Scottish Labour MP quits as health minister and calls for Starmer to resign

A senior Scottish Labour MP has resigned from government and called for Keir Starmer to go.

Zubir Ahmed, who has been serving as a junior health minister, said he was quitting the role with a “heavy heart”.

But he said the progress being made by the government was being “dwarfed and undermined” by problems with the leadership.

In his resignation later, he said: “It is clear from recent days that the public across the UK has now irretrievably lost confidence in you as prime minister.

“This was apparent in the recent Scottish Parliament elections, where on door after door your name was specifically cited as the driving reason why Labour voters of 2024 would not vote for Scottish Labour in 2026.”

Ahmed was elected as the MP for Glasgow South West in 2024, having previously had a career as an NHS surgeon. He was promoted to ministerial office last September, serving under health secretary Wes Streeting.

He is the latest minister to quit in protest as Starmer’s plan to continue as prime minister.

Jess Phillips, Alex Davies-Jones and Miatta Fahnbulleh have also resigned.

A number of Scottish Labour MPs have also called for the prime minister to go in the last day, including Richard Baker, Johanna Baxter, Maureen Burke, Irene Campbell, Graeme Downie, Alan Gemmell, Gordon McKee and Melanie Ward.

Two MPs – Brian Leishman and Euan Stainbank – had already urged him to quit following Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar making the call in February.

Others, including Scottish secretary Douglas Alexander and culture minister Ian Murray, have backed the PM.

The latest test of Starmer’s premiership follows a dismal set of election results in Scotland, Wales and local councils in England.

Sarwar’s party was reduced to just 17 MSPs, a record low, with many blaming the unpopularity of the UK Government.

In Wales, Labour were pushed out of power for the first time. Plaid Cymru’s Rhun ap Iorwerth was elected first minister today.