether to move left or right, because the old political spectrum no longer exists.”

Meanwhile, Catherine West, Labour MP for Hornsey & Friern Barnet, said cabinet ministers should “come up with somebody they can all get behind” and replace the Prime Minister. Speaking to Sky News, she said: “What I want the cabinet to do is to close themselves into a room today and come up with somebody who they can all get behind, which would mean we wouldn’t have to have a leadership election.

“And if that can happen, then we can have a very quiet transition without upsetting anybody, without having to go to all of the members.”

The comments come after Labour suffered significant election losses across the UK while Reform UK won hundreds of seats. Nigel Farage‘s party also took control of a number of councils from Labour, including Barnsley, Wakefield, Sunderland and Gateshead.

Reform UK picked up over 1,400 seats across England. Meanwhile, Labour also lost power in Wales after 27 years and the SNP remains the largest party in Scotland.

Of the 17 million votes counted and declared in the recent English council elections, nearly one in four went to Reform UK. The data shows Labour received around 20% of the votes compared to Reform’s 24.6%, while the Conservatives won 19.2%, the Greens 17.1% and the Liberal Democrats 13.9%.