Sir Keir Starmer has again insisted he will not quit despite calls from dozens of Labour MPs in the wake of the party’s local election mauling. The Prime Minister warned that if he left No 10 it would “plunge the country into chaos”.

Speaking in south London today, Sir Keir said: “I’m not going to walk away from this; that would plunge the country into chaos. But that doesn’t mean we don’t need to respond. It doesn’t mean we don’t need to rebuild. It doesn’t mean that we don’t need to set out the path ahead. That’s what I’m going to do in the coming days.”

He said Labour needs to set out arguments about hope and the future, and appeal to young people, admitting that “the hope wasn’t there enough in the first two years of this Government”.

He added: “I will be setting out those arguments, but more than anything, setting out with clarity the values and convictions that drive me.”

It comes as a string of Labour backbenchers have publicly demanded Sir Keir should either quit or set a timetable for his departure.

Labour lost more than 1,000 councillors in Thursday’s ballots, with Reform UK making stunning gains in the Red Wall.

Sir Keir has brought former prime minister Gordon Brown back into Government in a desperate bid to cling to power.

Katie Harris, Express