Labour MPs want the party to win, but cannot agree on a leader
BBCLabour MPs are bracing themselves for a leadership contest that will probably be divisive, test friendships and prove crucial to their party's future, especially in the East of England.
It will be a particularly difficult decision for those who were elected less than two years ago, when under Sir Keir Starmer's leadership Labour swept to power in the general election in 2024.
Nowhere was that success more noticeable than in the East of England, where the party took more than 30 seats and many of them in places where it had not won for years.
Now the party's MPs will have to decide who can best help them keep their seats and appeal to voters in a region where Labour has always struggled.
Labour MPs Terry Jermy and Jack Abbott speak to the BBC's Politics East programme.
'No real hatred for Starmer'
Terry Jermy, 40, is the MP for South West Norfolk, which he took from former prime minister Liz Truss with a majority of 630 votes. The seat was last won by Labour in 1959.
Jermy joined the Labour Party aged 16 and was first elected as a local councillor in 2008.
"I like Keir Starmer, I think he's a really decent guy and I do respect him, but we can't ignore the results of the local elections," says Jermy.
He is one of more than 90 MPs, seven of them from the East of England, who have called for the prime minister to set a timetable for his departure.
"We want a better vision and we need to articulate it better," Jermy adds.
"We are making achievements, we are making what I think are the right decisions but we are not conveying that to the public.
"If we carry on over the next two or three years and don't change course we could head to a defeat at the next election, which Reform UK could win," he says.
Jermy accepts that calling for a change of prime minister may annoy some voters, but adds: "If we don't convince the public that the Labour Party is offering solutions we put [all that has been achieved] at risk."
Jermy says he could work with any of the people who are being tipped to stand against the prime minister.
"For me it is all about messaging and delivery. There is a frustration that we need to do it better. There is no real hatred of Keir Starmer," he says.
'We need to pull together'
Jack Abbott, 35, is MP for Ipswich and has a majority of 7,403. He joined the Labour Party in 2010 and became a local councillor in 2017, before becoming a MP in 2024.
Abbott says he is "embarrassed" over the way his party has behaved since the results of the local election on 7 May, adding: "We have not covered ourselves in glory."
As a passionate supporter of the prime minister, Abbott persuaded more than 120 backbenchers to sign a letter in support of the Sir Keir and, even though a leadership challenge seems inevitable, he continues to appeal to his colleagues to think again.
"The election results were terrible," he concedes, "but now isn't the time for knee-jerk emotional reactions, we need to pull together... and not lean inwards and tear each other apart."
He says the party's overriding focus should be on improving the lives of their constituents and he points to recent improvements in the NHS, legislation on employment rights and stronger protections for renters as proof that under Sir Keir change is occurring.
"When you turn in on yourselves and you have a psychodrama like the Conservatives had, you fail to govern the country and the impact is on the everyday lives of people and businesses," Abbott says.
He adds that his message to Jermy and his fellow MPs is that the party has a "job to do - delivering for our constituents".
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