Why Hartlepool MP Jonathan Brash believes Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer should resign
I’m writing this on Monday morning and by the time you read this the situation may already have changed again.
Politics is moving at breakneck speed.
Briefings, counter-briefings and panic are consuming Westminster after last Thursday’s local election results.
But beneath all the noise, one truth is impossible to ignore: Labour must change course and the Prime Minister, as I said before these elections, must now set out a clear timetable for departure.
That was not a conclusion I reached lightly as a Labour MP. I want this Labour Government to succeed. The country cannot afford for us to fail.
But pretending everything is fine after these elections would be an insult to voters, particularly in towns like Hartlepool that placed their trust in us because they wanted meaningful change.
People are not angry because they expect miracles overnight.
They are angry because too often they still feel ignored, squeezed and taken for granted.
We promised renewal, but many voters do not yet feel it in their lives, their wages, their bills or their communities.
The Prime Minister should therefore resign and announce a managed transition that allows the full range of candidates to put forward their vision for the country.
Labour members, Labour voters and the British public deserve a serious debate about the future direction of the government.
And if we are honest with ourselves, the roots of this problem are rooted in the Prime Minister’s mistakes.
The original sin was blocking Andy Burnham from returning to Parliament.
That decision reflected a politics too nervous of conviction, too cautious about strong regional voices and too uncomfortable with politicians who genuinely connect with working-class communities beyond Westminster.
Now we need leadership prepared to think far bigger.
A new direction must profoundly improve the lives of people in Hartlepool and across Britain.
That means council tax reform that cuts bills for northern towns like ours.
It means radical welfare reform that guarantees support but also demands work in return.
It means cutting taxes on jobs in deprived regions to force investment into left-behind communities like ours.
Anyone in Labour blaming voters after last Thursday needs their head checked.
We have a huge majority and three years left. It is our responsibility to offer the hope, ambition and change the country demanded when it elected us.