Keir Starmer faces more resignations from Labour’s frontbench if he does not shift his policy on Gaza, amid growing anger in the party over how he has handled the vote on the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The Labour leader suffered the biggest rebellion of his tenure on Wednesday night as 10 frontbenchers resigned or were sacked from his team after voting for a Scottish National party motion that called for a ceasefire.
Sources say several of those who remained loyal and kept their jobs are nonetheless angry about how the issue has been managed, and would be willing to quit if Starmer does not push the government to take a tougher line on Israeli military action in the region.
One said: “We’ve been warning for weeks that the party was getting its messaging wrong on Gaza. Many of us stayed in the end, not to keep our jobs but to continue to push for change from the inside.”
Rushanara Ali, one of three Muslim frontbenchers to back the party line on Wednesday, said in a statement: “Leaving the shadow government is something I am always willing to do, which is why I completely respect the decisions taken by my fellow MPs today. The moment I feel my presence is less positively impactful than my absence, I will do so.”
The SNP motion, which was introduced as an amendment to the king’s speech, has triggered one of the biggest crises of Starmer’s leadership, with 56 Labour MPs in total defying orders to vote in favour of it rather than abstain.
Jess Phillips, one of the most high-profile shadow ministers to resign, told the News Agents podcast on Thursday: “I have to use my voice to try and wherever possible, move a dial. And look, I think this dial will move. I think that it won’t be too long before the US and the UK feel that the military action is achieving nothing.”
Another rebel said: “We can’t lie in bed with the Conservative party, whom you’re saying need to be ousted. There needs to be an election now. But we can’t be joined at the hip. How does that square up with his actual values?”
Starmer and his top officials spent weeks in what one party source called “very, very, tense” negotiations with Labour MPs in the lead-up to Wednesday night as they debated how to respond. Sue Gray, his chief of staff, was in charge of much of the outreach to disaffected members.
The Labour leader acceded to demands that the party should put forward its own king’s speech amendment that would criticise Israeli actions and argue for working towards a “cessation of fighting”. But he resisted calls to change that wording to ceasefire, despite several MPs arguing that it would amount to the same thing and help keep Muslim and progressive voters on side.
Starmer now faces a difficult challenge finding replacements for the frontbenchers who quit, given nearly half of his backbenchers rebelled on Wednesday.
Anger at the Labour position was visible on the streets of east London on Thursday, where hundreds of protesters gathered for a rally outside Ali’s constituency office.
Several Labour MPs have contacted police and increased their personal protection after receiving threats online from people claiming to represent the pro-Palestinian cause.
A poll carried out by Savanta before the vote showed 64% of Muslims saying they intended to vote for Labour at the next election. However, that would be well below the estimated 71% who did so in 2019.
Some Labour sources believe the issue could lose the party so many votes – not only among Muslims but also among young people and urban progressives – it could cost it up to 10 seats in marginal areas.
Starmer has continued to argue against calling for a ceasefire, saying that doing so would not make sense while Hamas still threatened violence in Israel. He told ITV News on Thursday: “When you’ve got hostages being held at gunpoint, when you’ve got children dying in Gaza, my focus is on them not on the various different voices in the Labour party, because that is where the real concern is.”
Lisa Nandy, the shadow international development secretary, reinforced that message, telling reporters on Thursday the party would not apologise for refusing to call for a ceasefire.
“To many people in Israel, including the Israeli government, when they hear the term ceasefire it is simply an instruction that they should lay down their arms and just allow that situation to continue. I don’t see how that’s a correct position to hold,” Nandy said.
