‘Betraying Labour values’ - South Tyneside’s MPs reiterate calls for the Prime Minister to resign
South Tyneside’s MPs continue to call for change in the Labour Party’s leadership.
Both of South Tyneside’s MPs have reiterated their calls for change at the top of the Labour Party following the disastrous local elections.
Labour lost more than 1,000 council seats across the country in last week’s local elections as Reform UK emerged as the big winners.
As a result, MPs have been calling for Keir Starmer to step down as Prime Minister, who was defiant during a speech on Monday, May 11, as he outlined his plans for the future of his premiership.
Following the Prime Minister’s speech, both South Tyneside MPs have expressed their disappointment in the Labour leadership.
‘He should set out when he will go’
Kate Osborne, the MP for Jarrow and Gateshead East, called for Keir Starmer to resign during South Tyneside’s local election count on Friday, May 8, and she echoed that sentiment yesterday.
She said: “When Labour lets the electorate down in the way we currently are, it is because the top of the Labour Party is betraying Labour values.
“Labour members won’t forgive that, and they have been leaving the party steadily.
“Keir knows he will not lead the party into next year’s local elections let alone the next General Election, so for the good of the party he should set out when he will go now and announce a clear timetable for his departure.
“That cannot be a discussion between the current cabinet to pick a successor, we need a change of direction not just the leader and that change must be decided by our entire party, our members, our Councillors and those that just lost their seats, all of our MPs and of course our Trade Unions.”
‘Without trust, you have nothing’
Emma Lewell, MP for South Shields, hit out at the Prime Minister and stated that the public “does not trust” either him or the Government.
She commented: “I was hoping throughout for an announcement for a total reboot and a reset of the economic model of this country.
“Instead - a promise of future change - again. This came across like a pre-election speech on what we will do, and what we plan to do. Not a speech from a government nearly two years in.
“The British people doesn’t want to hear a narrative or a story, or to hear why we do what we do, they just want us to deliver - and rightly so.
“I get the points made about battling Reform and Greens, but all that does is harden their base and insult those who voted for them.
“As for rebuilding our relationship with Europe being a key flank of this speech - I despair.
“This was a speech written in the same internal echo chamber that got us into this mess. In my patch, we lost every single council seat.
“Yet no one at all in the government leadership has reached out to ask me why. Fundamentally, the public does not trust the PM or the Government.
“Without trust, you have nothing.
“In 2024, we won a General Election on the promise of change, we promised better, people believed us. They have been let down.
“I feel desperately sad, angry, and frustrated today.”