Australian-born Catherine West signals intent to challenge Keir Starmer for UK Labour leadership

Keir Starmer is 48 hours away from a challenge for his leadership, after an Aussie said she would run to topple the UK Prime Minister if no one else stepped forward.

Australian-born Labour MP Catherine West has signalled her intent to challenge Mr Starmer for leadership of the party – and, therefore, the prime ministership – if Labour does not nominate a different challenger.

Making the announcement on BBC radio on Saturday night, Ms West said she would prefer cabinet to “reorganise themselves” and appoint their “best communicator” to replace the current Prime Minister, who has been experiencing a steady drop in polling since the last UK general election in 2024.

Ms West said she had at least 10 MPs willing to back her in a leadership bid, but that it wasn’t her first preference of outcome.

“My preferred option is for the cabinet to do a reshuffle within itself, where there’s plenty of talent, and for Keir to be given a different role, which he might enjoy, perhaps an international role,” she said.

“I think there are several people who would like to do it, who have been planning for months, but I’m very surprised that none of them has popped up today to say “I’ll do it”.”

Her announcement comes after Labour endured major losses in this week’s council elections, losing more than 1,400 council seats to Reform and Greens candidates.

Ms West has been a member of the party since she moved to the UK in 1998, and spent the first 22 years of her life living in Australia.

Born in 1966 in the Victorian town of Mansfield, Ms West was one of four children to teachers Janet and Roderick West.

Ms West spent her childhood in Sydney where she attended Meriden School and Ravenswood School for Girls.

She eventually graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Social Work, before moving to Darwin to work with survivors of childhood sexual abuse.

After moving to the United Kingdom with her husband in 1998, she joined the Labour Party and eventually became a councillor at Islington Borough Council in London, where she held her position for 12 years before resigning to contest the 2015 UK general election.

She was first elected in 2015, and served as shadow Foreign Office minister under Jeremy Corbyn.

Ms West has been re-elected in every UK general election since.