British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will meet one of his biggest leadership rivals as he seeks to stare down a Labour revolt.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting is expected to meet Starmer on Wednesday morning, the Press Association understands.
The show down will come after Labour descended into open division over the prime minister’s future on Tuesday, with four ministers resigning and at least 80 MPs urging him to quit, while more than 100 others warned against a leadership contest.
It is understood that Streeting, widely seen as a leadership hopeful, won't say anything after the meeting that could distract from the King’s speech.
The Times said he was expected to discuss the “turbulence” gripping the party and how Starmer will “get us out of this mess”.
Prominent MP Jess Phillips and Health Minister Zubir Ahmed, an ally of Streeting, were among the junior ministers to quit the government, piling pressure on him to go.
The Labour leader vowed to fight on at Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, and was publicly backed by several ministers, including his deputy David Lammy, who urged colleagues to “step back and take a breath”.
Despite speculation that Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood could resign after reports that she privately told the prime minister to consider his position, a spokesman said she was “cracking on with the job” and would not be quitting.
A statement understood to have been signed by more than 100 Labour MPs urged colleagues to support the prime minister.
“Last week we had a devastatingly tough set of election results. It shows we have a hard job ahead to win back trust from the electorate " the statement seen by PA said.
“That job needs to start today - with all of us working together to deliver the change the country needs.
“We must focus on that. This is no time for a leadership contest.”
At least 86 out of Labour’s 403 MPs have demanded Starmer’s departure after the party’s electoral mauling last week, passing the threshold to trigger a leadership contest but without meeting the condition that they all line up behind a single challenger.
Phillips, the most high profile of the ministerial departures, criticised the prime minister’s failure to be “bold”.
The government appointed four new ministers and three new whips to replace those who quit.
The prime minister earlier defied calls to vacate No 10, telling his Cabinet the country “expects us to get on with governing” and “that is what I am doing”.
Downing Street’s readout said ministers had agreed that the “number one priority remains getting the Strait of Hormuz open again” as they discussed the Iran war in the meeting.
