Was Keir Starmer right to resign?

Starmer's resignation was endorsed decisively, 41 votes to 16, a 44-point margin that leaves no ambiguity about where members stood. This was not a knife-edge verdict of the kind referendums often produce; it was closer to a rout, with yes crossing 70% support.

The generational story is where the texture lies. The 25-34s, the biggest bloc here at 28 votes, were the most emphatic, backing the resignation 79-21, while the youngest cohort (16-24) was noticeably more sceptical at 63%, the softest support of any group with a meaningful sample. The only outright dissent came from the handful of over-65s, split down the middle, though too small a group to read much into.

Women here were slightly more convinced than men (75% versus 68%), a modest but consistent gap rather than a chasm. Set against the backdrop of Makerfield's by-election loss, Burnham's rise and a defence-spending rift tearing at the cabinet, the verdict reads less as a judgment on any single policy than as exhaustion with a government seen to be running out of road.

If there was a mandate for Starmer to stay, this chamber did not find it.