Reform and Tory sources are said to have been “jubilant” on Monday night as Labour MPs and ministers called for Keir Starmer to resign as leader.
Over the course of Monday, there was a snowballing of Labour voices calling for Starmer to either quit as Labour leader or set out a timetable for a transition of power.
By the end of the day, even Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood was calling for the PM to resign.
This was after Starmer had delivered a key speech on Monday morning in the wake of Labour’s disastrous local election results in England and Welsh Senedd results.
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As the number of Labour MPs making statements calling for Starmer to go increased through Monday, by the end of the day there was reportedly two groups very pleased with events: Reform and the Tories.
Bloomberg’s Alex Wickham wrote on Monday night that sources from both parties were “jubilant” as Labour MPs had seemingly been lulled into their trap.
The journalist continued: “Their plan all along has been to try to help destabilise Starmer so much that Labour MPs force him out, believing all along that a change of leader will bring chaos from which they won’t recover.”
By the start of Tuesday, it felt like the writing was on the wall for Starmer. However, he issued a defiant message to his Cabinet at a meeting on Tuesday morning, reminding them that no formal process had been triggered for a leadership contest.
The PM said: “As I said yesterday, I take responsibility for these election results and I take responsibility for delivering the change we promised.
“The past 48 hours have been destabilising for government and that has a real economic cost for our country and for families.
“The Labour Party has a process for challenging a leader and that has not been triggered.
“The country expects us to get on with governing. That is what I am doing and what we must do as a Cabinet.”