Senior Scottish Labour MP calls for prime minister to resign

Senior Scottish Labour MP, Melanie Ward, has resigned from her role as aide to David Lammy and has called for Keir Starmer to quit.  

Ward, who had been serving as parliamentary private secretary to the deputy prime minister, became the fourth government aide to step down after more than 70 Labour MPs called on the prime minister to resign since Monday.

The MP for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy, who was part of the new intake of Labour MPs at the general election in 2024 as the party won by a landslide, described the result for Scottish Labour in last week's Scottish parliament elections as “extremely disappointing”.  

She has blamed the poor result on the low popularity of Starmer.  

“So many of my constituents told me that they could not vote Labour as long as Keir Starmer remains Prime Minister. Their anger at early errors like changes to the winter fuel payment, remains palpable. Mistakes on moral issues like Gaza have also not been forgotten by the wider public,” Ward said.

She noted Starmer’s “important work” to “change the Labour Party”.

However, she added: “But the message from last week’s elections was clear; the prime minister has lost the confidence of the public.

“Our country faces enormous challenges and we need a Labour government that can deliver the scale of change that this requires. It is clear that the prime minister no longer has the trust or confidence of the public to lead this change.

“It is for this reason that I am today resigning as a PPS and calling for Keir Starmer to resign as Leader of the Labour Party and set out a rapid process for the election of a new leader and prime minister.”

Ward joined Joe Morris, PPS to Health Secretary Wes Streeting, and Tom Rutland, PPS to Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds, and Cabinet Office PPS Naushabah Khan in calling for a change of leadership in the party.  

Glasgow-based Labour MPs Gordon McKee, who is a former PPS at the Department for Work and Pensions, and Maureen Burke have also called for Starmer to step down.  

While Paisley and Renfrewshire North MP Alison Taylor confirmed her support for the prime minister on social media.  

She said: “It’s wrong not to back the Leader. Just wrong. This is not the way to go about such matters. Keir needs supported by his team.

“Not have the knives turned on him.”