PRESSURE continues to mount on Prime Minister Keir Starmer following Labour’s disappointing performance in last week’s council elections, but Cornwall’s Labour MPs are standing firmly behind him, even as unrest grows inside Westminster.

Across the party nationally, 79 Labour MPs are now calling for Starmer to resign immediately or set out a clear timetable for departure. However, the Prime Minister has insisted he will not be stepping down, instead vowing to carry on in office.

In Cornwall, MPs say stability – not leadership change – is what the country needs, despite growing internal tensions.

Perran Moon, Labour MP for Camborne, Redruth and Hayle, gave the strongest backing yet to the Prime Minister, rejecting claims that his position is now untenable.

“I’m 100 per cent backing him. I don’t think it’s untenable at all. Less than 20 per cent of the Parliamentary Labour Party has asked for a timetable for him to go and they’re split all over the place.

“There’s no obvious new leader and the country wouldn’t thank us one second for changing leader at this really crucial time, particularly with what’s going on in Iran and the changes we’re making domestically as well.”

He added: “Yes, we’re at risk of doing exactly what the Tories did and the messages that I’m getting are that people do not want change. I think it’s a gift to Reform and the Conservatives, and it would be a big mistake.”

“If you look at the fundamentals of the economy, there have been six interest rate cuts. The gross was way ahead of expectations in February before Iran. Domestically we’ve got NHS waiting lists falling, we’ve got a ten per cent plus increase in the minimum wage. People haven’t yet felt the benefit of the Labour government and that’s what we need to focus on.

“Mistakes have been made. I’m not trying to pretend that mistakes haven’t been made, but we’ve got to work much more diligently at ensuring people are seeing and feeling the benefits of what we’re doing.”

Truro and Falmouth MP Jayne Kirkham, newly appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary at Defra, also backed the Prime Minister, saying constituents were calling for stability.

She pointed to Labour’s legislative programme, including reforms on renters’ rights, rail nationalisation and planned changes to water and sewage systems.

“I’m happy and privileged to be part of Defra. It will be good for Cornwall to have a Cornish MP in the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

“Constituents have been contacting me to say the country needs stability. In the face of a very challenging international situation this government has been delivering that.”

She believes that Mr Starmer needs to stay in power to see through more changes.

“Labour governments can make such a difference to people’s lives and I have waited a long time to be part of a government that can do that. I get that people need to feel change now. The recent local elections told us that clearly.

“It takes time to turn the tanker, but we know we have to do it quickly to ease the cost of living pressure on people. I want to be able to get on with doing that for the time we are in government.

“We have a King’s Speech tomorrow that will include important legislation on fixing our water and sewage system, vital legislation on schools and improving SEND for children who have been let down for so long by a failing system, amongst many other things.

“I want to get on with those things rather than have more uncertainty.”

St Austell and Newquay MP Noah Law echoed that message, firmly rejecting calls for Starmer to go.

“I still back the Prime Minister. We’ve got to remember that in 2024 when people voted to end that chaos that we’d seen – the disorderly cycle of five Prime Ministers in six years – they voted for that change, stability and professionalism.”

Mr Law said he wasn’t angry at colleagues who are trying to force the PM out, though “I would urge some forward thinking, not just about the immediate implications, but also the knock-on effects of what they’re doing, not just for our party but what this means for, say, the bond markets where our country gets its cash from, and about our constituents primarily.

“What I would give for just a day without politicking like this and just be able to get on with the job that I was elected to do two years ago”.

He believes a change in PM will only lead to more chaos.

“Hopefully people know this about the Cornish MPs at this point – we are very locally focused, we want to get on with the job, deliver on the manifesto that Keir Starmer brought forward and we don’t do this sort of chaos and lead people down the garden path without a plan.

“The Prime Minister has led us through a set of very difficult local elections. It is not the purpose of local elections to choose the Prime Minister.

“It’s not to say he’s without fault or he’s not had some bad moments, but I think he is the one that’s there delivering for us on those manifesto pledges. The majority of Labour MPs are behind the PM.”

South East Cornwall’s Labour MP Anna Gelderd told us: “I don’t believe it’s in the best interests of the country for there to be a leadership election. The Prime Minister has made clear that he takes responsibility for the local election results but that his focus rightly remains on delivery.

“That is where our attention should be – improving people’s lives, strengthening communities and providing long-term security for the country in an uncertain international climate.”

She added: “I am focused on what improves people’s lives in South East Cornwall. The Prime Minister has led our government to deliver record investments into our NHS services, helped parents save up to £7,500 through government support for childcare costs and made the right call on Iran.

“I’m not pretending things don’t need to improve but he is focused on getting on with the job and so am I.”