A Labour MP has told Cabinet ministers to challenge Sir Keir Starmer or she will trigger a leadership contest herself.

Catherine West, the MP for Hornsey and Friern Barnet and a former foreign minister, said she had put the Cabinet “on notice” until Monday, by which time she will ask MPs to back her in triggering a contest.

The Prime Minister is facing growing calls for his resignation after leading his party to its worst local election results on Thursday.

Ms West told BBC Radio 4: “My preferred option is for the Cabinet to do a reshuffle within itself, where there’s plenty of talent, and for Keir to be given a different role, which he might enjoy, perhaps an international role.

“Then for others to come to the fore who can communicate the message, who are very able, so we can have minimum fuss.”

More than 30 Labour MPs have broken ranks to demand the Prime Minister set out a timeline for his departure following sweeping losses across England, Scotland and Wales.

Sir Keir said that while the results had been “really tough”, he would not stand down, adding that he would set out a message of “hope for the future” in the coming days. A reset speech is expected as soon as Monday.

For a leadership election to start, a minimum of 81 Labour MPs would have to back a single challenger.

One Labour MP from the moderate wing of the party described Ms West as a “hero”.

They said: “Hopefully this will kick the cabinet into doing the right thing – to go to the PM and tell him the time is up. The vast majority of MPs are just unbelievably frustrated with the fact that the Cabinet are refusing to come to terms with reality and can’t see the writing on the wall.”

They added that they would be “shocked” if Ms West failed to get to the 81 backers needed. They said this would begin with those on the Left of the party, but following Sir Keir’s reset speech on Monday, moderates would start to add their names too.

However, allies of Andy Burnham, widely tipped as a future leader, are trying to convince Ms West to abandon her own run.The Telegraph has been told that Louise Haigh, who called for Sir Keir to resign yesterday, and members of the soft-Left Tribune group, are trying to work out how to stop Ms West from running.

They are concerned that if a leadership contest is triggered now, Mr Burnham will not be eligible to run because he is not an MP.

Ms West was first elected to her constituency in May 2015. She served as a minister in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office until Sir Keir removed her from the post in September 2025.

A government source said that she had issued her ultimatum to the Cabinet because she was disgruntled after her sacking by Sir Keir.

They told The Telegraph: “He sacked her and now she wants to sack him.”