Image source, PA

It was another tumultuous day for Prime Minister Keir Starmer as the State Opening of Parliament was overshadowed by the turmoil surrounding his leadership.

The day began with the PM's meeting with Wes Streeting, which lasted less than 20 minutes and followed days of speculation that he was preparing a leadership bid.

The government anticipated the need for a post elections reboot with today's King's Speech, writes the BBC's Chris Mason.

But by lunchtime, supporters of Streeting told the BBC they expected the health secretary to challenge Starmer for the Labour leadership as soon as tomorrow.

As ministers gathered in the Commons to debate the King's Speech, Starmer met with ministers in Parliament, where he warned them any potential leadership contest would "plunge us into chaos".

There is a lot to play out over the next 24 hours, and plenty of people with their head in their hands lamenting how Labour has even got to this position, writes political correspondent Nick Eardley.

We are pausing our coverage, but you can read more in our main news story.

Joshua Nevett
Political reporter

Andy Burnham has a regular phone-in radio slot on BBC Radio Manchester and was also due to appear on presenter Mike Sweeney's programme tomorrow - but we've learned tonight he's pulled out.

It comes as speculation mounts over a potential challenge to Prime Minister Keir Starmer's leadership.

A spokesperson for Burnham tells the BBC: “As you know, Andy doesn’t like to miss the hot seat.

“But this week, to get the best deal for Greater Manchester, he has to prioritise discussions arising from last week’s local elections.”

The election results in Greater Manchester were dire for Burnham’s party, as they were across the country.

Reform UK and the Green Party made major gains in Greater Manchester, where the leaders of the 10 councils in the area form the mayor’s cabinet.

As rumblings of a leadership challenge continue, here's how a potential contest would work in practice.

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Jeff Smith has become the second Labour MP this evening to deny reports he is preparing to stand down to allow Andy Burnham to attempt to return to Parliament.

The Guardian was told by two MPs earlier today that Jeff Smith, who represents Manchester Withington, was in talks about stepping aside for Burnham, but his friends denied it.

Speaking to Press Association, Smith said he was not about to make way for Burnham, the current Greater Manchester mayor.

Harry Farley
Political correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

As we've been reporting, many Labour MPs calling for an orderly timetable to the PM's resignation hope that would give Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham enough time to find a seat and return to Parliament.

Earlier, the Times reported that Labour MP Afzal Khan is prepared to step down to allow Burnham to stand, but he "will not make a final decision until after Wes Streeting launches his expected leadership bid".

However, Khan, who is MP for Manchester Rusholme, tells the BBC: "No, it's not me. I'm not stepping down."

He adds: "At the last General Election, the people of Manchester Rusholme put their trust in me to represent them to Parliament, and that is the job I am focused on doing."

Harry Farley
Political correspondent

I’ve been speaking to one of the ministers who met with the prime minister earlier this evening.

I’m told there were two meetings, one with ministers of state and one with more junior ministers, and they lasted about 15 minutes.

As my colleagues reported earlier, the prime minister told them a leadership contest would “plunge us into chaos” and nothing good would come of it.

I’m told that in return, ministers told Keir Starmer the government needed to act more like insurgents and govern differently. This minister told me the prime minister accepted he needed to change.

Image source, Getty Images

It's been a tumultuous few days for the government and with things unfolding fast, here's a reminder of how we got here:

Last week

Friday 8 May: Labour suffers a historic defeat in the local elections, losing over 1,400 council seats in England and failing to gain control of the Welsh Senedd for the first time in 27 years.

Saturday 9 May: Labour backbench MP Catherine West issues a surprise ultimatum as she tells the PM's cabinet: challenge Starmer by Monday, or I will.

This week

Monday AM: In a make-or-break speech, Starmer admits the government has "made mistakes" but pledges to prove "doubters" wrong. West backs down on her threat to launch a leadership challenge, but calls on Starmer to set a departure timetable.

Monday PM: Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and a number of other cabinet members also urge the prime minister to set out a timetable for his resignation.

Tuesday AM: Starmer tells his cabinet he will get on with governing in the face of growing calls for him to resign

Tuesday PM: By the end of the day, four ministers have resigned and more than 80 Labour MPs have urged Starmer to go or draw up a timetable to leave. Meanwhile, more than 100 Labour MPs signed a statement backing the PM.

Wednesday AM: Starmer meets potential leadership contender Wes Streeting for less than 20 minutes ahead of the State Opening of Parliament.

Wednesday PM: Supporters of Streeting tell the BBC they expect he will challenge Starmer for the Labour leadership as soon as tomorrow. Meanwhile, Starmer meets ministers and Labour MPs in Parliament as he warns them any potential leadership contest would "plunge us into chaos".

Image source, UK Parliament

Deputy Leader of Reform UK Richard Tice has called Keir Starmer the "most unpopular" and "possibly the worst" prime minister ever in Britain.

The MP for Boston and Skegness tells the Commons he cannot see anything in the current programme of government that will reduce the cost of living or drive up growth and the quantity of jobs.

Hannah Spencer, representing Gorton and Denton, says there was "not enough" in today's speech to improve the lives of underrepresented communities in Parliament.

The Green MP adds that the party's amendments call for the government to "go even bigger" on renewable energy, saying that it is "always the poorest people that suffer the most" in the UK.

Image source, UK Parliament

Image source, UK Parliament

A Labour MP has called on Keir Starmer to step down as prime minister while speaking in the House of Commons during the debate on the King's Speech, which is continuing into the evening.

Jonathan Brash, the MP for Hartlepool, said that the message from the elections last week was "unmistakable", adding "it is now clear" to him that the prime minister can no longer provide the hope that people are "desperate" for.

“I do not say it with pleasure, but leadership is not only about knowing when to fight on, it is also about knowing when your authority has ebbed, when trust has frayed, and when it is time to leave the stage," he said.

Brash also called for "bolder" policies from the government, such as replacing council tax with a more progressive system and "turning boats back" from the country's borders if necessary.

Image source, Getty Images

Home Office minister Mike Tapp has backed the prime minister to stay his post, telling the BBC "there is no contest at this point".

He says he is "fully behind" Starmer, adding that every cabinet minister has "a lot of work to do".

"That's what Wes [Streeting] is focusing on, and that's what the PM is focused in on," he claims.

Image source, PA Media

While reports suggest that behind closed doors the prime minister is using meetings to dissuade his colleagues from supporting potential leadership challengers, he's made no mention of this turbulence in his latest social media post.

"My government will end the status quo that has failed working people. We will build a stronger, fairer Britain," Starmer says in the X post recapping the announcements made in the King's Speech earlier.

Posting a video alongside, Starmer promises that the King's Speech "will make sure no child is left behind".

Chris Mason
Political editor

Royals, regalia and rain. The State Opening of Parliament, this most British of occasions, had all the conventional components today.

And more than a splash of unconventional ones too. Before the King or his Crown was in sight, Health Secretary Wes Streeting was having coffee with the prime minister in Downing Street.

The health secretary's allies expect him to challenge Keir Starmer as soon as tomorrow.

The spectacle of Streeting’s ministerial colleagues not knowing whether he still had his current job is an unedifying illustration of the messy reality of this week for the government.

Even more unedifying for the prime minister was the fact that a day meant to be grounded in the government’s plans for the next year or so, was led by a man whose longevity in power could be considerably shorter.

The King’s Speech was scheduled for this week precisely because the government anticipated the need for a post elections reboot. But it is getting the boot Sir Keir now fears.

Image source, UK Parliament

Turning back now to the Commons, where MPs are continuing to debate the King's Speech.

Speaking earlier, Westminster Scottish National Party leader Dave Doogan said the government has "caused so much damage in such a short period of time" due to division and infighting.

Doogan says the Labour Party are "so busy bickering with one another" about who gets the next shot at being prime minister "they can't focus on the problems ailing the people up and down these islands".

Labour MP Chris Webb earlier praised the legislation that was announced today, saying it would benefit his constituents in Blackpool South.

He described the area as being a "poster child" for government failure for years, adding: "When Blackpool succeeds, Britain succeeds."

Andrew Mitchell, representing Sutton Coldfield for the Conservatives, urged the government to "step up" and increase defence spending.

He also voiced concerns on welfare spending, and said it was "consuming every penny" raised in income tax.

Nick Watt
Political editor, BBC Newsnight

Image source, Getty Images

I've just spoken to one pretty senior Labour MP who says Chancellor Rachel Reeves is now meeting Labour MPs to try to pare them away from Wes Streeting - with this MP adding that she is having some success.

Essentially what the chancellor has been told is that the Labour Party, on its current trajectory, is heading toward a civil war - and that has got to be avoided.

But the quid pro quo is that these MPs are telling the chancellor the prime minister does need to set out some sort of orderly timetable of how he will eventually leave.

Joe Pike
Political correspondent

We can now bring you more from Parliament where Starmer is meeting ministers and Labour MPs.

In his meetings, the prime minister has told colleagues: "We cannot let a leadership contest plunge us into chaos... a [leadership] challenge would 100% do that."

Paris Gourtsoyannis
BBC Scotland Westminster correspondent

Image source, Reuters

Allies of Defence Minister Al Carns have told the BBC they expect him to stand in a Labour leadership contest, if one is triggered by Health Secretary Wes Streeting.

Carns, the parliamentary under-secretary of state for the armed forces, is a Royal Marine veteran who served multiple tours in Afghanistan, and was only elected as MP for Birmingham Selly Oak in 2024.

Compared with the top contenders who might challenge Keir Starmer, Carns is seen as a relative outsider for the Labour leadership, with the backing of a small group of MPs.

Earlier today, he published an article in the New Statesman magazine titled ‘How Labour can win again’.

In it, he highlights the appeal of Nigel Farage’s Reform Party to voters struggling with the cost of living, and says: “We do not need more slogans, strategies, press releases or commissions. We need action.”

Nick Eardley
Political correspondent

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I just saw Wes Streeting in Parliament and he is not making clear what he is doing at the moment.

But it is clear from his allies that they are expecting there to be a leadership challenge tomorrow.

And, as the way this place works, if that was wrong we would have been told by Wes Streeting or his team. So it looks increasingly likely the starting gun will be fired tomorrow.

The question is whether Streeting will have the 81 MPs backing him to get on that leadership ballot.

There is also a question of what comes next. Because it seems unlikely that the left of the Labour Party would allow Streeting versus Starmer. If there is a contest they will want to be in it.

Andy Burnham has the backing of a lot of the left and soft left of the Labour Party.

They are hoping this is going to be a protracted process so they can get their man into parliament through a by-election.

Although, if any timetable for a leadership contest is short I would be surprised if the Labour left don't try to find someone else to coalesce around. Angela Rayner and Ed Miliband are some of the names being mooted.

So there is a lot to play out over the next 24 hours.

And although there are a lot of MPs making their case for their respective candidate, there are plenty of people with their head in their hands lamenting how labour has even got to this position.

Joe Pike
Political correspondent

The prime minister is in Parliament meeting ministers and Labour MPs.

Cabinet ministers are also working the tearoom and attempting to persuade colleagues a leadership election would "paralyse the ability of the government to get things done for months", and "cause chaos".

Harry Farley
Political correspondent

In the Labour Party’s rules, there is no formal role for a vote of no confidence. That was demonstrated in 2016 when Labour MPs held a vote of no confidence in Jeremy Corbyn but he refused to step down.

The only way for Labour MPs to trigger a leadership contest is for 20% of them to publicly back a challenger. With the current size of the party in Parliament, that means 81 Labour MPs would need to coalesce behind one name.

At the moment, more than 80 MPs have urged the prime minister to step down, or set out a timetable for his departure. But, crucially,they are not united in who they want to replace Starmer.

Many calling for an orderly timetable to the prime minister’s resignation hope that would give Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, enough time to find a seat and return to Parliament.

Others wanting Starmer to go immediately back Wes Streeting or Angela Rayner, hoping a quick contest would prevent Burnham from having the time to become an MP and so be able to run.

So far, none of his rivals have publicly challenged him.