&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Keir Starmer rocked by first ministerial resignation; Miatta Fahnbulleh tells PM 'public doesn't believe you can lead'")
Keir Starmer faced his most serious internal challenge yet on Tuesday (May 12) as a minister resigned and publicly called on him to set a timetable for his own departure. Miatta Fahnbulleh is the first serving minister to break ranks and openly question whether the prime minister can lead Labour through the rest of this parliament. Fahnbulleh posted her resignation letter on X and sent it to Downing Street simultaneously. In her resignation, she was careful not to demand Starmer go immediately, but urged him to announce "an orderly transition so that a new team can deliver the change we promised the country."
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What she said in her resignation letter
"Whilst progress has been made, we have not acted with the vision, pace and ambition that our mandate for change demands of us," Fahnbulleh wrote in her resignation. “Nor have we governed as a Labour Party clear about our values and strong in our convictions. Mistakes such as the winter fuel payment and cuts to the support provided to disabled people have left too many of my constituents doubting our mission. And the message on the doorstep was clear: you, Prime Minister, have lost the trust and confidence of the public. The public does not believe that you can lead this change — and nor do I.”
Who is Miatta Fahnbulleh?
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Miatta Fahnbulleh only became an MP in 2024 and went on to serve as Minister for Devolution, Faith and Communities in Keir Starmer's government. Before entering frontline politics, she led the New Economics Foundation, a left‑wing think tank. After becoming an MP, she was quickly promoted to a ministerial role under Ed Miliband at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, before being moved to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Fahnbulleh is regarded as a close ally of Miliband, himself a former Labour leader.
